Embracing Your Wicked Good, God Awe-Full Life reveals how God makes our stumbles part of the dance of life. Through personal anecdotes, the author shows how to develop a friendship with God that is healing, loving, trusting, and peaceful.
Embracing Your Wicked Good, God Awe-Full Life reveals how God makes our stumbles part of the dance of life. Through personal anecdotes, the author shows how to develop a friendship with God that is healing, loving, trusting, and peaceful.
In Ancient Wisdom for the Good Life, Ralph K. Hawkins turns our attention to the Bible’s Wisdom Literature (Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Songs) and how it can correct us, train us in righteousness, and ultimately empower us for successful living. These are some of the most inspired writings on the Good Life the world has ever known, in which ancient Israel’s sages wrote about how to live stable, harmonious, productive, and joyous lives. Together, they interlock to cover the entire field of wisdom, providing contemporary readers with the tools to develop a unified world view with God at the center. Ancient Wisdom for the Good Life culls out the guidance of ancient Israel’s sages for a modern society that has been cut adrift from its moorings. Full of wisdom and practically written, this book could be used as a supplementary text in an undergraduate or seminary course in the Wisdom Literature, and it would certainly be useful for pastors in their sermon preparation or even just general reading. Table of Contents: Winning and the Wisdom Literature A Mindset of Integrity A Mindset of Community A Mindset of Communication A Mindset of Cause-and-Effect A Mindset of Goal-Setting A Mindset of Work A Mindset of Health A Mindset of Abundance A Mindset of Joy About the Author Ralph K. Hawkins (PhD, Andrews University) is professor of religion and director of the Program in Religion at Averett University. He is co-director of the Jordan Valley Excavation Project (JVEP) and the author of several books, including The Iron Age I Structure on Mt. Ebal: Excavation and Interpretation (Eisenbrauns), How Israel became a People (Abingdon Press), and Discovering Exodus: Content, Interpretation, Reception (SPCK/Eerdmans). An Anglican priest, Hawkins has also written pastoral books, including While I Was Praying: Finding Insights about God in Old Testament Prayers (Smyth & Helwys), and Leadership Lessons: Avoiding the Pitfalls of King Saul (Thomas Nelson).
A compassionate, shame-free guide for your darkest days “A one-of-a-kind book . . . to read for yourself or give to a struggling friend or loved one without the fear that depression and suicidal thoughts will be minimized, medicalized or over-spiritualized.”—Kay Warren, cofounder of Saddleback Church What happens when loving Jesus doesn’t cure you of depression, anxiety, or suicidal thoughts? You might be crushed by shame over your mental illness, only to be told by well-meaning Christians to “choose joy” and “pray more.” So you beg God to take away the pain, but nothing eases the ache inside. As darkness lingers and color drains from your world, you’re left wondering if God has abandoned you. You just want a way out. But there’s hope. In I Love Jesus, But I Want to Die, Sarah J. Robinson offers a healthy, practical, and shame-free guide for Christians struggling with mental illness. With unflinching honesty, Sarah shares her story of battling depression and fighting to stay alive despite toxic theology that made her afraid to seek help outside the church. Pairing her own story with scriptural insights, mental health research, and simple practices, Sarah helps you reconnect with the God who is present in our deepest anguish and discover that you are worth everything it takes to get better. Beautifully written and full of hard-won wisdom, I Love Jesus, But I Want to Die offers a path toward a rich, hope-filled life in Christ, even when healing doesn’t look like what you expect.
Learn to let go of your guilt, fear, and regret by turning to God in this book by the bestselling author of Bad Girls of the Bible. The forgiven life. The grace-filled life. It begins with an embrace. Wherever you are spiritually, whatever you have been through emotionally, you are already enfolded in the arms of One who believes in you, supports you, treasures you. He is waiting for you to embrace him in return. To accept the gift he's offering you. To listen for the whispered words you've longed a lifetime to hear: You are loved. All is forgiven.
The Essential Evangelical Parallel Bible enables readers to easily compare the texts of a quarter of modern translations that span the full range of scholarly approaches to the ancient text.
Inhale. . .Exhale. . . Just BREATHE! Stress. Struggle. Worry. Conflict. Life is fraught with hard things. And when things get hard, we often hold our breath. We freeze up and remain stuck on PAUSE. . .at least until our situation begins to improve. But it doesn't have to be that way. Because of Christ, we can find joy even in the hard. With Christ on our side, we can be still. We can remain calm. We can quit the worrying, the striving, the fighting. . .and Just Breathe. These 180 peace-filled, comforting devotions and prayers will encourage you to keep going, to keep living, keep breathing, keep trusting the heavenly Creator of all things.
Slow Down and Connect with God The Bible in contemporary language is placed here alongside the ancient Christian practice of lectio divina, or sacred reading. A perfect resource for your devotional quiet time. This beautiful reading Bible introduces the timeless practice of lectio divina. Learn the practice with 150 guided reflections, then enjoy putting prayerful reading to practice, with ample space for journaling your observations, reflections, and prayers on high-quality paper. Here are the steps of prayerful reading to help you slow down and meet with God: Stop Take a moment to stop and prepare to encounter God. Read Read and make observations of the chosen passage. Ponder Meditate on the meaning of what you've read. Pray Begin a conversation with God about this Scripture. Reflect Take note of what this time with God has brought to the surface for you. Live Consider how this time with God translates into our life with God. You'll enter the text of Scripture more fully than ever before and come out of each prayerful reading with a fresh encounter with our loving God, ready to live in the way of Jesus.
God’s Love is Forever By: Victor E. Hall, Jr. God’s Love is Forever will inspire and motivate the reader to become aware and appreciative of all the love and abundance God has blessed them with in their lives. When you wake up in the morning, do you immediately feel grateful for the beautiful morning God has made, or are you thinking about all the tasks you have to complete that day? The more we are aware of God’s presence in our lives, the happier, loving, and faithful we will be.
Read the Bible with surprise and delight in The Message Catholic/Ecumenical Edition! Eugene Peterson’s original, vibrant style in The Message now includes William Griffin’s translation of the deuterocanonical books Tobit, Judith, additions to Esther, 1 and 2 Maccabees, Wisdom, Sirach, Baruch, and additions to Daniel. The Message is the Bible translated into fresh, compelling, faith-filled language for readers who love reading everything from biographies to great fiction. The Scriptures in The Message will come alive for you in ways like never before, and you’ll hear more deeply what God is saying to you today. This Bible is meant to be read. Find your favorite spot to curl up and enjoy The Message: Catholic/Ecumenical Edition.