(Don’t try and convince yourself otherwise . . . it’s a losing battle.) And the difficult truth about faith is that it won’t answer all of your questions in life and it won’t solve all of your problems, either. Faith is about trust, not about being certain . . . and that’s not how we hoped faith worked.We talk a lot about building our faith, but when God is at work in our lives, there seems to be a lot more demolition going on. "Faith Under Construction" is a devotional that will begin the renovation of your soul and prepare it for the building that will take place throughout the rest of your life. Bestselling Christian Living author, Cherie Hill, takes your soul into the depths of faith, and the excavation will bring about a transformation of your spirit that is stable and secure, ready for anything.

    Adoration is the simple practice Sara discovered for starting where you are, and letting the grit of your day greet the beauty of God's presence.Adoration is for the woman who feels frenzied and fearful in the middle minutes of her day. It is a simple practice for 7:37 a.m. when the children are waking and the dryer is already humming but also for the 12:17 p.m. lunch break and for 5:53 p.m. while stuck in traffic.Adoration is the place where we put how we feel in front of God's Word, and watch what happens to our insides. It's what you were made for. Join Sara in this soul-stirring journey through thirty attributes of God which you can walk through at your own pace. Learn how the simple habit of adoration--in the middle minutes of your day--can help you see God with fresh eyes, and talk to Him right there. Experience a new way of engaging with God in your everyday. Adore will show you how.

    Forty meditations on Great Lent based on liturgical, scriptural and patristic texts.

    Readers learn to apply New Testament principles that capture the essence of Jesus' teachings about effectively caring, serving, and loving one another. Beginning with God's simple command to "Love one another," this book shows how to: * develop deep, genuine friendships* model to others a relationship with Jesus* create meaningful interaction with strangers* avoid the pitfalls of judging others* show people love, acceptance, kindness, and respect Complete with discussion questions, this book is appropriate for both individuals and church groups. It is a must for all Christians who wish to practice being the church rather than merely attending one.

    You desire revelation and passionate encounters with the Almighty, and you long to spend time in The Secret Place, getting to know the Father in a deeper way. This book will lead you into that place of revelation, the place that will satisfy your hunger for more of God. If you long to experience a greater intimacy with the Father, The Secret Place will draw you in and change your life

    Growing Deep In The Christian Life takes theology out of the ivory tower and enables you to apply it to where you live every day.

    The message blew up on social-media, triggering an avalanche of responses running the gamut from encouraged to enraged.In Jesus > Religion, Bethke unpacks similar contrasts that he drew in the poem—highlighting the difference between teeth gritting and grace, law and love, performance and peace, despair and hope. With refreshing candor he delves into the motivation behind his message, beginning with the unvarnished tale of his own plunge from the pinnacle of a works-based, fake-smile existence that sapped his strength and led him down a path of destructive behavior.Bethke is quick to acknowledge that he’s not a pastor or theologian, but simply a regular, twenty-something who cried out for a life greater than the one for which he had settled. Along his journey, Bethke discovered the real Jesus, who beckoned him beyond the props of false religion.

    2:6), treasured by Him and given a place at His table. Heather Holleman unveils what this means for us.It means we walk out on the fight for acceptance. We quit measuring ourselves to others.We leap free from cycles of shame.Securely-seated people can ask themselves hard questions about their lives; they can deal with sin, grieve their losses, and move forward in hope. From a position of security and self-forgetfulness they can joyfully do the good works prepared for them uniquely. They can even celebrate the successes of others.Seated with Christ is a deeply personal, liberating look at a glorious truth: that we have a place at God's eternal table.

    STRESSED-LESS LIVING offers life-changing, heart-renewing, long-lasting remedies that will bring peace, even when things feel out of control.

    In more modern terminology, it describes a posture of unshakeable resolve and determination. If there was ever a time for us to be adamant about love and truth it is now. God is Love. God is Truth. Both love and truth are timeless, transcending our current trends and opinions. Sometimes the most loving thing we will ever do is to speak the truth, but speaking truth begins with living it.Using the mediums of Scripture and story, author Lisa Bevere takes readers on a journey to the one place they can learn not only to abide in God's unshakeable truth and love, but become adamant--people who are unmovable, determined, and steadfast. Lisa unpacks the concept of the adamant for readers, linking together the grand story of Scripture and God's purpose in their lives. God's plan is revealed as we dwell in him, it is there that we are forged and shaped. As we abide in Christ our Cornerstone we are shaped into the image of the adamant.

    Sometimes it saves us. More often it robs us of the life we want. But we can take our lives back. You'd be hard-pressed to overstate the extent to which fear, anxiety, and worry permeate our lives today. Fear wreaks havoc on our relationships and communities. It leads us into making bad decisions. It holds us back from the very pursuits that promise fulfillment and joy. Making matters worse, not a week goes by when some new threat or calamity isn't dominating the headlines. Why are there so many tragedies? we wonder. What will happen next?As the senior pastor of a large, diverse church in America's heartland, Adam Hamilton has seen the cost of fear up close. When he surveyed his congregation on how fear affects them, 2,400 people responded--and what they said was eye-opening. Eighty percent admitted to living with moderate or significant levels of fear.Unafraid: Living with Courage and Hope in Uncertain Times is Reverend Hamilton's insightful and impassioned response. Drawing on recent research, inspiring real-life examples, and fresh biblical insight, Hamilton shows how to untangle the knots we feel about disappointing others, failure, financial insecurity, loneliness, insignificance, and aging. Then he helps readers understand and counter fears related to such outsize perils as terrorism, death, and the apocalypse.Writing with generosity and intelligence, Hamilton shows how believer and unbeliever alike can develop sustaining spiritual practices and embrace Jesus's recurring counsel: "Do not be afraid." For anyone struggling with fear or wondering how families and communities can thrive in troubled times, Unafraid offers an informed and inspiring message full of practical solutions.

    They tell a story of the God who made you, knows everything about you, and who loves you so much that He went to hell and back for you.If your daily life hasn’t been radically changed by the power of this love, then this book is for you.Author Mark Stibbe is passionate about awakening people to the reality of the Father’s extravagant love. These carefully  selected Bible verses from the Old and New Testaments will  gently guide you to experience the depth of God’s love in amazing new ways.

    An appendix includes a suggested plan for using each days meditation as part of a morning or evening prayer.Paperback

    Even our vacations have a panicky, task-like edge to them. "If I only had more time," is the mantra of our age. But is this the real problem?Widely acclaimed author Mark Buchanan states that what we've really lost is "the rest of God-the rest God bestows and, with it, that part of himself we can know only through stillness." Stillness as a virtue is a foreign concept in our society, but there is wisdom in God's own rhythm of work and rest. Sabbath is elixir and antidote. It is a gift for our sanity and wholeness--to prolong our lives, to enrich our relationships, to increase our fruitfulness, to make our joy complete. Jesus practiced Sabbath among those who had turned it into a dismal thing, a day for murmuring and finger-wagging, and he reminded them of the day's true purpose: liberation-to heal, to feed, to rescue, to celebrate, to lavish and relish life abundant.The gift of Sabbath is essential to our full humanity and faith, says Buchanan. Far from being some starched and dour day only to be endured, Sabbath is a day wide and bright, brimming with laughter, enough to lend beauty to all our other days. Readers will be changed forever by this pivotal book."It seems very unsabbath-like to describe a book about Sabbath with the adverb 'urgently'--but we urgently need this book. Mark Buchanan shows us that our busyness is killing us--killin us--and that Sabbath is our best cure, our best path for rest and reverence and discipleship."--LAUREN WINNER, Best-selling author of Girl Meets God and Mudhouse Sabbath"With the easiness of long intimacy and a very deft hand, Buchanan here braids together into one gracious and sustaining strand the beauty of Sabbath, the wisdom of its keeping, and the generosity of God in gifting us with it. These pages are not just a blessing, they are a psalm that cries out to be joyfully engaged."--PHYLLIS TICKLE, Religion editor (ret.) Publishers Weekly and compiler of The Divine Hours