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Awakening: A New Approach to Faith, Fasting, and Spiritual Freedom, by Stovall Weems
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Stop hitting the spiritual snooze button.
Would you describe your walk with God as fresh and exciting?� Would you describe your spiritual life as vibrant and passionate?� If not, would you like these attributes to be the norm in your everyday relationship with God?
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Are you ready to experience an awakening?
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Awakening helps you stir up your slumbering soul.� You’ll discover how to break out of your season of dryness or get off to a great start either in the New Year or the next season in life. Take your faith-walk from a “going through the motions” or “have to” mindset to the stimulating, fresh “want to” experience of enjoying God’s presence—24/7.�
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Weems encourages you to surrender fully, to discover the right kind of fuel for the journey, and to learn a new way to pray and fast. This lifestyle is not based on rules or religion, but on a deep, satisfying, motivating relationship with God.
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Included in Awakening is a 21-Day Plan that will guide you through the principles that ensure a lasting, fresh relationship with God—even in a world where everything quickly becomes stale.�
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“It’s time to wake up and put an end to spiritual sluggishness! I promise this year will be the best of your life if it is your best year spiritually.” – Stovall Weems
- Sales Rank: #160408 in Books
- Brand: WaterBrook Press
- Published on: 2010-12-14
- Released on: 2010-12-14
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: 9.03" h x .45" w x 5.99" l, .45 pounds
- Binding: Paperback
- 224 pages
Review
Praise for Awakening
“I began fasting as a teenager simply out of a hunger for more of God. It was during a fast that I experienced an awakening. This moment propelled me into my calling to preach the gospel. Through these pages, Pastor Stovall Weems challenges the reader to believe God for a Christian life that is not just focused on the glory of someday but on the glory of today—living in His presence, awakened by His Spirit, and walking in His purpose. Your awakening is not far off ! This book will give you the keys to your breakthrough.”
—Jentezen Franklin, senior pastor of Free Chapel and New York Times best-selling author of Fasting: Opening the Door to a Deeper, More Intimate, More Powerful Relationship with God
“There is an awakening simmering in this generation. It’s an awakening of power, integrity, and a wholehearted pursuit of Jesus. Nobody embodies these characteristics more than my friend Stovall Weems. If you want your soul to be ignited with the passion it was created to possess, you need to read this book.”
—Steven Furtick, lead pastor of Elevation Church and author of Sun Stand Still
“In order to effectively lead others as a church leader, one of the most important things you will ever do is learn to lead yourself well. In Awakening, Stovall Weems shares some valuable principles to help ensure that your spiritual leadership remains healthy, vibrant, and full of the life and fire of God. The message of Awakening is one that is vital for every church leader, and I’m so glad Stovall is sharing these principles with the body of Christ. Awakening will not only encourage you today, but it will also prepare you for tomorrow.”
—John C. Maxwell, author, speaker, and founder of EQUIP Leadership Inc.
“Passion. Zeal. Authenticity. These are the characteristics that should describe the life of one who loves God. I want them to describe mine, and if this book is in your hands, then you most likely want the same. There is no one better suited for giving us insight into how to obtain all three than Stovall Weems. His enthusiasm for spiritual things is genuine and contagious. Choosing to read these pages will dramatically transform your walk with the Lord. So wipe your tired spiritual eyes and prepare for your awakening.”
—Priscilla Shirer, author and Bible teacher
“This world will never be changed by passive people. All the greatest accomplishments of humanity have come about through passionate people who weren’t afraid of what others thought or spoke of them. Awakening, my friend Stovall Weems’s book, is a wake-up call to every Christian to get off the sidelines, discover the passion inside of them, and live the extraordinary life God calls them to live.”
—John Bevere, author of Extraordinary: The Life You’re Meant to Live, speaker, and cofounder of Messenger International
“We know deep down in our hearts that we really are meant to live in an exciting, passionate, ongoing, head-over-heels relationship with Jesus, but many of us just don’t know how to maintain it. In Awakening, Stovall Weems shows us how easy it really is! Thanks for reawakening my soul through this life-changing book!”
—Robert Morris, senior pastor of Gateway Church
“If you want to experience God in a rich, powerful, and passionate way every day, then without a doubt you will want to read Awakening. Knowing God through prayer and fasting can be something that changes you forever. My friend Stovall lives this way daily, and he is revealing secrets that I’ve never seen or read before. We all need this book, and we need it now.”
—Rick Bezet, lead pastor of New Life Church, Central Arkansas
“In His own words, Jesus said that He came to earth so that we could experience an abundant life. In other words, the personal and intimate relationship we can have with God should usher in nothing short of extraordinary experiences every single day. Yet far too often, Christians find their relationship with God lacking something. In the pages of Awakening, my close friend Stovall Weems unpacks the power and potential of a revitalized and reenergized relationship with God. And he shows us exactly what it takes for us to remain alert and expectant in our faith so that we will encounter the extraordinary every day!”
—Ed Young, pastor of Fellowship Church and author of Outrageous, Contagious Joy
“In Awakening, Stovall Weems unpacks the timeless truth that there is power in praying and fasting. Your relationship with God will receive a jolt like you’ve never experienced before with the practical teaching that is revealed throughout this book. As you read, my prayer is that you’ll find yourself more excited than ever before about the present and future of your life.”
—Dino Rizzo, lead pastor of Healing Place Church
“Stovall Weems is a modern-day prophet. In this groundbreaking book he helps to awaken us to the fact that God wants us to live a radical, passionate Christianity. Jesus did not come to give us a religious obligation but abundant life. I was left with a renewed love and passion for Jesus and a clearer understanding of the privilege and purpose of prayer and fasting. This man lives this message, and read it at your own risk. You will never be the same.”
—Christine Caine, director of Equip and Empower Ministries and founder of The A21 Campaign
“In Awakening, Stovall Weems unpacks the timeless truth that there is power in praying and fasting. Your relationship with God will receive a jolt like you’ve never experienced before with the practical teaching that is revealed through this book, it will impact your life too. Read it and experience an awakening. As Stovall puts it, ‘After an awakening, life is never the same.’”
—John Siebeling, lead pastor of The Life Church, Memphis, Tennessee
“At a time when the moral fabric of our generation is eroding and people’s hearts are further and further away from God, Stovall Weems calls us back to God with all of our hearts. In this powerful and timely book, you’ll be both inspired and informed about the life-transforming power of prayer and fasting. This is a must-read at any stage in your walk with God.”
—Chris Hodges, senior pastor of Church of the Highlands, Birmingham, Alabama
About the Author
Stovall Weems is the founder and lead pastor of the multi-site Celebration Church in Jacksonville, Florida, one of the fastest growing and largest churches in America. As pastor, teacher, and conference speaker, Stovall’s ministry focuses on building the local church, reaching people with the gospel, and developing passionate followers of Christ.
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Stovall is also the leader of Awakening, a 21-day spiritual campaign of prayer and fasting that takes place each January.� Awakening serves to equip thousands of pastors, churches, and ministry leaders around the world, inspiring a culture of prayer and fasting in their church or ministry.
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Through local, national, and international television, Stovall Weems Ministries broadcasts weekly in over 200 countries and can be seen in over 90 million homes across the United States. Stovall and his wife, Kerri, have three children, Kaylan, Stovie, and Annabelle. Learn more at Awake21.org.
Excerpt. � Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
Chapter 1: Awakening
Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.
—Romans 12:11, NIV
���How close do you feel to God?
���Most of us sense that there’s more to a relationship with God than what we currently are experiencing. But how do we develop a more intimate bond with Him?
���As a devoted follower of Jesus, I have learned some secrets to staying consistently fresh in my relationship with God. This deepening friendship begins with what I call an awakening.
���After an awakening, life is never the same.
���A relationship with God is the most fulfilling thing a person can experience. Yet, I have observed that while the vast majority of believers start out with a lot of passion and zeal in their relationship with God, over time that enthusiasm subsides.
���On a day-to-day basis, their relationship with God eventually becomes passive. There are occasional bursts of excitement, but even that excitement is short-lived. Their walk with God seems to have a few highs, some lows…and a whole lot of mundane in-betweens.
���Why is that?
���Does it strike you, as it has me, that there is something terribly wrong with that picture? Jesus said, “I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly” ( John 10:10). Aren’t we vaguely unsettled with the idea that somehow a daily relationship with God…the God of the universe…can end up with the flavor of stale bread? The Bible is clear that our passion and “spiritual fervor” should be constant (Romans 12:11). So why have so many Christians accepted a faith experience that is so far below what God intended for them?
���I believe we have an innate sense that serving and worshipping an infinitely powerful God should be anything but mundane. However, many people appear to think that dynamic interactions with God occur only at random times or, for some unknown reason, just are not happening now. And they certainly don’t expect such encounters on a consistent basis. These believers find themselves at a loss as to how to recover the freshness and excitement they once felt. and end up walking through life unaware that a passionate, thriving relationship with God should be the norm, not the exception for every follower of Christ.
���Does any of this sound familiar to you? Maybe at one time you were excited about God, and were full of His life. Maybe you once felt free and were enjoying your relationship with God. But now, if you’re honest, you know other things have grabbed your attention, and your heart has hardened to the joy and freshness you once felt. Or maybe you are far from God and struggling with addictive behavior or other issues? (And, by the way, is there really anyone who doesn’t have issues?)
���How is it that we can become content with a mediocre spiritual life? It’s as if our soul itself grows dull and numb and needs to be shocked back to an awakened state. The good news is that the potential for a lasting, thriving relationship with God really is there. It just has to be awakened!
���When I surrendered my life to Christ, one of the most powerful components of that experience was an awakening to the very presence of God. I still remember the feelings. All of a sudden, my soul woke up! Deep inside, in an area I didn’t even know existed, I felt new emotions and was so alive and full of joy, excitement, and freedom—all at the same time. This feeling was so good, so real, so authentic that I never wanted to lose it.
���Since my awakening more than twenty years ago, I have been in a constant fight to keep that state of newness and freedom in my soul. And to this day nothing is as important to me as keeping my relationship with God fresh and new.
���You may think that is an unrealistic, perhaps even undesirable, goal. After all, aren’t new believers full of emotion and zeal? Eventually we have to calm down and get serious about following God, right? You may have even heard something like this a few times: “You can’t always live on a mountaintop!” or, “You will be an emotional roller coaster if you base your walk with God on feelings.”
���On the contrary, this pursuit of first love or freshness has kept my spiritual walk consistent and thriving all these years. In how I relate to God and how I obey and trust Him, my heart has stayed in a posture of “want to” instead of “have to.” Guarding the fire of devotion in my heart is the most foundational spiritual discipline of my Christian life. When that fire burns brightly, I love worshiping, praying, and obeying God. I hear His voice clearly, and my daily life is an overflow of power and grace. But when that fire dims and smolders, I find that even basic commitments become burdensome, as I try to maintain them in my own strength.
���We can have now, on a daily basis, the same vital connection in Christ that we had on the day He saved us. “As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him” (Colossians 2:6). We are all called to be “zealous for good works” (Titus 2:14), and we’re going to have to fight to “never be lacking in zeal” and always “keep [our] spiritual fervor” (Romans 12:11, NIV).
���Maintaining this newness and freshness with God is something we must literally fight to protect. Make no mistake about it—we have a very real enemy who wants nothing more than for our soul to be lulled to sleep, all while we think everything’s okay.
Live on a Mountaintop?
���So how do we continually experience newness in a world where everything ages? How do we experience freshness where everything quickly becomes stale? We have to wake up!
���Awakening to the presence and power of God is both a one-time event and a recurring newness we experience throughout our lives. Some would say that this state of newness is a mountaintop experience, one that is nice to have every once in a while, but unsustainable in real life. But if you will stick with me, I will show you that not only is it possible to live a life fully awakened to God at all times, but it is the desire and will of God that you do so.
���If we are not living that way, we have no one to blame but ourselves. If you don’t believe me, then go ahead and put this book down and live how you want to live. But if you want an ongoing mountaintop experience, and if you’re ready for your relationship with God to go to the next level, then keep reading and get ready for an incredible journey to your own personal awakening!
���Your entire life really can be one big breakthrough. You can consistently feel God in your emotions and experience joy, even in the most difficult seasons of your life. That’s what this book is about—I promise you that your immediate future can become the best time of your life! And this experience with God can be sustained year after year.
���Don’t allow the pain of this world to push you down into just biding your time here on earth and hoping for a better day in heaven. Yes, let’s hope for a better day when we are all in heaven with Jesus, but until that time, let’s live life as God intended it to be lived—fully awake, fully alive, and walking in a continual state of freshness and newness before God!
���Regardless of where you find yourself today, you can live a life of passion for God. Remember, passionate Christianity is supposed to be normal, not unusual for every believer. The principles of awakening to God and living a sustainable awakened lifestyle are the same principles that can get you free from addictions, bad habits, or anything else that is holding you back from God’s best for your life.
���Okay, I am not saying that every day will be like heaven on earth. I am not saying that you won’t have days and seasons that feel drier than others—I have had my share of those. In my two-plus decades of walking with God I know what it is to suffer, be disappointed, and feel discouraged. Neither am I saying that we should only live according to our feelings or base our relationship with God on experience alone.
���I am saying I believe the Bible is clear about this: experiencing God and feelings are part of the package. The Holy Spirit inside of us brings a whole new set of incredible emotions. God wants us consistently passionate for Him, and passion involves feelings!
���Over the next chapters and in the Awakening 21-Day Plan, I will show you how I keep things fresh and alive in my relationship with God. You, too, can apply these principles of spiritual renewal to your own life, and experience God’s very best.
���In this book I will tell you some of my story and walk you through a process of having your own personal awakening or re-awakening with God and how to keep that awakening experience vital, day after day and year after year. This book is about totally revolutionizing your walk with God so you can have the lasting, exciting relationship with Him you have dreamed about.
���Awakening is an experience, but it must be based on a foundation of biblical truth and principles. There is no formula to this, but I believe there are progressive steps of understanding and decisions that if followed will lead almost everyone to a much deeper spiritual awareness and relationship with God. In the chapters that follow I will share what I call the steps of awakening. They are—
���• experiencing surrender
���• experiencing passion for God
���• experiencing God’s goodness
���• creating space for God to fill
���In a world where we’re constantly bombarded with images, sounds, and counterfeit experiences that demand our attention and threaten to distract us, we can lose our spiritual focus and settle for cheap substitutes. We must discover how to remain awakened to God so that we can feel Him, hear Him, and have clear vision for our lives.
���If you have lost your love, your passion, your want-to attitude in your relationship with God, let’s get those back. It is time to restore your fight, hit the reset button, and experience God in an incredibly fresh, new way.
���Hold on and get ready for an awakening!
Most helpful customer reviews
12 of 13 people found the following review helpful.
This Book Can Change Your Life (if you let it)
By Jeremy
This book teaches you the importance of living a God-first life. As a member of Celebration Church myself, I can tell you Stovall is the real deal. His teachings have helped me to become a better leader; I feel more spiritually educated than ever. This book can (keyword: "can") change your life if you don't hold back and allow yourself to grow stronger, spiritually that is (mind and soul). After reading the first chapter, I knew I needed to be in the right mind-set as I finish this book. This book is very easy to read, yet powerful. Stovall shows/explains the tools/importance in discovering spiritual freedom. Best quote of the book, and so true, "This will be you best year ever, if it is your best year spiritually". Stovall also references the importance of personal devotions. This book is a must read for all Christians and the lost (waiting to be found). "Fasting awakens your hunger for God".
9 of 11 people found the following review helpful.
Picking Through the Bones
By David K. Montoya
First, I want to state that the book, Awakening: A New Approach to Faith, Fasting, and Spiritual Freedom, written by Stovall Weems was given to me by the Blogging for Books program from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishers for review.
I once had a professor in seminary tell me (and I do not know if the saying was his or "borrowed") that there are some books you read in the same manner that you eat fish, you are careful to pick around the bones. In my opinion Stovall Weems', Awakening, is such a book.
I have no doubt Pastor Weems is a dedicated pastor who believes deeply in the book that carries his name, however, as I read the book I could not help be feel like I was reading the script for an infomercial. He makes a lot of promises in the book concerning what he believes fasting will do for an individual backed up by "testimonials" without much real data to support the promised results. Also, especially in Chapter 12, The Awakening Story, I felt like Pastor Weems was using the numerical success (he pastor's a mega-church) as the basis for why we should buy into his program.
Time and time again, Pastor Weems makes the statement that fasting is not about losing weight, becoming healthier, or manipulating God. But then, he seems to contradict his own statements with statements like, "I am now sixty pounds lighter (p.36)", and "Remember, once you complete the "Awakening 21-Day Plan," you will have both your hunger for God and your will power back (p.103)."
Pastor Weems also has a tendency to take analogy to far. I found this to be true especially in his use of the Wineskins story and in his referring to fasting as "the atomic bomb of our spiritual weapons". I also felt phrases like, "Jesus didn't tell His boys just to pray (p.78)", did not really capture the intent of what Jesus was communicating to his disciples.
There are also some theological questions I have with the book. On page 68 Pastor Weems makes the statement, "Old Testament believers did not have the Holy Spirit or the living Word dwelling inside of them as New Covenant believers do." So I guess when the Psalmist in Psalm 51 cries out to not have the Holy Spirit taken from him was mistaken. Also, on page 79, Pastor Weems states: "Through fasting we shut down our natural man so the spiritual man can rise up." I can find no support for this statement in Scripture. As I said earlier, you need to pick through bones to get the meat.
I did find Pastor Weems concepts of agreement, alignment, and assignment very thought provoking and stuff that would preach. I also found his warnings about, "the trap of performance", to be very insightful (even though I feel he contradicted himself in other parts of the book). His material in the section, "Start Your Day with the Right Mind-Set", is something I found to be very clear and helpful. The short devotionals Pastor Weems includes in the book to be used with the 21 day program are good little devotionals. They could be used as a part of a person's quiet time even if the person was not fasting. This was the meat I found mixed with the bones.
Would I recommend this book to an individual wanting to learn more about fasting? I most likely would not.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful.
Awakening: a fresh approach to fasting?
By Todd Bergman
Awakening: A New Approach to Faith, Fasting, and Spiritual Freedom
Stovall Weems
What makes fasting easier? How can you make fasting more effective? Is it necessary?
Stovall Weems provides a pattern for bringing people into the discipline of fasting without making it a burden. He also proposes that following a fast can be effective in producing spiritual awakening. And he stresses the necessity of it if you desire a fresher, more passionate relationship with God.
Awakening has two parts. The first two thirds of the book is the foundational teaching regarding Weems' approach to fasting. The last one thirds of the book sets out a pattern for implementing fasting into your life.
Early in the book, Weems makes a decent argument for the need of believers to re-emphasize prayer and fasting in our lives. He also makes a passing mention of the role of giving. And he is right on. Believers in the current generations of the church have left the disciplines of prayer, fasting, and giving to the "holier" people. These disciplines are regarded as special (excluding commuter prayer practice) and not attainable by "normal" people. I believe that Weems makes the point very well that everyone can approach these means of spiritual enrichment.
But beyond agreeing on the necessity, I struggled with how Weems supports his argument. I will say that I believe he is right on target regarding the need of fasting and the role of fasting in spiritual awakening. But I found his supporting argument filled with contradictory points.
Early on he refers to the community of faith he belonged to and spoke the legalistic, "our way is the right way", approach they took (pg.31). He denounces this performance centric type of faith development. But at other points in the book, he makes his own pattern very performance centric. He begins to apply the same, "my way is the right way" arguments.
On page 76 Weems imagines this interaction with someone. "I can almost imagine someone asking, `Stovall, are you saying that in order to come into full alignment with God, I need to fast?' `Yes! That's exactly what I am saying and Jesus said it too.'" Then on page 102 he makes this statement, "You will get a breakthrough in your area of struggle after you complete the `Awakening 21-Day Plan and will enjoy freedom.'"
I don't disagree with him on the necessity of fasting. I wish I were better at practicing this discipline just for this reason. But at points he makes it sound as if his way of fasting is the only way to make contact with God.
As I read, the distinction that I found him to be making was the difference between what he called Old Covenant and New Covenant fasting. He makes the statement that the purpose and experience of fasting in the Old Covenant (specifically the Old Testament) was radically different from the purpose and experience of fasting in the New Covenant (I am assuming he means the entire New Testament) (pg.64). I think he is way off base here.
First, I would argue that if you claim that the New Testament purpose and experience of fasting is radically different from the Old Testament and that the Old Testament form of fasting was inadequate for the task of having an intimate relationship with God, then the fasting which Jesus practiced, which was the Old Covenant form was inadequate. We are told very clearly that Jesus was faithful to the law. That means the purpose and experience of the law. And that means Jesus observed faithfully everything within the relationship with God regarding the law. If Jesus did not observe the law, then he did not fast, and his expectations of followers to fast would be hollow and invalid. Jesus did observe the law, he most likely observed the fasts, and his expectations for followers would be an example of a greater understanding of the law and the relationship with God through it (Matthew 5:17-20).
Second, Weems states that Old Covenant fasting was for the purpose of mourning, getting God to intervene during a crisis, convincing God to change His mind, and obtaining favor from God (pp. 66-67). And there are specific instances where fasting was implemented for these reasons. But regular fasting, limiting what was eaten or drank to sharpen spiritual awareness, was a part of the normal ritual life of God's people.
Sabbath required eating only what could be prepared the day before. Some of the festivals were solemn rests when no work could be done, including preparing food, in order to humble themselves. That would be why the religious leaders were condemning Jesus and the disciples for plucking heads of grain to eat on the Sabbath. Fasting is a humbling experience, not an exalting experience. The Old Covenant connects fasting with humility in order to realign human priorities with God's priorities.
Most of the argument about a difference between the two forms of fasting comes down to intention. Weems makes it clear that the intention behind the fast is what makes the difference. And I agree completely. Fasting is about the condition of our lives before, during, and after. If we are approaching fasting with any other intention than humbling ourselves before God so that God can work in us, through us, and around us, then we will be disappointed and hungry. But I have to wonder what Weems means by intention.
At times it almost sounds like he refers to intentionality as "think happy thoughts" and it will be enough. On page 30 Weems says, "Right thinking leads to right feelings and the way we think right is to renew our minds in the Word of God." He nods to the need of study of the Word of God but there is very little to expand this practice. Instead it is the influence of thinking "right" thoughts that produces "right" feelings. And this sentence is three sentences behind what I consider to be the most problematic sentence in the entire book.
"You will live more holy on accident by focusing on the goodness of God than you will by focusing on all the "thou shalts" and the "thou shalt nots."
You cannot live intentionally by living on accident. You cannot be holy by accident. You cannot understand the full meaning of God's goodness without at least comprehending the necessity of shalts and shalt nots. And you cannot live out this later statement, "...if you don't feel like obeying God then there is something wrong with your feelings." (pg.90) Weems goes on to say that "the majority of the time we should feel like obeying God." You cannot obey God without focusing on what God requires. Call it what you will, obedience is still focusing on what we shall do and shall not do.
I believe that Weems is another of the current crop of preachers who is trying to draw an imaginary line dividing religion and relationship, claiming the former is dead and the latter is critical. And that distinction needs to die a quick death, soon. There is no line between the two. It is an effort to eradicate a word that should, instead, be clarified. Religion is relationship. It is the relationship that God offers to us. Religion is the response to the relationship that God offers to us. There is no separation of the two. The more the two are separated, the more the orthodox faith of Christianity will be diminished and undermined to the point of an amorphous and irrelevant social organization with no life-altering power.
I was given a copy of this book free of charge in exchange for an honest review by the WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group.
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Awakening: A New Approach to Faith, Fasting, and Spiritual Freedom, by Stovall Weems PDF
Awakening: A New Approach to Faith, Fasting, and Spiritual Freedom, by Stovall Weems PDF
Awakening: A New Approach to Faith, Fasting, and Spiritual Freedom, by Stovall Weems PDF
Awakening: A New Approach to Faith, Fasting, and Spiritual Freedom, by Stovall Weems PDF
