Religious Growth

One rainy day, years ago, a little girl named Lucy discovered that the back of a wardrobe isn't always just the back of a wardrobe. Sometimes, it's a door into another world. In Lucy's case, that other world was called Narnia, and though she was among the first to enter it, she was by no means the last. Millions of children (young and old) have followed her there and met its strange but wonderful inhabitants - Mr. Tumnus, Reepicheep, and Puddleglum, among others.

Many Christians are under the impression that God's grace and his favor are two different things - that while his grace may be a gift, his favor is something we must earn. This misunderstanding has led to destructive teachings about "prosperity" and blessings, and ultimately to lives that feel unfulfilled and inadequate. Pastor Greg Gilbert puts favor back in its rightful place, as God's gift through Jesus Christ. He shows how the favor that Jesus earned through his perfect life and sacrificial death becomes ours the moment we believe.

Moses never wanted to be a leader. Jonah ran away from his mission's call. And when Marcia Moston's husband came home with a call to foreign missions, she was sure God had the wrong number. His call conflicted with her own dreams, demanded credentials she didn't have, and required courage she couldn't seem to find. She promised to follow where God led, but she never thought the road would lead to a Mayan village on a Guatemalan mountainside.

Books such as The Shack, The Purpose Driven Life, and The Love Dare stir spiritual hunger. But do they truly lead to the totally satisfying destination and real fellowship with the living God? How do you get from excitement and encouragement to the experimental reality we all want? Take a step-by-step journey toward finding ultimate peace and joy at the love shack where you will experience God's ultimate best.

Becca Stevens calls herself a "snake oil salesman" - in a positive sense. The social enterprise she founded, Thistle Farms, provides purpose and employment to abused women, providing them with the economic well-being to begin new lives. The natural body-care products that Thistle Farms manufactures - balms, soaps, and lotions, whose ingredients include essential oils - bring healing comfort to the company's customers, too.

In Smuggler’s Treasure, life is good for Liesl in West Germany in 1989. But as she works on a class project, she stumbles onto a startling secret no one will talk about. Will she ever learn the whole story about her family and what happened to them after the building of the Berlin Wall?

In this five-session audio Bible study, pastor and author Rich Wilkerson, Jr. reveals how Jesus was referred to as a “friend of tax collectors and sinners” (Luke 7:34). In the religious leaders’ minds this was one of the greatest indictments imaginable, but for Jesus it was a sign of success because it was the very definition of his mission. Rich shows that by following Jesus’ example, we can have the same clear conviction and compassion for the lost that he did.

Jason Lozano is a true living miracle and has led an inconceivable life of remarkable achievements. He is known and admired by people all over the world for his passionate pursuit to see lives powerfully transformed by God. As a young man, Jason Lozano never imagined a life that didn’t involve drugs, violence, and chaos. His life was riotously spiraling deeper into darkness and destruction.

From contemporary men to historical figures, learn how 16 individuals have inspired millions and created legacies that have helped bring so much light into a dark world. Inspiring stories of faith from a master storyteller.

Aware both of the excitement and uncertainty generated by The Shack, theologian Randal Rauser takes the reader on a fascinating journey through the pages of the story. In successive chapters he explores many of the books complex and controversial issues. Through these chapters Rauser offers an honest and illuminating discussion which opens up a new depth to the conversation while providing the reader with new opportunities for Finding God in The Shack.

When life's left you flatter than a steamrolled possum, turn here for a little hope, humor, honesty, and encouragement from the Bible. It's the best of Chonda Pierce's celebrated Roadkill Reports to her fans, plus lots of new material, and it's perfect for reinflating your outlook--anytime, anywhere!

The suspenseful and emotion-filled second book in the Rayne series begins where the first book ended… with a dying man whispering four stunning words into Shaley O’Connor’s ear. Should she believe him? After two murders on the Rayne concert tour, Shaley is reeling. But she has no time to rest. If the dying man’s claim is right, the danger is far from over. Shaley’s quest for the truth leads to the mysterious and wrenching past of her mother and father. Could what happened to them so many years ago threaten Shaley’s life now?

The day Shaley O’Conner has dreamed of all her life is shattered by a nightmare. On a lavish estate in California guarded from the media, Shaley’s mom, rock star Rayne O’Connor, is marrying her teen sweetheart and Shaley’s father, Gary Donovon. It’s a dream come true for Shaley, who has always longed for the father she never knew.But minutes before the wedding, Shaley is kidnapped.

Gloria wants her daughters to learn they aren't too young to make a difference, so she gets them involved in her annual benefit and auction. But as things often do with the trio of smart and sassy sisters, they get themselves and their nanny, Miss Julia, involved in a lot more than just helping Mom raise money for a worthy and wonderful cause.

The author attempts to put her life back together following her fiance's tragic skiing accident and, amidst the shattered pieces, searches for hope in a God who heals even unimaginable pain.

Learning My Name is the harrowing chronicle of a fearful prodigal putting family relationships on the line as he learns to trust the love of both his dad and his heavenly Father for the sake of putting neurotic, addictive thinking to rest. This book is more than the author's story; it is the story of humanitys interaction with God.

On October 13, 2010, millions of television viewers on five continents literally stopped everything to watch the amazing rescue of 33 men trapped underground in the mine of San Jose de Copiapo in northern Chile. What had seemed at first a hopeless tragedy later became a triumph of human effort, courage, perseverance, and expertise. For 17 excruciating days no one knew whether any of the miners had survived the collapse of the mine shaft, nor were the surviving miners aware of any rescue attempts. They spent a total of 69 days trapped underground.

When Carol Cymbala says that nothing is impossible for God, she means it. For nearly thirty years she has experienced God's light shining steadily in the heart of a city that has become synonymous with coldness and decay. She has watched in awe as he has mended human beings whose lives seemed beyond help. She has also seen how prayer can be the dynamic tool God uses to solve the worst kind of problems.

In The Deceived, the second book of the Forbidden Doors fiction series by author Bill Myers, Becka Williams is swept up in the ideas of reincarnation. When Becka’s beliefs in her past life escalate, her new friend Ryan and her brother, Scott, must find a way to rescue Becka from the evil forces that threaten to control her.

Lonely and a long way from her Iowa home, 12-year-old Jeri McKane reacts to boarding school the way most middle schoolers would. Even with close friends, she wonders whether her scholarship to prestigious Landmark School was worth it. She’s tempted to give up when her Mom can’t make parents’ weekend, and the school bus carrying her roommate, Rosa, disappears.