Book picks similar to
Insights on Luke by Charles R. Swindoll
christian
bible-reference
biblical
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The Real Me
Natalie Grant - 2005
Housewives and corporate executives. Young professionals and those who are retired. No matter their professions or responsibilities, women of all ages and all walks of life often struggle with an all-consuming issue-self-image. We as Americans are continually obsessed with the grass-is-greener, anything-else-is-better-than-what -we-have philosophy. And that is never truer for women than when it comes to our bodies and our self-images. The media and the world around us tell us that we should be perfect in every way. But this kind of scrutiny and obsession with perfection leaves women feeling unloved, unattractive, frustrated, and even depressed.In The Real Me, contemporary Christian singer and songwriter Natalie Grant is on a mission to especially help young women deal with this struggle and to find acceptance in how God created them. And this struggle is something that Natalie understands fully-she gives the reader an inside look at her own struggle with image issues that led her on the path to bulimia. In acknowledging her pain and sharing her struggle, she offers practical help and hope to women of all ages.
Inspired: Slaying Giants, Walking on Water, and Loving the Bible Again
Rachel Held Evans - 2018
What she discovered changed her—and it will change you too.Drawing on the best in recent scholarship and using her well-honed literary expertise, Evans examines some of our favorite Bible stories and possible interpretations, retelling them through memoir, original poetry, short stories, soliloquies, and even a short screenplay. Undaunted by the Bible’s most difficult passages, Evans wrestles through the process of doubting, imagining, and debating Scripture’s mysteries. The Bible, she discovers, is not a static work but is a living, breathing, captivating, and confounding book that is able to equip us to join God’s loving and redemptive work in the world.
Confessions of a Prayer Slacker
Diane Moody - 2010
Most of us are clueless at praying. Why is that? And how come we've never done anything about it? In Confessions of a Prayer Slacker, author Diane Moody traces her own personal prayer journey with a touch of humor and a healthy dose of transparency. ''I want my readers to stop the merry-go-round of prayerlessness, quit acting like a bunch of spiritual babies, and get serious about this thing called prayer. Without it, we'll never experience the warm, one-on-one relationship God desires to have with each one of us.''
Mornings with Jesus 2021: Daily Encouragement for Your Soul
Guideposts - 2020
Lifting up their voices in heartfelt gratitude, twelve writers consider the character and teachings of Jesus and share how He enriches and empowers them daily and how He wants to do the same for you. Every day you will enjoy a Scripture verse, a reflection on Jesus's words, and a faith step that inspires and challenges you in your daily walk of living a Christlike life.In just five minutes a day, Mornings with Jesus 2021 will help readers experience a closer relationship with Jesus. It's full of inspiring and lasting motivation and spiritual nourishment that fill readers with hope and direction.
The Grace and Truth Paradox: Responding with Christlike Balance
Randy Alcorn - 2003
Now bestselling author Randy Alcorn offers a simple two-point checklist for Christlikeness based on John 1:14. The test consists of balancing grace and truth, equally and unapologetically. Grace without truth deceives people, and ceases to be grace. Truth without grace crushes people, and ceases to be truth. Alcorn shows the reader how to show the world Jesus -- offering grace instead of the world's apathy and tolerance, offering truth instead of the world's relativism and deception.Grace or Truth…or Both? Truth without grace breeds self-righteousness and crushing legalism. Grace without truth breeds deception and moral compromise. Is it possible to embrace both in balance? Jesus did. Randy Alcorn offers a simple yet profound two-point checklist of Christlikeness. “In the end,” says Alcorn, “we don’t need grace or truth. We need grace and truth. And for people to see Jesus in us, they must see both.”
The Daily Devotional Series: The Gospel of John
Kristi Burchfiel - 2011
However, it focuses on one truth from the Bible that a person can take with them, think about, and apply all day long. Each devotional includes the verse from the Bible, a truth from that verse, and a response to pray back to God. The Daily Devotional Series: The Gospel of John gives readers a brief introduction into using The Daily Devotional Series, a synopsis of the Gospel of John, and then twenty-one brief devotionals that cover each of the twenty-one chapters in the Gospel. Enjoy taking one devotional a day as you work your way through the Gospel of John as part of the Daily Devotional Series and "wake up" to God's truths from His word.
King's Cross: The Story of the World in the Life of Jesus
Timothy J. Keller - 2011
King's Cross is Timothy Keller's revelatory look at the life of Christ as told in the Gospel of Mark. There have been many biographies of Jesus, but few will be as anticipated as one by Keller, the man Newsweek calls "a C.S. Lewis for the twenty-first century." In it, Keller shows how the story of Jesus is at once cosmic, historical, and personal, calling each of us to look anew at our relationship with God. Like Keller's other books it has tremendous crossover appeal, but it is also ideal for the faithful, those who are looking for a closer connection to Jesus and Christianity.
Jesus and Women - Bible Study Book: In the First Century and Now
Kristi McLelland - 2020
Over 7 sessions, examine the historical and cultural climate of first-century Middle Eastern society to not only understand Jesus more deeply but to fuel your worship of Him today.Additional purchase or renting of the video teaching sessions is recommended for the best experience of this Bible study book.Features: Leader guide to lead discussions within small groupsPersonal study segments to complete between 7 weeks of group sessionsGlossary of Hebrew and biblical termsPhotographs of Israel with commentary of cultural and historical significanceEssential teaching videos, approximately 60 minutes per session, available for purchase or rentBenefits: Explore how Jesus generously restores dignity and honor to women in the first century and now.Gain deeper insight into the biblical world, including fresh perspective on familiar Bible stories.Discover the Bible through the lens of Middle Eastern culture.
Complete Bible Commentary: (Fully Formatted For E-Readers)
John Wesley - 1990
John Wesley's explanatory notes on the Old Testament were written several years after his notes on the New Testament, and are based on the earlier works of Matthew Henry's 'Exposition of the Old and New Testaments', and Matthew Poole's 'English Annotations on the Holy Bible'. Extracts from both of these works are paraphrased and abridged by Wesley for the Explanatory Notes on the Old Testament, unlike the Explanatory Notes on the New Testament, which were entirely of his own composition. The Notes Upon The New Testament is considered to be one of John Wesley's principal works, and its readability, influence and popularity has remained since the time of its publication until today. First printed in 1755 by William Bowyer, John Wesley's Notes Upon The New Testament were entirely his own work, written during a period of illness which forced him to abandon his usual routine of travel and preaching. He would write from 5 am - 9 pm every day, unless he was riding, eating, or taking his personal devotion time (5 - 6 pm each evening). Charles Wesley assisted in some ways, including his translations of the gospels and in other unspecified ways. Wesley cites his influences for the New Testament Notes as the Gnomon Novi Testamenti of Bengel, the Paraphrase of Dr Guyse, the Theological Lectures of Dr Heylin and the Family Expositor of Dr Doddridge. The fourth and fifth editions of the Notes contained corrections by John & Charles Wesley and others. This edition features active table of contents and sub-menus optimized for e-readers, for ease of navigation to the specific book and chapter required. This is a very large book, please be patient when downloading.
What Happens After You Die: A Biblical Guide to Paradise, Hell, and Life After Death
Randy Frazee - 2017
What happens after you die? What happens if you die with Christ or without Christ? What happens when Jesus returns if you have or haven’t accepted Christ? What exactly comes next?Randy Frazee, popular pastor of Oak Hills Church and general editor of the wildly successful Believe and The Story programs, answers these questions and more. Born out of a deeply personal search for truth after the death of his mother, What Happens After You Die is a straightforward exploration of what the Bible says about life after death. From heaven and hell to the Lake of Fire and the actual presence of God, Frazee uncovers what is simply cultural tradition and what is truly biblical. He shows readers not only the death Jesus came to save us from but the life he came to save us for.Based on a teaching series that has had more online views than any other series Frazee has done to date, What Happens After You Die is a guide to the perennial questions about life and death, what comes next, and how we should live until then.
Take Courage - Bible Study Book: A Study of Haggai
Jennifer Rothschild - 2020
They were distracted, discouraged, and ready to throw in the towel. But the prophet Haggai reminded them they could find courage in the God who had never left them.Sometimes the landscapes of our lives feel wrecked, with our hope and purpose in shambles. We too get distracted and discouraged. However, God's presence and promises give us courage to press on and trust Him with our story.In this 7-session study on the Book of Haggai, learn to walk confidently in your calling, stay motivated despite opposition, and courageously invest your life in God's purposes, trusting Him for results you may never see in this lifetime.Features: Leader guide to lead discussions within small groupsPersonal study segments to complete between 7 weeks of group sessionsEnriching teaching videos, approximately 25 minutes per session, available for purchase or rentBenefits: Defeat discouragement through God's presence, people, and Word.See beyond your current circumstances to a future hope.Learn to trust God more than your feelings.
Bad Girls of the Bible: And What We Can Learn from Them
Liz Curtis Higgs - 1999
Most women (if they're honest) see the selfishness of Sapphira or the deception of Delilah. They catch of glimpse of Jezebel's take-charge pride or Eve's disastrous disobedience. Like Bathsheba, Herodias, and the rest, today's modern woman is surrounded by temptations, exhausted by the demands of daily living, and burdened by her own desires. So what's a good girl to do? Learn from their lives, says beloved humor writer Liz Curtis Higgs, and by God's grace, choose a better path. In Bad Girls of the Bible, Higgs offers a unique and clear-sighted approach to understanding those other women in Scripture, combining a contemporary retelling of their stories with a solid, verse-by-verse study of their mistakes and what lessons women today can learn from them. Whether they were Bad to the Bone, Bad for a Season, but Not Forever or only Bad for a Moment, these infamous sisters show women how not to handle the challenges of life. With her trademark humor and encouragement, Liz Curtis Higgs teaches us how to avoid their tragic mistakes and joyfully embrace grace.
That I May Know Him: Philippians Colossians
Kay Arthur - 2002
This study of Philippians and Colossians encourages believers to find joy in every circumstance and to walk worthy of their high calling.
Fresh Air: The Holy Spirit for an Inspired Life
Jack Levison - 2012
The Holy Spirit is not just about speaking in tongues, spiritual gifts or “fruits”—but also about our deepest breath and our highest human aspirations. Popular teacher Jack Levison brings a scholar’s knowledge of this complicated biblical topic to a wide audience that crosses all denominational boundaries. His new book aims to do nothing less than clarify 2,000 years of confusion on the topic of who the Holy Spirit is, and why it matters. Provocative and life-changing, Fresh Air combines moving personal anecdotes, rich biblical studies, and practical strategies for experiencing the daily presence of the Holy Spirit. In brief chapters, the book finds the presence of the Holy Spirit where we least expect it—in human breathing, in social transformation, in community, in hostile situations, and in serious learning. Fresh Air will unsettle and invigorate readers poised for a fresh experience of an ancient, confusing topic.
The Secret World of Saints: Inside the Catholic Church and the Mysterious Process of Anointing the Holy Dead
Bill Donahue - 2011
She slept on a bed of thorns. She had a friend whip her. She put hot coals between her toes. She suffered from smallpox, and the disease left her almost blind. Yet she still fasted, in penitence, and ministered to the sick and elderly. When she died, it was said, the smallpox scars instantly vanished from her face. It wasn’t long before people began to credit her with miracles.Indeed, the Vatican has just announced, 300 years after her death, that Tekakwitha is a miracle worker. She will be named a saint—America’s first indigenous saint, no less—as early as next fall. But what, exactly, does that mean? How does someone become a saint? What’s the vetting process? In this thoroughly entertaining investigation into the mysterious world of saints, Bill Donahue tells the strange and fascinating story of how the holy get their halos. The journey to canonization is long (sometimes, as in the case of Tekakwitha, it can take centuries), lurid (decayed body parts play a role), and, nowadays, surprisingly cutting-edge. Tekakwitha earned her saint status thanks to a medical miracle she allegedly caused in 2006: A boy suffering from a fatal flesh-eating bacteria suddenly and inexplicably recovered after his family prayed to the Blessed Kateri. Church experts grilled the boy’s doctors, studied his MRIs and hospital chart, and came to the conclusion that a force stronger than modern medicine saved him. In addition to Tekakwitha, Donahue introduces us to a cast of celestial characters, from Mother Teresa and Pope John Paul II—both on the fast track to sainthood—to Saint Francis, Joan of Arc, and the shady Padre Pio, who claimed to suffer stigmata and raise bodies from the dead. But it’s what happens after these holy folk die that’s arguably even more intriguing. Mixing legend and science, history and on-the-ground reporting, The Secret World of Saints sheds light on one of the Catholic Church’s most arcane and captivating traditions.* * *Early praise for "The Secret World of Saints":"My sinful covetousness for Bill Donahue's talents and the fun he's having here has put me out of the running for sainthood. I love his story anyway."— Mary Roach, author of the bestselling "Stiff," "Spook," "Bonk," and "Packing for Mars"* * * About the Author: Bill Donahue is a journalist living in Portland, Oregon. His work has appeared in "The Atlantic," "The New York Times Magazine," "Wired," "Runner’s World," "The Washington Post Magazine," and "Inc." He has been nominated for two National Magazine Awards, and his stories have been reprinted in Best American Travel Writing, Best American Sports Writing, and numerous other anthologies.