Personal Ministries

Rhythms of Renewal is your guide to daily rescue and a way forward into the peace your soul longs for. As a society, we are in the throes of a collective panic attack. Anxiety and loneliness are on the rise, with 77% of our population experiencing physical symptoms of stress on a regular basis. We feel pressure chasing careers, security, and keeping up. We worry about health, politics, and many other complexities we can't control. Eventually, we find our minds spinning, trying to cope or manage a low hum of anxiety, unlike ever before.

This paradigm-shattering book will free you from the forces that would turn you into a victim. It will lead you step by step through a simple process that will free you from the pain of the past and protect you from the pain of the future.

Remaining pure in body, mind, eyes, and heart could be the most difficult thing your kids will face in their preteens and teens—and into adulthood. Jim Burns, author of the Pure Foundations series, goes beyond the printed word with this unique audio resource, designed to open a dialog between parents and their kids about healthy sexuality.

In Never Go Back, best-selling author Dr. Henry Cloud shares 10 doorways to success - and once we walk through these new pathways, we never go back again. His proven method - based on grace, not guilt - outlines 10 common life patterns that sabotage success and lays out clear, concrete steps you can take to overcome them. You'll see your relationships flourish, your personal life enhanced, and your faith strengthened.

Have the day-to-day realities of being a dad and husband left you frustrated or worn out? You're not alone. Jerrad Lopes felt that way too...until he started blogging about his struggles and discovered thousands of other men who want to be good husbands and fathers but don't know where to start. You will learn that spiritual leaders realize their story isn't the story - it's all about Jesus; point their wives, children, community, and world toward God; stumble their way through spiritual leadership rather than doing nothing; and seek humility rather than strive for perfection.

We are designed for relationships, yet they often bring us pain. In this paradigm-shifting book, Gary Smalley unravels the DNA of relationships: we are made for three great relationships, with God, others, and ourselves, and all relationships involve choice. Gary exposes a destructive relationship dance that characterizes nearly every relationship conflict, and he offers five new dance steps that will revolutionize relationships.

This book is for any woman who has ever been overwhelmed with indecision, paralyzed with fear, or just plain stuck. With no-nonsense biblical truth, Fear Is Not the Boss of You is a loving kick in the backside that will catapult you into action. Successful entrepreneur, business coach, and girl next door Jennifer Allwood is your guide to show you why you can't stay stuck, teaching you how to get out of your own way and get on the road to fulfilling the life of your dreams - even if you're afraid.

"God has a plan for our lives", but what does that mean in practical terms? How do we know God's will for important life decisions, like who to marry, what job to take, what church to join? How can we be free if God has a perfect plan for us? Does suffering mean we are off track? How exactly does God speak? Author Jerry Sittser explores these questions and offers a biblically based approach that is truly liberating.

The wedding is planned, but are you spiritually prepared for your wedding day? Trusted relationship author Gary Thomas coaches engaged couples on how to grow closer to the Lord in the days leading up to the wedding as a means of preparing them for all the days after the wedding. Providing encouraging entries that will help you deal with common issues such as what real intimacy means, how to celebrate your differences, and remembering to laugh together, Preparing Your Heart for Marriage will help you grow in your relationship as a couple as you become closer to God.

Adolescence now lasts longer than ever before. And as world-renowned expert on adolescent psychology Dr. Laurence Steinberg argues, this makes these years the key period in determining individuals’ life outcomes, demanding that we change the way we parent, educate, and understand young people.

For years, Christians have argued, debated, and fought one another while "speaking the truth in love," yet we are no closer to the grace-filled life Jesus modeled. Biblical scholar and popular podcast host of The Bible for Normal People, Jared Byas casts a new vision for the Christian life that's built not on certainty, but on the risk of love.

After years of working in the beauty industry, Brittany Maher and Cassandra Speer became disheartened by the false, contradictory messages about what defines a woman's worth. They saw women who were lost and wandering, endlessly seeking security and approval. So Maher and Speer made it their mission to help Christian women uncover their valuable identity in Jesus Christ. In Her True Worth, Maher and Speer reveal what God intended your identity to be in the beginning, how sin corrupted it, how Christ has redeemed it, and how to live securely in that identity.

This book has one purpose: to fuel your passion for the secret place with God. Divided into 52 short chapters, it can serve as a companion to your devotional life. Not only will this book help to defuse your personal struggles related to the secret place, it will also inspire you to the thrilling exhilaration of developing a personal connection with God. Your heart will be ignited with passion for Jesus, and you will profit from the practical advice on making it work.

The relationship between a father and a son is like none other. Dads have a God-given role to protect and provide for their families, always striving to teach their sons the life skills they'll need to grow into honorable men. But many dads struggle with feelings of inadequacy regarding their fathering abilities. They want to be better dads. Rick Johnson can tell them how.

Fields of Gold is a practical and inspirational book based on the principle of sowing and reaping. If we sow fear, what will be our harvest? And conversely, if we sow faith, what will we grow? This book moves the reader beyond fear and guilt about giving, and into confidence, security, and excitement. Andy Stanley unpacks our irrational fears about money, helping us to discover that generous giving is actually an invitation for our heavenly Father to resupply us with enough seed to sow generously throughout our lives.

A worship disorder: This is how Edward T. Welch views addictions. "Will we worship our own desires or will we worship the true God?" With this lens the author discovers far more in Scripture on addictions than passages on drunkenness.

Sometimes it seems we just can't get what we want. Circumstances thwart our best-laid plans. We struggle to live a heartfelt life. Worst of all, says Eldredge, the modern church mistakenly teaches its people to kill desire (calling it sin) and replace it with duty or obligation (calling it sanctification).

With today's rampant availability of Internet pornography, sexual addiction has become a national epidemic that affects up to 10 percent of Christians. But there is help for men and women caught in sexual addiction's downward spiral. This book offers a path that leads beyond compulsive thoughts and behaviors to healing and transformation. Sensitive to the shame of sexual addiction without minimizing its sinfulness, Dr. Mark Laaser traces the roots of the problem, discusses its patterns and impact, and maps out a biblical approach to self-control and sexual integrity.

Can you have a strong personality and still be a godly wife? Yes! Do you ever get the idea that being a godly wife means you need to be a mousy doormat? Be as unnoticeable as a doorknob? Or have a personality transplant? Fierce Women: The Power of a Soft Warrior smashes that idea. No matter whether you're an extrovert or more introverted, Kimberly Wagner believes women are created to be a compelling force.

King Solomon had all the fame and fortune that any man could want. He was the world's wisest and wealthiest king. And yet, tragically, he threw it all away for the love of money, the pleasures of sex, and the powers of an earthly kingdom. In studying the life of Solomon, we see both the true greatness and the tragic failure of our own humanity - from godly devotion to self-serving excess. Philip Graham Ryken tells us how, by the grace of God, to prevent those downfalls and to seek God's glory amid earthly temptations through this rich, Christ-centered study of the life of Solomon.