Psalm 23 can mistakenly be considered a funeral Psalm, but John Zehring illuminates how it is an everyday Psalm. The Psalm affirms God's comfort in the valleys of life but also guides the follower into a daily refreshment of the spirit. As one of the world's greatest works of literature, the Psalm has the power to lead the reader into the very presence of the Divine. The book provides a verse-by-verse interpretation to bring illustrations about sheep and shepherds into the 21st century. Ma...

"Social Justice and Christian Faith: Essays by Rev. John Zehring" inspires you to grow in your doing of justice, in wanting to be a good person, and in deepening your faithfulness to God. The sixty essays are reprinted with permission from articles by Rev. John Zehring in The Christian Citizen, a social justice publication of the American Baptist Home Mission Societies. Justice in the Bible is how you treat people. To do justice is to open our eyes to those in need, especially those on the...

Twenty messages inspire the reader to grow in faithfulness to God, to know God better and to love God more. Could there be any higher aim for a person of faith?There is often much Christians want from their faith and they are glad to find God's guidance, comfort, strength, grace, love, hope, joy and peace along the journey. We are made better people by our faith. And yet, faith is more than receiving benefits. It is based in our relationship with God and our relationship with God's...

United Church of Christ clergyman John Zehring makes the case that based upon the Golden Rule, torture is wrong, all torture is wrong, and torture is always wrong. The Golden Rule as taught by Jesus of Nazareth: Do to others as you would have them do to you. Versions of this rule are found in all of the major world religions, which Zehring lists in this brief essay, and as such form the Mount Everest of human ethics. Recent news stories indicate that America has tortured people and that ma...

The Clergy Negotiating Guide helps pastors to meet with church leaders to negotiate their contact, compensation, and annual raises in a way that is fair, just, and compatible with denominational compensation guidelines for your experience, skills, and the demographics you serve. Many clergy are not skilled at negotiating for themselves. The goal is not to enter into an adversarial conversation but to find a win-win outcome that is mutually satisfying to both clergy and congregation. The Cl...

The Prophetic Voices explains the primary mission of the major prophets, introduces each prophet briefly, and describes the most popular or beloved verses from each. The Hebrew people were conquered by the Babylonians and forced to live in exile. The prophets' job was to help them to make sense out of bad things that were happening to them and to call them back to faithfulness to God. Out of faithfulness to God arose another call to justice, to treat people well, and to care for the most v...

If Top Ten lists compel your curiosity, this book covers an engaging list of lists from the bible, including top ten parables, miracles, Jesus' teachings, Paul's teachings, Psalms, Proverbs, Prophets, hard sayings, women of the Bible, verses about animals, verses for comfort, verses for anxiety, and many others. It would be hard to review these fascinating lists and not come away informed about the Bible's most important teachings. If you want to know more about the Bible and enjoy reading...

This is a first aid kit for your soul. It is for urgent situations, personal crises, emergencies, high-stress experiences, worries, or big problems when your spirit needs first aid. The kit contains bible verses, meditations, poems, hymns, and prayers for when you need comfort and strength most and fast. At the end of the book is a Quick Summary to turn to quickly for first aid for your soul.

For you, if you have lost someone dear and are hurting in your sorrow. Or, to gift to a friend or family member who has lost someone they loved and stand in need of comfort, peace, and hope. For the person experiencing loss, the book's brief meditations help with grief and mourning as they lift up, inspire, strengthen, and encourage the reader who is experiencing sorrow.

Advent Calendar Messages for 30 Days of Awaiting is like an Advent Calendar in book form. Each of the thirty days provides a bible or hymn verse, a brief inspiring message about the coming of Jesus' birth, and a prayer which you can adopt as your own prayer for the day. When you embrace Advent and prepare yourself spiritually in this way, you are most ready to greet Christmas morn with joy, gladness, and celebration.

Jesus revealed to the Samaritan woman at the well that "God is spirit." Even though we may project onto God human-like characteristics, of course God is spirit. As curious Christians who incline to believe in the Holy Trinity, how do we understand the difference between God is Spirit and the Holy Spirit? If God is spirit, what is the need for another kind of Spirit? What does the Holy Spirit do? How does the Holy Spirit act in our lives? This book is designed as an eight-week adult study g...

If you are spiritual but not religious, this book is for you. Spiritual But Not Religious is a common term today, so common that it is recognized by its acronym SBNR. More than one in five Americans consider themselves as SBNR, and the numbers are growing. The SBNR – who tend to be more educated, younger, and liberal – recognize some form of the Divine or something larger than themselves, but reject organized religion.The book contains brief "one minute" meditations for the SBNR to...