You’re the ones who make sure the house is clean, the meals are prepared, the beds are made, the children are dressed, and everyone gets to work, school, and other activities on time.But trying to control everything can be exhausting, and it can also cause friction with your friends and family.This humorous, yet thought-provoking book guides you as you discover for yourself the freedom and reward of living a life “out of control,” in which you allow God to be seated in the rightful place in your life. Armed with relevant biblical and current examples (both to emulate and to avoid), doable ideas, new thought patterns, and practical tools to implement, Let. It. Go. will gently lead you out of the land of over-control and into a place of quiet trust.A companion video-based study for small groups is also available.

    Many believers have a desire to share the love of Christ with others, but they are held back by fear and uncertainty. Love Like Jesus shows Christians how they can successfully reach a world desperately seeking purpose and meaning, and it addresses how to overcome the common challenges shared by everyone who wants to share their faith— including fear of failure, lack of love, and living in an age of compromise and complacency.Love Like Jesus provides relevant and practical tips for those who want to spread their passion for Jesus to their neighbors and the world. Judah Smith emphasizes that telling others about Jesus comes with challenges, and he provides effective solutions designed to overcome fear and uncertainty.

    Cheryl McKay pulls no punches about what it's really like to be single, with your age creeping up, and no end in sight to the wait for love and marriage.It seems that many years ago, God asked Cheryl to surrender the pen she was using to write her love story. All He wanted was carte blanche. No problem, right? Cheryl tentatively conceded--that is, until it became apparent that the Almighty had no intention of conforming to her writing schedule, much less the tick of her biological clock. In fact, He blew every deadline she ever attempted to set. As romance seemed to pass Cheryl by, she couldn't help but question: Could God really be trusted to bring her the love of her life?Written during a long wait, this book opens up Cheryl's painfully honest, personal journals. She explores what it's like to enlist in God's Marriage Boot Camp, and how to survive singlehood year after solitary year. She wrestles with her Creator over multiple best friends that never see her "that way." Then there are those lists of what she wanted--you know, the ones she revised a billion times then laminated for safekeeping. She watches, bewildered, as much younger women find love that seems to elude her.Through it all, she falls head over heels for a God who proves Himself to be as resistant to her controls as He is faithful beyond her wildest dreams.Are you still waiting? Have you lost hope? Venture to victory with a woman who knows just how hard it is to wait for the day when you are Finally the Bride.

    Tango. See the Eiffel Tower. Swim with sharks.Bucket lists can get pretty crazy! But what if God wanted you to think even further outside the box? To pattern your life after the one who said some pretty crazy things himself: "Love your enemies." "Store up treasures in heaven." "Seek first his kingdom and righteousness."If you checked every item off your bucket list, would your life be complete? In these pages you'll find 52 items to help you revamp your must-do list...Run with scissors. Bounce off brick walls. Celebrate quirks.Banish grudges. Dodge counterfeit happiness. Peek into dark corners.Get fired. Enlist invisible reinforcements. Get nose-to-nose with an alligator.As you check off God's bucket list, you may find yourself doing things you never thought possible. Jay Payleitner helps you get your priorities straight with the most important relationship in your life—you and God.

    I could never myself believe in God, if it were not for the cross. . . . In the real world of pain, how could one worship a God who was immune to it? With compelling honesty John Stott confronts this generation with the centrality of the cross in God's redemption of the world -- a world now haunted by the memories of Auschwitz, the pain of oppression and the specter of nuclear war. Can we see triumph in tragedy, victory in shame? Why should an object of Roman distaste and Jewish disgust be the emblem of our worship and the axiom of our faith? And what does it mean for us today? Now from one of the foremost preachers and Christian leaders of our day comes theology at its readable best, a contemporary restatement of the meaning of the cross. At the cross Stott finds the majesty and love of God disclosed, the sin and bondage of the world exposed. More than a study of the atonement, this book brings Scripture into living dialogue with Christian theology and the twentieth century. What emerges is a pattern for Christian life and worship, hope and mission. Destined to be a classic study of the center of our faith, Stott's work is the product of a uniquely gifted pastor, scholar and Christian statesman. His penetrating insight, charitable scholarship and pastoral warmth are guaranteed to feed both heart and mind.

    Holy is better.Your marriage is more than a sacred covenant with another person. It is a spiritual discipline designed to help you know God better, trust him more fully, and love him more deeply. What if God s primary intent for your marriage isn t to make you happy . . . but holy?Sacred Marriage doesn't just offer techniques to make a marriage happier. It does contain practical tools, but what married Christians most need is help in becoming holier husbands and wives. Sacred Marriage offers that help with insights from Scripture, church history, time tested wisdom from Christian classics, and examples from today's marriages.Sacred Marriage reveals how marriage trains us to love God and others well, how it exposes sin and makes us more aware of God's presence, how good marriages foster good prayer, how married sex feeds the spiritual life, and more.The revised edition of Sacred Marriage takes into account the ways men's and women's roles have expanded since the book was first written. It has been streamlined to be a faster read without losing the depth that so many readers have valued.Sacred Marriage uncovers the mystery of God s overarching purpose. This book may very well alter profoundly the contours of your marriage. It will most certainly change you. Because whether it is delightful or difficult, your marriage can become a doorway to a closer walk with God, and to a spiritual integrity that, like salt, seasons the world around you with the savor of Christ."

    Then he made Eve. And ever since we've been picking up the pieces. Loveology is just that—a theology of love. With an autobiographical thread that turns a book into a story, pastor and speaker John Mark Comer shares about what is right in male/female relationships—what God intended in the Garden. And about what is wrong—the fallout in a post-Eden world. Loveology starts with marriage and works backward. Comer deals with sexuality, romance, singleness, and what it means to be male and female; ending with a raw, uncut, anything goes Q and A dealing with the most asked questions about sexuality and relationships. This is an audiobook for singles, engaged couples, and the newly married—both inside and outside the church—who want to learn what the Scriptures have to say about sexuality and relationships. For those who are tired of Hollywood's propaganda, and the church's silence. And for people who want to ask the why questions and get intelligent, nuanced, grace-and-truth answers, rooted in the Scriptures.

    Pastor, bestselling author, husband, and father Craig Groeschel helps you uncover who you really are--a powerful man with the heart of a warrior. With God's help, you'll find strength to fight the battles you know you must win: the ones that determine the state of your heart, the quality of your marriage, and the spiritual health of those you love most.Groeschel examines the life of Samson--a strong man with glaring weaknesses. Like many men, Samson taunted his enemy and rationalized his sins. The good news is God's grace is greater than your worst sin. By looking at Samson's life, you will . . .Learn to defeat the demons that make strong men weak.Tap into a strength you never knew was possible.And become who God made you to be--a man who knows how to fight for what's right.Don't just fight like a man. Fight like a man of God. For God's sake . . . FIGHT!Spanish edition also available, as well as a video study and study guide.

    As a result, romantic hopes are often replaced with disappointment in the home. But it doesn’t have to stay that way.The Love Dare, as featured in the popular new movie Fireproof (from the makers of Facing the Giants), is a 40-day challenge for husbands and wives to understand and practice unconditional love. Whether your marriage is hanging by a thread or healthy and strong, The Love Dare is a journey you need to take. It’s time to learn the keys to finding true intimacy and developing a dynamic marriage. Take the dare!

    By studying the biblical character Ruth, women learn the characteristics that every woman of God should develop. This expanded edition of the original best-seller includes a personal journal and study guide.You hold in your hands a fresh and exciting way to enhance your personal life and enrich your spiritual journey. This expanded edition of Lady in Waiting includes: Original text of the best-selling book - complete and unabridged!Complete Study Guide - Learn how to apply the principles taught in Lady in Waiting. These questions, quotes, thoughts, and teachings will help you to become the woman of God that He designed you to be. You can also record your spiritual growth in a specially designed journal section. Don't miss this opportunity to become God's lady in waiting!Forty-Day Meditational Journal - This section offers profound motivational truths from some of the greatest women of God in the history of the Church, with meditative readings to help you live in the presence of the Lord every day. Quiet meditation, contemplative prayer, and careful study will help you receive the full benefit from spiritual truth - and this new edition assists with all three. When you give yourself to the Lord through the pages of this book, the spiritual truths you gain will bring you to new places in your experience with God and prepare you for deeper levels of loving relationships!

    In a world overwhelmingly obsessed with it, why is the church so silent about it? While our secular culture twists, perverts, cheapens, and idolizes sex, there are gaping holes in the church's guidance of young people. The result is generations of sexually illiterate people drowning in the repercussions of overwhelming sin struggles.Enough is enough, says Mo Isom. With raw vulnerability and a bold spirit, she shares her own sexual testimony, opening up the conversation about misguided rule-following, virginity, temptation, porn, promiscuity, false sex-pectations, sex in marriage, and more and calling readers back to God's original design for sex--a way to worship and glorify him. This book is for the young person tangled up in an addiction to pornography, for the girlfriend feeling pressured to go further, for the "good girl" who followed the rules and saved herself for marriage and then was confused and disappointed, for the married couple who use sex as a bargaining tool, for every person who casually watches sex play out in TV and movies and wonders why they're dissatisfied with the real thing, and for every confused or hurting person in-between. Sex was God's idea. It's time we invited him back into the bedroom.

    we were created for so much more than a sexual outlet for men, and as women, we want and deserve more than just sexual release for ourselves.It's time to restore dignity, honor, strength—and yes, even power—to generations of women, young and old, who are no longer willing to lose.

    And look for the first of several new major books from Joyce beginning in April 2003.

    Relationships between women can be especially enriching, but when conflict arises, they also can be especially damaging. Too many women approach conflict as if they were unbelievers-with gossip, spiteful actions, bitterness, and even hatred. In Peacemaking Women, Tara Klena Barthel and Judy Dabler offer a meaningful, lasting message to lead women out of conflict to a state of peace where they can live as representatives of Christ to one another and well as unbelievers. With advice that is firmly rooted in Scripture, the authors bring sound, practical help for women who want to know what the Bible says about conflict resolution and how to achieve peace in their relationships with God, self, and others.

    In His Needs, Her Needs, Willard Harley identifies the ten most vital needs of men and women and shows husbands and wives how to satisfy those needs in their spouses. He provides guidance for becoming irresistible to your spouse and for loving more creatively and sensitively, thereby eliminating the problems that often lead to extramarital affairs. The revised anniversary edition of His Needs, Her Needs is a celebration of how the book has helped thousands of couples revitalize their marriages during the last fifteen years. This best-seller identifies the causes of marital difficulties and instructs couples on how to prevent them, guiding them to build a relationship that sustains romance and increases intimacy. With today's soaring divorce rate and prevalence of affairs, Harley's insights are needed more than ever before.An unabridged recording of His Needs, Her Needs, the 15th anniversary edition, is now available as an audio book.