Personal Spiritual Growth

After over 25 years of researching, writing, and speaking on this subject, in Healthy Me, Healthy Us the Parrotts have whittled down their answer to the truth contained in this single sentence: If you try to build intimacy with another person before you have gotten whole on your own, all your relationships become an attempt to complete yourself.

In the age of fingertip access to answers and a limitless supply of ambitions, where do we find the God who was birthed in dirt and straw? Sara Hagerty found him when life stopped working for her. She found him when she was a young adult mired in spiritual busyness and when she was a new bride with doubts about whether her fledgling marriage would survive. She found him alone in the night as she cradled her longing for babies who did not come. She found him as she kissed the faces of children on another continent who had lived years without a mommy’s touch. In Every Bitter Thing Is Sweet, Hagerty masterfully draws from the narrative of her life to craft a mosaic of a God who leans into broken stories. Here readers see a God who is present in every changing circumstance. Most significantly, they see a God who is present in every unchanging circumstance as well.

A seasoned journalist chases down the biggest story in history. The Project: Determine if there's credible evidence that Jesus of Nazareth really is the Son of God. The Reporter: Lee Strobel, educated at Yale Law School, award-winning former legal editor of the Chicago Tribune - with a background of atheism. The Experts: A dozen scholars, with doctorates from Cambridge, Princeton, Brandeis, and other top-flight institutions, who are recognized authorities on Jesus.

It's tough when your gifts and passions are stuck in holding patterns of insecurity, shame, and comparison. But the truth is, every experience of your life has prepared you to live out your God-given purpose in this exact moment. The world is hurting and our lives are waiting, we don't have time stay stuck--we've got to make a move. You Are the Girl for the Job is not an empty catchphrase. It's the straight-up truth God has proclaimed over your life from the beginning. It's not a statement about your capacity, but rather about His.

We have hundreds of "friends" through online social networking, but we often don't even know the full name of the person who lives right next door. This unique and inspiring book asks the question: What is the most loving thing I can do for the people who live on my street or in my apartment building? Through compelling true stories of lives impacted, the authors explain how to create genuine friendships with the people who live in closest proximity to us.

Have you ever wondered what would it be like if the Almighty didn't use a go-between to interpret his words? What if God (or some similar all-knowing entity) actually wrote a book himself? What if he (or she) made it fun and accessible to everyday people? And, most importantly, what if this spiritual guide had a playful attitude and a great sense of humor? If all of these things came to pass, what kind of book might the Omnipresent One write? Listen to this powerful little audiobook to find out....

Do you have anyone in your life who can't seem to stick with a project, meet a deadline, or even clean up after themselves? All of us feel we deserve special treatment sometimes. Some people live with this entitled attitude. If you have a difficult relationship with an entitled person, or if you have discovered entitlement in yourself, understand this: It doesn't have to stay this way. There is a cure. It's called the Hard Way and it works. Dr. Townsend offers daily steps, such as risk-taking, to help you or those you love choose the Hard Way.

Step into your unique calling in life by embracing your God-given identity. In Your Purpose Is Calling, Dr. Dharius Daniels shows you how God created you to make your specific difference in this world and how the simple key to unlocking your fullest potential lives within you already—your identity in Christ.

Many believers have backslid. Some have turned away completely while others have turned away only in small degrees. Many will honestly say, "I have lost that love which I first had for the Lord". Many are prepared to say that, but they are not willing to take radical steps to put things right. They see the need to repent; they desire to repent, but they do not repent, for they do not pay the price of repentance.

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.

In our frenzied culture, the possibility of living in balanced rhythms of work and rest often feels elusive. This rings especially true for pastors and leaders who carry the weight of nonstop responsibility. Most know they need rest but might be surprised to find within themselves a deep resistance to letting go and resting in God one day a week, let alone for longer seasons of sabbatical.

For when your trust has been broken: Discover how to set firm boundaries again, how to connect deeply without being hurt, and how to safely grow your most intimate relationships. Painful relationships violate our trust, causing us to close our hearts. But to experience the freedom and love God designed us for, we eventually have to take another risk.

Experience the blessings of an imperfect marriage. We all - at one time or another - have opportunities to act right when our spouses act wrong. There are no perfect marriages or perfect spouses. We know that having a good marriage requires effort and hard work. Yet we often don't know how to continue to love when we are angry, hurt, scared, or just plain irritated. Nor are we sure what that kind of love is supposed to look like.

Are you feeling stuck as you try to live out your purpose in life? In When Your Way Isn't Working, Kyle Idleman draws on Jesus's words from John 15 to remind us that it's connection, not production, that leads to a fruitful life—and relationship, not circumstances, that ultimately leads to joy.

If technology is the new addiction, then multitasking is the new marching order. With our never-ending to-do lists and jam-packed schedules, it's no wonder we're distracted. But this isn't the way it has to be. Special education teacher, New York Times best-selling author, and mother Rachel Macy Stafford says enough is enough. Tired of losing track of what matters most in life, Rachel began practicing simple strategies that enabled her to momentarily let go of largely meaningless distractions and engage in meaningful soul-to-soul connections.

Explore the spiritual dynamics of parenting, and why caring for children is such an effective discipline in shaping our souls and forming the character of Christ within us.

Whether you've been looking forward to it or dreading it, the experience of coming home to an empty nest brings with it a well of emotions, realizations, and one gigantic, all-consuming thought: Now what? In Finding Joy in the Empty Nest, Jim Burns combines his personal experiences with his expertise as a family educator to help you navigate your new life as an empty nester and find joy in this new season of life.

The Awakening Master Class is Joe Vitale's most recent breakthrough program explaining the four stages of awakening. This thought-provoking book builds on everything Vitale has produced to date, taking you to a whole new level of personal and professional transcendence. This course offers a proven step-by-step approach for finding and achieving your goals and desires through a complete mind, body, and spiritual transformation.

It begins with a deeply inspiring wish for the positive welfare of another person. Writer and social justice advocate Pierre Pradervand believes that making the conscious choice to bless every person or being around you can truly make the world a better place. In The Gentle Art of Blessing, Pradervand shows that the practice of blessing has the power to create more than just a momentary change. It unleashes tangible benefits throughout your entire life that can open the doors to a more peaceful world.

Hearing God Through Your Dreams is a practical and powerful guide to understanding the language that God speaks at night. Through revelatory teaching, supernatural stories, and a refreshing, down-to-earth approach, Mark Virkler and his daughter Charity will help you identify the priceless messages with which the Lord has infused your dreams.