From Cloisters To Cubicles

Many have tried; many have failed. Spiritual disciplines, meant to strengthen and encourage Christian living, have become a source of frustration and disillusionment for many Christians. Many of the books available are steeped in mysticism, monasticism, and non-biblical language. It doesn’t take long for a Christian to begin thinking spiritual disciplines are so heavenly focused that they are no earthly good. From Cloisters to Cubicles redefines spirituality, spiritual disciplines, and Christian maturity in such a way that any Christian can understand, practice, and grow through the practice of spiritual disciplines. Instead of spiritual disciplines being focused on strengthening just the spiritual dimension of life, they become exercises that strengthen one’s everyday walk with God in this world. To accomplish this goal, spiritual disciplines must be understood as exercises in the reintegration of faith and life. They should help Christians “appraise all things” as spiritual beings (1 Cor. 2:15) and “take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ” (2 Cor. 10:5). From Cloisters to Cubicles helps Christians bring the strength and guidance of the Holy Spirit back into their daily lives. Christians can live in this world with all the power and wisdom meant for them as citizens of the kingdom of God. Christians really can have the kingdom life now! If you are a beginner it will give you a place to start. If you have already progressed from milk to meat it will provide a map for spiritual growth that can keep you absorbed for a lifetime. —Joe Barnett

This book argues that God's mission is broad and that all of us can live with missional intentionality by understanding the many facets of missions and focusing on a particular calling. Just like different instruments of a symphony harmonize together, each aspect of human participation in mission--evangelism, justice initiatives, poverty alleviation, faithful work in the marketplace, art--helps us play our part in God's work in the world. Combining expertise from a mission scholar and a working pastor, the book includes practical examples and tools to help readers imagine their part in God's mission.

Among the most beautiful, spiritual and evocative structures in stone ever built are the medieval monasteries of Europe. The importance of the monastic world, its ideas and ideals, to the rise of Western civilization is second to none. The age of the cloister offers a fascinating overview of the birth and flowering of monasticism, and describes in great detail the everyday monastic life and the faith, literature, economy, architecture and culture of countless monks, hermits, nuns, canons, friars and lay men and women spanning hundreds of years.

A guide to life at a medieval monastery, this book brings alive the monastic community of Durham and offers a fascinating glimpse into the history of Durham Cathedral.

Deep sea explorer and NUMA director Dirk Pitt encounters the last direct descendants of the Ottoman dynasty as they prepair to incite a revolution in this novel in the #1 New York Times-bestselling series. In a.d. 327, a Roman galley with an extraordinary cargo barely escapes a pirate attack. In 1916, a British warship mysteriously explodes in the middle of the North Sea. In the present day, a cluster of important mosques in Turkey and Egypt are wracked by explosions. What ties them all together? NUMA director Dirk Pitt and his team are about to find out, as Roman artifacts discovered in Turkey and Israel unnervingly connect to the rise of a fundamentalist movement determined to restore the glory of the Ottoman Empire. From Washington to London to the treacherous shores of the Near East, dangerous men and desperate acts fill their path, and at the end of it, the most dangerous thing of all: the rumored existence of a mysterious “manifest,” lost long ago, which if discovered again could shed new light on early Christianity and just might change the history of the world as we know it. Filled with breathtaking suspense and extraordinary imagination, Crescent Dawn is further proof that when it comes to adventure writing, nobody beats Clive Cussler.

Tracing Gloucester’s history from its Roman and monastic remains to the battle scars from the English Civil War and the changes wrought by the Industrial Revolution, this book explores the colourful and fascinating history of Gloucester through the remnants of a bygone age.Taking a fresh look at both well-known and less recognisable local buildings, Gloucester: History You Can See serves as a guide to some of the many statues, sculptures, plaques and other memorials that can be found across the city, and highlights the places connected with the city’s famous – and in some cases infamous – characters, including Ivor Gurney, Charles I, Bishop Hooper, and John Stafford-Smith. Richly illustrated and extensively researched, this is a captivating read for locals and visitors alike.