Living Ministries

What makes someone Godly? Scripture tells us that God has given us "everything we need for life and godliness." But what makes a Christian godly? In The Practice of Godliness, Jerry Bridges examines what it means to grow in Christian character and helps us establish the foundation upon which that character is built. Bridges opens our eyes to see how character formation affects the way we relate to God, to ourselves, and to others. In order to live godly lives, we need an inward foundation of God-centeredness.

Got an impossible situation? The anxiety it brings can wake you in the middle of a needed night’s sleep and then stalk you in the middle of broad daylight. It can sneak up on you and cast a cloak of fear and concern over your shoulders that you can’t seem to shake no matter how hard you try. It can take you down. Squash all hope. Stop you in your tracks. Impossible. Impenetrable. Unchangeable. Maybe so...until God gets involved.

Nathan was different and Sally knew it. From his early childhood, Nathan was bursting with creativity and uncontainable energy, struggling not only with learning issues but also with anxiety and OCD. He saw the world through his own unique lens - one that often caused him to be labeled as "bad", "troubled", or someone in need of "fixing". Bravely choosing to listen to her motherly intuition rather than the loud voices of the world, Sally dared to believe that Nathan's differences could be part of an intentional design.

Written by John Owen, one of the best known of the Puritans. In The Mortification of Sin, John Owen insisted on the importance of the Christian dealing effectively with their sinful tendencies and attitudes. He believed that God, through his Word and Spirit, had provided the guidelines and the power for this to be achieved. Owen effectively dismisses various excuses for not engaging in self scrutiny and yet avoids the current trend of self absorption.

Have a new husband by Friday? Is that even possible? Dr. Kevin Leman says it is. The New York Times best-selling author and self-help guru shows even the most frustrated wife how she can have a new husband by Friday. Leman reminds any wife that if what she's doing to get better behavior out of her husband isn't working now, it never will. So it's time for a change. That means it's time to change her own patterns of behavior.

A. W. Tozer was a man of remarkable knowledge, an avid reader of Christians and philosophers from throughout the ages. But he meditated on the Bible, making him - like John Wesley - "a man of one Book and a student of many". Combine this knowledge with his acclaimed writing style and you have works like this one, high thoughts of God brought low - yet no less moving - for the common listener. When you set out to study Christ, you want to behold his splendor the best you can. That's why writers like A. W. Tozer are excellent guides.

All Christians know they should pray, but sometimes it's hard to know how - especially if the minutes start to drag, and our minds start to wander. Offering listeners hope, encouragement, and the practical advice they're looking for, this concise book by professor Donald Whitney outlines a simple, time-tested method that can help transform our prayer lives: praying the words of the Bible.

This simple and powerful work is the result of Murray's passionate exploration of the issue of surrender: why it's seemingly impossible and yet completely necessary.

Becoming more like Christ is a lifelong endeavor that may seem overwhelming - especially to those who don't know the next steps. Whether you lead a group of people who have just begun their walk with Christ or those who want to go deeper, the Freedom in Christ curriculum will give you the simple, practical guidance to help others weave faith into every aspect of their lives.

At the very heart of God is the passionate disposition to be in loving fellowship with you. From the human side of this equation it is meditative prayer that ushers us into this divine-human fellowship. Richard Foster, best-selling author and founder of Renovare, writes these words as one who has experienced what they describe. And in this new book he will beautifully guide you in this transformational way, that you might come to know deeper fellowship with God.

Delighting in God is the message Tozer intended to be the follow-up to The Knowledge of the Holy. He demonstrates how the attributes of God - those things God has revealed about himself - are a way to understand the Christian life of worship and service. We are here to serve and adore him, but we can fulfill that role only by acknowledging who he is, which is the essence of the Christian life and the source of all our fulfillment, joy, and comfort.

Who am I? It's a question we all ask ourselves at some point. Depending on the season we focus our identity on our job performance, marital status, personality type, or social network, among other options. However, there's a larger question to consider. Who does the Bible tell me I am in Christ? From the wisdom and perspective of insightful authors, we'll seek to answer this question by: exposing our false notions of identity; understanding the biblical truth of our identity in Christ; and reflecting on what it looks like to live in our new (and true) identity.

Perhaps there has never been a more challenging time to raise children than in today's culture. Parents are having to address challenges that their parents never had to with them. And while the core elements to raising children are the same, parents need wisdom for applying them to this day and age. That's what this book is about: navigating the times and raising a generation of men on godly principles - sons who are ready, able, and motivated to represent God during their days of sojourning on this earth.

The "hole in our holiness" is that evangelicals don't look particularly holy, and despite the flood of gospel-centered discussions, there seems to be a greater focus on personal depravity than on the pursuit of holiness. Looking to right the balances, Kevin DeYoung presents a popular-level treatment of sanctification and union with Christ, helping readers to see what matters most - being like Jesus. He shows how one can be like Christ in being joined to Christ. The market is ready for DeYoung's timely book.

Few subjects invigorated A. W. Tozer like the topic of worship. He saw it - like the church has traditionally - as the sole reason for which creation exists. Worship: The Reason We Were Created features collections from the beloved spiritual writer on this important topic. The church's current worship is emaciated; its thoughts of God are too low. Here is a compilation to raise those thoughts high once more, and provoke the church to true, spiritual worship.

The story of Noah is one of the most captivating in all the Bible. Yet most people remember it mainly as a children's story found in picture books and heard in Sunday school classes. But this tragedy really took place - and widely overlooked is Jesus' stunning prophecy that the final days of planet Earth would be just as it was in the days of Noah. His point? That there would be striking parallels between Noah's day and the end times - with warnings of God's imminent judgment upon the world.

This is not an audiobook about Saint Augustine. In a way, it's an audiobook Augustine has written about each of us. Popular speaker and award-winning author James K. A. Smith has spent time on the road with Augustine, and he invites us to take this journey, too, for this ancient African thinker knows far more about us than we might expect. Following Smith's successful You Are What You Love, this audiobook shows how Augustine can be a pilgrim guide to a spirituality that meets the complicated world we live in.

In this new edition, popular author Walter Brueggemann writes that the Sabbath is not simply about keeping rules but rather about becoming a whole person and restoring a whole society. Brueggemann calls out our 24/7 society of consumption, a society in which we live to achieve, accomplish, perform, and possess. We want more, own more, use more, eat more, and drink more. Brueggemann tells listeners how keeping the Sabbath allows us to break this restless cycle and focus on what is truly important: God, other people, all life.

Native is about identity, soul-searching, and the never-ending journey of finding ourselves and finding God. As both a citizen of the Potawatomi Nation and a Christian, Kaitlin Curtice offers a unique perspective on these topics. In this book, she shows how reconnecting with her Potawatomi identity both informs and challenges her faith.

The Christian life is built on three seemingly unremarkable practices: reading the Bible, prayer, and fellowship with other believers. However, according to David Mathis, such "habits of grace" are the God-designed channels through which his glorious grace flows - making them life-giving practices for all Christians.