Spirituality
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The Well Bookstore is open for in-person shopping Tuesday thru Thursday 9am-2pm and Sunday from 8:30am-12:45pm (curbside pickup not available). All orders placed online or over the phone after noon on Thursdays will not be processed until the following Tuesday.
Patrick Pietrantano was raised as a Roman Catholic in a traditional Italian household. At the age of twenty, he first heard the term born again. That was a foreign thought that never came up in his many years of his Catholic education. That changed him forever as he endeavored to discover what those words truly meant. For the next forty some years, he made a quest to understand biblical truth in its simplest form. He studied the life of Paul the apostle in detail, and a spiritual understanding began to unfold to him that traditionally has not been taught.
In Simply Paul, Pietrantano shares what was revealed to him. Paul was a man of simple truth in what Paul believed as a pharisee to be God's will, in the Jewish religion. Paul was among the top in his peers and defended it to the utmost. There came a defining moment that changed the direction in Paul's life, as he had a direct encounter with Jesus Christ himself. What was talked about in this encounter will change your perception of Paul.
When this change occurred, Paul describes the battle that ensued by being the witness of these direct revelations from Jesus Christ himself. Simply Paul follows Paul's life and addresses questions often asked, that traditional thought have not captured.
Life can be hard: grief, loss, busyness, financial hardships, abuse, broken relationships, and illness are just some of the difficulties we all face on a regular basis. It's easy to lose faith in your neighbor and feel like you're alone--but Max Lucado assures us that hope is here.
Stories for Your Soul: Ordinary People. Extraordinary God. by pastor and New York Times bestselling author Max Lucado will reestablish your faith in people and the Lord by sharing the good in the world.
Compiled from Max's catalog of treasured stories, this collection of ordinary miracles sheds light on the ways that everyday people are doing God's work while also sharing their gifts with others.
Throughout Stories for Your Soul, you'll read about:
At the end of each inspiring story, you'll find two reflection questions to help you dig deep into your life and identify ways you can use your own gifts to change the world while deepening your faith in God.
"Grant, Lord, that I may know myself that I may know thee." --Augustine Much is said in Christian circles about knowing God. But Christians throughout the ages have agreed that there cannot be deep knowledge of God without deep knowledge of the self. Discerning your true self is inextricably related to discerning God's purposes for you. Paradoxically, the more you become like Christ, the more you become authentically yourself. In this profound exploration of Christian identity, psychologist and spiritual director David G. Benner illuminates the spirituality of self-discovery. He exposes the false selves that you may hide behind and calls you to discover the true self that emerges from your uniqueness in Christ. Freeing you from illusions about yourself, Benner shows that self-understanding leads to the fulfillment of your God-given destiny and vocation. Rest assured, you need not try to be someone you are not. But you will deepen your experience of God through discovering the gift of being yourself. This expanded edition, one of three titles in The Spiritual Journey trilogy, includes a new epilogue and an experiential guide with questions for individual reflection or group discussion.
Why does God allow suffering?
In his classic book Where Is God When It Hurts, Philip Yancey gave us permission to doubt, reasons not to abandon faith, and practical ways to reach out to hurting people.
In this sequel, written 30 years later, Yancey revisits our cry of "Why, God?" in the wake of increased violence and natural disasters the world over. It's a cry that many of us take up with more urgency each year as we sit stunned by the calamities devastating our world, our communities, and our personal lives.
Acknowledging that Christians have not always responded to the problem of pain and grief with grace, Yancey helps us find meaning in the midst of the deepest suffering. The Question That Never Goes Away is a deep and personal reflection on the ways that suffering both challenges and affirms our faith and how we can respond to the existence of evil in a manner that doesn't dismiss it.
"In the face of suffering, words do not suffice. We need something more: the word made flesh, actual living proof that God has not abandoned us, that he shares in our distress," Yancy writes. We find this proof in Jesus, whose own story is one of suffering voluntarily accepted. No other religion has this model of God identifying so deeply and compassionately with humanity--and this changes how we see it and respond to it.
Timely and heartfelt, Philip Yancey has once again offered readers a powerful response to some of the toughest questions that will never leave us in this life.
"This is the kind of book that makes you different when you're done."--Ashley C. Ford, New York Times bestselling author of Somebody's Daughter "Reaches deep beneath the surface of words unspoken, wounds unhealed, and secrets untempered to break them open in order for fresh light to break through."--Morgan Jerkins, New York Times bestselling author of This Will Be My Undoing and Caul Baby ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: The Root, Library Journal "From the womb, we must repeat with regularity that to love ourselves is to survive. I believe that is what my father wanted for me and knew I would so desperately need: a tool for survival, the truth of my dignity named like a mercy new each morning." So writes Cole Arthur Riley in her unforgettable book of stories and reflections on discovering the sacred in her skin. In these deeply transporting pages, Arthur Riley reflects on the stories of her grandmother and father, and how they revealed to her an embodied, dignity-affirming spirituality, not only in what they believed but in the act of living itself. Writing memorably of her own childhood and coming to self, Arthur Riley boldly explores some of the most urgent questions of life and faith: How can spirituality not silence the body, but instead allow it to come alive? How do we honor, lament, and heal from the stories we inherit? How can we find peace in a world overtaken with dislocation, noise, and unrest? In this indelible work of contemplative storytelling, Arthur Riley invites us to descend into our own stories, examine our capacity to rest, wonder, joy, rage, and repair, and find that our humanity is not an enemy to faith but evidence of it. At once a compelling spiritual meditation, a powerful intergenerational account, and a tender coming-of-age narrative, This Here Flesh speaks potently to anyone who suspects that our stories might have something to say to us.
These are just some of the experiences embodied in the infinitely rich Christian life. In Under the Wings of God, seasoned author Cornelius Plantinga explores these facets and more, reflecting on the joys and challenges of a life following God.
Rooted in Scripture, this book offers wisdom about topics including the problem of suffering, the nature of Christian virtue, love of God and our neighbor, longing for redemption and reconciliation, humility, and hospitality. Plantinga delves into hard questions with a calm and pastoral authority that offers the perfect antidote for the unrest in the world and the church right now. Each reflection is presented with a Bible text and a brief prayer, useful for personal devotions or small group discussions. Readers will emerge with a deeper understanding of and appreciation for the Christian life, equipped with timeless insights into the ups and downs of a life lived in the presence of God.