Showing results for "The Dark" in Christianity

With His gentle hand He wounded my neck And caused all my senses to be suspended. Part poetic masterpiece, part mystic treatise, The Dark Night of the Soul by 16th century Carmelite monk, St. John of the Cross, addresses the feeling of being forgotten by the Presence of the Almighty that every Christian desirous of walking more closely with God must pass through in order to learn to walk by faith and not by sight.

Lament is how we bring our sorrow to God - but it is a neglected dimension of the Christian life for many Christians today. We need to recover the practice of honest spiritual struggle that gives us permission to vocalize our pain and wrestle with our sorrow. Lament avoids trite answers and quick solutions, progressively moving us toward deeper worship and trust.

This collection of Buechner’s many sermons delivered throughout his lifetime is organized chronologically to reveal the development of his theology and thinking. Culled from great works such as The Magnificent Defeat, The Clown in the Belfry, A Room Called Remember, The Hungering Dark, and The...

It's unnerving, isn't it? When our faith feels ungrounded, untethered . . . unreal. When our certainty is adrift, as though an undercurrent has pulled us away from shore into the deep, into the darkness. And if this is you—if you're in a dark night of the soul—please know that you are not alone. (And you are not as far away from safety as you may feel or fear.) The night is not your enemy. In fact, the night is necessary. Revered author, speaker, and mentor Dr. Alicia Britt Chole offers a groundbreaking perspective that reveals spiritual disillusionment as an unexpected friend.

Sometimes the most valuable treasures are found in the darkest of times. In fact, it's often in the very heart of our deepest pain and struggle that God chooses to reveal his most precious gifts. Let Katherine Wolf lead you in finding the hope God has for you in your most painful places. In our...

Our historians today often only emphasize negative interactions between the races, and dismally fail to relay a COMPLETE HISTORY, which tells of how the noble ones of all races protected and helped one another in our country. From the inspiring examples of parents, grandparents, and ancestors, Debra undoubtedly drew strength. Many of their stories are in the opening chapters of the book. The narrative continues through the turbulent 1960s and 1970s.

Is Your God Big Enough to Be Questioned? The freedom to question is an indispensable and sacred practice that is absolutely vital to the health of our communities.According to author David Dark, when religion won’t tolerate questions, objections, or differences of opinion, and when it only...

What do we do with the disruption, disorientation, and devastation of loss? How do we survive unpredictable grief, ongoing suffering, and the questions about God that happen in the dark nights of our lives? In What We Find in the Dark, author and pastor Aubrey Sampson writes through the illness and death of her best friend, offering raw, real, and fought-for spiritual wisdom and practical insights for loss, grief, and doubt. What We Find in the Dark not only helps us locate ourselves on the journey of loss but gives honesty, hope, and direction for what’s ahead.

Confession is a crucial ritual of the Catholic Church, offering absolution of sin and spiritual guidance to the faithful. Yet this ancient sacrament has also been a source of controversy and oppression, culminating, as prize-winning historian John Cornwell reveals in The Dark Box, with the scandal of clerical child abuse. Drawing on extensive historical sources, contemporary reports, and first-hand accounts, Cornwell takes a hard look at the long evolution of confession.

Feeling a chill amidst the warmth of the season? Sensing a shadow lurking behind the tinsel and lights? Experience the darker visions hidden within our brightest holiday. Come listen to the water ghost's story as she spends Christmas Eve haunting Harrowby Hill.

At the center of The Dark Night of the Soul (La noche oscura del alma) is a poem written by the 16th century Spanish poet and mystic St John of the Cross. Consisting of eight stanzas, each of five lines, the poem outlines the journey in pursuit of divine union, within which the only source of light comes from the soul. This recording in English includes the poem itself and St John's two accompanying treatises (1584-1585), essentially commentaries, which offer line-by-line explanations of the poem. Many modern listeners have found guidance and consolation in this work.

The Dark Night of the Soul explores not only the torments and elations of a soul’s spiritual journey, but also expounds on man’s relationship with God and the natural longing for union with the Creator. Known as a doctor of mysticism, St. John of the Cross uniquely and profoundly delves into the intimidating world of spirituality and Christianity. In this work there are ideas explored that bring light to the deep afflictions of the soul as well as the true exaltation and joy that occurs closer on the path to communion with God.

The time after Good Friday but before Easter Sunday is one of the most overlooked portions of the Bible. We tend to rush ahead to the empty tomb seeking to find the resurrected Lord, but our lives don't come equipped with a fast-forward button. We all face seasons of waiting where we long for a new or better future.

Where did our modern notions about God, science, and humanity come from? Begin in the Mediterranean world of late antiquity, with the decline of Rome and the ascent of Christianity. Explore vigorous Christian debates over the appropriation of pagan thought along with the implications of these debates for medieval thinking. Follow the lively arguments over the origin of the cosmos, the laws of nature, and the extent of God's direct role in natural changes and miraculous events.

Out of the Dark is Mandisa’s exploration of the journey she’s taken from when she first became a Christian to her rise as an American Idol finalist and receiving multiple Grammy and Dove Award nominations, as well as the dark and challenging times she experienced along the way. She writes personally and openly about the hardships she has faced and the way she felt betrayed by God, but also about how God has brought her out of the valley into His glorious light. Along the way, she also shares her struggles in learning how to love her body and care for her health.

Christians are supposed to be “the light of the world.” Yet we seem to spend most of our time stumbling in the dark. We want answers carved in stone, and instead we get uncertainty. We want a clearly marked path and a panoramic view of the future, and God gives us only fleeting glimpses of what lies ahead—and just enough light to take the next step.

New York Times Bestseller From the New York Times bestselling author of An Altar in the World, Barbara Brown Taylor’s Learning to Walk in the Dark provides a way to find spirituality in those times when we don’t have all the answers. Taylor has become increasingly uncomfortable with our...

While there are many books about writing, none deal firsthand with the intersection of songwriting, storytelling, and vocation, along with nuts-and-bolts exploration of the great mystery of creativity. In Adorning the Dark, Andrew describes six principles for the writing life: serving the work, serving the audience, selectivity, discernment, discipline, and community. Through stories from his own journey, Andrew shows how these principles are not merely helpful for writers and artists but for anyone interested in imitating the way the Creator interacts with his creation.

In this revised edition of Defeating Dark Angels, Dr. Charles H. Kraft, a retired evangelical seminary professor and experienced deliverance minister, reveals everything you need to know. With clarity and biblical insight, he explains why and how dark forces come against God's people; our authority as Christians over demons; how to resist the influence of demons; how to break their hold on the lives of others; and the need for continued healing and care after deliverance through counseling.

The Christian world has been rocked by the number of prominent leaders, in both church and parachurch organizations, who have been compromised by moral, ethical, and theological failures. This pace-setting volume addresses this alarming problem and offers Christian leaders valuable guidance in dealing with the inherent risks of their work.