David G. Benner

Psychologist and spiritual director David G. Benner illuminates the spirituality of self-discovery. He shows how understanding yourself leads you to better discern God's purposes for you, and, paradoxically, how becoming more like Christ allows you to become more fully yourself.

The Sacred Call to Self-Discovery

The Gift of Being Yourself

David Benner explores the twin themes of love and surrender as the heart of Christian spirituality. He leads you to an unexpected place, where yieldedness to God frees you to become who he created you to be .

Discovering the Heart of Christian Spirituality

Surrender to Love

Aligning Our Hearts With The Heart Of God

Desiring God's Will

the sacred journey of transformation

Spirituality and the awakening self

An internationally respected psychologist and spiritual guide shows how an authentic spiritual journey must be grounded in human development.

Becoming Fully Alive and Deeply Human

Soulful Spirituality

ECPA 2003 Gold Medallion Finalist We need companions on our spiritual journey. The modern world has taught us to value autonomy and individualism. Our churches often see spirituality as personal and private. But we cannot go long in our Christian pilgrimage before realizing that isolation leads to spiritual barrenness. We soon discover that our souls long for accompaniment, intimacy and spiritual friendship. As a result, many Christians today are rediscovering the ancient practice of spiritual direction. In this inviting guide, David G. Benner introduces readers to the riches of spiritual friendship and direction, explaining what they are and how they are practiced. Spiritual direction moves beyond mere moral lifestyle accountability and goes deeper than popular notions of mentoring or discipling. Through prayerful, guided attunement to God's activity, sacred companions provide care for the soul. If we are to experience significant spiritual formation and growth, our souls must be nurtured through spiritual companions. Benner, well-accustomed to God's work through relationships, models the kind of traveling companion who can move us toward deeper intimacy with God.

The Gift of Spiritual Friendship & Direction

Sacred Companions

Tín hữu tại Việt Nam luôn có khuynh hướng tìm đến Mục sư để được tư vấn, giúp đỡ. Trong khi đó, các Mục sư luôn phải gánh vác rất nhiều trọng trách trong Hội Thánh. Cuốn sách này giới thiệu một mô hình tư vấn phù hợp với lịch làm việc dày đặc của các Mục sư tư vấn tại Việt Nam. Một trong những ưu điểm của sách là không dùng nhiều biệt ngữ, và luôn có những giải thích minh hoạ cụ thể giúp độc giả dễ dàng nắm bắt. Rõ ràng, đây là một cuốn sổ tay thực hành có giá trị về chăm sóc mục vụ và tư vấn dành cho cả Mục sư, lãnh đạo Hội Thánh cũng như các anh chị linh hướng cho các ban ngành trong Hội Thánh.

Tư vấn mục vụ có chiến lược

Spiritual director Benner invites believers to discover openness to God as the essence of prayer, spirituality, and the Christian life. Using the four movements of "lectio divina," he explores prayer as attending, pondering, responding, and being.

Lectio Divina and Life as Prayer

Opening to God

Though emotional pain constitutes an inevitable part of life, not only can it be healed, it can be the soil out of which we grow into greater wholeness and wellbeing. This book arose not simply out of the author's work with others but out of lessons learned as he worked his way to healing and forgiveness associated with his own emotional wounds as well. In helpful, practical language that is filled with real-life examples, Healing Emotional Wounds examines the inner course of events that predictably follows experiences of emotional wounding. This includes a discussion of the ways in which we attempt to cope with hurt, focusing on common but counterproductive coping strategies that actually impede healing. It then examines in detail the emotional, intellectual, and volitional tasks that are involved in healing emotional wounds, each presenting concrete steps that we can take to help ourselves and others experience healing and gain freedom from bondage to our wounds. Such freedom does not involve escape from unpleasant experiences or difficult circumstances, but release from their tyrannizing inner consequences. This also provides the possibility of living a more fulfilling and significant life because of these experiences.

Healing Emotional Wounds

Spirituality has an indispensable role to play in the expression of our humanity. However, spiritual practices can sometimes make us less, not more, authentically human. We may be good Christians, but we aren't good human beings. How can we ensure that our spiritual journey is conducted in a way that allows us to become fully alive and deeply human? David Benner has spent thirty-five years integrating psychology and spirituality. Here he presents an expansive, psychologically informed understanding of spirituality, probing the contrasts between soulful and soulless spirituality, deep and shallow religion, and healthy and unhealthy relationships with God to affirm the vital role of human development in the spiritual journey. Benner then suggests soulful practices for cultivating the Christian spiritual life. This book will appeal to readers seeking depth and substance in their quest for authentic spirituality. It will also be a helpful resource for mental health professionals and spiritual directors. Reflection questions and exercises for individual or group use are included at the end of each chapter.d

Peter C. Hill

Contains over one thousand alphabetically arranged articles that present information about topics related to psychology from a Christian point of view; covering the areas of personality, psychopathology, psychotherapy and other treatment approaches, major systems and theories of psychology, and the psychology of religion.

Baker Encyclopedia of Psychology & Counseling

Prayer is not merely something we do; prayer is what God does in us. Using the four movements of lectio divina, spiritual director David Benner invites us to discover openness to God as the essence of prayer, spirituality, and the Christian life. This expanded edition explores prayer as attending, pondering, responding, and being, opening us to a world of possibilities for communion with God.

In this expanded edition of a spiritual formation classic, David G. Benner explores the twin themes of love and surrender as the heart of Christian spirituality. God doesn't want his people to respond to him out of fear or obligation, but invites us to enter into an authentic relationship of intimacy and devotion—by surrendering to love.

Gary W. Moon

Editors Gary W. Moon and David G. Benner, along with a team of expert contributors, provide a comprehensive survey of spiritual direction in its myriad Christian forms. With insights on spiritual direction's relationship to psychotherapy and pastoral counseling, this book serves as an authoritative resource for spiritual transformation and pastoral care.

A Guide to Christian Approaches and Practices

Spiritual Direction and the Care of Souls

In recent years, many Christian clergy, laity and mental health professionals have rediscovered the ancient practices of spiritual direction. Seen as a refreshing alternative to the techniques and limitations of modern psychology, such practices offer new insights for pastoral care. But many remain unclear on what spiritual direction is and whether its methods are applicable to their own clients and parishioners. Spiritual direction is a practice of Christian soul care that is found most notably in the Catholic, Orthodox and Episcopal traditions but is also present in Wesleyan/Holiness, Pentecostal/charismatic, social justice and Reformed communities. Predating modern counseling and psychotherapy movements but sharing key principles and insights for spiritual formation, spiritual direction offers significant resources for today s pastors, counselors, therapists, chaplains and other caregivers attuned to the work of God in people s lives. In this landmark volume, editors Gary W. Moon and David G. Benner, along with a team of expert contributors, provide a comprehensive survey of spiritual direction in its myriad Christian forms. Specific chapters offer careful historical perspective and contemporary analysis of how Christians from various backgrounds have practiced spiritual direction, with particular attention to each tradition s definition of spiritual direction, the process of authentic transformation, the role of the spiritual director, indicators of mature spirituality and other aspects of the spiritual direction process. Chapters also provide psychological and clinical insight into how spiritual direction is similar to, different from and can be integrated with psychotherapy and pastoral counseling to help others experience spiritual transformation and union with God.

David G. Benner

About

Books

Join the club