Spiritual Friendship

All ministry leaders need to cultivate healthy and life-giving friendships with peers, and especially with Jesus. Unfortunately, the concept of friendship has been reduced to clicks and “likes” on social media sites that are neither life-giving, nor truly signs of friendship.

We need companions on our spiritual journey. The modern world has taught us to value autonomy and individualism. Our churches often see spirituality as personal and private. But we cannot go long in our Christian pilgrimage before realizing that isolation leads to spiritual barrenness. We soon discover that our souls long for accompaniment, intimacy, and spiritual friendship. As a result, many Christians today are rediscovering the ancient practice of spiritual direction.

This Cinderella invited to the ball gets help from a surprising source. But will she win her "Prince Charming", who's relegated her to the friend zone? When store department manager David Warwick, her secret crush, unexpectedly invites shy florist Ellie Ashton to represent the store at a glittering London ball, she feels more the ugly step-sister than princess material. No make-up, hair that was last styled for her high school prom, and not a single dress in her wardrobe, let alone a ballgown. Only a complete makeover can help her to look and feel the part. Attending the ball with the ...

For readers of The Wild Edge of Sorrow and Crying in H-Mart--a profound and searching memoir of life, loss, grief, and renewal from one of American Buddhism’s most vital new voices. How do we grieve our losses? How can we care for our spirits? one long listening offers enduring companionship...

Women long for deep and lasting friendships but often find them challenging to make. The private angst they feel regarding friendship often translates into their own insecurity and isolation. Christine Hoover offers women a fresh, biblical vision for friendship that allows for the messiness of our lives and the realities of our schedules.

Best-selling author Karen Kingsbury delivers another inspiring book in her Treasury of Miracles series. Here, she focuses on the special bonds between friends, and the extraordinary true stories she shares are a testament that God is present in our everyday lives. With God's guidance, we see that good friends never let us down, and often appear just when they are needed most.

In No Greater Love, Rebecca McLaughlin walks us through the highs and lows of friendship love—a love that’s been neglected and malnourished in our modern world. She draws especially on Jesus in the Gospels and on Paul to show how powerful and precious Christian friendship is and how we can walk through the hurt, loss, and disillusionment that comes from broken friendship trust. Beginning with the words of Jesus on the night he was betrayed and abandoned, she points us to his battle-tested love as the unending source of our best love for one another.

For anyone who's lost a pet, that period of sadness can last for years. Some say never again while others just have to get another. And although the new pet will never take the place of the one you lost, it will certainly bring you great joy. And when this family found Teddy Bear, the wounds of sadness healed and everything changed. A feel-good story everyone should read. After all, once you see Teddy Bear, you'll see your own pet.

There's just something about people who are close to God. Through the ups and downs of life, they remain secure, hopeful. If you want a more rewarding spiritual life, if you want the pleasure of knowing your Creator's heart, this soul-lifting book is for you. Learn from Dutch Sheets as he shares his life lessons for cultivating an intimate relationship with God. Each of the 30 short chapters reveals a simple practice or biblical mindset that will help draw you away from the noise of life and into the Lord's peaceful presence.

Who is the Holy Spirit, and exactly what does He do? Many people find the Holy Spirit mysterious and confounding. Why is the third person in the Godhead—the one Jesus said would be the believer’s ultimate source of truth and comfort—the source of such confusion? In The God I Never Knew, Robert Morris clearly explains that the Holy Spirit’s chief desire is for relationship – to offer us the encouragement and guidance of a trusted friend.

He's tried and failed in country music - and women - before. She wasn't supposed to be at the ranch that summer. When Maddy shows up unexpectedly, will she and Kyle have their second chance romance? Or will the call of the stage lure him away? Kyle Stewart toured with a popular band for a year, but he couldn't get a record label to pick up his music. He's been back at his family's ranch, using his country music contacts to arrange summer concerts for the tourists who come through the Texas Longhorn Ranch for a unique western experience. Lately, he's had some interest in his music again, ...

In Book Two of this series, the bonds of friendship that were formed in that lovely pink cottage on the beach of Ivory Shores continue to grow stronger as the women support one another through the highs and lows of the upcoming year. Circumstances, beyond anyone's control, force the group to question if there will ever be a reunion trip to Ivory Shores. As they seek to understand God's will, they are each faced with difficult decisions. Will they live in disappointment, heartbreak, and anger, or will they choose to embrace the gifts of second chances, contentment, and joy? “The author ...

She's tired of having her heart broken by cowboys. He waited too long to ask her out. Can Lance fix things quickly, or will Amber leave Last Chance Ranch before he can tell her how he feels? Amber Haws has never had a problem saying yes to a date. She's been out with lots of men in the time she's been at Last Chance Ranch, but she's finally gotten her heart broken one too many times. She swears off cowboys right to the one who's been watching her for months now. Lance Longcomb followed the advice of his friends and waited to ask her out after each of Amber's break-ups. But now she's done ...

In Book One of this series, an unlikely group of six vastly different women journey together to a secluded, southern beach known as Ivory Shores. Not one of them knows just how much impact she will have on the others through the life experiences she brings with her into their tiny beach house. As friendships grow, bonds strengthen, and individual stories unfold, each woman – no matter how bold, bitter, or broken her heart is – begins to find her own place in the great story of healing and restoration. "I loved this book, and I think you will too. Six women travel to the beach together, ...

There’s never been a more complex and confusing time to navigate adulthood than right now, but what if it didn’t have to be confusing for you? It’s possible to live the happy and healthy life that God has for you, and this step-by-step guide helps you get there. In her debut book, Christian YouTuber, podcaster, and Bible teacher Jeanine Amapola shows you how.

When your sensitive child asks about death, what do you say? Seven-year-old Jesus is learning that patterns connect everything, until his best friend Micah dies chasing beauty on a roof. Now he must face what every deep-feeling child discovers: loving means risking loss. As strange marks spread toward his heart and nine broken children choose to build together anyway, Jesus learns the hardest truth: understanding the dance doesn't stop it from ending. What readers are saying: "My daughter processed her grandfather's death through this book" ★★★★★ "Finally, a story that doesn't ...

FAIRACRES PUBLICATIONS 085 In ‘Eight Chapters on Perfection’ the humanity and wisdom of Walter Hilton are revealed, as he explores the possibilities of friendship and love between those drawn to prayer. In ‘Angels’ Song’ this fourteenth-century English mystic considers how in the spiritual life the action of grace can be distinguished from illusion. Walter Hilton was born c. 1340-5. Little is known of his life, but it is believed that he studied at Cambridge, pursued a legal and administrative career, attempted the solitary life, and finally discovered his true vocation as an ...

This book takes you to the Most Profound Truth of the Universe(s), the Highest Knowledge, the Grandest Wisdom. Surprisingly, this "Truth" happens to be about You - the Self. And even more startlingly this Truth also happens to be about God, and the Grand Scheme of the Cosmos. That's precisely why this book unfurls one of the deepest and the broadest explorations on the Self Inquiry and the God. The quest goes on till you fully realize your INFINITE Potential, to the extent that you precisely see You are God ! And once you see and realize your true Identity - God, it's easy thereafter... You...

This isn’t the way it was supposed to be A 17-year-old boy murdered, Gunned down for no reason But when you live in a known gang area in Las Vegas, There can be collateral damage. The police always have the time and resources to look into murders of wealthy people, But it seems different rules apply if you’re poor, Even if you aren’t part of a gang. When Maria got the call that her son had been murdered, her life fell apart. And when the police said they would try to find the murderer, but there was probably little they could do, she was devastated. If the police couldn’t do it, ...

Find power in your prayer like never before with this inspiring guide from #1 New York Times bestselling author Bishop T.D. Jakes. In a time when women carry more influence than any other generation, the power of prayer has never been more important to remind us that we do not have to bear our...