Today we use margin just to get by. This book is for anyone who yearns for relief from the pressure of overload. Reevaluate your priorities, determine the value of rest and simplicity in your life, and see where your identity really comes from. The benefits can be good health, financial stability, fulfilling relationships, and availability for God's purpose.

    Toxic Charity provides proven new models for charitable groups who want to help—not sabotage—those whom they desire to serve. Lupton, the founder of FCS Urban Ministries (Focused Community Strategies) in Atlanta, the voice of the Urban Perspectives newsletter, and the author of Compassion, Justice and the Christian Life, has been at the forefront of urban ministry activism for forty years. Now, in the vein of Jeffrey Sachs’s The End of Poverty, Richard Stearns’s The Hole in Our Gospel, and Gregory Boyle’s Tattoos on the Heart, his groundbreaking Toxic Charity shows us how to start serving needy and impoverished members of our communities in a way that will lead to lasting, real-world change.

    Gregory Koukl demonstrates how to get in the driver's seat, keeping any conversation moving with thoughtful, artful diplomacy. You'll learn how to maneuver comfortably and graciously through the minefields, stop challengers in their tracks, turn the tables and—most importantly—get people thinking about Jesus. Soon, your conversations will look more like diplomacy than D-Day. Drawing on extensive experience defending Christianity in the public square, Koukl shows you how to:- Initiate conversations effortlessly- Present the truth clearly, cleverly, and persuasively- Graciously and effectively expose faulty thinking- Skillfully manage the details of dialogue- Maintain an engaging, disarming style even under attackTactics provides the game plan for communicating the compelling truth about Christianity with confidence and grace.

    Hodges Supreme Court decision in 2015, sexual identity has dominated both public discourse and cultural trends--and yet, no historical phenomenon is its own cause. From Augustine to Marx, various views and perspectives have contributed to the modern understanding of self. In The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self, Carl Trueman carefully analyzes the roots and development of the sexual revolution as a symptom, rather than the cause, of the human search for identity. This timely exploration of the history of thought behind the sexual revolution teaches readers about the past, brings clarity to the present, and gives guidance for the future as Christians navigate the culture's ever-changing search for identity.

    In Destined to Win, he passes on the lessons that will help readers discover who they really are, overcome destructive behaviors, and become equipped for their kingdom purposes.Confronting the challenges that limit Christians—such as living shackled by past pain, fear, and unforgiveness—Vallotton offers practical solutions to the of­ten-complex problems that undermine their destinies and derail their pur­poses. With personal stories and biblical teaching, Destined to Win combines practical wisdom and profound revelation to unlock the latent potential present in each person.

    No matter how blessed or fortunate you might be, there is a level of difficulty to your life: hard classes, jobs, relationships, and losses. But by following seven basic life disciplines, anyone can experience accomplishment, freedom, and ease in navigating through life's daily challenges. In this positive, insightful book, veteran pastor Bob Merritt describes a set of universal principles that can work for everyone in every stage of life, showing that what you do today determines who you become tomorrow."The life disciplines in this book will lead readers away from failure and regret to accomplishment and ease--not easy, but ease in getting 'out of the boat' and on with navigating through life's daily challenges."--John Ortberg, author, The Me I Want to Be"Here's your breakthrough--insightful, practical, biblical wisdom that can turn your life around!"--Lee Strobel, author, The Case for the Real Jesus

    He begins with a compelling modern-day parable about Ordinary, who dares to leave the Land of Familiar to pursue his Big Dream. With the help of the Dream Giver, Ordinary begins the hardest and most rewarding journey of his life. Wilkinson gives readers practical, biblical keys to fulfilling their own dream, revealing that there's no limit to what God can accomplish when we choose to pursue the dreams He gives us for His honor.Are you living your dream-- or just living your life? Welcome to a little story about a very big idea. This compelling modern-day parable tells the story of Ordinary, who dares to leave the Land of Familiar to pursue his Big Dream.You, too, have been given a Big Dream. One that can change your life. One that the Dream Giver wants you to achieve. Does your Big Dream seem hopelessly out of reach? Are you waiting for something or someone to make your dream happen?Then you're ready for The Dream Giver.Let Bruce Wilkinson show you how to rise above the ordinary, conquer your fears, and overcome the obstacles that keep you from living your Big Dream.You were made for this. Now it's time to begin your journey.

    He returned from his near-death experience with new eyes to see the kingdom of heaven in this life. Now he wants to help you experience heaven on earth today. For years Steve Musick kept his amazing story to himself, afraid no one would believe or understand it. A major allergic reaction had stopped his heart, hurling him into a five-week coma and powerful experience of heaven. After returning to life, he couldn't forget the memory of that vibrant place--and, most of all, the loving words and touch of Jesus. But that was only the beginning. An amazing series of miracles, dreams, and other supernatural events had been set in motion, showing Steve that heaven was close, even in this life. God was calling him to discover echoes of heaven in the here and now--echoes that can happen at any moment, to anyone--that bring overwhelming joy. At last Steve is ready to tell the story of his journey of a lifetime--two lifetimes. In it you'll learn the secret of bringing heaven to earth in your everyday world, and how to nurture a relationship with God so real and intimate that you'll feel his nearness as strongly as Steven did. Experience one man's incredible vision of heaven--and learn how to live in God's presence and power in your own life now.

    Pew Edition: 415 hymns and songs and 317 readings. Hardcover.

    In this book, Sister Joan Chittister, OSB, and Archbishop Rowan Williams offer us a sweeping set of things and circumstances to be grateful for 'things for which we can sing alleluia," "praise and thanks be to God."Some are things we naturally feel grateful for: God, peace, wealth, life, faith, and unity. But when these are set alongside other things we would never think to sing alleluia about 'death, divisions, sufferings, and even sinners 'we begin to see, as Joan Chittister says in her introduction, that "Life itself is an exercise in learning to sing 'alleluia ' here in order to recognize the face of God hidden in the recesses of time. To deal with the meaning of 'alleluia ' in life means to deal with moments that do not feel like 'alleluia moments' at al."In this series of reflections it becomes clear that singing "alleluia" is not a way to escape reality but receptivity to another kind of reality beyond the immediate and the delusional, of helping us understand what is now and what is to come.Joan Chittister, OSB, is a Benedictine nun and international lecturer who has been a leading voice in spirituality for more than thirty years. She has authored forty books, including her most recent, The Liturgical Year: The Spiraling Adventure of the Spiritual Life, published by Thomas Nelson.Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury, is acknowledged internationally as an outstanding theological writer, scholar, and teacher. He has been involved in many theological, ecumenical, and educational commissions and has written extensively across a wide range of fields of professional study ' philosophy, theology, spirituality, and religious aesthetics. He has also written on moral, ethical, and social topics and, since becoming archbishop, has focused more intently on contemporary cultural and interfaith issues."

    Adams describes God's Debris as a thought experiment wrapped in a story. It's designed to make your brain spin around inside your skull. Imagine that you meet a very old man who you eventually realize knows literally everything. Imagine that he explains for you the great mysteries of life: quantum physics, evolution, God, gravity, light psychic phenomenon, and probability in a way so simple, so novel, and so compelling that it all fits together and makes perfect sense. What does it feel like to suddenly understand everything? You may not find the final answer to the big question, but God's Debris might provide the most compelling vision of reality you will ever read. The thought experiment is this: Try to figure out what's wrong with the old man's explanation of reality. Share the book with your smart friends, then discuss it later while enjoying a beverage.

    So, too, do the characters in this wonderful story by Sydney Banks. In this simple but profound tale, four colleagues meet a remarkable gardener whose unique philosophy will forever change their lives. That philosophy is equally powerful for the reader. The wisdom within these pages comes in the form of a straightforward message that is accessible to all who open their hearts to it.

    Explore the true nature of the therapeutic relationship, and realize that the guru is no Buddha. He is just another human struggling. Understanding the shape of your own personal ills will lead you on your journey to recovery. Sheldon Kopp has a realistic approach to altering one's destiny and accepting the responsibility that grows with freedom.

    A beach body by summer. A trip to Disneyland around the corner. A promotion on the horizon. Everyone wants to believe that they are headed toward good, better, best. But what happens when the life you hoped for is put on hold indefinitely?Kate Bowler believed that life was a series of unlimited choices, until she discovered, at age 35, that her body was wracked with cancer. In No Cure for Being Human, she searches for a way forward as she mines the wisdom (and absurdity) of today's "best life now" advice industry, which insists on exhausting positivity and on trying to convince us that we can out-eat, out-learn, and out-perform our humanness. We are, she finds, as fragile as the day we were born.With dry wit and unflinching honesty, Kate Bowler grapples with her diagnosis, her ambition, and her faith as she tries to come to terms with her limitations in a culture that says anything is possible. She finds that we need one another if we're going to tell the truth: Life is beautiful and terrible, full of hope and despair and everything in between--and there's no cure for being human.

    S. Lewis’s adult religious books, a repackaged edition of Lewis’s classic reading collection—reminiscent of the bestselling A Year with C. S. Lewis—featuring 365 selections from his writings that explore our connection to God.C. S. Lewis, author of Mere Christianity, The Screwtape Letters, The Great Divorce, The Chronicles of Narnia, and many other beloved classics, considers humankind’s spiritual journey in this collection of wise, meditative excerpts and writings. In these daily reflections, the great British writer, scholar, lay theologian, broadcaster, and Christian apologist, explores a range of connected themes, including “the serious business of heaven,” “Nearness to God,” “Heaven and Sexuality,” and “Two Kinds of Good and Bad.”