Spirituality Books

This book takes the simple and sheds light. It takes religion to complicate things - This is a good reminder that we are here for relationship not religion, and of the beauty and simplicity of the gospel! Great book, Thanks Dr. Munroe!

For the first time in my life as a believer I am understanding what God intended for us. The Scriptures have been clear but my thinking was incorrect, off -track, muddled by cultural circumstances. Dr. Munroe takes you step by step into the Word of God and emphasizes what JESUS said, did and wants for us. My thinking is changed, my perspective is different. I am applying the Word of God to my life and it works. Every believer needs to read this book... with the Word. Wish I had learned about kingdom principles as a chld as my entire life would have taken a different path. From this point onward I am thinking and living Kingdom of God!!

There are times as a Christian that we need a little more insight. This book by Myles Munroe helps you to understand more clearly some of Gods Word and plans for our life as Christians. This book will help you put some Godly plans into action.

This is a perfect book for a Christian Library. The concept is based on God Kingdom. This book is perfect to use in Sunday School classes or just for personal study. I enjoy reading it and I'm still using it as a reference.

This book is a must read for everyone who wants to know the true and the ministry and purpose of Jesus Christ mission on earth. This teaching on the Kingdom needs to be taught in the churches around the world. I'm including schools, governments, and companies big and small to get the understanding. I will be buying this and the other teaching books and CD's on the Kingdom to invest in my bishop pastor friends and family.
Really understand what Matt6:33 Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His Righteousness get the book...

This is an excellent book for all followers of Jesus Christ or someone who wants to know what a true follower should be doing as a disciple of Jesus. If you want to grow and strengthen yourself in your walk with Christ, this book is an excellent guide. Just like a high caliber athlete practices and trains daily, we also need to follow certain practices to strengthen ourselves and develop good habits of prayer, worship, celebration, solitude with God, and many others. Without following these disciplines that Jesus Christ Himself practiced, the Christian can only expect to get so far before getting stalled in their faith. These spiritual disciplines are truly essential in furthuring our walk with Jesus. Dallas Willard's book is an excellent resource for that growth. Tom W.

"The Spirit of the Disciplines" focuses on the various disciplines that God uses to change people's lives. The book contains 11 chapters and 2 appendix for a total of around 265 pages.

Each of the 11 chapters addresses a particular theme. Chapter 9, addressing the specific disciplines, is my personal favorite. According to Willard in Chapter 9, the disciplines are separated into 2 groups:

1. Abstinence - This group consists of actions that helps us from becoming too involved in the world so we may better focus on God instead of the things of this world. The disciplines included here are: solitude, silence, fasting, frugality, chastity, secrecy, and sacrifice. Willard's comments on solitude and silence were particularly insightful (solitude can help us in resisting conformity to this world).
2. Engagement - This group consists of actions we can do to serve others in this world so as to not become so isolated that we render ourselves useless to be used by God for His glory. Disciplines included here are: study, worship, celebration, service, prayer, fellowship, confession, and submission.

Other chapters (such as 11) address issues such as: can a Christian be financially and spiritually successful at the same time?

Willard will definitely challenge you to think and pay attention as you read, so be forewarned - this is not a light read!

Read, enjoy, and be challenged and encouraged! Highly recommended.

a great source of spiritural disclipines, easy to understand and use in your daily life. great writing as ususal by Dallas Willard

In this book, Dallas Willard describes Christ's "easy yoke" of discipleship and corrects some erroneous beliefs as to what a life of discipleship entails. This does not replace the Gospel but is rather a fuller understanding of how to access the benefits available to us in our salvation.

Just as an athlete's entire life is devoted to the discipline of exercise, practice, diet, rest, etc. to result in the attainment of excellence that we see briefly during a sporting event, so a Christian's spiritual maturity and Christlikeness is not an accident but must be an ongoing intentional activity. Willard describes a series of "disciplines" which can be of value as we apply them to our lives:

The disciplines of abstinence:
solitude
silence
fasting
frugality
chastity
secrecy
sacrifice

These make way for the disciplines of engagement:
study
worship
celebration
service
prayer
fellowship
confession
submission

As we follow the Spirit's leading, we can utilize these disciplines to cultivate a deeper experience and awareness of Christ in our lives.

Willard also reviews how these disciplines have been abused and perverted over past centuries, resulting in the Protestant rejection of asceticism that has led to superficial contemporary churches that are devoid of spiritual depth and fruits of the Spirit.

There are also two very important chapters regarding poverty and wealth, and engagement with worldly power structures. Willard suggests that rather than "disengagement" with the world whereby we divest ourselves of our assets and worldly positions to become more "spiritual," instead we should steward these God-given responsibilities to work within our sphere of influence to advance the priorities of the Kingdom of Heaven.

As Willard says, "there truly is no division between sacred and secular except what we have created. And that is why the division of the legitimate roles and functions of human life into the sacred and the secular roles does incalculable damage to our individual life and to the cause of Christ. Holy people must stop going into 'church work' as their natural course of action and take up holy orders in farming, industry, law, education, banking and journalism with the same zeal previously given to evangelism or to pastoral and missionary work."

Willard says that the proper focus of the church is to cultivate disciples of Christ: "Ministers pay far too much attention to people who do NOT come to services. Those people should, generally, be given exactly that disregard by the pastor that they give to Christ. The Christian leader has something much more important to do than pursue the godless. The leader's task is to equip saints until they are like Christ, and history and the God of history waits for him to do this job."

As the church collectively and believers individually apply the "spirit of the disciplines" to cultivate Christ's nature within and among us, God's influence will be spread more effectively within the world. This book is a manual showing us how to go about it. As Willard says, we really have no other choice than to become disciples of Christ - or not. When we count the cost of each alternative, it is evident that the "easy yoke" is better than living according to the spirit of the world.

This book is an awakening. It is a call to return to the kinds of disciplines all but lost in history and lost to the modern world. It challenges us to take seriously the deepening that comes from spiritual practices that focus our lives on God.

If I can skip to the middle, the highlights of the book come after some preface and preparation. The strongest points begin in chapter seven, when Willard outlines a three-step approach to holiness that is founded in the teachings of Paul The process is:

1. Being "baptized into Christ." Willard offers the shocking description of a life in which sin has become something "still possible in the abstract...but we see it as the uninteresting or disgusting thing it is."
2. "Reckoning" ourselves dead to sin. This is the active pursuit of envisioning sinless life and striving for it.
3. "Submitting our members to righteousness." This is where virtue becomes habitual and irresistible.

Willard then treks into an explanation of how the most acetic trends of monastic Christianity have actually distracted the common Christian from taking this process seriously. Asceticism is a means to an end.

Chapter nine is then the meat of the book, walking us through a brief paragraph or two on fifteen disciplines that we (in most cases) should practice.

Chapter ten then departs a little bit to return to the subject of asceticism, only this time to emphasize that poverty itself is not spiritual, and that what counts is a nuanced use of money.

To return now to the beginning of the book, he says that his purpose is not so much practical as it is to elaborate on the idea that "Full participation in the life of God's Kingdom and in the vivid companionship of Christ comes to us only through the appropriate exercise in the disciplines for life in the spirit." He spends time explaining that life is not just doctrine but practice for perfection. He goes to great lengths to show that it is an affirmation rather than a rejection of the body. The first half of the book sets out to defend things that the eager reader has probably already agreed to. Nonetheless, the circumspection is important.

What I personally walk away with is still the surprise of the three steps he takes from Paul. They are so far removed from the content of most of the preaching I've heard and (I think) the mindset of most Christians that I know, that I almost walk away wondering if he's proposing the impossible. It makes me wish for something I don't even have a sense for how to attain.

This is a Phenomenal book! It's a great book for all women of color to read. Each chapter alerted all of my emotions and thoughts. I am learning everyday how to attack any negative energy surrounding me and follow the gift of intution. Learning to love yourself in the midst of everything.

Yes, I already gave it five stars, because I read one of her other books "Tapping The Power Within...." When I was about 14 or 15 years old, I was in a afterschool class, and the instructor gave us each a copy of "Acts of Faith." The title of the book was very powerful to me, and I tried to read it then, but I was not ready. See, thats the thing about most self help books like these, you must be READY to read them. I actually got "Tapping the Power Within..." last month from my counselor, thats when I realized I still had two of her other books. My aunt also bought me one of her books when I was of the age 14, because I was going through a tough time. The book was called "Don't Give it Away." Which I am now in my THIRD YEAR OF COLLEGE... YAYY ME, and I passed the book down to my sister. (Also, I wanted to leave this portion of my message for a poster on here named Tigress "JD": Do not feel stupid for buying a collection of her books. Actually, I had just did the same thing. I am about to buy more of her books).Its quite hard choosing which books to read. I am currently reading the "Acts fo Faith" day by day, and I have finished reading "Tapping The Power Within" Which is helping me a lot. The following books I already have purchased was already shipped to me is "Faith in the Valley," "Living Through the Meantime," (which I started to read, but I was not sure if I was ready, after reading a couple of pages through)"One Day My Soul Just Opened Up (which I am debating with "Living Through the Meantime"), and "Yesterday I Cried." So I have about seven of her books. I am going to purchase more right now. I hope you all remain strong, and I hope the books will help you all a lot. (sorry for all the typos its 3:12am in the morning in NYC and I could not help it, but to get back online and purchase some more books, plus I cannot fall asleep).

This book is great not only for black women, but for all women. It helps one to understand life better, and to love ones self better.

I am a big fan of motivational and self-help books. I have read many in my lifetime. Mostly good, some so-so. It is important to read a book relevant to what one is going through at that time to get the full scope of things from the book we read I believe. Iyanla's books are one of them and one of my favourite authors. The first book I got from Iyanla's collection was "Yesterday I Cried" and that had helped me through the ditch I was going through at that time. A friend of mine recommended a book of hers "One day My Soul Just Opened Up" which at that time I had already knew about her and went on to search on amazon her other publications and purchased the whole series of her books. Yeh - crazy me! But hey, she's good! I like her approach in the way she writes and conveys her message. It's real. I can relate to her. I have almost the whole collection of her books that she has published and reading them one by one as I go through my life's ups and downs. For the past few months I've been going through many valleys, I started reading "The Value In The Valley" which has given me many insights into my own valleys that I am going through and have gone through and approach life and my valleys in a different light. I have just purchased the Audio CD version of it to listen while I drive or at home. Can't wait to get it and the rest of the motivational goodies I just got from other authors. :) Thumbs up to this book as well as Iyanla's other books. Thank you Iyanla for all the insights your book has given me. :)

I saw a lot of me in reading this book. It really helped me to realize somethings about myself and why I do the things that I do. It was great. I would recommend it to anyone who needs clarity on themselves and their lives.

Anfra,

This book has changed my life. As I read this book I was tremendously blessed. God definitely spoke to me through you as some of the information in your book helped me to understand myself more clearly. I've got alot of work to do!!

I loved how you ended each section with "Think about it, sisters"!! That phrase caused me to pause and think about what I had just read in depth.

Your writing style was easy to understand, funny, informative and inspirational. I'm thankful that my sister Andrea, gave me this book because it has changed my life.

Thank you for promoting sisterhood and helping me to grow more spiritually. I have been encouraged, enlightened and empowered.

Anfra, express her views on life's many embers: AIDS, sex, politics, spiritual, how to raise your children, meditation and more.

I especially like "A Tribute To African-American Authors" where she uses the titles of various author books to get her point across.

A great reality check book.

I was searching through the bookstore looking for more books by Juanita Bynum. The store clerk recommended You Are My Sister by a new author that I never heard of. I must say I was skeptical at first. I liked the cover and the synopsis on the back and needlees to say I was drawn in. What? A book about why women date married men. Woow, I was intrigued and what I found on the inside pages made me call the book store up and ask if they had any more books by Anfra.

Write on my sista, write on! Please write on.

A new fan, Gwynn in Detroit, MI

I could not put this book down. A friend of mine was reading it at work and suggested that I get a copy and I did. I didn't know that I was in for a treat of refreshing and uplifting words from a powerful sister.

Words can't express how enlightening this book is. You Are My Sister should become an anthem for women. I loved the Sisterhood Creed in the front.

Thanks Anfra for those encouraging words of wisdom.

You Are My Sister - An Inspirational Book That Promotes Sisterhood and Spiritual Growth by Anfra is a definite must read. I really enjoyed this book. This is indeed a winner.

You Are My Sister by Anfra takes you on a wonderful spiritual journey of reflections and self-upliftment that humbly reminds us that we are somebody. I was very inspired and it really eased a lot of my inner stress that I had while reading the book. I feel not everyone can produce writings for inspiration and spiritual growth; it's something that has to come natural to the writer. Anfra not only captures and reflects that definition, but she naturally does "encourage, enlighten and empower" with her writings.

Although I had many favorites, a few elevated themselves to me as being my inspiration. "What's Blocking Your Blessings?" was a rude awakening to me and I humbly enjoyed her writing. It is a compelling reminder that we tend to overlook stress related issues that can impact the blocking of your blessings.

Another of my favorites was "Weight Problems." I realized from that passage that we have to stop, think, and come to terms of what is actually weighing us down. We have to realize that it's not always about the physical, that it's about the religious, mental, and spiritual growth and development that we must acquire within ourselves to survive the heavy burdens that we unconsciously put on ourselves.

I also enjoyed Anfra's poetry section. Three of my favorites were "Someone Else's Eyes" A Message From An Unborn Child" and "I Got It." All three including her other collections had me nodding my head up and down and side-to-side. They were definitely on time.

Finally, the last section was what I consider a serious grand finale because this section was about YOU doing a self-inventory. The title alone is self-explanatory - "To Thine Own Self Be True" You Are My Sister-Personal Inventory. Anfra provides you with an opportunity to now examine yourself with various questions, and exercises that can only do one thing and that is encourage you to take charge of your life.

Although I could go and on about my favorites, I think words would be well spent if you get the book yourself and enjoy a magnificent collection of her writings, poems, reflections, and inspirations, that I know will do more then "encourage, enlighten, and empower" but will bring a humble "amen" "wow" and "thank you" to Anfra for sharing her spirituality and inspiration with us. You will truly enjoy this book and will want to keep it nearby for those pick me up days. I give it a rating of 5.

Reviewed by Kalaani

This is a really sweet book! My 9 year old daughter really enjoys it. My 6 year old son could care less right now. But if I talk to him about the meaning, he then understands it more and asks some really smart questions!

The story is about how we (the children) are a big part of earth. How everything is a part of us. Everywhere we look on earth and above is what we are made up of... kinda cool. I really liked it!

If you have a universal outlook on spirituality- you will love this book! My children beam after we read it. They feel special, loved, secure... all the things we want for our kids. There is not ONE THING scary or negative in this book. It voids the polarity idea. It is fantastic.

This is a wonderful book. I have a four year old son who has owned this book since before he was three. He loves and understands it, probably more so than many adults. It is the favorite book for my husband and son to read together.

If you like this book you will love "Child of Fairy, Child of Earth". Both books have beautiful verse, illustrations and messages.

This book is beautifully inspiring and a needed aid in nuturing spirituality in children, I love it as much as my 3-year-old.

This is by far one of my most favorite children's books. "I am part of all I see, and all I see is part of me." Those first two pages sum it up.

The illustrations are warm, gentle, and beautiful. If you look closely you can see little elves and fairies hiding in the forest. My girls love to try and find them while we are reading.

I have given this book as a gift many times and it is always well received.

Thank you Chara for creating such a wonderful book for our evolving little ones (and their parents)!

I searched for a book that would give me the necessary words to start my day right and this is truly it. I like to do a short meditation before I leave the house each morning and this fits the bill just right. I'm always amazed how often the daily reading seems to talk directly to me.

I am a manager in a faith-based organization and this is a great book to use for daily devotionals with staff.

Max Lucado has a special way of using words to touch and stir the soul and this devotional is no exception. He touches your very soul in this little devotional which is a great addition to any Christians daily reading schedule. A little Max goes a long way with his thought provoking and touching the very deepest places of your soul. A must read and add to your library.

Very nice daily devotional. Full of lots of helpful insights into God's plan for our lives.

I have always liked Max Lucado's writings and have several of his books. His explanations of various scriptures is outstanding. Thanks Max.

I have had all of the books in the Earth Life series for years(1994 or 95) and they are maybe the most important books I have ever read and studied. I could not find my Living With Joy book and so I had to get a new one. I have been reading all of Sanaya Romans books over and over and they continue to delight me with new wisdom and insight each time I pick them up. I can not recommend them enough.

If you are looking for a book to get you started down the path to joy and happiness this is it.

Very good and soothing exercises in this book. I have underlined parts that really spoke to me and go back and re-read them periodically.

This book is so clear and eloquent in its presentation and is packed with spiritual truths and mind-expanding exercises. It's a must read if you're on a path of spiritual development and evolution.

A precious book for those who seek joy, peace, abundance, creativity and integration with higher self. Incredible love energy is codified in the words that Master Life Orin (the cosmic entity who talks thru Sanaya) has chosen. If you are disposed toward love and choose love as your life path, you will be directed somehow toward this book (by your higher self actually). Then the codes in your cells will be activated by the energy hidden in this book. Your growth will be accelerated tremendously. It would seem that you will have lived 100 lifetimes in this lifetime just by integrating the energy here. Reading this book, you'll have a higher view of life and you'll feel very uplifted. Sanaya has been very transparent while channelling Orin, so that you won't unconsciously take on prejudices usually seen in books written by humans. I am really grateful to Orin and, of course, to Sanaya, for the gift of this book. I highly recommend it, also the books "Being higher self," "Soul love," "Creating money," of these authors.

I bought this book because of E. Tolle's recommendation and I find it to be very inpirational and well written. It covers much of the same material as Tolle but in a different way that enriches and deepens the ideas. It is a book to read and reread.

I am now reading Passionate Presence for the second time, savouring the language, the feeling and the freshness of the author's approach. I strongly recommend this book to all who agree in principle about living in the 'now' but for whom the experience is elusive at best. This is authentic, well crafted and a joy to read.

This lovely book shares the wisdom of a teacher of silent meditation and Dharma Dialogues on awakened awareness. It is truly food for the soul.

Catherine Ingram describes her personal experiences in seeking and finding peace in the Now. While mindfulness meditation was a major path, a spiritual teacher catalyzed major shifts in her consciousness. Ingram now teaches mindfulness, through silence, through shared lessons, and (even through the pages of this book) through her personal centeredness.

Seven topics are highlighted: Silence, Tenderness, Embodiment, Genuineness, Discernment, Delight and Wonder. Each is illustrated with lovely stories of Ingram and other seekers on the Path.

Particularly helpful for healing are suggestions for acknowledging the presence of an inner observer who is detached even in the midst of crisis and suffering; for treasuring each present moment rather than living in the past or future; and for accepting that we need not torture ourselves with guilt and remorse because each of us has a lifetime of lessons to learn - and each experience offers us opportunities to develop deeper compassion for others who have their own lessons and make mistakes that may impact negatively on us. We can fester in negative reactions to life that is past or in our anxieties about our future life - or we might just let go of the negativity and move on to the ever-present Now.

I was surprised to discover this book was immediately helpful in finding a stronger connection with my own center of quiet awareness.

There is also a pleasant current of practical advice.

I warmly recommend this book for a good read and re-read.

After reading Passionate Presence, I realized that living in the past & future was such a waste of energy! Catherine's straight-forward advise is something so obvious, but something most of us miss....live in the present. You can't go back and change the past and you spend needless time worrying about the future and what might or might not be instead of enjoying what is right in front of us. I do know that I will spend less time worrying and more time enjoying what this wonderful world has to offer and not take things for granted. Thank you Catherine for providing such a simple but honest eye-opener.

When I think about the teachings in Passionate Presence, the word that comes to me is RELIEF: Relief from the burdening belief that one must make a prodigious effort in order to live an awakened life; relief from the burden of ideas of what an "enlightened" person should be like; and relief from the burden of believing one's "I" stories. Once the reader understands the concept of letting go of beliefs, explained so artfully in early chapters, the qualities and experiences that are described in the rest of Passionate Presence are immediately available.
Catherine Ingram's lovely images and stories entice the reader back to the awareness of the moment. She has crafted an artful companion for one who desires to live in the mystery and beauty of an awakened life.

This was one of those really excellent experiences. Shipping was done within the days specified. The shipper sent notification the book had been shipped and the book arrived within a week. Above and beyond expectations!!

Great Amazon Seller! Would buy from again. Received book exactly as described in great timing.

Don't you just love Beth Moore?!? What an inspiration Beth is to ALL Christian women across this world. God has used Beth in such an awesome manner - don't you wonder what it's costing her? To whom much is given, much is required. This book flows just like her Bible study with the same title. This book will help you to find areas in your life where you are being held back and weren't even aware you were being held back! There are so many things that we as humans accept as just a part of normal life. Beth shows us in biblical terms why that is just not true! Just because it's a common 'side effect' of living in this sinful world DOES NOT mean that we have to accept it in our lives! I strongly urge you to find a church in your area that offers Beth Moore Bible studies. Read this book - it will set you free!!!

Several of my friends and I are using this book for an e-mail small group Bible study. It is well suited for that with its short chapters and review questions.
I ordered 3 items at exactly the same time and had to pay 3 separate shipping charges. I probably would not do that kind of shopping again.

This is a fantastic Bible Study. I would recommend it for every woman no matter what their experiences are in life. Each of us deserves to be totally free.

I borrowed a friends copy of this audio book and was so impressed I had to get my own copy. Truly a gem and wonderful resource giving a tremendous amount of insight to intuition and spirituality

This is by far one of the best purchase I have ever made. Carolyn does an excellent job at explaning the 7 charkras. Truly amazing cd series. Highly recommended.

Carolyn Myss is brilliant, entertaining, witty, sarcastic, irrational, and high-handed at any given time. She admits that she teaches rather than heals because she isn't good at one on one. But she is a gifted teacher. Listening to the CDs the third time I still gained more information and have since shared them with friends of like mind. If you're drawn to increasing your knowledge of the spiritual journey, this is a great set of CDs to listen to. She offers several interesting theorys, some believable, some not, but still entertaining.

If you are feeling open and you'd like to "wake-up" today - I HIGHLY recommend this audiobook. You can thank Caroline Myss for her insight into the non-material presence in this life and with shining wisdom, bringing it quickly to the material world. This is a wonderful spiritual and scientific lecture series, not to mention a very exciting journey to listen to (even if you never enact her beliefs into your life). It has helped me profoundly with balancing my energy and I did not have to be a mystic to get it. She is a very good teacher.

This audio book is easily listened to in 9 hours, while driving in rush hour traffic on your way to work, but be forewarned that Caroline Myss is not joking around when she embodies the teacher's archetype. What was once a mundane rush hour drive will turn into a vibrant interaction of the energy paradigm. She will teach you and if you are at all a skeptic like I was (esp. about Chakras and unseen mysteries), thinking that you've got the world materialistically figured out, and your reality beat, then you are in for a sharp and exciting surprise. You may find yourself sliding down the rabbit hole of "Who am I? and "Why am I doing this?" and "What is the purpose of my life?" and "Where am I, now?"

These types of awareness-based questions are implied throughout her tales and experiences with anatomy of our body's energy systems. Thankfully, with insight, clarity and precision, Dr. Myss explains exactly what we are made of and it is very reassuring to know that when we do start to ask these questions of a deeper nature, there are guides like Caroline Myss who are brave enough to teach the stuff.

If you think that you might benefit from "therapy", listen to this program. A large part of the effort of therapy is getting an individual to open to themselves, to see themselves as they really are, as a precursor to making changes in their life. Caroline Myss' recordings of "Energy Anatomy" and "Advanced Energy Anatomy" open the door to that introspection, giving you a framework in which to see your past life, and present actions. True, you may not agree with everything she says. But I guarantee you will find yourself nodding in agreement over and over again, at the insightful ways she presents the workings of human minds and emotions. And you will find Caroline Myss offering you answers to many of the questions you've asked yourself ("Why do I do this?" "Why did I do that?") over the years. I'm not recommending you forego therapy, if you really need it. Professional therapy can be very valuable. But I am saying that Caroline's recordings are a terrific way of getting in touch with yourself, and seeing yourself clearly (maybe for the first time), regardless of whether you want to pursue professional counseling, or not. And because (as Caroline says) the mind and emotions are prime determinants of the health of the body, this is an excellent series for anyone interested in taking good care of their body, and creating the best health possible for a vibrant and very happy life. "Energy Anatomy" offers a new way of looking at yourself, at others, and at the world around you, and this program may be the best thing you try this year.