Spiritual Women

Heavily tattooed and foul-mouthed, Nadia Bolz-Weber, a former stand-up comic, sure as hell didn't consider herself to be religious-leader material - until the day she ended up leading a friend's funeral in a smoky downtown comedy club. Surrounded by fellow alcoholics, depressives, and cynics, she realized: These were her people. Maybe she was meant to be their pastor. Using life stories, Nadia uses humorous narrative and poignant honesty to portray a woman who is both deeply faithful and deeply flawed, giving hope to the rest of us along the way.

The women from Sensible Shoes are taking their next steps in the spiritual formation journey. But each of them is finding roadblocks along the way. Meg, a widow and recent empty nester, is off to see her daughter in London. But what does hope look like when nothing goes as planned?

Is it possible to have peace in an uncertain world? To not only expect the unexpected but embrace it? Most of us want to have life under control. But God wants us to anticipate the unexpected with a faith deeply rooted in his goodness. He wants us to know that because he is in control, we don't have to be. In Unexpected, beloved author Christine Caine helps us walk into the life God has for us - unknowns and all. Using dramatic examples from her own journey, Christine offers real-life strategies and biblical inspiration to help us move from fear and worry to hope and trust.

Motherhood can often feel overwhelming and isolating. Your feelings swing between joy and uncertainty, intense love and anxiety, laughter and tears. Ashlee Gadd and the writers behind the popular blog Coffee + Crumbs have written a beautiful reminder of your identity. The Magic of Motherhood is a curated collection of honest stories weaving together the love, joy, and magnificent heartache of motherhood. Instead of offering advice, the writers offer something even better: their hearts. You'll listen to essays about identity, adoption, body image, miscarriage, friendship, faith, and more.

In Happy Derren Brown explores changing concepts of happiness - from the surprisingly modern wisdom of the Stoics and Epicureans in classical times right up until today, when the self-help industry has attempted to claim happiness as its own. He shows how many of self-help’s suggested routes to happiness and success – such as positive thinking, self-belief and setting goals – can be disastrous to follow and, indeed, actually cause anxiety. Happy aims to reclaim happiness and to enable us to appreciate the good things in life, in all their transient glory.

The intention for Be Your Own Cheerleader is to help professional Asian and South Asian women—who have toggled between the two very different cultures of East and West—thrive in the workplace. When you are raised in the collective we, it is very difficult to make a name and place for yourself in the individual I. Not only are you unskilled in advocating for yourself, but you are also unsure of how to be proud of your work or accomplishments. Neelu Kaur's analysis of various research is at the intersection of leadership and wellness.

If Jesus called himself the "bread of life," why is it that our relationship with food is so complicated? We love it. We hate it. We hate that we love it. Whether we're obsessing over what not to consume - carbs, sugar, alcohol - or what we will devour - fat free, dairy free, gluten free - food has become burdensome. Christian Book Award winner Tilly Dillehay tackles the way we approach food. In Broken Bread, Dillehay identifies the four major food sins and the fears that drive them, and she offers a new way of thinking about food less to focus on more important matters.

The Old Testament describes Deborah as a mighty combination of judge, intercessor, prophetess, mother of Israel, and military strategist. Deborah broke outside of her culture - not out of rebellion but in obedience to God to set her people free.

World-renowned Jesus scholar Marcus J. Borg shows how we can live passionately as Christians in today's world by practicing the vital elements of Christian faith. For the millions of people who have turned away from many traditional beliefs about God, Jesus, and the Bible, but still long for a relevant, nourishing faith, Borg shows why the Christian life can remain a transforming relationship with God. Emphasizing the critical role of daily practice in living the Christian life, he explores how prayer, worship, Sabbath, pilgrimage, and more can be experienced as authentically life-giving practices.

It’s All Under Control is an audiobook for every woman who is hanging on tight and trying to get each day right - yet finding that life often feels out of control and chaotic.

For years, Cole Arthur Riley was desperate for a spirituality she could trust. Amid ongoing national racial violence, the isolation of the pandemic, and a surge of anti-Black rhetoric in many Christian spaces, she began dreaming of a more human, more liberating expression of faith. She went on to create Black Liturgies, a digital project that connects spiritual practice with Black emotion, Black memory, and the Black body.

Ten of the Bible's best-known femmes fatales parade across the pages of Bad Girls of the Bible with situations that sound oh-so-familiar. Eve had food issues. Potiphar’s wife and Delilah had man trouble. Lot’s wife and Michal couldn’t let go of the past, Sapphira couldn’t let go of money, and Jezebel couldn’t let go of anything. Yet the woman at the well had her thirst quenched at last, while Rahab and the sinful woman left their sordid histories behind.

The opportunity to tour Israel came at a good time. For months, my life has been a mindless plodding through necessary routine, as monotonous as an all-night shift on an assembly line. Life gets that way sometimes, when nothing specific is wrong but the world around us seems drained of color. My weekly worship experiences and daily quiet times with God have felt as dry and stale as last year's crackers. I'm ashamed to confess the malaise I've felt. I have been given so much. Shouldn't a Christian's life be an abundant one, as exciting as Christmas morning, as joyful as Easter Sunday?

Many of today's most extraordinary Christian women communicators join together to impart the wisdom God has given them - and to help women realize all God intended for them. Features Jill Briscoe, Beth Moore, Sandra D. Wilson, Kathleen Hart, David Hager, Thelma Wells, and Beverly LaHaye.

We all want to live simpler lives and to put Jesus first – and we struggle with both. While we are busy strategizing new ways to streamline our calendars and clean out our closets of the clutter, what really needs attention is what will give us long-term clarity and peace — the priority order of Jesus over everything in our lives. In Jesus Over Everything, Lisa shares eight statements of choice to help us grow in our understanding of what it means to put Jesus first amid the craziness of our days.

The role of women in positions of worship and church leadership is one of the most divisive and inconclusive biblical debates. Two Views on Women in Ministry furnishes you with a clear and thorough presentation of the two primary exegetical arguments so you can better understand each one's strengths, weaknesses, and complexities. This revised edition brings the exchange of ideas and perspectives into the traditional Counterpoints format. Each author states his or her case and is then critiqued by the other contributors.

Ask successful women what they want from their money and they'll tell you: independence, security, choices, a better world, and - oh yes - way less stress, not just for themselves but for their kids, partners, parents, and friends. Through a series of Happy Hour discussions (when money is the topic, wine helps) and one-on-one conversations, Jean Chatzky gets women to open up about the one topic we still never talk about. Then she flips the script and charts a pathway to this joyful, purpose-filled life that today's women not only want but also, finally, have the resources to afford.

In this fully revised and updated edition of her breakthrough book, Women of Destiny, best-selling author and speaker Cindy Jacobs reveals the biblical foundation for women in ministry and leadership. Through sharing her own story, successes, and failures, she speaks to the doubts, fears, and insecurities women have about stepping up and speaking out.

We are in the midst of a paradigm shift in the church. Not since the Reformation five centuries ago have so many Christians come together to ask whether the church is in sync with their deepest beliefs and commitments. These believers range from evangelicals to mainline Protestants to Catholics, and the person who best represents them is author and pastor Brian McLaren. In this much anticipated book, McLaren examines ten questions facing today's church - questions about how to articulate the faith itself, the nature of its authority, who God is....

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.