Religious Growth

Walking through Psalm 23 phrase by phrase, therapist and author K.J. Ramsey explores the landscape of our fear, trauma, and faith. When she stepped through her own wilderness of spiritual abuse and religious trauma, K.J. discovered that courage is not the absence of anxiety but the practice of trusting we will be held and loved no matter what. The Lord is My Courage is for the deconstructing and the dreamers, the afraid and the amazed, for those whose fear has not been fully shepherded but who can't seem to stop listening for their Good Shepherd's Voice.

In this five-session Bible study, Will Graham, the grandson of renowned preacher Billy Graham, shares stories and teachings from his life about what it means to be redeemed in Christ. As Will has traveled the globe, he has observed that deep inside each of our souls, we are all hungering for something. Some of us try to satisfy that need by throwing ourselves into relationships, jobs, or hobbies. Some try to fill the hunger by engaging in destructive vices. Others pursue good deeds, social work, or donating money to worthy causes.

Satan doesn't usually hit us with an all-out frontal attack. It's the subtle landmines that do the most damage. They're hidden just below life's surface, and at the slightest misstep - boom! Suddenly you find yourself flown right off the path, feeling separated from God and His blessings, humiliated, estranged from the love and respect of friends and family. Dr. Charles Stanley addresses nine main landmines that every Christian needs to be able to identify.

This book - simple and powerful - is the result of Murray's passionate exploration of the issue of surrender: why it's seemingly impossible and yet completely necessary.

Tap into the secrets of what makes you who you are - passions, talents, experiences, temperament, and spiritual gifts - and you'll discover the path to a life of unimagined purpose, impact, and fulfillment. Rick Warren's best-selling book The Purpose Driven® Life describes God's five purposes for every Christian. Now Erik Rees helps you discover God's unique purpose for your life based on the way God has shaped you.

From the author of Blue Like Jazz comes a road-trip memoir about three months spent crossing the country in a Volkswagen camping van, wondering out loud if there is more to life than nine-to-five jobs, than the ruts the entire world seem to be stuck in. Follow Don and Paul as they dive headlong into the deepest of human questions and find answers outside words: answers that have to be experienced to be believed.

When we rewind history to Abraham's era, we encounter people who concocted false superstitions to explain the unexplainable. Powerful kings claimed to be gods, building massive pyramids in an attempt to achieve immortality. Out of this mass of misunderstandings, this collage of confusion, one man emerged. Why, thousands of years later, are we still discussing the faith of this desert nomad? Chuck Swindoll answers that question and many more in this compelling and insightful biography that will inspire your own faith.

This revised edition includes a new epilogue, "Coming up on Twenty-Five Years" since the entry of the Evangelical Orthodox into the Holy Orthodox Church. This is the story of a handful of courageous men and their congregations who risked stable occupations, security and the approval of life-long friends to be obedient to God's call. It is also the story of every believer who is searching for the Church.

Knowledge of God in the World and the Word is a clear and succinct introduction to classical Christian apologetics that also addresses the most common objections to natural theology. Amid the crisis of authority in our modern and postmodern era, Christians need to be able to point to God's revelation in the natural world in addition to defending God's unique revelation in the Bible and in the person of Jesus Christ.

Many Christians assume "pleasure" and "sin" are synonymous. Others define godly pleasure so narrowly that they drastically minimize the powerful and holy role that pleasure can play in their lives. Still others feel guilty even thinking about how to build a life of pleasure. For all of them, Pure Pleasure provides an entirely new paradigm. It invites Christians to embrace a life of true pleasure as a pathway to obedience, worship, and service

How does worship work? How exactly does liturgical formation shape us? What are the dynamics of such transformation? In the second of James K. A. Smith's three-volume theology of culture, the author expands and deepens his analysis of cultural liturgies and Christian worship he developed in his well-received Desiring the Kingdom. He helps us understand and appreciate the bodily basis of habit formation and how liturgical formation—both "secular" and Christian—affects our fundamental orientation to the world.

The author of the multiple award-winning Grounded and leading trend spotter in contemporary Christianity explores why gratitude is missing as a modern spiritual practice, offers practical suggestions for reclaiming it, and illuminates how the shared practice of gratitude can lead to greater connection with God, our world, and our own souls.

The Fool and the Heretic is a deeply personal story told by two respected scientists who hold opposing views on the topic of origins, share a common faith in Jesus Christ, and began a sometimes-painful journey to explore how they can remain in Christian fellowship when each thinks the other is harming the church. This book provides a model for how faithful Christians can hold opposing views on deeply divisive issues yet grow deeper in their relationship to each other and to God.

Whether listeners are devout believers or distant seekers, The Idolatry of God shows that we must lay down our certainties and honestly admit our doubts to identify with Jesus. Rollins purposely upsets fundamentalist certainty in order to open listeners up to a more loving, active manifestation of Christ’s love. In contrast to the usual understanding of the "Good News" as a message offering satisfaction and certainty, Rollins argues for a radical and shattering alternative. He explores how the Good News actually involves embracing the idea that we can’t be whole, that life is difficult, and that we are in the dark.

Almighty is His Name is the riveting story of God's hand of protection as missionary, SoPhal Ung, and his family fought for their lives in Cambodia. Although the Vietnamese invaded Cambodia in 1979, SoPhal started a house church, which grew from five members to 600 in eight months. He was arrested for this "illegal" activity, imprisoned, severely beaten, and chained by hand and foot, losing 75 pounds in the terrible ordeal. God miraculously spared his life on numerous occasions.

Many people today find that their prayers don't work. And like a broken cell phone, DVD player, or TV remote, they throw prayer out as unnecessary clutter in their busy lives. Anne Graham Lotz has found that while prayer does work, sometimes the pray-ers don't. So she has turned to the prophet Daniel for help. The Daniel Prayer is born deep within your soul, erupts through your heart, and pours out on your lips, words created by and infused with the Spirit of God, quivering with spiritual electricity.

In our post-Christian, pluralistic society, responding to the perception that Christians are prejudiced, anti-intellectual, and bigoted has become a greater challenge than ever before. The result is often intimidation, withdrawal, and even doubts among God's people about what we really believe. Best-selling author and teaching pastor at Living on the Edge, Chip Ingram, wants to change that.

Christians have proclaimed the good news about Jesus for centuries. But the good news isn't sounding so good these days, at least to some. More and more surveys show that people view Christians as bearers of bad news, judgment, and intolerance. In Vanishing Grace, best-selling author Philip Yancey acknowledges the problem and then explores how we can respond with both grace and truth. He offers a discerning look at what contributes to a hostility toward Christians, and identifies three groups - pilgrims, artists, and activists - who can show us a different way.

Share God’s faithfulness and love with your child through Max Lucado’s new children’s book, God Always Keeps His Promises. Max Lucado, beloved pastor and best-selling author, is a revered authority on biblical teaching. Yet his gentle, loving approach makes it possible for even the youngest children to understand God’s tenderness toward them. Through compelling stories, Max will guide your family through God’s unfailing goodness and faithfulness through the promises He made, and how He kept those promises in Bible times and how He still keeps them today.

Raised in a happy, atheist home, Jennifer had the freedom to think for herself and play by her own rules. Yet, a creeping darkness followed her all of her life. Finally, one winter night, it drove her to the edge of her balcony, making her ask, once and for all, why anything mattered. At that moment, everything she knew and believed was shattered.