We are living in a world desperately in need of hope. Do you yearn to live into a future filled with hope as a beloved child of God? Rooted in this great gift of God, Living Hope explores life in an inclusive vision of the future. This book offers you an opportunity to reflect on the witness of hope, the legacy about hope, the reason for hope, and helps you to engage in the practice of hope. Living Hope celebrates the possibility of restored hope in the church and the world and invites you...

A fresh wind of God's Spirit is blowing on the earth today, and as in times past, God is inviting us to raise our sails and move forward with the power and direction that reflects our commitment to God's will. Some are calling it "a new pentecost," but whatever name is given, we are living in a time when we have an opportunity to connect with God's renewing work. One specific manifestation of this movement is "the new monasticism." This book is an invitation to explore it and embrace the d...

In Five Marks of a Methodist, Steve Harper offers an accessible, spiritually grounded guide to a faith shaped by love, joy, gratitude, prayer, and care for others. Drawing on the vision of genuine Christian living, John Wesley outlined in The Character of a Methodist, Harper makes the case that these five qualities aren't abstract ideals—they're a practical way of life, available to anyone seeking more than belief.This expanded edition includes a new introduction ...

The way forward requires both old ways and new ways!Step into the world of Wesleyan beliefs and practices with this small, insightful, and impactful book! Join the Wesleys on their journey through early Methodism, and unlock hidden treasures that are still relevant today. Harper and Beck expertly guide readers towards a new era of Christian experience, combining old traditions with modern approaches for a revitalized church community. With its compact size, this bo...

A powerful guide for new and longtime United Methodists.Upward! is a simple but brilliant course on Wesleyanism for regular people. It thoroughly and methodically guides readers through the distinctive qualities of the Wesleyan way—the theology, practices, habits, and attitudes that characterize Methodist people. Paul W. Chilcote and Steve Harper, two of Methodism’s most beloved teachers, offer this extraordinary book as an invitation to a life of wisdom a...

A spiritual practice for serious-minded (but busy) people.Everyone needs renewal, even the most committed among us. The spiritual life requires regular practice and a bit of time. Coming Alive: Daily Meditations for Spiritual Renewal offers five brief meditations each week for focused reading, reflection, and prayer. Each entry centers on a passage of scripture or spiritual writing. The meditations are deep, insightful, and beautifully simple, as readers h...

In response to comments from booksellers and readers, Upper Room Books has reissued A Pocket Guide to Prayer in a slightly larger trim size with a new, leatherlike cover. The content is exactly the same as the first edition, which had a brown, satiny, paperback cover. This lovely, classic, and compact book contains a wealth of information, such as helps for praying up to 5 times a day, over 100 prayers, hymn texts, and psalms. Harper also explains how to create a per...

Is There a Way to Heaven? The great evangelist John Wesley believed there is, and he developed his theology to help people make the journey from sin to salvation. In Wesley’s “order of salvation,” God’s grace is the keynote from start to finish.The Way to Heaven is a twentieth-anniversary revision of John Wesley’s Message for Today. Dr. Steve Harper presents Wesley’s writings and the ideas of Wesley scholars in language that is clear and accessible but never simplistic. Written in the spir...

E. Stanley Jones observed that people “know everything about life except how to live it.” We humans have acquired immense knowledge and achieved great things. We are enlightened, Jones said, but not necessarily enlivened. Steve Harper has been mulling over this human situation for a few decades and offers his profoundly inspiring conclusions in Life In Christ.Harper helps us recognize our tendency to search for life through rules and dogmas rather than in relationships wit...

Have you ever stopped praying? When life seems unfair and prayer doesn't seem to make any difference, you may quit praying. Most people who admit that they stopped praying for a while, including the author, say they felt as if they were suffocating after a period without prayer. "Sometimes I think God has called me to speak, write, and teach about prayer so I won't give up on it altogether," writes Harper. "After more than forty years of praying, I still don't understand pr...

Do conservatives or progressives “own” the teachings about what the Bible says about human sexuality and marriage? For some—perhaps a vocal minority—the question is no longer up for debate or discussion: conservatives win. For others, the issues are not that simple. A fresh, rigorous, but yet concise, theological examination of the Bible’s teachings is required. There are other ways to interpret scripture faithfully with respect to sexuality other than the conservative interpretation....

While Christians are hungry to know God's will, we often don't know how to go about learning what that might be. With his gentle, pastoral style, Steve Harper encourages you to pray and read scripture in ways that lead to knowing and doing God's will. He employs the metaphor of walking in the light to frame a method of prayer and practice, using scripture and tradition to inform the steps of this ongoing walk with God called discernment. Questions for reflection and discussion are provided...