Many times Christians excitedly receive a promise or vision from God. From that moment forward, they want to tell the whole world what God is going to do in and through them. It’s so exciting to have a promise from God. The Bible says, “Where there is no vision, the people perish” (Proverbs 29:18). But when God gives us a promise or vision, it takes time to see it fulfilled. Rarely is the vision for tomorrow or even the next year. It’s for a certain time set by God. He shows it to you early, but He still wants to prepare you for the journey ahead. Many Christians get discouraged during this process and walk away from God. But so many people in the Bible—like Abraham, Joseph, and David—had to go through years of preparation before they saw their visions fulfilled. They waited a long time, probably longer than most of us. Be encouraged and don’t let a thing called time destroy you before you even start. God is for you, and what He’s promised He will bring to pass.

Church boards and other Christian leadership teams have long relied on models adapted from the business world. Ruth Haley Barton, president of the Transforming Center, helps teams transition to a much more fitting model—the spiritual community that practices discernment together.

To live your life to the full, you need a healthy body, soul, and spirit. Although this sounds like a daunting task, you can discover a healthier way of living through spiritual fasting, a practice that touches every element of spirit, body, and soul. Serving as a vital checkpoint, fasting is an opportunity to clear the clutter, noise, and junk from your system. In turn, as you lean in to God and listen for His direction, you will become spiritually full, mentally well, and physically energized. The book Daniel Fast Journey makes the Daniel Fast accessible for you by showing you the importance of fasting, the spiritual foundation of fasting (spirit), how to prepare your mind for fasting (mind), the ins-and-outs of the Daniel fast (body). Once you've discovered the holistic health benefits for your spirit, soul, and body and committed to fasting,, you can dive into the last part of the book that contains recipes and meal plans for use whenever you engage in a Daniel Fast. As you learn to make fasting a regular part of your life, you will hear from God, find direction and purpose, and flourish in your health.

Luann Budd offers to help you get started journaling, and she introduces you to the power of writing as a spiritual discipline through helpful tips and examples from her own journals.

Are you sensitive to what is taking place in the spiritual realm? Have you ever been adversely affected by a negative atmosphere? You may have the spiritual gift of discernment. The gift of discernment of spirits is a powerful weapon in times of spiritual warfare, and can be of great assistance in prayer, and when ministering freedom to individuals. And yet many who have the gift of discernment have difficulty knowing what to do with what they are feeling or sensing. If you can relate to this, in this powerful 121-page booklet you will learn some straightforward principles to help you grow in your gift of discernment, overcome fear and spiritual attack, and exercise your gift in church life. In 'Unlocking the Gift of Discernment', you will discover: —Signs that you may have a discernment gift —How the highest use of discernment is to perceive what the Holy Spirit is doing —Ways that you can develop your gift —Keys to exercising the gift of discernment in church life —How to protect yourself from the negative effects than many discerners experience —How to overcome spiritual attack —And much more! In ‘Unlocking Your Gift Of Discernment,’ Helen shares practical insights that she has learned from her personal journey as a discerner and a prayer leader. This book is a powerful and essential tool to help you grow and use your gift of discernment. Chapter List: 1. Introducing the Spiritual Gift of Discernment 2. Signs You may have the Gift of Discernment 3. Your Heart as a Discerner 4. How to Grow Your Gift of Discernment 5. Ministry Areas that Benefit from the Discernment Gift 6. Tips on Exercising Discernment in Church Life 7. Focus on the Spirit, Feed on God's Word 8. Freedom from Fear of Evil 9. Protection for the Discerner 10. How to Overcome Spiritual Attack 11. Encounter God's Glory

A unique look at Christian biblical interpretation and theology from the perspective of Native American tradition. This book focuses on four specific experiences of Jesus as portrayed in the synoptic gospels. It examines each story as a “vision quest,” a universal spiritual phenomenon, but one of particular importance within North American indigenous communities. Jesus’ experience in the wilderness is the first quest. It speaks to a foundational Native American value: the need to enter into the “we” rather than the “I.” The Transfiguration is the second quest, describing the Native theology of transcendent spirituality that impacts reality and shapes mission. Gethsemane is the third quest. It embodies the Native tradition of the holy men or women, who find their freedom through discipline and concerns for justice, compassion, and human dignity. Golgotha is the final quest. It represents the Native sacrament of sacrifice (e.g., the Sun Dance). The chapter on Golgotha is a discussion of kinship, balance, and harmony: all primary to Native tradition and integral to Christian thought.

Listen to the prayer of the apostle Paul for his beloved church in Philippi: “this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and all discernment; so that ye may approve the things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and void of offence unto the day of Christ” (Phil. 1.9-10). What was it that inspired him to offer such a prayer for the dear saints in Philippi? Do we today desperately need the same prayer? We talk about love and fellowship, and yet we encounter many problems and failures. What is the missing link to a glorious church? Can it be the lack of “full knowledge and all perception that ye may prove [or, distinguish] the things that differ” (literal translation)? Certainly spiritual discernment is the pressing need of today. How can we obtain this full knowledge of God? Where do we get spiritual discernment that we may know the things which differ or are more excellent? These are the matters which brother Watchman Nee tried to address during his latter years of ministry. This present volume, entitled Spiritual Discernment is composed of three parts: Abound in Knowledge, Abound in Discernment, and Approve the Excellent. The Publishers were able to acquire these Notes in Chinese recently, and they have now been translated into English for sharing with the English-speaking saints. May these Notes help many in meeting the pressing need of today.

Bible study, research, and fieldwork merge in this book of practical principles for decision making by spiritual discernment. The step-by-step approach can be used to help any size group learn a new way to make decisions--a way that is interactive, spiritual, and rooted in faith practices and community. Small groups, committees, church boards, church leaders at all levels, and seminary professors will find this book valuable. This is a revised and updated version of the book, originally published in 1997. This new version inclused revised and updated material, as well as a new introduction by Charles Olsen.

A New York Times Notable Book A Kirkus Reviews Best Book of 2012 A bold approach to understanding the American evangelical experience from an anthropological and psychological perspective by one of the country's most prominent anthropologists. Through a series of intimate, illuminating interviews with various members of the Vineyard, an evangelical church with hundreds of congregations across the country, Tanya Luhrmann leaps into the heart of evangelical faith. Combined with scientific research that studies the effect that intensely practiced prayer can have on the mind, When God Talks Back examines how normal, sensible people—from college students to accountants to housewives, all functioning perfectly well within our society—can attest to having the signs and wonders of the supernatural become as quotidian and as ordinary as laundry. Astute, sensitive, and extraordinarily measured in its approach to the interface between science and religion, Luhrmann's book is sure to generate as much conversation as it will praise.

Discernment: Reading the Signs of Daily Life features the wisdom that spiritual leader and counselor Henri J. M. Nouwen brought to the essential question asked by every Christian and seeker: What should I do with my life? Nouwen emphasizes listening to the Word of God—in our hearts, in the Bible, in the community of faith, and in the voice of the poor as a way to discern God’s plan. Although the late Henri J. M. Nouwen counseled many people during his lifetime, his principles of discernment were never collected into a single volume. Now, in association with the Nouwen Legacy Trust, Michael Christensen—one of Nouwen’s longtime students—and Rebecca Laird have taken his coursework, journals, and unpublished writings to create this and other books in the series exploring God’s will for your life.