this is my beloved: embracing the bridal love of jesus
“Lisa Smith, through her own reflections and the writings of historical saints captivated by the bridegroom’s love, beautifully draws out Scripture’s image of marital union to feed and form our hearts. Wedding Jesus’ lavish affection for us with the mature mission of an intimately interwoven life, Smith offers a vision of compelling beauty and overflowing fruitfulness.” — Matthew Clark, author, Only the Lover Sings
“From a scholar of the Great Awakening comes an intimate invitation to be awakened to the bridal love of Jesus. Lisa Smith sets her own experience of awakening alongside careful exegesis of Song of Songs and the wisdom of a trove of early American writings on the allegory of Jesus as bridegroom. The result is a highly accessible and richly textured book.” — Jonathan Koch, assistant professor of English, Pepperdine University
Christians throughout the ages have longed for a deeper, more intimate experience of Jesus’ love, to connect with him in a way that is impactful, satisfying, and touches the innermost places of the heart. Many found the answer by embracing Jesus not simply as their Savior, Teacher, and Lord, but also in his biblical role as the bridegroom of the church. Using inspiring life stories and personal writings of Christians from the past and linking their encounters with the bride’s journey in the Old Testament book Song of Songs, Lisa offers readers a practical, transformative guide to satisfy some of their deepest desires by encountering profound intimacy and delightful friendship as the bride of Jesus.
Hammer & fire: Lessons on spiritual passion from the writings and life of george whitefield
“In Hammer & Fire, Smith examines the roots of George Whitefield’s zeal for God and effectively translates them into practical, valuable truths for modern Christian life. Whitefield comes alive as we grasp that the cultural influences he faced are not so radically different from those we encounter in the 21st century.” — Rachel S. Stahle, author, The Great Work of Providence: Jonathan Edwards for Life Today
“Hammer & Fire draws on Whitefield’s life and career with extracts from his writings to awaken readers from indifference, anxiety, and uncertainty and point them toward a life of consuming spiritual zeal and practice.” — Michael Ditmore, Professor of English, Pepperdine University
Unique among eighteenth-century Christians, internationally-celebrated revivalist George Whitefield stands alone for both his extraordinary life of passion for God and the striking power and emotion of his writing. Preaching an estimated 18,000 sermons during numerous tours of America, Scotland, Ireland, England, and Wales, Whitefield also published wildly popular personal writings and sermons. Bringing to the reader modernized excerpts from Whitefield’s most impactful journals, letters, autobiographical texts, and sermons, Lisa uses her academic expertise to enable the popular preacher to reach across the centuries to both instruct and inspire us to pursue Jesus Christ with ever-increasing fervency and love. Discussion questions included.
Godly Character(s): Insights for Spiritual Passion from the Lives of 8 Women in the Bible
“This book is a terrific resource for anyone who wants more from their relationship with God than lackluster routines and complacent rituals. Lisa is both an engaging guide and an experienced practitioner, using Scriptures and stories, to lead us through eight characteristics needed to fuel a dynamic and passionate life with God.” — Carolyn Taketa, host of the Small Group Network podcast Group Talk
“This book is a slim treasure, packed with practical inspiration for the passionate Christian life. Utilizing the stories of some of the unsung heroines of Scripture, Godly Character(s) will be a trustworthy companion on the quest of devotion.” — Lanier Ivester, writer and speaker at lanierivester.com
Spiritual passion is the powerful affection and desire we feel for God that drives our spiritual lives, helps us overcome obstacles, carries us through difficult times, and draws us closer to Jesus. But too often our actual Christian experience feels just the opposite—boring, lackluster, anything but passionate. How can we increase our passion for a God who is so passionate for us? By exploring some surprising women of the Bible—a dissatisfied princess, an emerging prophetess, a suffering mother, a wartime advisor, a marginalized widow—Lisa uncovers ways to fuel our spiritual lives by strengthening important personal attributes such as courage, vision, initiative, nonconformity, tenacity, and generosity. Group discussion questions, application ideas, and steps for deeper growth are included.
The first great awakening in colonial american newspapers: a shifting story
“The Great Awakening of the eighteenth century was both religiously inspired and media driven. No book makes this point more effectively than Lisa Smith’s The First Great Awakening in Colonial American Newspapers. Her remarkable research makes this book a must-read for scholars and students of the Great Awakening.” — Thomas S. Kidd, Professor of History, Baylor University
“A very nuanced study of the press coverage of the revival. Scholars have long thought the Great Awakening was an important event in the development of the colonial newspapers, but Lisa Smith provides the detailed information to clearly back up that generalization.” — Carol Sue Humphrey, Professor of History, Oklahoma Baptist University
The First Great Awakening, the sensational and controversial religious revival of the 1740s, provided American newspaper printers with their first story of transcolonial significance. In the first scholarly work to examine in detail the printed colonial newspaper record of the Awakening, this book studies ten years of press coverage to offer insights on the changing presentation of the movement over time, regional “paper wars” and controversies, and dramatic transformations in the newspaper personae of popular revivalists such as George Whitefield and Gilbert Tennent. Using original newspaper excerpts and figures revealing reporting trends, this book presents an engaging, detailed picture of how colonial newspaper printers covered the experience of the First Great Awakening.
Lisa Smith 