Jóvenes adultos

Meditation on Both Sides of the Camera

Mon, 06 Jun 2022 16:04:12 GMT

Have you ever thought of photography as a spiritual journey?

Photography provides a way to still the heart and soul so you can hear God's voice and sense God's presence. Whether you're an experienced photographer or just take pictures with your smartphone, you will enjoy this creative way to connect with God.

In Meditation on Both Sides of the Camera, award-winning photographer Valerie Isenhower guides you to pay attention, center, and focus your eyes in new ways. "The spiritual journey of photography from beginning to end is like breathing life into the stories of our photographs and souls," Isenhower writes.

This e-book includes:

color photography
helpful suggestions for preparing your heart, mind, and soul before you go on a photo shoot
tips for reflecting on the images you capture
links to online resources

Take advantage of Isenhower's years of experience as enjoyed by others in her workshops and online courses.

Meditation on Both Sides of the Camera

Mon, 06 Jun 2022 15:43:14 GMT

Have you ever thought of photography as a spiritual journey?

This e-book includes:

color photography
helpful suggestions for preparing your heart, mind, and soul before you go on a photo shoot
tips for reflecting on the images you capture
links to online resources

Take advantage of Isenhower's years of experience as enjoyed by others in her workshops and online courses.

Campus Ministry

Mon, 06 Jun 2022 13:42:26 GMT

This resource, written with the intention to support a new Lay Servant Ministries course, will give readers a general understanding of the developmental needs of the 18- to 26-year-old demographic in the United States; general categories of institutions of higher learning; basic structures for campus ministries and offices of spiritual and religious life on college or university campuses; a framework to discern how United Methodist congregations may be called to serve students in their local context; and tools to begin bridging the administrative structures at the institution of higher learning in question to gain appropriate access to students.

The approach of this text (and its companion PDF leader's guide, available separately) is fundamentally student-centered and contextual, placing the needs of students as the foundation of congregational discernment and institutional bridging to build and/or support a student ministry. (The scope of this text is limited to higher education in the United States, as models of higher education differ greatly in other regions of the world. This text also primarily targets the 18- to 26-year-old demographic, recognizing that many students in the United States may fall outside this age range.)

Practicing Compassion

Fri, 03 Jun 2022 15:08:12 GMT

Compassion is more than a sympathetic feeling?it is the bond of human connection. Most religions lift up compassion, yet few people actually teach how to practice it.

Through rich and moving stories of people from various faiths, Frank Rogers, an Academy for Spiritual Formation faculty and advisory board member, shows ways to incorporate compassion in our daily lives. His interfaith perspective on mercy, kindness, and caring for one another trains us to Pay attention, Understand empathically, Love with connection, Sense the sacredness, and Embody new life (PULSE). Key to Rogers' instruction is that we begin our compassion practice by extending compassion to ourselves. Getting in touch with our breath, with our own belovedness, and grounding ourselves in the midst of tumultuous emotions is where we start our practice of extending compassion to the world.

Our eCourse includes:

All essential content from Frank Rogers' book, Practicing Compassion
Video introductions to each chapter with Frank Rogers
Audio recordings of guided meditations
Questions for personal reflection
A place to exchange comments with others learning to practice compassion

Endorsements for Practicing Compassion

"Everybody believes in compassion, but nobody tells you how to practice it. Until now. Frank Rogers turns compassion into a doable, daily practice?as simple as catching your breath and taking your pulse. If you want to read a book that actually has the capacity to change your life (and the world), beginning today, this is exactly what you need." ?Brian D. McLaren, Author/speaker/blogger/activist (brianmclaren.net)

"If you want clear, practical guidance on how to cultivate the inner resources to become a healing presence and force of good for the world, there is no better book than this and no better guide than Frank Rogers." ?John Makransky, Professor of Comparative Theology, Boston College; Author of Awakening through Love

Academy Recommends eCourses seek to highlight content that aligns with The Academy for Spiritual Formation's mission to create transformative space for people to connect with God, self, others, and creation for the sake of the world.

Private eCourse classrooms with group rates are available upon request. If you are interested, email us at UReLearning@UpperRoom.org.

One Breath At A Time

Fri, 03 Jun 2022 15:07:35 GMT

Meditation is a practice growing in popularity. Used to reduce stress and to increase relaxation, meditative practices invite us to bring mindful attention to body and breath. But how does meditation fit into Christianity, and how does it differ from prayer?

One Breath at a Time: A Skeptic's Guide to Christian Meditation reframes meditation for those who are skeptical because (1) they doubt their ability to be still and quiet and (2) they doubt the validity of meditation as a Christian spiritual practice. Using scripture, theology, and examples from the early church, this book challenges the prayer habits of Christians that leave little room for enough silence to experience and listen for God.

Using five approaches?breath meditation, lectio divina, centering meditation, loving-kindness meditation, and devotional meditation?One Breath at a Time provides a practical, 40-day guide to beginning and sustaining a Christian meditation practice in an often chaotic world.

This eCourse, based on J. Dana Trent's book One Breath at a Time, offers basic instruction in the five approaches to meditation named above: breath meditation, lectio divina, centering meditation, loving-kindness meditation, and devotional meditation.

Learn first, and then practice! Following the basic instruction is an invitation and guide to 40 days of meditation practice. You are encouraged to work at your own pace. The eCourse content?videos, all the reading material from One Breath at a Time, and space for comments?is available anytime.

Participants in the eCourse are invited to join a live session with J. Dana Trent on Tuesday, June 7, 2022, at noon (CDT). This session will be recorded for those unable to attend live. Register here.

Testimonials

"Whether you are new to meditation, lapsed in your practice, or simply curious, you have found the right teacher. Dana Trent is not only wise about the ways in which our tech-driven lives are stunting our spiritual growth but also serious about offering us an invitation to be still with God for a few moments each day. The added bonus of her skepticism is that she knows how hard that can be and why it remains essential for our soul's health.'
Barbara Brown Taylor, author of Holy Envy: Finding God in the Faith of Others

"Dana's journey into contemplation is, to me, a sign of the times. As we reach for a still point in the turning world, meditation isn't a flight from the world of action but a way of staying centered in the midst of it. One breath at a time, indeed."
Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove, author of Reconstructing the Gospel

A Family Like Mine

Tue, 24 May 2022 17:46:33 GMT

A Family Like Mine

Campus Ministry

Fri, 20 May 2022 15:40:29 GMT

Fresh Air 4 Series

Wed, 18 May 2022 21:39:06 GMT

A collection of books that explore four topics: the powerful emotion of anger, the freedom of forgiveness, the role hope in our lives, and cultivating compassion in our lives. A delightful gift for any occasion.

Campus Ministry Leader's Guide

Wed, 18 May 2022 21:12:53 GMT

This PDF-format leader's guide, a separately available companion component to the book Campus Ministry: Empowering Congregations, by Colleen Hallagan Preuninger, will provide all necessary tools to lead a Lay Servant Ministries course on the book's subject matter. These resources will work together to give readers a general understanding of the developmental needs of the 18- to 26-year-old demographic in the United States; general categories of institutions of higher learning; basic structures for campus ministries and offices of spiritual and religious life on college or university campuses; a framework to discern how United Methodist congregations may be called to serve students in their local context; and tools to begin bridging the administrative structures at the institution of higher learning in question to gain appropriate access to students.

The approach of this PDF leader's guide and its companion book is fundamentally student-centered and contextual, placing the needs of students as the foundation of congregational discernment and institutional bridging to build and/or support a student ministry. (The scope of this text is limited to higher education in the United States, as models of higher education differ greatly in other regions of the world. This text also primarily targets the 18- to 26-year-old demographic, recognizing that many students in the United States may fall outside this age range.)

SEX

Wed, 18 May 2022 21:11:02 GMT

SEX: A Christian Perspective on Our Bodies, Decisions, and Relationships for 6^th, 7^th, and 8^th Grade Youth is designed to open the door to serious conversation, decisions, and commitments on the part of younger youth as they wrestle with what it means to be Christian and sexual beings. This resource is intended to strengthen relationships between youth and their adult, to foster deep conversation during this experience, and to provide the beginnings of conversations that go beyond this experience. This resource lends itself to adaptation, and you will find encouragement to choose activities and resources that connect with who you are as a local church and community addressing topics of faith and sexuality in your context. Also included are alternative learning activities, conversation starters, Bible study and worship ideas, and more.

Meditation on Both Sides of the Camera

Wed, 18 May 2022 15:36:29 GMT

Have you ever thought of photography as a spiritual journey?

This e-book includes:

color photography
helpful suggestions for preparing your heart, mind, and soul before you go on a photo shoot
tips for reflecting on the images you capture
links to online resources

Take advantage of Isenhower's years of experience as enjoyed by others in her workshops and online courses.

A Family Like Mine

Sat, 14 May 2022 04:11:56 GMT

Families are complicated, and they always have been. A Family Like Mine explores the surprising variety of family stories and relationships reflected in the Bible, emphasizing God's grace, reconciliation, and renewal. The book tells the family stories of our spiritual ancestors in ways that resonate with our own family stories.

Author Rosalind Hughes weaves accounts of familiar and less well-known biblical characters with stories of family formation, estrangement, adoption, and more. She imaginatively retells biblical stories, inviting the reader to dig deeper into the motivations, disappointments, faith, and fulfillment we hold in common with our biblical ancestors.

Story-based and biblically informed, A Family Like Mine combines spiritual autobiography with Bible study to provide a gentle but probing look at the many "mansions" of God's household, where Jesus has prepared a place for all God's children. Reflection questions encourage readers to examine and compare their own family history and spiritual journey with the stories of families found in the Bible.

Forgiveness

Sat, 14 May 2022 04:00:37 GMT

Go beyond merely forgiving and forgetting … and discover how to make peace with your past.

"Like many of you, I've been dealt a few cards I do not think I deserved," writes Amy Lyles Wilson. "In response, I used to think forgiving and forgetting meant I had to act like I had never been wronged. The writers in this collection tell me otherwise. Forgiving, they say, does not require pretending you were never hurt. It does mean, however, that you'll need to make peace with your past to embrace the future."

Learn how to genuinely free yourself from resentments and get on with your life through gentle guiding words from Henri Nouwen, Douglas Steere, Mary Lou Redding, Marjorie Thompson, Flora Slosson Wuellner, and others.

This insightful, healing book addresses such questions as:

What exactly is forgiveness, and what is it not?
Should all hurts or offenses be forgiven?
What do I do if someone refuses to forgive me?
How do I forgive myself?

If forgiveness doesn't come easily to you, take heart. With practice, you'll learn how to let go and move on.

Compassion

Sat, 14 May 2022 04:00:09 GMT

Do you practice extreme compassion? When a calamity strikes, you're ready to organize, donate, volunteer.

But there are quieter personal tragedies all around you every day. Whether it's a faraway look in the eyes of a coworker, friend, family member, or stranger at the next table in the coffee shop, burdens come in all sizes but weigh equally.

Carrying one another's burdens means being attuned to stressed intimates as well as suffering strangers.

Sometimes we all may be a little guilty of stepping over those we know and love to reach out as part of a big project to someone in trouble across the globe. And we should do that. But assume someone near you right now needs a little of your time, a bit of your spirit and your listening heart.

"Compassion: Thoughts on Cultivating a Good Heart invites us to consider that our attention to the little things makes it easier to appreciate the concerns of our friends, families, communities, and the world at large," writes compiler and editor Amy Lyles Wilson. "In so doing, we can begin to conduct our lives with an ever-present spirit of compassion instead of saving such outpouring for tragic situations and natural disasters."

The essays in this powerful little book provide examples for doing just that — whether it's tending injured animals or bearing the burdens of another. Writers as varied as Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Wendy Wright, and Robert Corin Morris urge us to appreciate the gift that compassion offers. You'll be guided through several practical paths of enhancing your capacity to care.

Remember: What goes around comes around. Think how grateful you'll be when someone notices the lost, faraway look in your eyes one day and responds with compassion.

Hope

Sat, 14 May 2022 03:59:40 GMT

A collection of writings that reminds us how hope plays a role in our lives today, not just tomorrow, and that hope is more than false optimism to those who believe.

Anger

Sat, 14 May 2022 03:59:12 GMT

Does anger sometimes get the best of you? Are there days when you feel mad at the world?

Anger is a common human emotion, yet it often leaves us squirming with discomfort and worrying that we're not spiritual enough.

In Anger: Minding Your Passion, you'll find a collection of writings that explore the constructive use of this powerful emotion. Sometimes we have every right to get good and mad. It's what we do with our anger that matters.

As you read and ponder thoughts from such noted authors as Frederick Buechner, Sue Monk Kidd, Madeleine L'Engle, and Thich Nhat Hanh, you'll find validation for your feelings, as well as suggestions for handling anger. You'll discover that you can cope with anger while still believing in and having a relationship with God.

A Family Like Mine

Sat, 14 May 2022 03:44:37 GMT

Practicing Compassion

Sat, 14 May 2022 03:16:49 GMT

Praise for Practicing Compassion

Everybody believes in compassion, but nobody tells you how to practice it. Until now. Frank Rogers turns compassion into a doable, daily practice—as simple as catching your breath and taking your pulse. If you want to read a book that actually has the capacity to change your life (and the world), beginning today, this is the book to read.

—Brian D. McLaren
Author/speaker/blogger/activist (brianmclaren.net)

If you want clear, practical guidance on how to cultivate the inner resources to become a healing presence and force of good for the world, there is no better book than this and no better guide than Frank Rogers.

—John Makransky
Professor of Comparative Theology, Boston College
Author of Awakening through Love

Compassion is more than a sympathetic feeling—it's the bond of human connection. Most religions lift up compassion, yet few people actually teach how to practice it.

Through rich and moving stories of people from various faiths, Frank Rogers shows ways to incorporate compassion in our daily lives. His interfaith perspective on mercy, kindness, and caring for one another trains us to Pay attention, Understand empathically, Love with connection, Sense the sacredness, and Embody new life (PULSE).

Practicing Compassion

Sat, 14 May 2022 03:16:36 GMT

Praise for Practicing Compassion

—Brian D. McLaren
Author/speaker/blogger/activist (brianmclaren.net)

—John Makransky
Professor of Comparative Theology, Boston College
Author of Awakening through Love

Compassion is more than a sympathetic feeling—it's the bond of human connection. Most religions lift up compassion, yet few people actually teach how to practice it.

Freestyle

Sat, 14 May 2022 03:16:14 GMT

In this prophetic collection of essays, Michael Waters comments on current issues from his perspective as pastor, husband, father, and expert on hip-hop culture.

Waters seeks to inspire hope in people who live in urban centers and in those who provide relief and minister with this context, where it often seems that hope is bankrupt. Freestyle seeks to restore Christian hope by pointing to the presence of God at work within these communities.

Michael Waters is the founder of Joy Tabernacle, one of the African Methodist Episcopal Church's fastest-growing congregations in Texas. He blogs frequently for Huffington Post on current issues. In Freestyle, he addresses the following topics and more:

the U.S. civil rights movement
how good manners and civility seem to be in short supply
coming of age in the age of 9/11
addiction, absent parents, children born out of wedlock
racism
violence in America
the media's portrayal of black achievement
the legacy of Trayvon Martin

Author Romal Tune calls Michael Waters "provocative and prophetic," saying he provides a fresh perspective on issues that impact our communities, families, and the future of our country.

Don't miss this insightful book from a noted pastor, professor, motivational speaker, and community organizer who inspires us all with a message of hope and empowerment.