Allender and Tremper Longman III have together written this brief, simple and charming introduction to help couples build healthy and happy marriages. Their model follows the "leave, weave and cleave" imagery of the Bible: leave your parents, weave a life together and cleave to each other. This book is part of a kit that includes everything needed to mentor individual married couples or to lead a group discussion. It will be especially helpful for newlyweds or young married couples who are just beginning their new life together.

    Harris, author of "I Kissed Dating Goodbye," calls a generation bombarded with images of sexual sin back to the freedom and joy of holiness in this PG-rated book.

    They are balancing dramatic changes in their own lives while dealing with uncertainties in a world around them. In a culture that is no longer predominantly Christian, college ministry workers can no longer assume the students on their campuses have a basic understanding of Christ or his Church.In College Ministry in a Post-Christian Culture, Stephen Lutz translates missional theology to the practice of college ministry-ministry as a proactive movement that is constantly adapting to its ever-changing environment. This resource will equip college ministry staff, pastors, churches, and student leaders to minister effectively to today's college students with both depth and practical insight.Lutz walks you through the approaches needed to establish, grow and maintain a missional college ministry.

    Some were people of rank and influence. Some were ordinary folk. Some were even his friends. Four centuries later, these deeply moving accounts of faith and courage mark a path for modern Christians to measure the depth of their commitment.

    We grow up on a steady diet of fairy-tales and chick flicks that drive our dreams... and leave us with a sugarcoated version of reality. We want it all: the prince, the kiss, the proposal, the ring, the castle, and eventually, the kids in smocked rompers playing cheerfully on the perfectly manicured lawn. Our hopes and dreams are pinned on the world’s version of happily-ever-after.The problem is, the fairy-tales and chick flicks end where real life begins. We never see that follow-up scene where the prince and princess argue at 3 a.m. over who will get up with the colicky newborn. Or the princess reluctantly returns to work to help pay the bills and feels the stress of juggling work and family. And you certainly won’t see that part where the princess moves her last child into the dorm and realizes the bulk of her identity has been based on being a mother.The truth is, marriage and motherhood are hard. Few of us are prepared to handle the balancing act of being a good wife and a good mother, without one or the other getting the short end of the stick. No matter how much we give or how hard we try, we never quite feel like it’s enough. And heaven help us, we always imagine every one else is doing a much better job.In Ever After, best-selling author Vicki Courtney addresses the realities of marriage and motherhood, the difficulties and the blessings. It offers women a behind the scenes glimpse of what a fairy-tale really looks like on the average day for the average wife and mom. Poignant, funny, and even cathartic, Vicki shares mistakes made, lessons learned, and memories to keep. Most of all, she reflects the hope and promise that God meets us in the middle wherever we are in the journey.

    Do you want help figuring out who you are and why you're stuck in the same ruts? The Enneagram is an ancient personality typing system with an uncanny accuracy in describing how human beings are wired, both positively and negatively. In The Road Back to You Ian Morgan Cron and Suzanne Stabile forge a unique approach―a practical, comprehensive way of accessing Enneagram wisdom and exploring its connections with Christian spirituality for a deeper knowledge of ourselves, compassion for others, and love for God. Witty and filled with stories, this book allows you to peek inside each of the nine Enneagram types, keeping you turning the pages long after you have read the chapter about your own number. Not only will you learn more about yourself, but you will also start to see the world through other people's eyes, understanding how and why people think, feel, and act the way they do. Beginning with changes you can start making today, the wisdom of the Enneagram can help take you further along into who you really are―leading you into places of spiritual discovery you would never have found on your own, and paving the way to the wiser, more compassionate person you want to become.

    That guided people in a deeper, more meaningful way than an event, program or class could possibly do—guided on an individual basis by someone who cared for them personally.What is this way? What is this activity that is so simple and so universal that it meets the discipleship needs of very different people at very different stages of discipleship, even non-Christians?We call it reading the Bible one-to-one.But what exactly is reading the Bible one-to-one? Why should we do it? Who is it for?In One-to-One Bible Reading: a simple guide for every Christian, David Helm answers these important questions.About the AuthorDavid Helm is a pastor at Holy Trinity Church in Chicago, and Chairman of The Charles Simeon Trust, a ministry devoted to equipping expository preachers. He longs for all Christians to read God’s word for themselves and with others.

    Today, the situation is even worse. The politically correct crowd cries out for men to be more sensitive, to tame their masculine nature. On the opposing side, the media bombards men with "macho" images of violence and lust. Is it any wonder men are left bewildered about who they should be?In this newly revised and updated edition of Healing the Masculine Soul, Dalbey claims that there's hope for restoration, hope for healing-because Christ has come to heal us. God is calling men out to a relationship with Himself and calling them out to authentic manhood. "Our task is not to curse our manhood, but to redeem it," he writes.Gordon Dalbey's refreshing, comprehensive picture of God's design for the masculine soul dares men to be as God created them to be-not as society demands. Dalbey tackles the tough issues, including work, sexuality, marriage, and fatherhood.Book includes Study Guide.

    Some struggle to redefine these categories and some seek to reclaim them, while others reject them outright, with or without providing new terms to guide us forward.But words and their meaning matter; our confusion has a cost. Competing priorities pressure us to stretch our mission definitions as wide as they can go, releasing our people to creatively engage in service of every description. Some churches turn away from traditional mission efforts all together, giving preference to local service and evangelism while outsourcing any cross-cultural effort to those who surely must be more effective than we would be.As an unfortunate result of these tendencies, many of our churches lack a coherent, compelling sense of what we're all about as we engage with the world. And if we lose our scriptural moorings, how far will our missions efforts drift?Matthew Ellison and Denny Spitters call us to refocus our gaze on the gospel and the Great Commission. They assert that thinking must come before doing and shape our world mission practices and priorities. When Everything Is Missions is for church and ministry leaders and all who look to clarify their own answers to questions like these:What is the mission of God? What is the mission of the Church? Is every Christian a missionary?

    As a result, they focus a lot on what Jesus has done to appease God's wrath for sin. But how does Jesus Christ actually feel about his people amid all their sins and failures? This book draws us to Matthew 11, where Jesus describes himself as "gentle and lowly in heart," longing for his people to find rest in him. The gospel is primarily about God's heart drawn to his people, a heart of tender love for the sinful and suffering. These chapters take readers into the depths of Christ's very heart for sinners, diving deep into Bible passages that speak of who Christ is and encouraging readers with the affections of Christ for his people. His longing heart for sinners will comfort and sustain readers in their up-and-down lives.

    Originally published: Nashville, TN: Howard Books, 2015.

    S. Lewis's wife, the American-born poet Joy Davidman. In her introduction to this new edition, Madeleine L'Engle writes: "I am grateful to Lewis for having the courage to yell, to doubt, to kick at God in angry violence. This is a part of a healthy grief which is not often encouraged. It is helpful indeed that C. S. Lewis, who has been such a successful apologist for Christianity, should have the courage to admit doubt about what he has so superbly proclaimed. It gives us permission to admit our own doubts, our own angers and anguishes, and to know that they are part of the soul's growth."Written in longhand in notebooks that Lewis found in his home, A Grief Observed probes the "mad midnight moments" of Lewis's mourning and loss, moments in which he questioned what he had previously believed about life and death, marriage, and even God. Indecision and self-pity assailed Lewis. "We are under the harrow and can't escape," he writes. "I know that the thing I want is exactly the thing I can never get. The old life, the jokes, the drinks, the arguments, the lovemaking, the tiny, heartbreaking commonplace." Writing A Grief Observed as "a defense against total collapse, a safety valve," he came to recognize that "bereavement is a universal and integral part of our experience of love."Lewis writes his statement of faith with precision, humor, and grace. Yet neither is Lewis reluctant to confess his continuing doubts and his awareness of his own human frailty. This is precisely the quality which suggests that A Grief Observed may become "among the great devotional books of our age."

    It's a simple, ancient code that all fathers, sons, and husbands need to know, but is rarely taught. While the world is full of fluffy and confusing ideas about how men should behave, Tome uses his practical experience in leading men to expose the clear, simple truths about what makes men most effective.Just knowing these five marks, however, is not enough. True transformation comes from aggressively pursuing them in your everyday life.In Five Marks Of A Man, Tome shows you:- Why it’s critical to have a vision for your life, and how to make hard choices.- Why you need to be a protector of people around you.- How to find a team that will support your goals.- How to establish a ritual to lead your own son into manhood.- And much more. As Tome writes, "I have come to believe that the transition to manhood is not marked by age, it’s about something much more substantial. It’s about your mindset and your actions. It’s about assuming responsibility for your place in the world and stepping into a new reality—one defined by strength, purpose, and a code of honor.”Through Five Marks Of A Man you will discover a code that great men have followed for centuries. Now, it’s your turn to man up.

    Personal and direct communication with God will revitalize and invigorate you. If you make prayer a key factor in your life, you will know the fullness of divine power. E. M. Bounds wrote this book for Christians who want to be mighty prayer warriors. Here's how you can have power through prayer!

    But too often the things of our past--fear, anger, bitterness, worry and doubt--hold us back. Rather than focusing on the reality of who Christ is and what he has done for us, we allow ourselves to be identified by all the things we aren't. But we are not who our past says we are, and we are not who the enemy says we are. We are who God and his Word say that we are.Pastor Perry Noble challenges all followers of Christ to make a bold move by fully embracing the exciting adventure God has called us to. Are you ready to unleash all the life he has created you to live? Join Perry on this journey as he digs into the major barriers holding people back and shows how Jesus calls and equips his followers to experience a life most of us never dreamed possible.