A Believer S Guide To Spiritual Fitness

Carol Ruvolo provides us with a spiritual workout routine, making us aware of our personal trainer and preparing us for the devious strength stealers -- laziness, neglect, disease, and injury. Through an analogy between physical and spiritual fitness, the author shows how God turns our weakness into strength for his service.

It is intended to be a practical guide to the basic disciplines of the Christian life.

St. Paul talks about the need for the spiritual person to train like an athlete in order to be fit for God. Many runners keep logbooks. This is your spiritual logbook. Here you can: measure your progress through a practical scoring system, evaluate your relationship to God in six categories: (1) Prayer and Praise, (2) Faith and friendship, (3) Discipline and discipleship, (4) Repentance and renewal, (5) Learning and listening, (6) Thanks and trust, develop more loving interpersonal relationships through focusing on right actions and right attitudes, while guarding against negative tendencies viz. right avoidance, gain deeper insights into your spiritual life though a structured daily meditation enjoy a unique personal journal. In addition, this book provides a weekly brief essay on some topic of spiritual value, over 100 quotations, 300 carefully selected Bible extracts for you to ponder, and other helpful matter including The Principles of the Third Order of the Society of St Francis About the authors: Margaret Fourie is an Anglican priest and author of four books on relationships and personal development. Arthur Clarke, recently retired as a lay-minister, has had three books published

My book on Spiritual Fitness is an attempt to explain how someone can better understand the process of spiritual growth toward maturity. I use the metaphor of physical fitness to provide a framework for the discussion. There are nine chapters plus an introduction. The first chapter starts with a description of the ideals or goals toward which we should strive. The second chapter is about the place of spiritual genetics or the role of our family backgrounds on our spiritual growth. The third chapter deals with the value of certain spiritual exercises. The fourth chapter is about nutrition and what kind of sustenance is important to grow spiritually. Chapter five discusses the role of good coaching and chapter six focuses on the proper equipment. Chapter seven discusses friends and chapter eight the costs of spiritual fitness. The final chapter attempts to integrate all of the elements into a cohesive whole. I am convinced that there is great potential in people who have identified themselves with Jesus Christ. I have discovered that many in the church of Jesus Christ feel they are falling short of what God has in store for them. Many Christians want to live an exciting and fulfilling life, but their personal experience falls somewhat short of their expectation. Many are interested in spiritual things, but are looking in the wrong place. God has such great things for everyone in His family. It is a shame that so many do not experience that fulness and excitement. This book is designed for those who want more in their spiritual lives. The book will have interest to those who are believers in Christ, but also for those who are seeking to learn more. It is not enough to know that we should grow in Christ. There must be a plan to follow that shows how this process works and what needs to be done. Bible study groups could use this book as a guide or individuals could study it with profit. I am writing from a Christian perspective and from the protestant, evangelical tradition. My background is Baptistic generally, but I have written this book for a more general Christian audience. I think there is enough here to be of value to persons from many evangelical traditions. The theological position of this book is conservative and based on the authoritative and inerrant word of God, the Bible. I am pleased to offer this book to you and trust it will be a blessing wherever it goes and to whomever reads it. Robert J. Radcliffe Portland, Oregon USA

Or are you like so many people, who never go near a doctor or health clinic until they are taken into the hospital on a stretcher? No one this side of heaven enjoys perfect spiritual health, but Taking Your Spiritual Pulse gives you an accurate reading on your current fitness and offers you a range of ideas to get yourself into good spiritual shape and keep yourself that way. This pocket guide to Christian fitness contains a simple, imaginative, and enjoyable regimen that will give mind, spirit, and soul a thorough, thought-provoking workout Book jacket.

Have you unsuccessfully tried to lose weight, get healthy, or change your lifestyle? We struggle every day fighting our urges, temptations, and so much more; but often our battles are not physical in nature, but based on a need in our spiritual lives. Faith-FULL and Fit has the antidote required to change thatwhipping both the spirit and the body into divine shape. This program uses an introspective approach to improving your lifestyle by looking within first, healing the body from the inside out. It teaches you to recognize, focus on, and change the inner, spiritual issues first. Inward cleansing and healing will in turn produce an outward change. You can develop a closer relationship with God and learn to let him lead, while renewing the heart and mind to elicit lasting, healthier decisions. Faith-FULL and Fit not only provides the physical tools needed to live a healthy lifestyle and maintain it, but also offers biblical and spiritual guidance to help fill the hollowness in the spirit that causes us to seek physical fulfillment. Practical meal plans, fat-burning and inch-shedding workouts, the keys to a fulfilling spiritual life, and much more are included in this handy guide.

Spiritually Strong is a six-week program designed to help you get in better shape spiritually and physically. As Timothy says, “For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come” (4:8). This book teaches you how to train yourself in godliness through the implementation of six disciplines—Bible study, prayer, fasting, healthy living, financial stewardship, and serving others. By exercising your spiritual core on a daily basis, you will learn to: Study the Bible and understand what God is saying to you. Pray with power. Incorporate periodic fasting into your life. Honor God with your body through nutritious eating and exercise. Practice good stewardship of the resources God has given you. Serve others in humility as an outward demonstration of God’s love. As you learn to submit to God in each of these areas of your life, you’ll discover the joy that accompanies self-discipline. Your daily steps of obedience will translate into giant strides in your walk with the Lord.

Get Fit Spiritually We look at the world—and at God—in drastically different ways than our ancestors did, and yet the wisdom of a sixteenth-century Catholic saint perfectly suits our doubtful, antiauthoritarian, pluralistic age. St. Ignatius of Loyola believed that we could know God better by paying attention to his work in our lives, our experiences, our imagination, and our feelings. His Spiritual Exercises, an enduring masterpiece of spiritual insight, teaches us to grow spiritually by learning to respond in concrete, practical ways to this divine presence. The Ignatian Workout presents St. Ignatius’s wisdom in today’s language—as a daily program of “workouts” to achieve spiritual fitness, tailored to people with busy schedules. It is a program that shows us how to recognize and respond to a God who is already at work in us, inviting us into a deeper relationship and into richer lives of love and service. “A thoughtful, clever, and very practical introduction to Ignatian spirituality.” —J. A. Appleyard, S.J., vice president for University Mission and Ministry Boston College “The Ignatian Workout is a valuable contribution to contemporary writing on Ignatian spirituality. Muldoon does a fine job of illustrating just how relevant this spirituality is for today’s young adults.” —J. Michael Sparough, S.J., director of Charis Ministries Ignatian Spirituality for Young Adults