Personal Ministries

Are you busier than you want to be? Than you need to be? Than you are meant to be? It's time to break busy. We are all spread too thin, taking on more than we can handle, trying to do so much - almost as if we are afraid that if we were to take a moment of rest, we might discover that all our busyness is covering up an essential lack in our lives. But God never meant for us to be so busy. God desires for us peace.

Through original poetry, vividly drawn vignettes, and honest reflection, Parrott mixes images of rain and "wasteland" to explore the daily juxtaposition of deluge and desert we all encounter. A conversation about grief and death takes place in lush gardens teeming with life. A prayer, delivered and answered at a dying friend's bedside, leads to bittersweet understanding. And personal confidences ("My flaws and fears are so real, they demand my full attention.") strike a chord in all of us who struggle earnestly, if sometimes defiantly, to see God's purpose in everything.

We don't know what's coming tomorrow, and usually we live unprepared, just going through the motions of life and practicing a reactive rather than proactive faith. Battle Ready prepares a woman's mind, in advance, for the troubles, opportunities, and invitations of tomorrow, allowing her to build a deep character of determination, resiliency, and faith. Author Kelly Balarie arms listeners with 12 life-altering, love-spreading mindsets that build confidence, grow faith, and increase a spirit of joy.

Have you convinced yourself the abundant life Jesus came to bring is out of reach? Have you developed an "if only" mentality, waiting for something or someone to turn things around? While you become more and more dependent on your excuses, you watch others get what you want to have, go where you want to go, and experience what you long to feel. It seems it's never your turn to experience the joy that comes from attaining all God has for you.

Grace is more story than doctrine. It's more than forgiveness or compassion. It's undeserved by definition, essential to salvation. And it turns out that God's grace—though it's the only thing we stand on and the only thing we should stand for—is the very thing that we consistently distort and hesitate to extend to others. Why is that? To understand the story of grace—what it means and how it's misunderstood, why we need it and how it was given to us—we have to begin at the beginning.

The Duggars: 20 and Counting! is a behind-the-scenes look at the supersize family that fascinates millions of television viewers around the world. From Idaho to Istanbul, people want to know how Arkansas parents Michelle and Jim Bob Duggar efficiently and lovingly manage 19 happy, home-schooled children without going into debt—or losing their minds!

As a man, you may often feel the pressure of fulfilling many roles in life: husband, father, son, businessman, member of the church community. Now, T. D. Jakes comes to your aid with a guidebook to help you understand your own needs for emotional and spiritual support. He offers practical, sound answers to assist you in expressing your needs and having them met in healthy and wholesome ways by those you love. This is a candid, no-holds-barred look at sexuality, spirituality, and the seldom mentioned but extremely important emotions that shape success in every area of a man’s life.

Author Michelle Van Loon weaves together personal stories and keen insights on the biblical themes of pilgrimage and exile. She will help you embrace your own pilgrim identity and reorient your heart toward the God who leads you home. Engaging and thoughtful, enhanced with practical suggestions, prayers, and questions, Born to Wander will teach how to trust God even when you don’t understand what’s happening around you and follow him even when it hurts. Embrace the purpose behind the wandering and discover the freedom and safety of resting in God alone.

Of all the teachings of Christianity, the doctrine of hell is easily the most troubling, so much so that in recent years the church has been quietly tucking it away. Rarely mentioned anymore in the pulpit, it has faded through disuse among evangelicals and been attacked by liberal theologians. Hell is no longer only the target of those outside the church. Today, a disturbing number of professing Christians question it as well. Perhaps more than at any other time in history, hell is under fire. The implications of hell make the popular alternatives, annihilationism and universalism, appealing.

When Alissa Parker lost her daughter Emilie in the Sandy Hook Elementary mass shooting, she started a life-changing journey to answer soul-searching questions about faith, hope, and healing. As she sought for the peace and comfort that could help mend her broken heart, she learned, step by step, how to open her heart to God's grace and will. The story of Alissa and Emilie reminds us that the bonds of love continue beyond this life and that despite tragedy and heartache, we can find strength in our family and our faith.

Your past is not your past if it’s still impacting your present. Do you ever feel as though your life has become a broken record? You’re hearing the same song play over and over again? Nearly every human being on earth has likely spent some time on the carousel of pain. Whether you’re dealing with the guilt and regret of your own sinful choices, or you’re sitting in the shame of someone else’s deceitful actions, God wants to bring you healing.

Most people are cautious about any advice they receive concerning their finances. But what if that advice were to come from the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity? In The Holy Spirit, Your Financial Advisor, Dr. Creflo Dollar investigates what the Bible has to say about the role of the Holy Spirit in the area of making and keeping money and discovers some surprising truths.

In this best-selling memoir, Marla Frees reveals her extraordinary life journey from a small-town girl in a troubled family to a stage and TV actress and ultimately one of the country’s most respected transformational psychic mediums. Her tales of a harrowing childhood, burgeoning career in Hollywood, and astounding psychic and spiritual adventures along the way reveal the resilience and heights of the human spirit. U.S. military psychic spies, homicide cases, messages from the other side, spiritual healing.

If you are currently providing care for your aging parents or facing the prospect of doing so in the near future, you are definitely not alone. Dr. Grant Ethridge and his wife, Tammy, have been there, having given care during their dads' last days. They know the stress and uncertainty you face. Through their story and those of other caregivers, Grant and Tammy share research and practical tips to aid you in dealing with everyday caregiving struggles and situations. You will learn how to decide which care is best, prepare legal documents, handle family disputes, and much more.

In Contagious Faith, best-selling author and teacher Mark Mittelberg introduces five approaches to evangelism and helps you determine which of them fit best with your unique personality and style. He also explains in a down-to-earth fashion several key skills that will help you talk about Jesus effectively, illustrating his message with real-life accounts of ordinary believers who applied these principles for extraordinary impact.

Throughout Keep Showing Up, Karen includes ideas to implement in your marriage right now, such as powerful statements to speak to your spouse, date-night-on-a-shoestring suggestions, and discussion starters. Discover how your "incompatibility" can become the strength of your marital team in this real-life guide to both living with and loving your spouse - differences and all.

By the numbers, the American church enjoys the resources to profoundly impact the Kingdom. But despite the rapid growth of these evangelical movements, the church in the West is in decline. A growing schism has emerged between the movement with a strong emphasis on attracting people and the more missional communities that focus on releasing people into ministry. Hugh Halter and Matt Smay bring fresh encouragement to church leaders and invite them to move beyond the attractional-missional divide by utilizing the best insights from both perspectives.

From the cradle to college, tell your daughters the truth about life before they believe the culture's lies. For mothers with girls newborn to 18, 5 Conversations You Must Have with Your Daughter is simply a must-have book. Youth culture commentator Vicki Courtney helps moms pinpoint and prepare the discussions that should be ongoing in their daughters' formative years.

While many leaders have learned to tune out distractions that keep them from being productive, they remain deaf to their inner desires and emotions. In How to Lead in a World of Distraction, Clay Scroggins teaches leaders four simple habits that create space for emotional evaluation and exploration. These helpful practices will empower leaders to replace the chaos of their busy days with emotional competence and awareness that leads to a calmer, more fulfilling life.

Author Bob Buford called them "code breakers". They are people age 40 and older who have pioneered the art of finishing well in these modern times, and who can teach us to do the same, starting today. Buford sought out 60 of these trailblazers - including Peter Drucker, Roger Staubach, Jim Collins, Ken Blanchard, and Dallas Willard - and has recorded their lively conversations in this audiobook so that they can serve as "mentors" for all of us.