Download or read book Monthly Entries for the Spiritual but not Religious through the Year written by Mark G. Boyer and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2022-08-30 with total page 498 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is a book about spirituality for the spiritual but not religious. Those who identify themselves as spiritual but not religious make up one quarter of the population in the United States. This book provides 189 monthly entries based on the national and international celebrations that occur every month. Each entry begins with the name of the occasion and the date when it is marked during the month. A text from the Bible, a US public law, a presidential proclamation, a United Nations declaration, etc. that illustrates the day is presented. The text is followed by a reflection which gleans the spirituality from the text and provides historical background on the day being celebrated. Journal/meditation questions follow the reflection, and a prayer concludes the entry. This book is for the spiritual but not religious, a practice of spirituality that does not regard organized religion as a valuable means to further interior spiritual growth. A section of the introduction to the book explores who the spiritual but not religious are and presents the common themes that surface from research about them.
Download or read book Four Catholic Pioneers in Missouri Lamarque Kenrick Fox and Hogan written by Mark G. Boyer and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2022-12-21 with total page 68 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is a book about four Roman Catholic pioneers--explorers and developers--whose lives crossed each other's paths in Old Mines, Missouri, in the middle of the 1800s. Two of them were priests, and one of them was a bishop, then an archbishop. One was a laywoman, who was very generous with her riches. Three of them were not only of Irish descent but came from Ireland. The laywoman was French, and she came from Ste. Genevieve. The Great Potato Famine in Ireland in the 1840s brought all of them together in the oldest village in the state of Missouri: Old Mines. The potato famine brought many Irish to Missouri in the nineteenth century to farm, to build railroads, and to construct churches for worship. This is the story of pioneers Marie-Louise (Bolduc) Lamarque, Peter Richard Kenrick, James Fox, and John Joseph Hogan. Their lives crossed each other's paths in Old Mines, Missouri, a lead-mining village about sixty miles south of St. Louis (before St. Louis existed) and about forty miles east of Ste. Genevieve (before Ste. Genevieve existed).
Download or read book Seasons of Biblical Spirituality written by Mark G. Boyer and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2023-07-28 with total page 185 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book presents one hundred reflections on the four seasons: spring, summer, autumn, and winter. The seasons of the year bring change to people. Winter heating gives way to spring and summer air conditioning. The new life of spring—trees leafing, bulbs blooming, grass growing—brought about by rain turns into summer maintenance. Summer maintenance diminishes as the autumn chill begins to spread across the land, and T-shirts and shorts are exchanged for sweaters and jeans. Coats are brought out of the closet and prepared to be worn as frost forms on the lawn, snow falls from the sky, and ice forms on water. The changes that take place outside of us also take place inside us. Without noticing, we discover ourselves adapting as we pass from one season to another. All the reflections provided in this book begin with biblical passages that mention each specific season or some event that occurs as part of the season. The passage is followed by a reflection, a Psalm response, questions for meditation and/or journaling, and prayers designed to nourish one’s spirituality. The yearly process of passing from one season to another brings about transformation in us of which we may not be aware.
Download or read book Spirituality for the Solitary written by Mark G. Boyer and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2023-06-15 with total page 155 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is a book about spirituality for the solitary, those people who live alone. In the past they were known as hermits, eremites, and anchorites; today they are known as pioneers, mountain men and women, widows, widowers, and people who choose to live alone in the country or in the city. They spend their days like other ordinary people taking care of daily chores, but also spending some time in prayer and meditation. The solitary life is alive and well, and it appears in all world religions. The solitary seeks solitude for prayer, meditation, self-awareness, and personal development. Living alone in a house or apartment begins to transform one’s life; a person sets off on the path of purpose, the path of integrity, the path of transcendence that lifts his or her heart, mind, and spirit to the divine presence, God, who transforms more and more as the solitary dives deeper and deeper. This book provides an in-depth exploration of spirituality for the solitary along with eight-part exercises designed to further enhance solitary spirituality. Included are prayers, psalms in contemporary English, and celebrations using natural things, such as water, oil, and fire.
Download or read book The Roman Catholic Lectionary and the Bible written by Mark G. Boyer and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2024-06-28 with total page 222 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The bishops attending the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965) decreed that the treasures of the Bible were to be opened for Roman Catholics by presenting a larger part of the Bible over three years. The first one-volume Lectionary, a collection of biblical texts appointed for worship on given days--what ultimately became four volumes plus a supplement in English--was published in Latin on September 30, 1970. The result of people seeing four volumes consisting of more pages than most Bibles was the erroneous thinking that they heard (read) the whole Bible every three years! The Lectionary edits the Bible. Biblical topics offensive to modern readers are omitted. Powerful biblical women are ignored. Biblical prophetic books are chopped by piecing together verses. There is no application of modern biblical analysis. The biblical passages presented in the Lectionary have been chosen to fit the liturgical year, even though the liturgical year did not exist when the Bible was written! The purpose of this book is to present some sobering statistics about the biblical texts found (and not found) in the Roman Catholic Lectionary, reach conclusions about them, and suggest alternate biblical texts for use in the Lectionary.
Download or read book More Shelbydog Chronicles written by Mark G. Boyer and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2024-02-28 with total page 95 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book continues The Shelbydog Chronicles by Shelby Cole, in which Shelby, a sixty-pound Labrador-Boxer mix, narrates the events of the first ten years of her life. As she approaches her twelfth birthday, she has delegated her friend, Mark G. Boyer, to write More Shelbydog Chronicles. Boyer shares the experiences he has had with Shelbydog in twenty-seven short reflections with the goal of fostering reflection on how one’s life intersects with one’s pet. At the end of each chapter are reflection questions designed to help the readers get to know their pets better and get to know themselves better, too. Just as Shelbydog has changed Boyer’s physical and spiritual life, the readers will become aware of how their pets have changed their own physical and spiritual lives.
Download or read book Biblical Names for God written by Mark G. Boyer and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2023-11-17 with total page 104 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book presents forty-two reflections on biblical names for God in an abecedarian (A through Z) format. The names, terms by which God is known, are not biblically exhaustive. These entries present spiritual reflections, grounded in Scripture, with Psalm responses, questions for meditation and/or journaling, and prayers designed to nourish spirituality at any time. Beginning with Abba, Alpha, and Ancient One, individual entries continue through the alphabet to Yahweh and Zion. By reflecting on forty-two biblical names for God, the reader comes to know better the Holy One, and, in so doing, is transformed.
Download or read book Divine Frustrations written by Jason L. Moore and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2023-11-21 with total page 105 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Bible encourages believers to love God with all their hearts. Interestingly enough, there is no command to “like” God. Is the admonition to “like” God conspicuously absent due to its inherent difficulty? If we are honest, we can safely affirm that there are unlikable realities about our world that critics allege reflect poorly on the perceived nature of God. However, there is a lack of awareness regarding alternative ways to understand such realities. Divine Frustrations is an attempt to bridge that gap by providing a balanced, engaging approach to revisiting the unpleasant aspects of God’s dealings with humanity. Drawing on decades of interactions with students, atheists, critics, inmates, and church members, as well as people from all walks of life, Moore offers reflections on both sides of the most common complaints leveled against God. Whether you are a believer or a skeptic, your approach to various topics will be challenged. If you are open to considering alternatives to what you believe, as well as new insights into your own views, read on.
Download or read book His Mercy Endures Forever written by Mark G. Boyer and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2024-03-29 with total page 181 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Because there is no single word that translates the Hebrew word hesed and the Greek word eleos, multiple words are used in English biblical translations. Mercy is the most frequently used word in English, but forgiveness, generosity, pity, and others are also used. Using 106 biblical texts gathered from the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament), the Old Testament Apocrypha, and the Christian Bible (New Testament), a representative sample of the various ways hesed and eleos are translated is presented in this book. Each entry consists of a short title, a few verses of Scripture, a reflection, a psalm response, a meditation/journal question, and a concluding prayer. The purpose of the book is to assist the reader’s development of spirituality, a deeper knowledge of divine mercy, meditation on how he or she has experienced it, and a closer relationship with God.
Download or read book Smothered with Inexhaustible Mercy written by Mark G. Boyer and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2023-03-17 with total page 169 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Smothered with Inexhaustible Mercy: An Anthology of Poems represents almost fifty years of well-known spiritual master Mark G. Boyer’s poetry writing. After writing seventy books of prose on spirituality and history, he has collected over two hundred of his poems and divided them into nineteen chapters (collections). You will find poems on Alaska, Christmas, Colorado, day and night, Easter, friendship, ocean, seasons, wind and rain, and more. Over the years, a few were published in now out-of-print journals, magazines, newspapers, and books, but most are taken from his handwritten files and organized according to themes, arranged alphabetically in this book. The poetry lover will find a variety of styles, rhythm, and length in this collection of poems that delve into the insight of things and people, because there is also more than what is at first perceived. As the title indicates, the author hopes that this book of poems smothers the reader with inexhaustible mercy.
Download or read book The Signs of the New Temple written by Tat Yu Lam and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2023-11-07 with total page 74 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Recent monographs on Johannine signs tend to focus on a single sign. Other studies that examine multiple signs mainly focus on the first half of John’s Gospel. In Christian circles, most preachers and believers remain preoccupied by the traditional view that John’s Gospel contains only seven signs. However, what constitutes a sign for John, and how signs function to achieve the purpose of the Gospel (John 20:30–31) is far from settled. Three features of this book explore important clues for solving this puzzle: (1) a fresh hypothesis that Jesus’s signs correspond to the four tabernacle signs (a pot of manna, Aaron’s staff, the bronze altar cover, and the bronze serpent), which makes sense given the tabernacle/temple theme of John’s Gospel; (2) a complete study that examines Johannine signs in the whole Gospel systematically to reveal how signs develop the book’s purpose; and (3) an adaptation of a sociolinguistic theory to examine the corresponding texts of the Old Testament and New Testament in light of how language functions in a social event. The author will show how Jesus’s signs fulfill the functions of the four tabernacle signs, and how Jesus’s crucifixion is the “all-inclusive” sign in witnessing to his identity.
Download or read book Tired of Apologizing for a Church I Don t Belong To written by Lillian Daniel and published by FaithWords. This book was released on 2016-09-20 with total page 208 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When Lillian Daniel apologized to a total stranger for every bad thing that had ever been said or done in the name of Christianity, he was surprised that she was responsible for all that. "The Inquisition? Don't even raise it, I'm way ahead of you. I was mad about it before you even heard of it, that's how open-minded I am. Salem witch trials? I know! So embarrassing. Can I hang out with you anyway? You're too kind." "Religion is responsible for all the wars in history," they would say, and I'd respond, "You're so right. Don't forget imperialism, capitalism, and racism. Religion invented those problems too. You can tell that because religious people can be found at all their meetings." In this book, Daniel argues that it's time for Christians to stop apologizing and realize that how we talk about Christian community matters. With disarming candor laced with just the right amount of humor, Daniel urges open-minded Christians to explore ways to talk about their faith journeys that are reasonable, rigorous, and real. After the publication of the much talked about When Spiritual But Not Religious Is Not Enough: Seeing God In Surprising Places, Even the Church, Lillian Daniel heard from many SBNRs as well as practicing Christians. It was the Christians who scolded her for her forthright, unapologetic stand as one who believes that religious community matters. The Christians ranted that Christians, by definition, tend to be judgmental, condemning hypocrites, which is why people hate them. By saying religion matters, she was judging those who disagree, they said, proving the stereotype of Christians. Better to acknowledge all that's wrong with Christianity and its history, then apologize. In this book, Daniel shows why it matters how we talk about Christian community while urging open-minded Christians to learn better ways to talk about their faith.
Download or read book The Nones Are Alright written by Oakes, Kaya and published by Orbis Books. This book was released on 2015-10-31 with total page 152 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Great Emergence written by Phyllis Tickle and published by Baker Books. This book was released on 2012-09-01 with total page 210 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Rooted in the observation that massive transitions in the church happen about every 500 years, Phyllis Tickle shows readers that we live in such a time right now. She compares the Great Emergence to other "Greats" in the history of Christianity, including the Great Transformation (when God walked among us), the time of Gregory the Great, the Great Schism, and the Great Reformation. Combining history, a look at the causes of social upheaval, and current events, The Great Emergence shows readers what the Great Emergence in church and culture is, how it came to be, and where it is going. Anyone who is interested in the future of the church in America, no matter what their personal affiliation, will find this book a fascinating exploration. Study guide by Danielle Shroyer.
Download or read book Spiritual Kindergarten written by R. Joseph Owles and published by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform. This book was released on 2018-01-03 with total page 106 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: If you are new to The Rule of Saint Benedict, then this abridged version of is a good place to begin. The Rule of Saint Benedict, as expressed by Benedict, is not a graduate-level course for spiritual geniuses. The Rule is more like Spiritual Kindergarten. It is not for those who have progressed and graduated from a long process of spiritual development and maturity. It is for those who are looking for a place to start. It is an entry level spirituality. It is the simple spiritual arithmetic of adding and subtracting that makes the more advanced spiritual Trigonometry and Calculus of religious maturity possible. Many people have found wisdom in the pages of Saint Benedict's Rule. Many have found a sense of order - personal, spiritual, and social - amidst the seemingly increasing disorder around them. Some may dismiss the Rule as a simple set of dos and don'ts that they have no interest in following. Others have come to view the Rule as a simple expression of helpful suggestions that foster stability and peace. If only all that monastic stuff were removed, then perhaps what remained would be of value to the rest of us. If the remaining chapters were pared down in places, and the language were more common, then, perhaps it would become more applicable to everyday life. If words like "monastery," "abbot," and even "monk" were removed, and replaced with words like "community," "religious leader," and "religious people," then maybe we could see how to utilize it in our homes, with our families, at our places of employment, and in our churches. There are no more "If onlys" about it. That is what this book set out to do. Always we begin again: day by day, month by month, year by year, second by second, breath by breath, and with The Rule of Saint Benedict, page by page, chapter by chapter. The end takes us back to the beginning, and the beginning guides us once more to the ending. The Rule is a beginning, but we are never finished. We simply begin again, who and where we are at that moment.
Download or read book Leaving Christianity written by Stuart Macdonald and published by McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP. This book was released on 2017-11-30 with total page 219 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Canadians were once church-goers. During the post-war boom of the 1950s, Canadian churches were vibrant institutions, with attendance rates even higher than in the United States, but the following decade witnessed emptying pews. What happened? In Leaving Christianity Brian Clarke and Stuart Macdonald quantitatively map the nature and extent of Canadians’ disengagement with organized religion and assess the implications for Canadian society and its religious institutions. Drawing on a wide array of national and denominational statistics, they illustrate how the exodus that began with disaffected baby boomers and their parents has become so widespread that religiously unaffiliated Canadians are now the new majority. While the old mainstream Protestant churches have been the hardest hit, the Roman Catholic Church has also experienced a significant decline in numbers, especially in Quebec. Canada’s civil society has historically depended on church members for support, and a massive drift away from churches has profound implications for its future. Leaving Christianity documents the true extent of the decline, the timing of it, and the reasons for this major cultural shift.
Download or read book Christianity After Religion written by Diana Butler Bass and published by Harper Collins. This book was released on 2012-03-13 with total page 257 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Diana Butler Bass, one of contemporary Christianity’s leading trend-spotters, exposes how the failings of the church today are giving rise to a new “spiritual but not religious” movement. Using evidence from the latest national polls and from her own cutting-edge research, Bass, the visionary author of A People’s History of Christianity, continues the conversation began in books like Brian D. McLaren’s A New Kind of Christianity and Harvey Cox’s The Future of Faith, examining the connections—and the divisions—between theology, practice, and community that Christians experience today. Bass’s clearly worded, powerful, and probing Christianity After Religion is required reading for anyone invested in the future of Christianity.
