Living is in vain unless you seek the one who in his love and mercy sent his only Son. Slowing down to listen and heed his precious word; in a quiet place where you'll not be disturbed. Taking time to know him and resting in his arms; learning He alone protects from the worst of harms. Making time to praise his name in each and every day; allowing his sweet Spirit all your thoughts to sway. Slowing down to listen to God can be difficult in our busy lives, but it is essential to our emotional, mental, and spiritual health. Even the busiest of readers will be drawn in by Em Foxworth's beautiful poetry and practical devotionals. As she candidly discusses her spiritual state And The circumstances of her life when various poems were written, readers will be inspired to take time to examine their own lives. Through her poetry, reflections, and application of Scripture, Em invites readers to find rest and rejuvenation in the Lord and, In doing so, gather the strength to Journey On.

CayCee M. Johnson and Keith L. Johnson share affirmations, insights, and advice on living a meaningful life based on Christian principles in this roadmap to life. On the subject of connections, they write, “Isn’t it funny how when we are faced with issues and having a tough day, true friends can feel it, or we end up on their minds, and they call us. Thanks for being there, friends; I’m glad that you are. Where I go, I go in faith. The turmoil doesn’t matter. My faith is well founded; therefore, my future is secure with the Almighty.” On determination, they declare, “Regardless of the turmoil that surrounds me in the world, I am blessed to say I stand. I stand for my family, friends, and brothers and sisters. I am proud to say that I stand, and I thank those who make sure that I continue to stand upright before my God and before man.” Other topics include encouragement, faith, focus, gratitude, joy, kindness, love, peace, satisfaction, self-awareness, strength, and transformation. Filled with Scriptures, quotes from religious leaders, and hard-won lessons, this book will serve as an inspiring resource no matter what you’re facing.

People and churches across America are discovering that their secular friends and neighbors have been unknowingly waiting for the chance to experience the good God. Blue Ocean Faith is a network of churches that have seen thousands of secular people—from Harvard deans to public housing residents—connect with God. Blue Ocean founder Dave Schmelzer details six profound paradigm shifts that unlock a depth of connection to God that’s new for many churchgoers and that’s unprecedented for their secular neighbors. Embracing centered-set faith, becoming solus Jesus, and taking a third-way approach to LGBTQ congregants are among the game-changers that empower this rich life of faith. Rather than retreating from or drawing lines against our increasingly secular world, people of faith can join Jesus—as followers like Saint Francis of Assisi have done for millennia—in joyfully entering the world around them with profound wonder and an equally-profound offer of a life that really is life. “Blue Ocean Faith is a riveting book about an exciting new movement of churches emerging out of the ashes of American evangelicalism/fundamentalism. This could be a charter document for a new kind of Jesus movement. Everyone should read it,” writes David P. Gushee, Distinguished University Professor of Christian Ethics and Director of the Center for Theology and Public Life at Mercer University. With plenty of engaging storytelling, Schmelzer brings together ancient and cutting-edge insights in a book that might revitalize your experience of God, open up your connection to your neighbors and your city … and maybe even kick off a new Jesus movement.

From its beginnings as a trickle of icy water in Virginia's northwest corner to its miles-wide mouth at Hampton Roads, the James River has witnessed more recorded history than any other feature of the American landscape -- as home to the continent's first successful English settlement, highway for Native Americans and early colonists, battleground in the Revolution and the Civil War, and birthplace of America's twentieth-century navy. In 1998, restless in his job as a reporter for the Norfolk Virginian-Pilot, Earl Swift landed an assignment traveling the entire length of the James. He hadn't been in a canoe since his days as a Boy Scout, and he knew that the river boasts whitewater, not to mention man-made obstacles, to challenge even experienced paddlers. But reinforced by Pilot photographer Ian Martin and a lot of freeze-dried food and beer, Swift set out to immerse himself -- he hoped not literally -- in the river and its history. What Swift survived to bring us is this engrossing chronicle of three weeks in a fourteen-foot plastic canoe and four hundred years in the life of Virginia. Fueled by humor and a dauntless curiosity about the land, buildings, and people on the banks, and anchored by his sidekick Martin -- whose photographs accompany the text -- Swift points his bow through the ghosts of a frontier past, past Confederate forts and POW camps, antebellum mills, ruined canals, vanished towns, and effluent-spewing industry. Along the banks, lonely meadowlands alternate with suburbs and power plants, marinas and the gleaming skyscrapers of Richmond's New South downtown. Enduring dunkings, wolf spiders, near-arrest, channel fever, and twenty-knot winds, Swift makes it to the Chesapeake Bay. Readers who accompany him through his Journey on the James will come away with the accumulated pleasure, if not the bruises and mud, of four hundred miles of adventure and history in the life of one of America's great watersheds.

"Well done, good and faithful servant...." Matt 25:23. My Early Journey on the Road Paved by Christ is for all those seeking to hear those precious words of Jesus spoken directly to them. When in search of God's direction for their lives, it is for those: • beginning this spiritual journey of accepting Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour, • who have started the journey but need encouragement, • who are well on the way, and • who can find renewed strength knowing that there are other faithful pilgrims journeying on this Narrow Road to the Eternal City. Indra Sasenarine narrates, from her earliest memories, chains of events and experiences that left a deep imprint in her heart and mind. These moments impacted her life forever and marked the beginning of her beautiful journey on the Road with Christ, fueled by her undying love for her Lord and Savior and a burning desire to serve in that Faith. My Early Journey on the Road Paved by Christ contains a wealth of knowledge and inspiration drawn from the author’s walk on the Road with consistency, faithfulness, discipline, and humility. With a teachable spirit and a desire to pursue the things of God without faltering in her quest to learn and grow in faith, she developed her gifts. In the process, she grew from a shy little girl to a pastor founding her own ministry. Walking the Road of the Christian faith is not meant to be a solitary journey. Indra shows readers how to live faithfully, thereby growing and developing a range of talents they never knew they had been endowed with, enabling them to reach their potential and to fulfill their God-given call.

In 1904 Robert Louis Stevenson undertook a voyage on the French and Belgian canals and inland waterways, that turned out to be an adventure and an experience of its own. Still exciting to read!