Nurturing Faith and Hope


Book Description

""Wimberly's latest work presents pastors, church lay leaders and scholars with a new lens to think critically and joyously about how Christian education undergirds and supports the worship experience in nurturing faith and hope in black parishioners."" --David L. Wallace, Sr., Dean, Johnson C. Smith Theological Seminary The Interdenominational Theological Center, Atlanta, Georgia ""This highly recommended work provides a thoughtful yet comprehensive framework of the black Christian worshipping community as the context where faith and hope are nurtured."" --Marsha Snulligan Haney, Associate Professor of Missiology and Religions of the World, The Interdenominational Theological Center, Atlanta, Georgia ""This is a must read for all pastors and worship designers who desire to make worship relevant for African American Congregations."" --Cecelia M. Long, former General Secretariat of the General Commission on the Status and Role of Women in the United Methodist Church ""Innovative, dynamic, thought provoking, and inspiring. A must read for pastors, church leaders, Christian educators, and anyone interested in revitalizing Christian education in the 21st Century."" --Yolanda Y. Smith, Assistant Professor of Christian Education, Yale University Divinity School, and author of Reclaiming the Spirituals: New Possibilities for African American Christian Education ""Dr. Wimberly has seized upon the, heretofore, unspoken wisdom of the black church . . . Local church laity and clergy will easily access this fine work for local churches."" --Lynne Westfield, Assistant Professor of Christian Education, Drew Theological School, Madison, New Jersey ""Wimberly understands comprehensively the ways education is embodied in congregational life. Indeed, she invites us to nurture faith and hope."" --Jack L. Seymour, Professor of Religious Education and Academic Dean, Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary, Evanston. Illinois Anne E. Streaty Wimberly is Professor of Christian Education at The Interdenominational Theological Center in Atlanta, Georgia. She is the author of several books including Soul Stories: African American Christian Education (1994).




Nurturing Hope


Book Description

Trends and skills for those who offer pastoral care Christian pastoral care has changed a great deal in the past few decades in response to many factors in our rapidly changing world. In part 1 of Nurturing Hope, Lynne Baab discusses seven trends in pastoral care--shifts in who delivers pastoral care, the attitudes and commitments that undergird pastoral care, and societal trends that are shaping pastoral care today. She illustrates them with stories from diverse congregations where Christian caregivers are meeting those challenges in creative and exciting ways. In the second half of the book, Baab presents four practical, doable, energizing skills needed by pastoral carers in our time. Focusing on skills that help carers nurture connections between everyday life and Christian faith, she explores the need for carers to understand common stressors, listen, pray with others, and nurture their personal resilience. Grounded in an understanding of God as the true caregiver and healer, the author offers tips for readers who are training other pastoral carers or developing their own understanding and skills. Each chapter ends with discussion and reflection questions, making the book helpful for groups. Lynne Baab brings readers hope for their caring role and for their own spiritual journey.




Face-to-Face with Lois and Eunice


Book Description

Lois and Eunice followed the numerous Scriptures instructing one generation to pass on their faith to the next generation, and young Timothy grew up to be a second-generation leader of the early church. Often mentoring focuses on reaching out to others, but as parents and grandparents the first line of mentoring should be within your own family, a concept repeated throughout the Bible. The Bible has many devastating examples of parents who were poor role models or didn’t rear their children to know God, as well good and faithful parents whose children wandered away from God. Face-to-Face with Lois and Eunice focuses on how women today can be grandmothers, mothers, aunts, and mentors whose faith takes root in the next generation.




Nurturing Healing Love


Book Description

On December 14, 2012, Scarlett Lewis experienced something that no parent should ever have to endure: she lost her son Jesse in an act of unimaginable violence. The day started just like any other, but when a gunman opened fire at Sandy Hook Elementary School, Scarlett’s life changed forever. However, this isn’t a story about a massacre. It’s a story about love and survival. It’s about how to face the impossible, how to find courage when you think you have none, and how to choose love instead of anger, fear, or hatred. Following Jesse’s death, Scarlett went on an unexpected journey, inspired by a simple three-word message he had scrawled on their kitchen chalkboard shortly before he died: Norurting Helin Love (Nurturing Healing Love). It was as if he knew just what his family would need in order to go on after this horrible tragedy. Bolstered by his words, Scarlett took her first step toward a new life. And with each step, it became clearer how true Jesse’s message was. She learned that love was indeed the essential element necessary to move forward and that taking the path of love is a choice. We can live in anger and resentment, or we can choose love and forgiveness. With her decision made, she found some peace and began to believe that choosing love was the key to creating a healthy, safe, and happy world. She began the Jesse Lewis Choose Love Foundation to develop programs to teach children about the power each of us has to change our thoughts and choose a life without fear and hate. Nurturing Healing Love is Scarlett’s story of how choosing love is changing her life—and how it could change our world.




Disciplines of a Godly Woman


Book Description

Hughes helps women to scrutinize their lives and tells their poignant stories with faithful reminders to develop the godly character they desire. (Women's Issues)




The Lifegiving Table


Book Description

Make your table a place where your family and friends long to be—where they will find rest, renewal, and a welcome full of love. Beloved author Sally Clarkson (The Lifegiving Home, Own Your Life, Desperate) believes that meals lovingly served at home—and the time spent gathered together around the table—are a much-needed way to connect more deeply with our families and open our kids’ hearts. Food and faith, mingled in everyday life, become the combination for passing on God’s love to each person who breaks bread with us. In The Lifegiving Table, Sally shares her own family stories, favorite recipes, and practical ideas to help you get closer to the people you love . . . and grow in faith together.




It Starts at Home


Book Description

As Your Children Grow, Will Their Faith Grow Too? As both stories and statistics attest, the number of evangelical children who abandon Christianity in adulthood is staggering. To see effective change, parents cannot leave their child’s faith to chance. Rather, families must start nurturing faith early—you cannot start once your child is grown, you must start at home. Strengthening family and home life is the best way to encourage your children to maintain a lifelong faith. It Starts at Home upholds marriage and family as the proving ground for lasting success. Experienced pastors Kurt Bruner and Steve Stroope provide a clear purpose, an effective strategy, and a simple plan for anyone who wants to be intentional in their homes. Their insights will help leaders recalibrate their priorities by asking them to evaluate their leadership where it counts most. This newly revised edition evaluates the current trends families and young adults face that can contribute to this crisis. Don’t let your child’s faith fade to memory—learn how you can create a home that will prepare them for lifelong faith.




Real Kids, Real Faith


Book Description

In a culture that has lost touch with love, compassion, and meaning, how can parents be intentional about building a spiritual foundation for their children’s development? In looking to their own upbringing for guidance, parents often feel even more at a loss—they don’t want to make the same mistakes their parents did, so they either become too strict, or they take a completely hands-off approach. A pastor, a teacher, and a mother, Karen Marie Yust offers a refreshing array of resources and provisions to guide and sustain parents and children on thier mutual journey. Drawn from a three-year study of children’s spirituality, as well as the best in theological tradition and literature, Real Kids, Real Faith provides insight and a variety of helpful tips for nurturing children’s spiritual and religious formation. Yust challenges the prevailing notion that children are unable to grasp religious concepts and encourages parents to recognize children as capable of authentic faith.




Hope Heals


Book Description

When all seems lost, where can you find hope? Katherine and Jay Wolf married right after college and sought adventure far from home in Los Angeles, CA. As they pursued their dreams--she as a model and he as a lawyer--they planted their lives in the city and their church community. Their son, James, came along unexpectedly in the fall of 2007, and just six months later, everything changed in a moment for this young family. On April 21, 2008, as James slept in the other room, Katherine collapsed, suffering a massive brain stem stroke without warning. Miraculously, Jay came home in time and called for help. Katherine was immediately rushed into brain surgery, though her chance of survival was slim. As the sun rose the next morning, the surgeon proclaimed that Katherine had survived the removal of part of her brain, though her future recovery was uncertain. Yet in that moment, there was a spark of hope. Through forty days on life support in the ICU and nearly two years in full-time brain rehab, that small spark of hope was fanned into flame. Hope Heals documents Katherine and Jay's journey as they struggled to regain Katherine's quality of life and as she relearned to talk, eat, and walk. As Katherine returned home with a severely disabled body but a completely renewed purpose, she and Jay committed to celebrating this gift of a second chance by embracing life fully, even though that life looked very different than they could have ever imagined. As you uncover Katherine and Jay's remarkable story, you'll be encouraged to: Find lasting hope in the midst of struggle Embrace the unexpected Welcome God's miracles into your everyday life In the midst of continuing hardships, both in body and mind, Katherine and Jay found what we all long to find: a hope that heals the most broken place--our souls. Let Hope Heals be your guide along the way. Praise for Hope Heals: "As I read this book, tears streamed from my eyes even as joy flooded my heart. Jay and Katherine are a raw yet refreshing testimony to the unshakable trustworthiness of God amidst the unimaginable trials of life. This book reminds all of us where hope can be found in a world where none of us know what the next day holds." --David Platt, author of the New York Times bestseller Radical and president of the International Mission Board "Hope Heals is a beautiful, true story that illustrates the love and protection God has for us even in the darkest times of our lives. Katherine and Jay's dedication to each other and the Lord through their most devastating season is inspiring. This book will help your heart believe that He sees, He knows, He cares, and He is still working miracles today!" --Lysa TerKeurst, New York Times bestselling author and president of Proverbs 31 Ministries




God's Creative Gift—Unleashing the Artist in You


Book Description

God's Creative Gift is an in-depth study for the creative Christian. It is intended for both professional and lay artists, for the casual crafter and hobbyist, and for those in both sacred and secular settings. It is for those who see things where others do not and for those whose imaginations cannot be confined by religious dogma and tradition. It is for musicians, singers, painters, sculptors, dancers, dramatists, writers, poets, carvers, weavers, film editors, photographers, filmmakers, architects, designers--anyone who finds inspiration in creativity. Focusing on the creative spirit within, it is designed to help you draw your inspiration from a Deeper Source. It is deeply rooted in Scripture--for the creative Christian must enter into the Word of God on a regular basis in order to know the choreographer of her steps, the crafter of her designs, the author and perfecter of her faith, and the sculptor of her creative heart, soul, mind, and body. And to know Him intimately.