Lost in the Cosmos: The Last Self-Help Book


Walker Percy - 1983
    This favorite of Percy fans continues to charm and beguile readers of all tastes and backgrounds. Lost in the Cosmos invites us to think about how we communicate with our world.

The Call: Finding and Fulfilling the Central Purpose of Your Life


Os Guinness - 1998
    Best-selling author Os Guinness goes beyond our surface understanding of God's call and addresses the fact that God has a specific calling for our individual lives.Why am I here? What is God's call in my life? How do I fit God's call with my own individuality? How should God's calling affect my career, my plans for the future, my concepts of success? Guinness now helps the reader discover answers to these questions, and more, through a corresponding workbook - perfect for individual or group study.According to Guinness, "No idea short of God's call can ground and fulfill the truest human desire for purpose and fulfillment." With tens of thousands of readers to date, The Call is for all who desire a purposeful, intentional life of faith.Also availbale in audio format, narrated by Os Guinness.

Stitches: A Handbook on Meaning, Hope, and Repair


Anne Lamott - 2013
    In this book Lamott explores how we find meaning and peace in these loud and frantic times; where we start again after personal and public devastation; how we recapture wholeness after loss; and how we locate our true identities in this frazzled age. We begin, Lamott says, by collecting the ripped shreds of our emotional and spiritual fabric and sewing them back together, one stitch at a time. It’s in these stitches that the quilt of life begins, and embedded in them are strength, warmth, humor, and humanity.

Enjoying the Presence of God: Discovering Intimacy with God in the Daily Rhythms of Life


Jan Johnson - 1996
    This book gives you the opportunity to surrender to God's presence and enjoy just being with Him.Find contentment, peace, and encouragement from practicing spiritual disciplines, and learn simple, tangible insights into practicing God’s presence in everyday life.

Unchristian: What a New Generation Really Thinks about Christianity...and Why It Matters


David Kinnaman - 2007
    Since joining Barna in 1995, David has designed and analyzed nearly five hundred studies for a variety of churches, nonprofits, and corporations. He and George Barna write a free research report published online at www.barna.org. David and his wife Jill have three children and live in Ventura, California.Gabe Lyons founded Fermi Project, a broad collective of innovators, social entrepreneurs, and church and society leaders working together to make positive contributions to culture (www.fermiproject.com). Prior to Fermi Project, Gabe cofounded Catalyst, a national gathering of young leaders, while serving as vice president for John Maxwell's INJOY organization. Gabe, his wife Rebekah, and their three children reside in Atlanta, Georgia.To meet the contributors and learn more about this book and the conversations it is creating, visit www.unchristian.com.This work was commissioned by Fermi Project.The New Testament writer Paul told the first-century Christians: "You yourselves are our letter . . . known and read by everybody."When a person "reads" your life, what does it say? What does your faith look like to outsiders?A major new research project, unveiled for the first time in this book, describes the increasingly negative reputation of Christians, especially among young Americans.The research shows that Christians are best known for what they are against. They are perceived as being judgmental, antihomosexual, and too political. And young people are quick to point out they believe that Christianity is no longer as Jesus intended. It is unChristian.It shouldn't be this way.What Christians believe may not be popular, but Paul also advised the first believers to "live wisely among those who are not Christians" and to "let your conversation be gracious and effective."In this eye-opening book, David Kinnaman and Gabe Lyons--along with more than two dozen leading voices within Christianity--unpack the major criticisms leveled against Christians. Understand why those negative images exist and how you can best represent Jesus to your friends, neighbors, and co-workers.Your life is an open book. Is it unChristian?

Hope: Moments of inspiration in a challenging world


Tim Costello - 2012
    A book that reminds us all that there are so many that suffer yet still find hope. Hope can be found in the smallest of moments. A book to savor and to bring home the importance of love, life and the best that there is to be found in people. A wonderful celebration of humanity. This gift book will be a gift of HOPE."Essentially, I am a hopeful person who believes that life can and does have a way of giving us the impetus to keep going in hard times, and to keep working for what might otherwise seem like a 'hopeless' cause." - Tim Costello

Sabbath: Finding Rest, Renewal, and Delight in Our Busy Lives


Wayne Muller - 1999
    Constantly striving, we feel exhausted and deprived in the midst of great abundance. We long for time with friends and family, we long for a moment to ourselves. Millennia ago, the tradition of Sabbath created an oasis of sacred time within a life of unceasing labor. Now, in a book that can heal our harried lives, Wayne Muller, author of the spiritual classic How, Then, Shall We Live?, shows us how to create a special time of rest, delight, and renewal--a refuge for our souls. We need not even schedule an entire day each week. Sabbath time can be a Sabbath afternoon, a Sabbath hour, a Sabbath walk. With wonderful stories, poems, and suggestions for practice, Muller teaches us how we can use this time of sacred rest to refresh our bodies and minds, restore our creativity, and regain our birthright of inner happiness.

Modern Bushido: Living a Life of Excellence


Bohdi Sanders - 2011
    This book covers 30 essential traits that will change your life. Modern Bushido expands on the standards and principles needed for a life of excellence, and applies them directly to life in today’s world. Readers will be motivated and inspired by the straightforward wisdom in this enlightening book. If you want to live a life of excellence, this book is for you! This is a must read for every martial artist and anyone who seeks to live life as it is meant to be lived.

The Best Yes: Making Wise Decisions in the Midst of Endless Demands


Lysa TerKeurst - 2014
    Lysa demonstrates the incredible power of two words--yes and no--and the way that these simple, daily decisions can shape the story of our lives.  Lysa has learned firsthand that there's a big difference between saying yes to everyone and saying yes to God. Drawing from applicable scriptures and her own personal experiences, Lysa teaches us that if we know and believe that God has a plan for each of us, we'll live it out--serving as living proof of His never-ending grace and kindness.Throughout The Best Yes, Lysa will give you the practical tools you need to:Stop people-pleasing by embracing a biblical understanding of loveEscape the guilt of disappointing others by learning the secret of the small noOvercome the agony of hard choices by grounding your decisions in wisdomGrow closer to God as you sharpen your own discernmentLearn to be intentional with your time, your choices, and yourselfIncorporate the Best Yes as a filter for your daily decision makingIf we take time to slow down and rise above the rush of the world's endless demands, we can rest assured that God's wisdom will help us make decisions that will still be good tomorrow. No matter what season of life you find yourself in, you deserve the chance to make decisions that bring out the best you.

The Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here for?


Rick Warren - 2002
    Rick Warren will guide you through a personal forty-day spiritual journey that will transform your answer to life's most important question: What on earth am I here for? Knowing God's purpose for creating you will reduce your stress, focus your energy, simplify your decisions, give meaning to your life, and most important, prepare you for eternity. Movie stars and political leaders aren't the only ones turning to Rick Warren for spiritual guidance. Millions of people from NBA and LPGA players to corporate executives to high school students to prison inmates meet regularly to discuss The Purpose Driven Life.

Mastering Life Before It's Too Late: 10 Biblical Strategies for a Lifetime of Purpose


Robert J. Morgan - 2015
    Originally published: Nashville, TN: Howard Books, 2015.

Breakfast with Bonhoeffer


Jon Walker - 2012
    After almost twenty years in ministry, Walker was laid off twice, lost his home and savings, was diagnosed with bipolar II disorder, and then his wife filed for divorce just a few days before their twenty-fourth anniversary.Bonhoeffer saw the storms of political upheaval and pressure on Christians coming at warp speed, and he called believers to meet it head on by following Jesus, who bids believers to come and die.In BREAKFAST WITH BONHOEFFER, Walker brings to a new generation the timeless teachings of Bonhoeffer, especially the teaching that calls Jesus' followers to break free from the tyranny of popular culture and religious thinking. It also offers hope for those who face loss or have been hurt by the economic downturn.

Cultivating Your Inner Life


Edmund Chan - 2010
    This is because many Christians do not live lives which reflect their faiths due to misunderstandings about what it really means to live a life of intimacy with God.Using his own life-experiences as examples, Edmund Chan pays special attention to dispelling the myths and obstacles that are hindering the spiritual growth of a Christian and provides the guidance that is needed to overcome them. He also touches upon some pitfalls that many Christian fall into such as serving without joy and shows us what we can do even when we are struggling to understand the will of God. The author used his personal life experiences to illustrate his points on christian growth. One of the book's main topic is intimacy with God. The book discussed several myths that people believe about intimacy with God. Here are the 4 myths:> Intimacy is the key to blessing> Intimacy is a prize> Intimacy with God is optional> Intimacy is experienced the same way by everyoneRev. Edmund Chan stated 4 truths to contradict the 4 myths. The 4 truths are:> God delights in intimacy with us and invited us to it> Intimacy is a God-given birthright for all> Intimacy takes trust and not just time> Intimacy with God results in redemptive acts of love

Where the Hell Is God?


Richard Leonard - 2010
    The problem with these libraries is that they contain books that are generally written by professionals for their peers. Where the Hell Is God? combines the best of the professional's insights with the author's own experience and insights to speculate on how believers can make sense of their Christian faith when experiencing tragedy and suffering. Starting with a very personal story of the author's sister being left a quadriplegic from a car accident twenty years ago, Where the Hell Is God? gently leads the reader through some "take-home" messages that are sane, sound, and practical. Among these messages are: God does not directly send pain, suffering, and disease. God does not punish us; God does not send accidents to teach us things, though we can learn from them; and God does not will earthquakes, floods, droughts, or other natural disasters. This concise, accessible, and experience-based book will help people who are suffering as well as those who minister to them and their families.

The Second Mountain


David Brooks - 2019
    Our personal fulfillment depends on how well we choose and execute these commitments. In The Second Mountain, Brooks looks at a range of people who have lived joyous, committed lives, and who have embraced the necessity of dependence. He gathers their wisdom on how to choose a partner, how to pick a vocation, how to live out a philosophy, and how we can begin to integrate our commitments into one overriding purpose.In short, this book is meant to help us all lead more meaningful lives. But it’s also a provocative social commentary. We live in a society, Brooks argues, that celebrates freedom, that tells us to be true to ourselves, at the expense of surrendering to a cause, rooting ourselves in a neighborhood, binding ourselves to others by social solidarity and love. We have taken individualism to the extreme—and in the process we have torn the social fabric in a thousand different ways. The path to repair is through making deeper commitments. In The Second Mountain, Brooks shows what can happen when we put commitment-making at the center of our lives.