Category Archives: belief

belief

Prayer Springs Eternal
Richard France

Published: April 2023
Paperback: 82 pages
Price: £8.00
ISBN: 9781915972002
Available on Amazon

Prayer Springs Eternal
A Closer Look at the Communion of Saints
by Richard France

We have a wonderful community of saints and in these uncertain times it is encouraging to look back on it, to see what others have achieved and what we can achieve.

The journey of faith made by those who lived before us can inspire our own journey.

The wisdom of the saints is part of their legacy to us.

However, it is the treasures to be found in their prayers, their letters and their outlook on life which are of most value to us.

Many of their writings have been preserved for us; they are there for us to read today, so that we can make them our own.

Some of those writings are to be found here, in this book you are holding. Explore your faith!

Richard France is a committed Christian, a Third Order Carmelite, and a longstanding member of his parish, which he values highly.

He has also written books of Christian poetry.
belief

Are We Nearly There Yet?
Gareth Evans

Published: March 2023
Paperback: 120 pages
Price: £8.99
ISBN: 9781914424977
Available on Amazon

Are We Nearly There Yet?
Wrestling with Issues in the Life of Faith
by Gareth Evans

Many Christians adhere, without any difficulty, to the faith as they received it. The Bible can be trusted as infallible and as such it is God’s Word which will guide them through life. Their salvation they believe, is assured, because Jesus died on the cross for their sins. By following him, they are assured of eternal life.


Many people have now rejected that viewpoint, and have left the Church, disillusioned with the message that the Church has been preaching. There are many, still in the Church however, who have questions that they need help in answering. These include:

• Why doesn’t God appear to answer my prayers?
• Should gay people be able to get married in Church?
• How do I make sense of other Faiths?

The Church should be the place where they can safely ask their difficult questions, but sadly this is not always the case, and many people wrestle with difficulties which can lead to a loss of their faith.

In this book, Gareth Evans examines some of these issues and whilst he doesn’t seek to provide all the answers, he takes the reader on a journey which he is on himself and may at least help them in realising that they are not on their own.

Gareth Evans spent his entire working life in the Banking Industry. After retiring he then spent a number of years as a Non-Executive Director in Social Housing. A life long Christian he was brought up in the Welsh Non-Conformist tradition and has now been, for a number of years a member of his local Anglican Church, where he is an accredited Lay Reader. This is his first book, seeking to address some of the issues which many people of faith have difficulties with, but which they don’t easily find the answers to.
belief

Still Love Left
Michael Jackson

Still Love Left will help readers embrace old age in ways that strengthen their faith and help them build a deep sense of hope in later life.

In this life-afirming work, Michael Jackson draws inspiration from poets, writers and Christian theologians in order to explore his theme of ageing and spirituality and he does this with great empathy, drawing on a wide range of literary sources and comparing perspectives of past, present and future.

By using these different lenses he is able to demonstrate the spiritual gains which help us to approach old age positively and how we can develop the qualities which most exemplify a fulfilled old age. He melds many years’ experience of working with older people with current thinking on the subject, providing an exploration of the spiritual dimension of ageing rooted in the Christian faith.
Published: March 2021
Paperback: 155 pages
Price: £9.99
ISBN: 9-781913-425685

£9.99 (+ £3.00 postage)
Number of copies:



Available on Amazon
The Right Reverend Paul Bayes, Bishop of Liverpool
Michael Jackson brings a unique and distilled wisdom, born of long reflection on rich experience, to this subject. His book is clear-eyed, honest, unsparing and luminously hopeful. I recommend it highly to any who want to learn how to live more fully as the years pass.
Reviews...

The Reverend Canon Dr. Peter Lippiett, Former Spirituality Advisor for the Diocese of Portsmouth
This is a stunningly good book. It is rich, humane, and life-enhancing, redolent with wisdom, compassion and flashes of humour. It demonstrates how to ‘hone hard experience so that it becomes a pathway to wisdom’. Above all, in the face of contemporary views of the bleakness of old age – unflinchingly addressed, in no way dismissed or romanticised – it really positively encourages hope. Michael Jackson not only informs and stimulates, but benefits his readers. This careful, timely book is a blessing. Perhaps it may even become a classic.

Graham Hawley in Plus, the quarterly magazine of the charity Christians on Ageing:
The author has produced a very readable book full of practical wisdom from his keen observation of older people and how the ageing process affects older people and their faith over the years. He draws widely from theological, spiritual, ageing literature and literary sources in illustrating his message, but this is always in a very readable and practical format….
The Bishop of Leeds (The Rt. Revd. Nicholas Baines), in his Foreword to the book, says of the author’s work: ‘He challenges some of the popular misconceptions and looks differently at what many of us will one day experience for ourselves. And he does this with a generous and uncomplicated spirit. It is a beautiful book.’
I agree with him and commend it to our members. Buy it and be encouraged and challenged.

Debbie Thrower, Pioneer of Anna Chaplaincy for Older People and Canon Emeritus of Winchester Cathedral
I’ve been waiting for just such a book as this. I knew it was coming because I’ve worked with Michael Jackson co-leading retreats and training days on the opportunities and challenges of growing old. Now, we have an abundance of good things gathered for us to read and reflect on. I shall plunder his book shamelessly for so many examples to help myself, and others, regard ageing realistically and excitedly as an adventuresome path to maturity.

Andy Stoller, Hampshire and Islands AM
'The Friend', National Quaker Magazine
This 100-page book is an essential for our ageing Society. It will be an invaluable asset to our elders and ‘caring and supportive Friends’ or just anyone who is approaching later life with some trepidation. It changed my view from fearing the coming years to one of being positive, hopeful and still being able to make the most of the on-coming stages of life, facing whatever it may bring. It is in no way a heavy read despite its subject which is approached with empathy, humour, compassion and wisdom.

Still Love Left helps us come to terms with facing our own lives and personal history. The myriad of losses and ‘little deaths’ are explicitly covered, from having to down-size and part with familiar possessions to the loss of our individual identity and the inevitable and painful bereavements of friends and loved ones. Facing declining health is challenging too, but Michael demonstrates how small gestures and acts of kindness can bring comfort, blessing and solace and through these and prayer it is possible to come closer to God.

belief

The Golden Thread of God’s Love
Gill Ganie

The Golden Thread of God’s Love
From South Africa to the UK and beyond,
A narrative of an ‘ordinary’ man with an extraordinary God

 BORN IN OBSCURITY to a single Hindu woman in Cape Town, South Africa, in 1958 during the apartheid era, Omar was a charming, humorous individual. This poignant biography describes how he was relocated to the UK and through many challenges developed resilience and strength of character.

It tells how he experienced God’s presence from a young age and became a Christian as a teenager and how, from that, all else followed.
Omar’s unswerving faith in Jesus led him to believe with Him no problem is insurmountable. In later life, Omar returned to South Africa to retrace his roots and discover the truth about his origins – discoveries which caused him to re-evaluate his life and thank God again for his faithfulness throughout.
Published: Dec 2020
Paperback: 140 pages
Price: £5.99
ISBN: 9-781913-425180
Buy now from The Author

All profits will go to The Sozo Foundation – based in the impoverished Cape Flats community of Vrygrond, Cape Town, South Africa (www.thesozofoundation.org.za)

Gill Ganie is a part-time Health Visitor and has a degree in Public Health Nursing. She does not profess to be a professional writer but has, however, undertaken a writing course at City Lit College in London which at the very least spurred her on to write her first book. Gill has enjoyed being part of this story together with other members of the growing Ganie family. She is mother of three grown up children and has five grandchildren..

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