Then he lost his job. Devastated and in crisis, with no Plan B and no clue how to redeem his future, he looked to the twelve disciples and discovered that—despite their gaping faults and sins—God still loved them and used them to change the world.With fresh warmth and wisdom, ample hope and humor, Losers Like Us skillfully intertwines Dan’s own story with theirs to show how our worst mistakes and greatest failures bring us to a place of teachableness, egolessness, brokenness, and empathy—the very qualifications required to receive God’s love and grace, and to manifest his kingdom on earth.

    But ask anyone who's sought after it--from the founders and members of Scum of the Earth Church in Denver to the apostle Paul, from whose letters the church took its name--and they'll tell you it's worth it. In Pure Scum Mike Sares, pastor of Scum of the Earth, takes us along a faith journey, telling the story of how a pretty normal, middle-aged guy met and became friends with Reese Roper and other members of the band, Five Iron Frenzy, and got hoodwinked by FIF and the Holy Spirit into pastoring of a vibrant church full of artists and skater punks. For anyone--pastor, church leader or plain old Christian--who wants to share the amazing grace of God with the "left-out" and "the right-brained," Mike's story will show you what this kind of exhilaration looks like, and more importantly, what it costs. It's a tricky business, but it's worth every step and misstep.

    But it's not cheap—true grace compels us to change. That’s where holiness comes in.Beloved writer, speaker, and bestselling coauthor of Wild and Free Jess Connolly will be the first to admit that not long ago, like many women, she grasped grace but she had forgotten holiness. Dance, Stand, Run charts her discovery that holiness was never meant to be a shaming reminder of what we “should” be doing, but rather a profound privilege of becoming more like Christ. That’s when we start to change the world, rather than being changed by it.Dance, Stand, Run is an invitation to the daughters of God to step into the movements of abundant life: dancing in grace, standing firm in holiness, and running on mission. Through story and study, Jess casts a fresh vision for how to live into your identity as a holy daughter of God, how to break free of cheap grace and empty rule-keeping, and finally, how to live out your holy influence with confidence before a watching world. Spoiler alert: it’s a beautiful thing.For anyone longing to take their place in what God is doing in the world, Dance, Stand, Run will rally your strength, refresh your purpose, and energize your faith in a God who calls us to be like Him.

    Lake in his own words. His testimonies of faith in the healing power of God and the wisdom of the Holy Spirit will challenge you to reach a new level in your spiritual walk.

    It isn’t a soft virtue, expressed only by sweet grandmothers or nice Boy Scouts. Kindness is neither timid nor frail. Instead, it is brave and daring, willing to be vulnerable with those with whom we disagree. It is the revolutionary way that Jesus himself called us to live. The way of selfless risks. The way of staggering hope. The way of authenticity.Dr. Barry Corey, president of Biola University, believes we tend to devalue the importance of kindness, opting instead for caustic expressions of certainty that push people away. We forget that the essence of what God requires of us is to “love kindness.” In this book, filled with stories from his travels around the globe, Barry shows us the forgotten way of kindness. It is a life that calls us to put ourselves at risk. A life that calls us to hope. A life of a firm center and soft edges. It is the life Christ invites us to follow, no matter what the cost.

    After gathering on a Sunday, do we simply go about our business, void of true transformation? Is the gospel simply a self-help tool, the church just a place where our needs can be met? It's time to ask ourselves, "Am I really following Jesus? Or am I just faking it?"With eye-opening personal stories, Scripture, and thought-provoking questions, Andi Andrew lovingly invites readers to examine their hearts to discover whether their faith is a genuine, life-giving marriage of belief and practice in response to Christ's life and sacrifice, or if it is just a lifestyle choice on par with any other. She encourages readers to surrender their whole lives to Jesus daily, grapple with hard questions they may have been avoiding, and discover a life fully alive, following in the way, the truth, and the life of Jesus Christ.

    The conversational style and gripping story gives readers a richer understanding of Jesus' humanity, deity, and message. Based on his portrayal of Jesus in Gospel According to Matthew (Visual Bible).

    With its biblical and practical approach to discipleship, this bestselling topical Bible study will help you develop a closer relationship with God, a keener sense of priorities, and a renewed concern for nonChristian friends.Part of the Revised 2:7 series.• Personal study between meetings• 11 sessions

    From Christ's holy response to each of the seven deadly sins that led to His Crucifixion, Bishop Sheen draws a lesson in how you and I must deal with those same sins, whether we meet them in others or in ourselves.

    Mere Hope offers the core, Christ-centered perspective that all Christians share, and that Christians alone have to offer a world filled with frustration, pain, and disappointment. For those in darkness, despair, and discouragement, for those in the midst of trials, suffering, and injustice, mere hope lives. The spirit of the age is cynicism. When our leaders, our families, and our friends let us down at every turn, this isn't surprising. But we need another perspective; we need hope. Rather than reflecting resigned despair or distracted indifference, author Jason Duesing argues, our lives ought to be shaped by the gospel of Jesus—a gospel of hope.

    "I had the opportunity to glorify God in my sports," C.J. writes, "and I fumbled it. I wasted my sports. You have the opportunity, by the grace of God, not to waste yours."

    Hill asks. "It's simple, but it's radical. Some may even call it revolutionary. Yet, I believe this is the heartbeat of Christianity. It's all about relationship with our heavenly Father, the true Lover of our hearts."Enjoying God challenges and encourages believers of all ages to pursue a passionate and intimate relationship with God. It exposes how misunderstandings of the Creator can damage and jeopardize your faith, and uncovers a biblical understanding of God as Father. This book will move you from duty to delight in your relationship with Christ. Enjoying God features a foreword by best-selling author Mike Bickle.

     The uniqueness of this book comes in the metaphor of sipping saltwater. Even as Christians, we 'sip' on idols such as money, relationships, careers, sex, food, human approval…the list is endless. These things promise to satisfy us—to quench our thirst. In the end, however, they fail to do so and leave us thirstier than we were before drinking them. To make matters worse, we are left with devastating hangovers—the negative consequences of our idolatry. This book enables readers to identify their own source(s) of saltwater and explains how to quench their thirst with Jesus’ living water—the only drink that will ever truly satisfy us both now and for eternity. It inspires readers to go on in the Christian life as they started—by making Jesus the centre of our lives and giving our worship to him.

    

    He was baptized a Catholic, but his faith journey led him to Protestant evangelicalism. He became a philosophy professor at Baylor University and president of the Evangelical Theological Society (ETS). And then, in 2007, after much prayer, counsel, and consideration, Beckwith decided to return to the Catholic church and step down as ETS president.This provocative book details Beckwith's journey, focusing on his internal dialogue between the Protestant theology he embraced for most of his adult life and Catholicism. He seeks to explain what prompted his decision and offers theological reflection on whether one can be evangelical and Catholic, affirming his belief that one can be both. EXCERPTIt's difficult to explain why one moves from one Christian tradition to another. It is like trying to give an account to your friends why you chose to pursue for marriage this woman rather than that one, though both may have a variety of qualities that you found attractive. It seems to me then that any account of my return to the Catholic church, however authentic and compelling it is to me, will appear inadequate to anyone who is absolutely convinced that I was wrong. Conversely, my story will confirm in the minds of many devout Catholics that the supernatural power of the grace I received at baptism and confirmation as a youngster were instrumental in drawing me back to the Mother Church. Given these considerations, I confess that there is an awkwardness in sharing my journey as a published book, knowing that many fellow Christians will scrutinize and examine my reasons in ways that appear to some uncharitable and to others too charitable.