Download or read book Stumbling into Grace written by Lisa Harper and published by HarperChristian + ORM. This book was released on 2011-08-01 with total page 220 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “Lisa’s fine grasp of Scripture and love for the Lord make her a trustworthy teacher, yet we learn from her own hard-earned lessons as well. She speaks and writes from a place of understanding, as she clings to God’s hand, giving us the privilege of stumbling into grace with her.” —LIZ CURTIS HIGGS, best-selling author of Bad Girls of the Bible “So, today I’ve been thinking about...things that bind us. The thought flitted around my mind and then landed for a while, likely because I was wearing a pair of too-tight jeans.” Women of Faith® speaker and author Lisa Harper relates from experience — life can be uncertain, sometimes even scary. But with a witty twinkle in her eye and a Bible in her hand, she describes what it’s like to find real security in the arms of a Savior who doesn’t just notice us but who moves heaven and earth on our behalf. Part diary, part devotional, Stumbling Into Grace weaves hilarious and poignant stories from Lisa’s own life with intimate and transformational encounters from the life of Christ. Prayers, reflection questions, and journal prompts help women dig deep into biblical truths to better understand how our Redeemer’s compassion, affection, and constancy make every single moment of life not only more enjoyable but well worth living!

Download or read book Stumbling Toward Grace written by Rosalia Scalia and published by . This book was released on 2021-11-09 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Sometimes we try to connect to others, especially people we love but end up missing each other for a variety of reasons. The stories in this collection, STUMBLING TOWARD GRACE explore instances of imperfect people trying to connect to loved ones and others despite fractured relationships and personal flaws. Often they fail, as in the story "Hidden in Boxes" when Kathy can no longer tolerate her husband's paralysis after the accidental death of their only son. Charlie, in 'You'll Do Fine," wants his wife to stay as she's packing to leave the marriage because he fails to realize he's stuck in a loop of a job-related trauma. In the title story, "Stumbling Toward Grace," an elderly father dying of AIDS, Otto yearns to reconnect with his estranged daughter after he had disowned her for marrying a Black man. In "Sister Rafaele Heals the Sick," a freelance nun, Sister Rafaele, is invited to live with a single mom and her children and tries to save them from the secular world. Many of the stories in the collection have been published, and some of won literary prizes, including a Maryland State Art Council Individual Artist Grant and the Editors Select Award, among others.

Download or read book Stumbling Into Grace written by Mary Pezzulo and published by . This book was released on 2021-04-23 with total page 160 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Mary Pezzulo intended to learn all about God through graduate studies in philosophy and Christian ethics, but serious illness ruined those plans and landed her young family in desperate straits. Despite chronic illness, deep poverty, blatant discrimination, and the cruelty she encountered, Pezzulo began tripping over God in the tiny works of mercy she offered to others and received herself. With striking candor and gritty faith she shows us how we also can meet God in the smallest acts of love. When Pezzulo began her blog Steel Magnificat in 2016, she never imagined she would be writing so much about poverty, discrimination, abuse, or the loneliness of chronic illness. Nor did she realize that the corporal and spiritual works of mercy would bring stark clarity and unflinching hope to her life. She had moved to Steubenville, Ohio, to study philosophy and ethics so that she could teach people about Jesus and make the world a better place. She expected to find God in beautiful churches, inspiring books, and the spoken words of brilliant scholars. But when her life and professional ambitions crumbled around her, she entered a terrible darkness and floundered in desperate poverty, illness, and the lingering trauma of abuse. In that dark time, Pezzulo began to know mercy, finding God in countless tiny acts. In Stumbling into Grace she shows how the works of mercy have become her anchor in turbulence and calm, piercing sorrow and ridiculous joy, overcoming despair and bringing enduring hope. Now she shares with you how to live the works of mercy in your own life. When Feeding the Hungry, keep in mind that the more needy the person you're feeding is the more care you should take--these are the people who are most in need of hope and visible acts of love. Instructing the Ignorant begins with helping people and forming good relationships because people are worth it. Giving Drink to the Thirsty can mean advocacy and charitable giving that support access to clean water for those throughout the world just as much as it means offering drinks to anyone who enters your home. Counseling the Doubtful starts with acknowledging that faith is bigger than all of us and that it's not wrong to have questions, doubts, or to look at another faith to see if its beliefs and practices are closer to your spiritual longings. Clothing the Naked means restoring a sense of dignity to every part of a person by providing appropriate, comfortable, and good-looking clothing, and by protecting people from gossip and prejudice.

Download or read book Stumbling Into Infinity written by Michael Fischman and published by Morgan James Publishing. This book was released on 2009-04-01 with total page 296 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An American truth seeker recounts his life-changing friendship with the spiritual leader Sri Sri Ravi Shankar in this intimate memoir. Michael Fischman is the president of His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar’s Art of Living Foundation in the United States. In this intimate memoir, Fischman recounts his startling spiritual journey from childhood in New York “among the tribe of people known as the Jewish Middle Class” to befriending and working with the humanitarian and spiritual leader who changed his life. His story is a compelling narrative that blends remarkable experiences with an inner struggle and search for meaning. “In writing this story, different eras and their flavors came to life again—the world of Orthodox Jews I grew up in; twenty years of teaching meditation and breathing to people around the world; the traumas and triumphs of self-discovery in the Caribbean and Jerusalem; the spiritual traditions of India that became so meaningful to me; and the remarkable atmosphere around the enlightened master I fell in love with” (from the prologue). “Michael Fischman’s journey reveals how fears and negative emotions can be transformed into love, compassion, and higher consciousness when a student has an authentic relationship with a wise teacher.” —Deepak Chopra

Download or read book Relentless Love written by Lisa Harper and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2010-06-15 with total page 194 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Are you ready to be found? Open the pages of this book, and open your hear to His relentless love. If you are honest enough to admit that you aren't perfect, this book will guide you to a Redeemer whose love for you isn't bound by your behavior. If you need to know that God's love will remain steadfast and true—no matter what—this book is for you. He is pursuing you at this very moment.

Download or read book Overextended and Loving Most of It written by Lisa Harper and published by Thomas Nelson. This book was released on 2013-09-03 with total page 221 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Would you consider your life stretched to the limit? Are you a burn-the-candle-at-both-ends kind of gal with lots of room for improvement when it comes to creating margins for rest? But you actually love it and wouldn’t want it any other way? Well, so does Lisa Harper. In her humorous and packed-with-biblical-wisdom way, Lisa shows us that it is possible for a frazzled nature to be glorifying to the Lord. Every late-night conversation with a hurting friend and each precious, adopted child needing a little extra tender loving care—exhausting, yet imperative, ways to be extensions of the gospel. In each of these vignettes illustrating Lisa’s overextended life, we learn that even in the middle of our own pure motives and hectic schedules, it is only by resting in God’s sovereign mercy that we are able to keep risking our hearts to serve his people and fulfill the callings he has placed on us. Real life . . . abundant life . . . godly life is about loving Jesus and the people he allows us to rub shoulders with well—which means some days you’ll be stretched emotionally and physically. You’ll feel overextended. Thankfully God will expand our hearts and calendars to accommodate the calling. He is in the business of supplying us with new mercies every morning . . . new candles to burn, for more lives needing his light.

Download or read book A Perfect Mess written by Lisa Harper and published by WaterBrook. This book was released on 2009-06-02 with total page 226 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: On those days when French fries litter the floor of your minivan, when you think bad words about other drivers, when your smile hides an anxious heart–in those moments when you fall short of all you’d hoped to be–what does God see when He looks at you? In your less-than-lovely moments, God sees a precious daughter in need of His perfect love. In this liberating look at how God adores and transforms imperfect people, Bible teacher Lisa Harper weaves poignant stories of her own personal foibles with a fresh take on selected Psalms to reveal a loving Father who remains your greatest champion even when you don’t feel anywhere close to holy. Join Lisa in discovering what happens when we stop trying to hide our inadequacies and doubts and instead trust God with our anger, frustrations, flaws, and regrets. As you accept God’s loving invitation to exchange your junk for His joy, you’ll find the imperfect pieces of your life shaped into a glorious pattern of divine grace.

Download or read book The Sacrament of Happy written by Lisa Harper and published by B&H Publishing Group. This book was released on 2017-06-01 with total page 143 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: God is good, God does good, and oh, how He wants you to be happy. In her new book, The Sacrament of Happy: What a Smiling God Brings to a Wounded World, Lisa Harper unveils that happiness is a gift from God that we can unashamedly enjoy. Happiness tends to be cast as a fluffy emotion without substance rather than a biblical concept, but this is not theologically accurate. Wearing the twin hats of both seminarian and belly-laughing adoptive mom, Lisa Harper dismantles the old-school idea that joy, not happiness, is the truly spiritual emotion, and asserts that Christ-followers are actually called to happiness. We are called to happiness, and this happiness is not impacted by personal or global tumult. In fact, happiness is a sacrament. The general definition of sacrament is “a visible sign of inward grace.” In communities of faith, it most often refers to holy communion or the Eucharist. In the broadest understanding, however, a sacrament is a gift bestowed by God, and in that case, ‘happiness’ is absolutely a sacrament—a visible, sometimes even audible, sign of inward grace! Lisa shares heart-wrenching difficult stories from her past, as well as some side-splitting hilarity along the way. Throughout the book, we see that happiness and sadness can coexist and ebb and flow like the tides. Christine Caine, Founder of A21 & Propel Women, had this to say about Lisa’s new book: "The Sacrament of Happy—like all of Lisa’s messages and books—enriches my understanding of God and His Word—and His great love for us. As always, she unfolds biblical truth so clearly and calls me to action. Every. Single. Time.”

Download or read book Embracing Grace written by Scot McKnight and published by Paraclete Press. This book was released on 2005-11-01 with total page 114 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This fascinating book explains that the gospel is about the restoration of "cracked Eikons" (fallen humans) so that humans can be in union with God and in communion with the saints. In the candid and lucid style that has made McKnight's The Jesus Creed so appealing to thousands of pastors, lay leaders, and everyday people who are searching for a more authentic faith, he encourages all Christians to recognize the simple, yet potentially transforming truth of the gospel message: God seeks to restore us to wholeness not only to make us better individuals, but to form a community of Jesus, a society in which humans strive to be in union with God and in communion with others.

Download or read book Stone Crossings written by L. L. Barkat and published by InterVarsity Press. This book was released on 2008-03-17 with total page 177 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Grace. Sometimes it's hard to see. And even harder to receive. When you're hurt or angry or confused or doubtful, grace can seem as hard to grasp as sky. But actually, it's as real and solid as stones: tangible, weighty, something to hold on to, a way through streams of pain, shame, abuse. In these pages L.L. Barkat shares her own painful, powerful story with us. Weaving in truth from Scripture, words from other writers and stories of people who've come alongside her in her journey, she shows us the unexpected ways and places she's discovered grace: grace that has helped her open her heart to love, discover a way past fear, find freedom from shame. Her story will help you find the rock of God's grace in the midst of your own broken, hard places. And his grace will give you a new story to tell.

Download or read book Untamed written by Lisa Harper and published by WaterBrook Press. This book was released on 2010-06-01 with total page 225 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Too many people settle for relating to Jesus merely as a comfortable friend and companion, when what we all need is an untamed Savior, a fearless champion tough enough to conquer our shame and compelling enough for us to follow Him without hesitation.

Download or read book Sensible Shoes written by Sharon Garlough Brown and published by InterVarsity Press. This book was released on 2013-02-27 with total page 353 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Sharon Garlough Brown tells the moving story of four strangers as they reluctantly arrive at a retreat center and find themselves drawn out of their separate stories of isolation and struggle and into a collective journey of spiritual practice, mutual support and personal revelation.

Download or read book Gentle and Lowly written by Dane C. Ortlund and published by Crossway. This book was released on 2020-03-18 with total page 192 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Christians know that God loves them, but can easily feel that he is perpetually disappointed and frustrated, maybe even close to giving up on them. As a result, they focus a lot—and rightly so—on what Jesus has done to appease God’s wrath for sin. But how does Jesus Christ actually feel about his people amid all their sins and failures? This book draws us to Matthew 11, where Jesus describes himself as “gentle and lowly in heart,” longing for his people to find rest in him. The gospel flows from God’s deepest heart for his people, a heart of tender love for the sinful and suffering. These chapters take readers into the depths of Christ’s very heart for sinners, diving deep into Bible passages that speak of who Christ is and encouraging readers with the affections of Christ for his people. His longing heart for sinners comforts and sustains readers in their up-and-down lives.

Download or read book Making Peace with Change written by Gina Brenna Butz and published by Our Daily Bread Publishing. This book was released on 2020-02-05 with total page 137 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Change is hard. Whether it’s a good transition like a job promotion or a bad disruption like a devastating health diagnosis, it’s stressful. Gina Brenna Butz shares her personal stories of struggling with change and encourages you to trust God. She writes with compassion as she urges you to rely on God’s goodness, lean on Him for strength, rejoice that He is constant, and ultimately to find satisfaction in Him rather than in circumstances. Scripture helps you see change from the viewpoint of your heavenly Father. You can rest knowing He works all things together for the good of His children, even in seasons of stress-inducing change.

Download or read book How Much More Bible Study Book written by LISA. HARPER and published by . This book was released on 2021-07 with total page 176 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Have you ever wished certain passages weren't in the Bible? It can be all too easy to trade the truth of God's grace and mercy for a skewed view of certain biblical texts that seem to paint God as oppressive, distant, or difficult to understand. Upon closer examination, this harsh view of God is the exact opposite of His true character. God welcomes His children with deep compassion and care, while holding all power and authority. In this 7-session study, discover God's extravagant love in some of Scripture's most misunderstood passages. Because the God of the Old Testament is the same redemptive, loving, and grace-filled God we see through Christ in the New Testament. How Much More will show you that God is for you--even in the places He may have seemed silent before. Features: Leader helps to guide questions and discussions within small groups Personal study segments to complete among 7 weeks of group sessions Seven enriching teaching videos, approximately 30-40 minutes per session, available for purchase or rent Benefits: Tackle some overlooked or misunderstood passages in Scripture, uncovering how they ultimately show God's kind character. Explore the historical-cultural context of biblical texts to grasp their deeper meaning. Learn about God's real redemption from real stories in the Bible and how He longs to redeem your story too. Allow a renewed understanding of God's perfect compassion and perfect holiness to drive you to deeper intimacy and trust in Him.

Download or read book Grace Revealed written by Fred Sievert and published by BroadStreet Publishing Group LLC. This book was released on 2018-01-01 with total page 266 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Trust in the Unmerited Gift of God’s Grace You can’t escape the inevitable crises that will face you throughout your lifetime. Whether it’s health problems, emotional issues, career challenges, gut-wrenching losses, or other failures, these experiences can destroy your morale and lead you into despair. Some crises may be a result of your own choices, while others may be completely out of your control. Whatever the source, there is a lasting solution that comes to you free of charge from above: God’s amazing grace. In Grace Revealed, you will:Experience real-life stories of others who discover they are not alone and that relief is within their grasp.See how devastating afflictions can be overcome through faith in Jesus and His love, mercy, and grace.Learn how God’s grace transforms lives and leads you into enduring and rewarding Christian service.Be inspired to encourage others who are suffering but cannot seek help on their own. Read these undeniable, modern-day examples of God’s loving grace and its transformative power, and discover that God is always present in your time of need.

Download or read book Malachi Bible Study Book written by Lisa Harper and published by Lifeway Church Resources. This book was released on 2012-06 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An 8 session, video-based women's Bible study on the book of Malachi by Lisa Harper.