Figuring Out Faith?1- Everyone is Religion2- How Religion Ruins the World3- Getting Rid of Religion Doesn't Help4- God Doesn't Exist to Be Used5- ...& Neither Do You6- THE SOLUTION: Living WITH God7- The "Radical" Life Isn't What You Think8- The World Is A Perfectly Safe Place (Really)9- All You Need Is Love

    Kevin Watson has written a fresh new guide to the theory and practice of the Wesley class meeting, an essential element of truly Wesleyan spirituality. This book is for clergy and congregations who are looking for ways to develop deeper discipleship. The class meeting is made workable without losing its essential dynmic as a gospel-based accountable community. Watson has resurrected the class meeting and given it new meaning, showing its relevance for the church today and how it may be a perfect means for church renewal.

    And in her new book, Help, Thanks, Wow, she has coalesced everything she knows about prayer to these fundamentals.It is these three prayers – asking for assistance from a higher power, appreciating what we have that is good, and feeling awe at the world around us – that can get us through the day and can show us the way forward. In Help, Thanks, Wow, Lamott recounts how she came to these insights, explains what they mean to her and how they have helped, and explores how others have embraced these same ideas.

    It would alsomake a good RCIA resource as well as a blockbuster stimulus fordiscussions."—Book Nook, Pecos BenedictineThe authors answer the question, "Why Be Catholic?" fairly and squarely, showing a deep appreciation about what is good in Catholicism and a penetrating honesty about the Church's shortcomings. Rohr and Martos also examine what it means to be Catholic in the United States today. Finally, to answer the title question in a more personal way, they present portraits of some outstanding Catholics, especially those we call saints, who have found personal fulfillment by living their faith to the utmost.After reading this book, you will appreciate more fully the unique heritage of the Catholic Church. You will understand how its magnificent tradition enriches the lives of Catholics today and propels the ever-changing Church into the 21st century and third millennium. A popular resource for RCIA, evangelization and religious education.

    Culture tells us that in order to be liked we must masquerade as someone other than who we are. So, we lacquer ourselves with credit cards and plastic surgery and status updates hoping no one will see the person underneath. This "veneer" allows us to silence our real selves as it gives voice to the alter ego we'd like others to see. But, is this all there is to life or have we been duped? Does material success equal significance? Is our only identity the one we steal from Hollywood? God's idea of humanity is altogether different from the world's. There is a way to live that sees beauty in our imperfection and, as Tim and Jason put it, once we realize this we can strip our veneers and live an unveneered life of freedom, honesty, and beauty.

    Rather than being real with each other, we present a carefully crafted persona that hides our faults and magnifies our good qualities. But inside we long to be loved, warts and all. We long to stop hiding from each other--and especially from God. With candor and clarity, pastor Rick Bezet calls readers to a life built on authenticity, showing that the way to true freedom lies through reclaiming our hearts, reviving our souls, and renewing our minds in light of what God has done for us through Jesus Christ. Through biblical stories and (often funny) personal examples, Bezet encourages readers to live with passion, integrity, and perseverance. He releases readers from the spiritual death that comes with pretending and leads them into a new life characterized by transparency rather than fear.

    Yet the truth is, while the Son of God was loving and tender, his words could be equally sharp and biting. The same man who said, “Love your enemies” (Matthew 5:44) also said, “You snakes, how will you escape being condemned to hell?” (Matthew 23:33).  With compelling storytelling and enlightening examinations of Scripture, Tim Harlow journeys through the gospels and looks at what, and who, ignited Jesus’ anger. He guides us through instances of Jesus’ anger in response to the barriers people put up:in the temple, where money changers literally denied access to the Father, especially for the non-Jews and the poor;during his teaching, when little children were denied access;on the Sabbath, when religious leaders put rules above relationship and suffering above healing; and many more.What if, Harlow asks, by coming to understand God’s holy anger, we come to know a savior we never knew before? How can we respond like Jesus when good intentions, prejudices and judgments, traditions and rules, and selfish and joyless people conspire to keep others from God’s presence?

    In Evolution Impossible, Dr. John Ashton uses discoveries in genetics, biochemistry, geology, radiometric dating, and other scientific disciplines to explain why the theory of evolution is a myth. Regardless of your level of scientific education, you will finish this book able to cite 12 reasons why evolution cannot explain the origin of life.

    The idea of our own “righteous anger” is a myth. It is the number one problem in our societies today and, as Dallas Willard says, Christians have not been taught out of it. But what if Christians were the most unoffendable people on the planet?In Unoffendable you will find concrete, practical ways to live life with less stress, including: Adjusting your expectations to fit human natureReplacing perpetual anger with refreshing humility and gratitudeEmbracing forgiveness and beginning to love others in unexpected waysIn a humorous and conversational style, Unoffendable seeks to lift religious burdens from our backs and allow us to experience the joy of gratitude, perhaps for the first time, every single day of our lives—flourishing the way God intended.

    Here is straight talk from a man who has sought authentic New Testament community for more than fifty years and who has discovered it in the most unlikely places.

    It’s really just a beginning.For thirty days Kendra Broekhuis prayed “to maintain the joy of being wife and mommy amid the daily grind. To see the world through God’s eyes. To live intentionally. To build relationships and share Christ’s love with our neighbors. To learn what it really means to give. To collide ‘motherhood’ with ‘mission.’”This became her motto, her credo, her personal mission statement.Some days it led to actions the Lord gently nudged her to take. Other days it led to reflections the Lord gently whispered into her heart. Every day it led to a single word, one underlying theme that ties all thirty days – all thirty chapters – and their wide variety of topics together: giving.These thirty days found Kendra and her husband and daughter in a strange time of transition. They had just moved back to the United States after teaching for three years in the beautiful country of Guatemala. They were in a new city, working a new job, living in a new apartment building, in search of a new church. And they wanted to put it all together: all of their experiences, all of the things they had just seen and learned and read and discussed. It wasn’t a clean slate but rather a chance to live intentionally.When Kendra and her husband sought advice about the transition from fellow missionary friends, the advice was, “Get to know your neighbors.”It might sound like strange advice, but it made sense. Jesus tells us to “Love God and love your neighbor.” Many times the word neighbor is meant to be vague, but it shouldn’t always be. Part of being mission-minded, no matter where you live or work, is being willing to love the people closest to you, people we often overlook. Kendra’s neighbors—as in the people who live in the other eleven apartments in her building—are whom she often found the Lord’s generosity overflowing to and from during these thirty days.

    But very few people could say just how its seemingly disparate jumble of writings — stories, letters, poems, collections of laws, religious visions — got there. Filling this knowledge gap, How the Bible Was Built clearly tells the story of how the Bible came to be. Penned by Charles Merrill Smith in response to his teenage granddaughter’s questions, the manuscript was discovered after Smith’s death and has been reworked by his friend James Bennett for a wider audience. Free of theological or sectarian slant, this little volume provides a concise, factual overview of the Bible’s construction throughout history, outlining how its various books were written and collected and later canonized and translated. Written in an easy conversational style and enhanced by two helpful appendixes (of biblical terms and dates), How the Bible Was Built will give a more informed understanding of the Bible to people of virtually any reading level and any religious persuasion. Did you know?The word “Bible” comes from biblion, a Greek word meaning “papyrus scroll.”It took several thousand years to construct the Bible.The book we call Deuteronomy was discovered hidden away in a dark corner during the reconstruction of the temple under King Josiah.The Apocrypha contains some of the earliest “detective” stories on record.Church councils had many disagreements about which books ought to be authoritative (a book called the Shepherd of Hermas almost made the cut; the book of Revelation almost didn’t).A heretic helped form the canon.Debate over the canon didn’t really end until the Protestant Reformation and the use of the printing press.

    It is a meditation on the infinite love of God and the infinite value of the human individual. Not only are we in God's hands, says Desmond Tutu, our names are engraved on the palms of God's hands. Throughout an often turbulent life, Archbishop Tutu has fought for justice and against oppression and prejudice. As we learn in this book, what has driven him forward is an unshakeable belief that human beings are created in the image of God and are infinitely valuable. Each one of us is a God-carrier, a tabernacle, a sanctuary of the Divine Trinity. God loves us not because we are loveable but because he first loved us. And this turns our values upside down. In this sense, the Gospel is the most radical thing imaginable.It is extremely moving that in this book Archbishop Tutu returns to something so simple and so profound after a life in which he has been involved in political, social, and ethical issues that have seemed to be so very complex.

    Niki Hardy has been there, screaming, "God, is this it? Where's the abundant life you promised? Are you even listening?"Life might not be fair, but through loss, grief, and cancer, Niki discovered life doesn't have to be pain-free to be full. With sensitivity and without Christianese or stock answers she invites women to replace the lies they believe about themselves and God with sound biblical teaching and his unwavering promises. Through 7 practical steps, with hands-on questions, actions, and prayers, she equips readers to grasp the full life Jesus came to give them, right where they are.No matter how broken a life might seem, the abundant life Jesus promised is available--now and always. Let Niki show you the way.

    This book extracts the essence of this Indian philosophy and provides a wealth of timeless rituals to effect positive change.Prajna offers rituals and routines for the entire day, from the moment you wake up and need the energy and positive mindset to help you start the morning, to night-time practices that allow you to wind down, relax and get the most benefit from the healing power of sleep. In between there are numerous breathing exercises, mindfulness techniques, yoga stretches and simple recipes to enjoy, all to help you destress and reset, bringing you back to yourself and to lasting peace and happiness.