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Why I Love the Apostle Paul: 30 Reasons
John Piper - 2019
For John Piper, this impact is very personal. He does not just admire and trust Paul. He loves him. Piper gives us thirty glimpses into why his heart and mind respond this way.Can a Christian-killer really endure 195 lashes from a heart of love? Can a mystic who thinks he was caught up into heaven be a model of lucid rationality? Can an ethnocentric Jew write the most beautiful call to reconciliation? Can a person who lives with the unceasing anguish of empathy be always rejoicing? Can a man's description of the horrors of human sin be exceeded by his delight in human splendor? Can a man with a backbone of steel be as tender as a nursing mother?If we know this man--if we see what Piper sees--we too will love him. Paul's testimony is a matter of life and death. Piper invites you into his relationship with Paul in the hope that you will know life, forever.
Everything Happens for a Reason: And Other Lies I've Loved
Kate Bowler - 2018
She lost thirty pounds, chugged antacid, and visited doctors for three months before she was finally diagnosed with Stage IV colon cancer.As she navigates the aftermath of her diagnosis, Kate pulls the reader deeply into her life, which is populated with a colorful, often hilarious collection of friends, pastors, parents, and doctors, and shares her laser-sharp reflections on faith, friendship, love, and death. She wonders why suffering makes her feel like a loser and explores the burden of positivity. Trying to relish the time she still has with her son and husband, she realizes she must change her habit of skipping to the end and planning the next move. A historian of the "American prosperity gospel"--the creed of the mega-churches that promises believers a cure for tragedy, if they just want it badly enough--Bowler finds that, in the wake of her diagnosis, she craves these same "outrageous certainties." She wants to know why it's so hard to surrender control over that which you have no control. She contends with the terrifying fact that, even for her husband and child, she is not the lynchpin of existence, and that even without her, life will go on.On the page, Kate Bowler is warm, witty, and ruthless, and, like Paul Kalanithi, one of the talented, courageous few who can articulate the grief she feels as she contemplates her own mortality.
Lost Boy: My Story
Greg Laurie - 2008
A seventeen-year-old, long-haired Greg soon discovered his passion for seeing people rescued from hopelessness and transformed into renewed beings with a saving faith in Christ. Laurie quickly became a wonder and an example as to how God could use someone with a sordid past to impact the world with the gospel. Throughout Greg's autobiography, be encouraged by the trials he overcame and the far-reaching impact these lessons have had. The Lord's influence in Greg's life has been thoroughly evidenced by the fruit seen from the ministries Greg has planted, watered and grown; namely, Harvest Christian Fellowship (one of the 8 largest churches in America) and the Harvest Crusades. Greg Laurie's legacy has been seasoned with trials and questions, but if God can take a hippie from a severely dysfunctional family and raise him to be one of the nation's leading evangelists and pastors, what can God do with you?
The Hardest Peace: Expecting Grace in the Midst of Life's Hard
Kara Tippetts - 2014
and the devestating reality of stage-four cancer. In The Hardest Peace, Kara doesn't offer answers for when living is hard, but she asks us to join her in moving away from fear and control and toward peace and grace. Most of all, she draws us back to the God who is with us, in the mundane and the suffering, and who shapes even our pain into beauty.Winner of the 2015 Christian Book Award® in the Inspiration category.
Return To Rome: Confessions of an Evangelical Catholic
Francis J. Beckwith - 2008
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.
Mountain Rain: A Biography of James O. Fraser, Pioneer Missionary to China
Eileen Fraser Crossman - 1982
Packed with personal letters, insightful anecdotes, and riveting stories of missionary life in China, this superb biography shines with God's constant faithfulness and power over evil.
Making Peace with Change: Navigating Life's Messy Transitions with Honesty and Grace
Gina Brenna Butz - 2020
Whether it’s a good transition like a job promotion or a bad disruption like a devastating health diagnosis, it’s stressful. Gina Brenna Butz shares her personal stories of struggling with change and encourages you to trust God. She writes with compassion as she urges you to rely on God’s goodness, lean on Him for strength, rejoice that He is constant, and ultimately to find satisfaction in Him rather than in circumstances. Scripture helps you see change from the viewpoint of your heavenly Father. You can rest knowing He works all things together for the good of His children, even in seasons of stress-inducing change.
No Compromise
Melody Green - 1989
Who better to tell Keith Green's story than the woman who shared his life and mission?his wife, Melody. At the time Keith and two of their children were killed in a tragic plane crash, Melody was pregnant and had a one?year?old child at home. She inherited Keith's musical legacy of published and unpublished songs and his private journals, which she has put together in this extremely personal biography of Keith.
Anne Williams - With Hope in Her Heart
Sara Williams - 2013
Kevin’s mum, Anne, was not there to answer his call but she never let her son down. From that fateful day, April 15, 1989, she embarked on a remarkable 24-year battle to see justice done. Convinced of a cover-up by the powers that be, she left no stone unturned in her quest to uncover the truth. It was a campaign that she fought to her dying day, succumbing to cancer at the age of 62 in April, 2013. Anne’s efforts had not been in vain. Just months earlier, a historic breakthrough saw the original inquest verdicts quashed, following a public apology to the Hillsborough families by Prime Minister David Cameron. Her daughter Sara, Kevin’s sister, was with Anne every step of the way. Now, with the help of personal recollections penned by her mum in her final months, she tells the real story of Anne’s remarkable journey – her spirit in the face of the many setbacks and her defiant refusal to accept defeat. Anne’s final message before losing her fight for life was ‘I never walked alone’. This book is dedicated to everyone who has ever fought for justice in the name of the 96.Copyright: All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form, or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior permission in writing of the copyright holders, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than in which it is published and without a similar condition being imposed on the subsequent publisher.
Tyndale: the Man Who Gave God an English Voice
David Teems - 2012
It is the age of Henry VIII and his tragic Anne Boleyn, of Martin Luther and Thomas More. The times are treacherous. The Catholic Church controls almost every aspect of English life, including access to the very Word of God. And the church will do anything to keep it that way.Enter William Tyndale, the gifted, courageous “heretic” whodared translate the Word of God into English. He worked in secret, in exile, inperil, always on the move. Neither England nor the English language would everbe the same again.With thoughtful clarity and a reverence that comes throughon every page, David Teems shares a story of intrigue and atrocity, betrayal andperseverance. This is how the Reformation officially reached English shores—andwhat it cost the men who brought it there.
Joni and Ken: An Untold Love Story
Ken Tada - 2013
Sure, she was in her regular place along the stage-right aisle at Grace Community Church, halfway back...parked near a few others in wheelchairs. And the worship music had been glorious...hymns Joni could sing along with...which she did. Enthusiastically and without consulting the hymnal. All the verses. Normal so far. The part that wasn't typical was that the pastor/teacher of Grace Church, Dr. John MacArthur, was away. A pinch hitter was filling in. And although he was giving it his best, it wasn't...uh...well, it just wasn't John MacArthur. Joni tried to focus on what was being preached, but her mind began to hopelessly slide. Perhaps the past few days had been a little more hectic than usual. Maybe she and her ministry team had stayed out a little longer than they should have at dinner the night before. Or maybe the volunteers who had come that morning to get Joni up, bathed and dressed had come a little too early. Whatever the reason, Joni fought drowsiness. Caught in a truly awkward situation and not wanting to make a scene, Joni began to pray. It would be a worthy exercise to pass the time. This is something she of-ten did at night when she'd waken with nowhere to go and no wakeful person on duty to help her. Joni knew that the week ahead was going to be a busy one, including some air travel. That's something I can pray about, she mused. And so she did. Next, Joni decided to look around...carefully, of course, so as not to be accused of not paying attention, looking for folks seated in the congregation. 'Lord, is there someone I should pray for?' she whispered almost loud enough to be detected by those close by. She scanned the people sitting in front of her and spotted the back of a man's head a few rows closer to the front of the church. 'Okay, Lord, ' Joni prayed, 'Please bless that man up there with the straight black hair. Thank You for him, protect him and, if You will, please prosper him for Your glory.' She prayed for his family, his work, his friends and interests. Oddly, she found it easy to pray for this man she didn't know... which made her wonder, Lord, why have you put him so strongly on my heart? I can't even see his face... don't know his name. This was the first time Joni would be thanking her Heavenly Father for Ken Tada. It surely wouldn't be the last. And since 1982, when Joni and Ken were married, Ken Tada has been a colleague and full partner in Joni's life and ministry. He also prays for Joni.
Daring to Hope: Finding God's Goodness in the Broken and the Beautiful
Katie Davis Majors - 2017
But joy often gave way to sorrow as she invested her heart fully in walking alongside people in the grip of poverty, addiction, desperation, and disease.After unexpected tragedy shook her family, for the first time Katie began to wonder, Is God really good? Does He really love us? When she turned to Him with her questions, God spoke truth to her heart and drew her even deeper into relationship with Him.Daring to Hope is an invitation to cling to the God of the impossible--the God who whispers His love to us in the quiet, in the mundane, when our prayers are not answered the way we want or the miracle doesn't come. It's about a mother discovering the extraordinary strength it takes to be ordinary. It's about choosing faith no matter the circumstance and about encountering God's goodness in the least expected places.Though your heartaches and dreams may take a different shape, you will find your own questions echoed in these pages. You'll be reminded of the gifts of joy in the midst of sorrow. And you'll hear God's whisper: Hold on to hope. I will meet you here.
Kathryn Kuhlman: Her Spiritual Legacy and Its Impact on My Life
Benny Hinn - 1999
Now her spiritual legacy continues to touch lives of countless others as Benny Hinn pays tribute to this remarkable woman. Hinn traces her fifty extraordinary years of ministry and reveals insists into the spiritual life of one of God's choice servants who took the saving and healing message of Jesus Christ to her generation-often in the midst of personal struggles and disappointing heartbreaks. But this is more than a story about the most prominent woman evangelist, it is the story of how God used her life and teaching to influence Benny Hinn.
Manifesting God
Thomas Keating - 2005
In the inner room, the silent space in which God unloads the burdens and false selves that govern our individuality and our daily lives, God acts as a divine therapist, healing us and forcing us to recognize how many barriers we put up between ourselves and an authentic relationship with God. The process whereby this happens is the foundation of centering prayer—a technique of prayer that Keating and other contemporary mystics have revived out of the ancient mystical traditions of the Desert Fathers and the medieval mystics.Abbot Keating explores in this book what it means to enter the inner room and the transformation that takes place there. It explains the guidelines of centering prayer and offers advice on how to develop the relationship more deeply.
Straight Talk on Depression: Overcoming Emotional Battles with the Power of God's Word!
Joyce Meyer - 2003
Bestselling author Joyce Meyer brings powerful insight from the Scriptures and from her own experience to help you win over depression! You will discover how to walk by faith and not by feelings, the power of willful rejoicing, and the vital role of forgiveness. As believers, joy is not something we try to manufacture-it is something already within us waiting to be released. The victory over depression is yours through Jesus Christ. Rise up in His power and take back your position of joy and freedom today!