In this book St. Patrick testifies to us of his conversion, trials, and tribulations in seeking, surrendering, and suffering for Christ. Even though most of us do not dare attempt to aspire to reach the heights of St. Patrick, it is important to realize that God made each and every person an individual - not to be like another - but rather to be like Christ. He made each person unique and endows each of us with different gifts and graces. This is why we study and admire other followers of Christ but we are not to try to be exactly like another. In growing in virtue - yes. But God has a very specific wills and assignments for each of us. Nevertheless it is helpful to study and reflect on the virtues of others like St. Patrick.

From Pulitzer Prize–winner Garry Wills, the story of Augustine’s Confessions In this brief and incisive book, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Garry Wills tells the story of the Confessions--what motivated Augustine to dictate it, how it asks to be read, and the many ways it has been misread in the one-and-a-half millennia since it was composed. Following Wills's biography of Augustine and his translation of the Confessions, this is an unparalleled introduction to one of the most important books in the Christian and Western traditions. Understandably fascinated by the story of Augustine's life, modern readers have largely succumbed to the temptation to read the Confessions as autobiography. But, Wills argues, this is a mistake. The book is not autobiography but rather a long prayer, suffused with the language of Scripture and addressed to God, not man. Augustine tells the story of his life not for its own significance but in order to discern how, as a drama of sin and salvation leading to God, it fits into sacred history. "We have to read Augustine as we do Dante," Wills writes, "alert to rich layer upon layer of Scriptural and theological symbolism." Wills also addresses the long afterlife of the book, from controversy in its own time and relative neglect during the Middle Ages to a renewed prominence beginning in the fourteenth century and persisting to today, when the Confessions has become an object of interest not just for Christians but also historians, philosophers, psychiatrists, and literary critics. With unmatched clarity and skill, Wills strips away the centuries of misunderstanding that have accumulated around Augustine's spiritual classic.

A weekly devotional based on the Westminster Shorter Catechism

This work replaces the former The Shorter Catechism: For Study Classes, vols. 1 &2.

Wouldn't it be wonderful to be trained as a disciple by Jesus himself? To be one of that band of Twelve and then Seventy who followed him around Galilee and Judea. As they walked with Jesus, he molded them as disciplesDisciple Lessons in Luke's Gospel is a conscious attempt to put you and me in the place of those first disciples. It's a JesusWalk. Over 120 lessons, you'll look at each of Jesus' healing acts, each word, each confrontation, each parable, and ask the question: What should I as a disciple be learning from this?Written over a period of three years and experienced by over 5,000 students from 123 countries, Disciple Lessons in Luke's Gospel is being used by God to mold many in Christ's image. Now slightly revised and available in audio form and via e-mail, this series can help form you as a disciple.Preachers will be glad for the careful exegesis of each passage, footnoted research, and deep digging that results in present-day applications. Teachers will use the deep, probing questions at the end of each lesson. But the one who will benefit most is you, the earnest disciple, who wants to learn genuine discipleship at the feet of the Master. Third Edition.

In the twenty years since its publication, Celebration of Discipline has helped over a million seekers discover a richer spiritual life infused with joy, peace, and a deeper understanding of God. For this special twentieth anniversary edition, Richard J. Foster has added an introduction, in which he shares the story of how this beloved and enduring spiritual guidebook came to be. Hailed by many as the best modern book on Christian spirituality, Celebration of Discipline explores the "classic Disciplines," or central spiritual practices, of the Christian faith. Along the way, Foster shows that it is only by and through these practices that the true path to spiritual growth can be found. Dividing the Disciplines into three movements of the Spirit, Foster shows how each of these areas contribute to a balanced spiritual life. The inward Disciplines of meditation, prayer, fasting, and study, offer avenues of personal examination and change. The outward Disciplines of simplicity, solitude, submission, and service, help prepare us to make the world a better place. The corporate Disciplines of confession, worship, guidance, and celebration, bring us nearer to one another and to God. Foster provides a wealth of examples demonstrating how these Disciplines can become part of our daily activities-and how they can help us shed our superficial habits and "bring the abundance of God into our lives." He offers crucial new insights on simplicity, demonstrating how the biblical view of simplicity, properly understood and applied, brings joy and balance to our inward and outward lives and "sets us free to enjoy the provision of God as a gift that can be shared with others." The discussion of celebration, often the most neglected of the Disciplines, shows its critical importance, for it stands at the heart of the way to Christ. Celebration of Discipline will help motivate Christians everywhere to embark on a journey of prayer and spiritual growth.