Religious Growth

Following Jesus is a journey none of the people in this book ever expected to take. Why did they? What difference did it make? The book you’re looking at is dangerous. If you listen to it, you’ll see that God is still active in saving even the most unexpected people: An atheist woman who viewed Christians as “idiots.” A married couple high in the leadership ranks of the Mormon church. An African-American man who became a Black Muslim out of hatred for white Christians. And much more!

Best-selling and beloved author Madeleine L’Engle, Newbery winner for A Wrinkle in Time, was known the world round for her imaginative spirit and stories. She was also known to spark controversy - too Christian for some, too unorthodox for others. Somewhere in the middle was a complex woman whose embrace of paradox has much to say to a new generation of readers and listeners today. A Light so Lovely casts a vivid portrait of this enigmatic icon’s spiritual legacy, starting with her inner world and including fresh reflections on her writing for today’s listeners.

Judah Smith digs deep to answer the most common and the most difficult questions about Jesus, a man so few understand and so many desperately need. In Jesus Is, Judah Smith explores a number of topics that reveal Jesus’ purpose for coming, what he accomplished while he was here, and what that means for those of us who came after. Jesus is greatly revered, harshly criticized, and sorely misunderstood.

In this unabridged audio download, Letters from the Land of Cancer, award-winning writer Walter Wangerin Jr. offers his profound insights into the greatest challenge we face: confronting our own mortality. Diagnosed with inoperable lung cancer in January 2006, Wangerin began writing letters to his friends and family members. Now he offers these intimate letters to all who ask questions about living and dying well.

More than a decade ago, Jerry Sittser prayed for the protection of his family, yet three of his loved ones - his daughter, his wife, and his mother - died in an automobile accident. What went wrong? When God Doesn't Answer Your Prayer takes an honest and probing look at the problem of unanswered prayer. In doing so, it draws us ever deeper into a relationship with the God who is the end of all our prayers, the object of our faith, and the one who fulfills our deepest longings.

Self-care is the practice of taking an active role in protecting one's own well-being and happiness. In order to do so, we must get in touch with who we are at our core. Only then can we realize how we need to show up in the world—how we want to express, without any apologies, our most authentic selves. Lessons from the Empress focuses on what the tarot can teach us about ourselves and provides exercises to strengthen our confidence in our own creative expression.

The goodness of God is waiting for us to taste and see. The aroma of Christ surrounds us. In Sensing God, musician and theologian Joel Clarkson points us to a life of faith that is enchanted by the glory of divine craftsmanship, inviting us to practice a faith that is true, good, pure, and altogether lovely.

Like so many saints before him, Samuel Rutherford did his best work while he was imprisoned for the gospel. While in exile from his hometown, he wrote hundreds of letters to his friends and members of his congregation. Christians of all walks have drawn strength from Rutherford's letters, which were printed several years after his death in 1661 and have been called “the most remarkable series of devotional letters that the literature of the Reformed churches can show.” The Loveliness of Christ is a collection of short excerpts from these letters.

First published anonymously in 1418, Thomas à Kempis's The Imitation of Christ is a classic Christian devotional work that has been read through the ages by such notable figures as Sir Thomas More, John Wesley, and Pope John Paul I. A meditation on spiritual life, it offers instructions for renouncing worldly vanity and discovering eternal truths with the goal of living out the teachings of Jesus by taking inspiration from his life.

In this in-depth biblical biography, Beth Moore takes you on an intimate, exciting journey through virtually every astonishing episode of David's remarkable life. From shepherd, to refugee, to king of Israel, David exhibited the purest virtues and the most heinous sinfulness. But through it all, his relationship with the Lord continued to grow.

This honest book will help you discover a different Jesus from the flannelgraph Sunday school figure, the sweetly smiling Victorian Savior, and all the cultural clichés that have tamed Jesus and kept him in comfortable religious boxes. Philip Yancey cuts through existing views and preconceptions of Jesus - citing opinions from church history, modern history, and popular culture; discussing how different people and cultures view Jesus; dissecting popular quotes about Jesus; and much more - and he offers a more accurate perspective by pointing us back to the Bible.

Over the last 500 years, blood-red moons have fallen on the first day of Passover three separate times. These occurrences were connected to some of the most significant days in Jewish history: 1492 (the final year of the Spanish Inquisition when Jews were expelled from Spain), 1948 (statehood for Israel and the War of Independence) and 1967 (the Six-Day War). Every heavenly body is controlled by the unseen hand of God, which signals coming events to humanity. There are no solar or lunar accidents.

In A Dolphin Wish, a three-night stop in the city of San Diego seems like it might be just the break the girls need - lovely weather and great sights to see. That is until they hear animal handlers at Watery World talking about the trouble they've been having keeping the animals in their habitats. Mia and her sisters cannot resist a challenge, and they talk Miss Twist into another visit to the educational amusement park to search for clues as to what or who is helping the animals escape.

For C. S. Lewis, reason and logic are the sensible way to approach faith and ethics. Much of the 20th century's ills are caused by ill-founded beliefs and opinions. Lewis' original approach remains as vital today as ever. He is able to take the most convoluted subject, turn it side on and shed bright illumination on it. To be able to see along things rather than at them - just like a beam of sunlight that invades the darkness of a toolshed - is, to Lewis, the way to understanding.

This audiobook bundle includes four favorite I Can Read! titles from The Berenstain Bears’ Living Lights: A Faith Story series.

For all who want to understand the religious faiths of their neighbors and coworkers, Winfried Corduan offers an introduction to the religions of the world. His survey covers major and minor religions, including Judaism, Islam, Zoroastrianism, African traditional religions, Native American religion, Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism, Baha'i, Chinese popular religion, and Shinto and Japanese religions.

An Honest, Well-Experienced Heart introduces us to the life and writings of Puritan preacher and author John Flavel (1627-1691). In his brief introductory biography, Adam Embry discusses Flavel's background, ministry, and theology of keeping the heart, which, for Flavel, is the great business of a Christian's life. Centuries ago, Flavel wrote, Above all other studies in the world, study your own hearts. Embry guides us through forty-two short passages from Flavel's writings that acquaint us with this dedicated Puritan minister's piety.

How do we effectively confront racial injustice? We need to move beyond talking about racism and start equipping ourselves to fight against it. In this follow-up to the New York Times bestseller The Color of Compromise, Jemar Tisby offers an array of actionable items to confront racism. How to Fight Racism introduces a simple framework—the A.R.C. Of Racial Justice—that teaches listeners to consistently interrogate their own actions and maintain a consistent posture of anti-racist behavior.

Few authors write with such sheer love of story and language as T. C. Boyle, and that is nowhere more evident than in his inventive, wickedly funny, and always entertaining short stories. Here are 14 new tales previously unpublished in book form. By turns mythic and realistic, farcical and tragic, ironic and moving, Boyle's stories have mapped a wide range of human emotions. The stories here reflect his maturing themes.

Between Heaven & Hollywood is David's inspirational journey from the wheat fields of his Mennonite home outside of Dodge City, Kansas, to the bright lights of Los Angeles. This story of perseverance will assure you that your dreams aren't frivolous. They might be the most important part of your life.