More than half of Americans live in the suburbs. Yet for many Christians, the suburbs are ignored, demeaned, or seen as a selfish cop-out from a faithful Christian life. What does it look like to live a full Christian life in the suburbs? Ashley Hales invites you to look deeply into your soul as a suburbanite and discover what it means to live holy there.

"Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy." Yeah, right. Sabbath-keeping seems quaint in our 24/7, twenty-first century world. Life often feels impossibly full, what with work, to-do lists, kid activities, chores, and errands. And laundry... always and forever laundry. But the Sabbath isn't just one of the ten commandments; it is a delight that can transform the other six days of the week. Join one family's quest to take Sabbath to heart and change their frenetic way of living by keeping a Sabbath day each week for one year. With lively and compelling prose, MaryAnn McKibben Dana documents their experiment with holy time as a guide for families of all shapes and sizes. Tips are included in each chapter to help make your own Sabbath experiment successful.

Society constantly tells us to follow our dreams and live our best lives. But contrary to what we've been told, the good life we crave is not accomplished through limitless possibilities or even hustle and hurry—it can only be found in the confines of God's loving limits. Inviting us to discover a better way, Ashley Hales shows us a spacious life filled with purpose, joy, and rest.

In Search of A Holy Land is a perfectly timed memoir told with brisk honesty and sharp humour. Sweeping from the suburbs of North London to the olive groves of Palestine, it explores a life of excess-to-spirituality impacted by the struggle of a distant people. Paddling the celebrity shallows of the 1990's as *Tony Blair's sister-in-law*, Lauren Booth explored everything city life had on offer; appearing on reality TV shows and at the opening of a paper bag (if it meant freebies). Yet, as a cautious Christian, she was drawn to the Holy Land too. Given the chance to visit Palestine, instead of finding the faith of her Catholic heritage, she became embroiled in the people's struggle, accidentally breaking a deadly siege by land and sea, playing handball with Hamas and witnessing daily acts of patience and courage which would change her forever. Above all In Search of A Holy Land is a witty personal odyssey calling the reader to consider the universal question; `what's this life thing all about?'

Julie Lyons was working as a crime reporter when she followed a hunch into the South Dallas ghetto. She wasn’t hunting drug dealers, but drug addicts who had been supernaturally healed of their addictions. Was there a church in the most violent part of the city that prayed for addicts and got results? At The Body of Christ Assembly, a rundown church on an out-of-the-way street, Lyons found the story she was looking for. The minister welcomed criminals, prostitutes, and street people–anyone who needed God. He prayed for the sick, the addicted, and the demon-possessed, and people were supernaturally healed. Lyons’s story landed on the front page of the Dallas Times Herald. But she got much more than just a great story, she found an unlikely spiritual home. Though the parishioners at The Body of Christ Assembly are black and Pentecostal, and Lyons is white and from a traditional church background, she embraced their spirituality–that of “the Holy Ghost and fire.” It’s all here in Holy Roller–the stories of people desperate for God’s help. And the actions of a God who doesn’t forget the people who need His power.

Describing childhood in suburban California, a poignant portrait of growing up in the grid of tract houses and carefully measured streets illustrates the good, the bad, and the difficulties found in being ordinary.

With the honesty of a close friend, the hilarity of a late-night comic, and the humility of a mom up to her eyeballs in diapers and dishes, Courtney Ellis invites us on a journey to draw closer God amid the joyful, mundane, exhausting days of young parenthood. Probing ancient Christian practices for renewal, Almost Holy Mama chronicles one mom's quest to discover an answer to her most pressing question: Can God use the challenges of parenthood to grow your character? You long to spend time with God and catch your spiritual breath, but you find yourself honestly wondering—how and when? Ellis gets it. It's hard to carve out space for a "quiet moment" with God, let alone a "quiet time!" Instead of adding more tasks to your plate, Almost Holy Mama will help you integrate your spiritual practices into your daily life. From studying Scripture in the shower to listening in prayer at the foot of Laundry Mountain, Ellis finds that meeting God in sacred disciplines can breathe new life into one of life's most joy-filled and trying seasons. Perfect for parents, gifts for expecting parents, single mother/father groups, foster parents and guardians, pastors, counselors, and more!

Like an ecosystem, cities develop, change, thrive, adapt, expand, and contract through the interaction of myriad components. Religion is one of those living parts, shaping and being shaped by urban contexts. The Routledge Handbook of Religion and Cities is an outstanding interdisciplinary reference source to the key topics, problems, and methodologies of this cutting-edge subject. Representing a diverse array of cities and religions, the common analytical approach is ecological and spatial. It is the first collection of its kind and reflects state-of-the-art research focusing on the interaction of religions and their urban contexts. Comprising 29 chapters, by a team of international contributors, the Handbook is divided into three parts: Research methodologies Religious frameworks and ideologies in urban contexts Contemporary issues in religion and cities Within these sections, emerging research and analysis of current dynamics of urban religions are examined, including: housing, economics, and gentrification; sacred ritual and public space; immigration and the refugee crisis; political conflicts and social change; ethnic and religious diversity; urban policy and religion; racial justice; architecture and the built environment; religious art and symbology; religion and urban violence; technology and smart cities; the challenge of climate change for global cities; and religious meaning-making of the city. The Routledge Handbook of Religion and Cities is essential reading for students and researchers in religious studies and urban studies. The Handbook will also be very useful for those in related fields, such as sociology, history, architecture, urban planning, theology, social work, and cultural studies.

Fourth in a series of award-winning children's books, Can You Find Saints? Introducing Your Child to Holy Men and Women teaches children and the adults in their lives about saints and the holy lives they led. Full of colorful and witty illustrations, the book invites children to search the illustrations for a variety of objects relating to the featured saints, from well-known saints such as Mary, Francis of Assisi and Bernadette to lesser-known saints such as Linus, Jane Frances de Chantal and Juan Diego. More than a dozen searches introduce children to saints in the Bible, patron saints, saints who worked miracles, saints who were popes, saints who founded religious orders, saints whom the Church celebrates in a special way, saints from various walks of life, saints who lived in recent times, and those people who can be called "saints in the making." To help start family and classroom discussion, a complete guide for adults is included, explaining the special items in each illustration and giving thumbnail biographies of each saint.

Many people are facing life-threatening diseases, terminal illness, and the long-term care of elderly parents, but have few resources to rely on in these difficult times. They often keep their challenges private only to suffer in silence with no real support system. This book delivers practical solutions to the problems everyone must deal with when they are experiencing the degradation of the quality of their life or the potential loss of a loved one. Based on experiences derived from 25 years of prayer ministry, Bertram’s Hidden Treasures provides insight and guidance to equip patients, family members, and friends to walk through these challenging times with foresight, looking for and expecting to see God at work in many miraculous ways. It offers sound advice grounded in the truths found in Scripture and the wisdom revealed through real-life stories and case studies. This book helps those who have ever wondered . . . If God is good, why are we going through this? What will our family do during this crisis? How do we fight the fear that is trying to consume us? How can we encourage reconciliation in our family? Where can we find peace in the journey? What happens when we die? Is there life after death? What is heaven like? Hidden Treasures will inspire, motivate, and encourage loved ones to begin to walk the road to heaven without the fear and anxiety associated with death and dying. They’ll discover that the Word of God has answers to the questions that seem to have no answer; and that comfort awaits as they begin to view their situation from a heavenly perspective. Ultimately, it reveals that hope is available, death with dignity is possible, and there are hidden treasures to embrace along the way.