What's So Blessed about Being Poor


Book Description

An inspiring exploration of how happiness and holiness can exist in the midst of poverty and illness. Two lay women who have chosen to live among the poor in East Africa, one a Maryknoll lay mission, and the other, a New York attorney who left her law practice to become a lay mission with the Franciscans minister to the poor in Kenya. Slavin first met Salvador when she was volunteering as a lawyer working in a justice and peace program in Kenya. Slavin was intrigued by the well-known phrase "Blessed are the poor." After approaching this seeming paradox through unrewarding library research, she decided that she would join Salvador in her ministry to AIDS orphans to try to understand how the poor can be "blessed." This account tells of their experiences as they worked together with the poor, primarily AIDS orphans, in the slums of Kenya. Photos will be included.




The Rock Cries Out


Book Description

Steve Stockman, author of the international hit Walk On: The Spiritual Journey of U2, explores the music of twelve artists who haven't necessarily professed a Christian faith but whose work is undergirded with issues, questions and insights that are very much biblical. If you look closely, their music is saturated with spiritual context and redemptive messages that can teach life-changing truth to the believer and spiritual seeker alike. Is God speaking through these unlikely prophets? If so, are you listening? Book jacket.




Blessings of the Poor


Book Description

Many people who sponsor children through Compassion have had the opportunity to visit them in the slums and villages of the developing world. Here, a gathering of such people describe how such visits have changed their lives.




Introduction to the Devout Life


Book Description

Written over 400 years ago, Introduction to the Devout Life is still one of the most popular books for those pursuing holiness. St. Francis de Sales explains how to turn that desire for sanctity into resolutions that yield grace-filled results. Themes include: Pursuing a devout life whole-heartedly Incorporating prayer and sacraments into a busy schedule Growing in virtue Battling wisely against temptation Making spiritual progress through daily, monthly, and yearly exercises Whether you are just beginning your spiritual journey or are more advanced in the spiritual life, you’ll be able to apply this timeless wisdom immediately. Let St. Francis de Sales illumine the path to holiness and strengthen your desire to walk that road with the Lord. St. Francis de Sales (1567–1622) was the Bishop of Geneva and a renowned spiritual director. Preaching during the Counter-Reformation, he is estimated to have converted 70,000 Calvinists in his short lifetime. He was a fervent proponent of the universal call to holiness and spent much of his time guiding lay people on the road to sanctity. Declared a Doctor of the Church by Pope Pius IX in 1877, St. Francis is still helping to form saints through his many writings, of which Introduction to the Devout Life is the most famous.




The Blessing of Humility


Book Description

We all admire humility when we see it. But how do we practice it? How does humility--the foundational virtue of the normal Christian life--become a normal part of our everyday lives? Jerry Bridges sees in the Beatitudes a series of blessings from Jesus, a pattern for humility in action. Starting with poverty in spirit--an acknowledgment that in and of ourselves we are incapable of living holy lives pleasing to God--and proceeding through our mourning over personal sin, our hunger and thirst for righteousness, our experience of persecutions large and small, and more, we discover that humility is itself a blessing: At every turn, God is present to us, giving grace to the humble and lifting us up to blessing.




Thoughts from the Mount Of Blessing


Book Description

In this little volume of 200 pages we have a series of dissertations on spiritual subjects, addressed especially to Christians, including thoughts on the Mountain Sermon, the Beatitudes, the Spirituality of the Law, the True Motive in Service, the Lord's Prayer, and on Not Judging but Doing. It is an earnest and affectionate plea for a higher plane of Christian living, and a more thorough and consistent Christian life and character. The writer's style is clear and simple, hut full of that eloquence and warmth of heart which is sure to reach the heart of the reader and plant there its own convictions. It is one of those books which cannot be read with indifference. It is full of an affectionate persuasiveness which is sure to make itself felt.




Rediscovering the Ministry of Blessing


Book Description

The Bible teaches us', Russ Parker writes, 'that blessing is a unique ministry resource gifted to believers to effect the purposes of God in peoples' lives.' In this enthralling book, the author tells of situations of family estrangement, depression and chronic illness; of times of hopelessness and helplessness where miraculous transformation has been wrought through calling on God to bless someone with the richest blessing they are able to receive. As he has travelled the country teaching on the ministry of blessing, Russ has seen an enthusiastic response and uptake, especially amongst those involved in prayer ministry. He believes it is time for all who want to be part of God's renewal - both in church and through reaching out to the wider community - to consider how we might help others to flourish as the people God has called them to be. 'Russ Parker's ground breaking work on healing community history will be so helpful to churches. It has greatly helped me.' The Rt Revd Graeme Dow, former Bishop of Carlisle




The Only Way To Happiness


Book Description

Jesus' first recorded sermon in the Bible is a blueprint for being happy here on earth. And though His definition contains no prescriptions for acquiring cars, homes, or savings, it does require transformation and obedience. MacArthur examines Jesus' timeless definition of happiness, and explains that our reward for following Jesus' plan is citizenship in the kingdom of God- and an abiding joy that can never be taken away. Study guide and review included for individual or group study.




Happy are You Poor


Book Description

To the modern mind, the concept of poverty is often confused with destitution. But destitution emphatically is not the Gospel ideal. A love-filled sharing frugality is the message, and Happy Are You Poor explains the meaning of this beatitude lived and taught by Jesus himself. But isn't simplicity in lifestyle meant only for nuns and priests? Are not all of us to enjoy the goodness and beauties of our magnificent creation? Are parents to be frugal with the children they love so much? The renowned spiritual writer Dubay gives surprising replies to these questions. He explains how material things are like extensions of our persons and thus of our love. If everyone lived this love there would be no destitution. After presenting the richness of the Gospel message, more beautiful than any other world view, he explains how Gospel frugality is lived in each state of life.




Blessed are You the Poor!


Book Description

Joseph Wresinski was born in France, and grew up in great poverty. Ordained a priest in 1946, he served in industrial and rural parishes, where from the beginning he related to the most disadvantaged families. Wresinski's book -- revealing reading of the gospel through and with the very poor -- offers new insights into the life, words, actions, and prayers of Christ. We see how Jesus chooses the most humiliated and abandoned as his closest associates and messengers. Father Joseph's own encounter with Christ leads us to better understand the poorest people of today and recognize what they can bring to the world.