Living Religions

There are many blessings that come with age: retirement, grandchildren, travel, and life experience. Today's culture, however, marginalizes old age, often portraying it as burdensome and hopeless. Many older women can feel like an encumbrance rather than a blessing to their friends and family members. In response to these struggles, Sharon Betters and Susan Hunt encourage women to find hope through both real-life and biblical accounts of women who rediscovered gospel-rooted joy later in life.

Thirty years ago, Gregory Boyle founded Homeboy Industries, a gang-intervention, rehabilitation, and reentry program in Los Angeles, the gang capital of the world. In Tattoos on the Heart, his debut book, he distills his experience working with gang members into a breathtaking series of parables inspired by faith.

The Songs of Jesus by Timothy Keller offers inspiration every day for an entire year based on the book of Psalms. Few authors have the loyal audience that Timothy Keller has. Penguin has sold more than two million copies of his books. His many fans have been waiting for him to write a daily devotional in the tradition of Sarah Young's Jesus Calling. Each day, listeners will encounter a fresh, inspiring lesson from one of the most beloved books in the Bible.

Where the Light Fell is a gripping family narrative set against a turbulent time in post-World War II America, shaped by the collision of Southern fundamentalism with the mounting pressures of the civil rights movement and '60s-era forces of social change. In piecing together his fragmented personal history and his search for redemption, Yancey gives testament to the enduring power of our hunger for truth and the possibility of faith rooted in grace instead of fear.

The pain that happened to you is real . . . and it matters immensely. The notion of healing what you can’t erase is not about ignoring the devastation of your past or putting a glossy, positive spin on current tragedy. That plastic version of faith isn’t actually faith; it’s unbelief. Healing What You Can’t Erase offers a far better solution—a road map for moving forward through the losses and scars by allowing the power of the Holy Spirit to transform us . . . spirit, soul, and body.

If God is holy, then he can’t sin. If God can’t sin, then he can’t sin against you. If he can’t sin against you, shouldn’t that make him the most trustworthy being there is? Best-selling author Jackie Hill Perry, in her much anticipated follow-up to Gay Girl, Good God, helps us find the reason we don’t trust God - we misunderstand his holiness. In Holier Than Thou, Jackie walks us through Scripture, shaking the dust off of “holy” as we’ve come to know it and revealing it for what it really is: good news.

Begin each day with a reminder that God loves you with a passionate, everlasting love. Give Jesus your worries and obligations, and let him nourish your heart, comfort your soul, and show you wisdom from his word. Each blessing and related Scripture takes only moments to hear, but is packed with a hope-filled, biblical perspective that will bring joy to your soul. Several years ago, Susie Larson began posting daily blessings on Facebook, and since then, thousands have responded and forwarded the blessings on to others.

In They Walked with God, pastor and New York Times bestselling author Max Lucado takes a closer look at 40 of the most inspirational and influential characters in the Bible and shares a powerful message: if God can find a place for each character in the Bible, we can rest assured that he's carved out a spot for us too.

Jesus warned that deception would grow worse as we draw nearer to the end times, saying, "Take heed that no one deceives you" (Matthew 24:4). Distinguishing truth from error has become an increasingly challenging task—even in the church. We live in a time when falsehoods assault us from every direction. Packaged with just enough truth to make them appear trustworthy, these counterfeits have grown more and more difficult to detect and avoid. Living in the Daze of Deception explores the many ways error is masquerading as truth—and how you can discern the difference.

We are called to a life of holiness. But, as any Christian can attest, the transformation from sinner to saint is rarely drastic or immediate. More often, it is a gradual process, found in the daily interactions of a spiritually-nourished heart. In Holiness: Day by Day, Jerry Bridges offers that nourishment in the form of concise daily devotionals. With conversational style and God-centered focus, Bridges provides practical, encouraging insight, pointing us towards the One who, alone, is holy.

"If God is good and all-powerful, why does he allow his creatures to suffer pain?" And what of the suffering of animals, who neither deserve pain nor can be improved by it? The greatest Christian thinker of our time sets out to disentangle this knotty issue. With his signature wealth of compassion and insight, C. S. Lewis offers answers to these crucial questions and shares his hope and wisdom to help heal a world hungering for a true understanding of human nature.

The Bible wasn't meant to be studied only by pastors or biblical scholars—it's for everyone! But despite being the bestselling book of all time, God's Word can sometimes be intimidating for the rest of us. Drawing from fifty years in ministry, Dr. Jack Graham inspires you to dive deeper into Scripture on your own in order to grow in your connection with God. This guide will help you understand the overall narrative of the Bible, develop meaningful devotional practices, sidestep common mistakes in Bible interpretation, apply Scripture to your everyday life, and more.

Sixty-five million adults in the US have dropped out of active church attendance, and about 2.7 million more are leaving every year. Faith After Doubt is for the millions of people around the world who feel that their faith is falling apart. Using his own story and the stories of a diverse group of struggling believers, Brian D. McLaren, a former pastor and now an author, speaker, and activist, shows how old assumptions are being challenged in nearly every area of human life, not just theology and spirituality.

Welcome to the wilderness - the place between receiving a promise from God and seeing it come to pass. God uses the wilderness to prepare and equip you for your destiny. Contrary to what many may think, getting through this season isn’t just a matter of waiting on God. You have a part to play in navigating through it. And if you don’t want to waste time wandering in circles, it’s important to learn what that is. Author John Bevere equips you with key biblical insights and profound stories that will help you navigate your dry or difficult seasons and step into all that God has for you.

This is more than a Bible you listen to; it’s an experience that helps you enter God’s Word...so God’s Word can enter you. Narrated by George Sarris, a well-known spokesperson for several Fortune 500 companies and a talented communicator, this audio edition of the complete Bible in the beloved New International Version (NIV) will reignite your passion for the Word of God.

In The Interior Castle, Carmelite nun, mystic, and patron saint of Spain Teresa of Ávila uses the metaphor of a giant crystal castle to explain her theory of the soul and the various stages it passes through as it progresses towards God. Beginning in the outer rooms, where demons are fought and vices are purged, the soul must reach the inner chambers, where it will enter betrothal and intimate union with God. Prayer is central to the journey, as the soul is guided by its practice and each phase represents a different category of devotion.

What would God say about those who blatantly misrepresent His Holy Spirit; who exchange true worship for chaotic fits of mindless ecstasy; who replace the biblical gospel with vain illusions of health and wealth; who claim to prophesy in His name yet speak errors; and who sell false hope to desperate people for millions of dollars? The Charismatic movement has always been a breeding-ground for scandal, greed, bad doctrine, and all kinds of spiritual chicanery. Best-selling author and pastor John MacArthur chronicles the unsavory history behind the modern Charismatic movement.

The Trinity is supposed to be the central doctrine grounding Christianity, yet we're often told that we shouldn't attempt to understand it because it's a mystery. But what if we breached that mystery? How might it transform our relationship with God?

C.S. Lewis' famous work on the nature of love divides love into four categories: affection, friendship, eros and charity. The first three are loves which come naturally to the human race. Charity, however, the gift-love of God, is divine in its source and expression, and without the sweetening grace of this supernatural love, the natural loves become distorted and even dangerous.

We’ve never been more educated and entertained. We have technological tools our parents could only dream of, and we are saturated with information, amusement, and recreation. Yet more than ever, we are starving for hope. After 40 years of counseling and ministry, Max Lucado has learned that nothing lifts the desperate, weary heart like the promises of God. In a world full of despair, depression, anxiety, and instability, we do not need more opinions or hunches; we need the definitive declarations of our mighty and loving God.