Breaking Up with Perfect

Breaking Up with Perfect

Author: Amy Carroll

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Published: 2015-07-07

Total Pages: 240

ISBN-13: 1501103059

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“Perfection is exhausting at best, defeating at worst. In Breaking Up with Perfect, Amy is the trusted friend who comes to help us knock down our walls of fear to rebuild a more doable, sustainable, God-honoring life.” —Lysa TerKeurst, New York Times bestselling author of The Best Yes and president of Proverbs 31 Ministries An inspiring and thought-provoking guide to help you abandon the pursuit of perfection and become comfortable and more confident in your own skin. We’ve all been in relationships that were bad for us...whether with a catty girlfriend, a selfish boyfriend, or a coworker who undermines our best efforts. But there is one relationship that steals the potential of all other relationships—including our relationship with ourselves and, ultimately, our relationship with God. And that’s our relationship with Perfect. Perfect is a bad friend. No matter what we do or say or give or bake or create...it’s never enough. Perfect always demands more, but it’s never satisfied. Never. Whether you are a “good girl,” who always tries to be what you think everyone else wants you to be, or a “never good enough” girl, who’s desperately hiding your past and shame behind attempts to measure up—this book will help you find the beautiful, loving, fulfilled woman God created you to be. Imperfections and all. Breaking Up with Perfect will help you: • Experience authenticity as the antidote for isolation • Trade the Lies of Perfection for the Truths of God’s Love • End the pursuit of perfection, so God can begin His powerful perfecting work in you After reading this book, you’ll be able to end the never-ending stress that chasing Perfect brings and live a life filled with joy, peace, and spiritual fulfillment.


Beyond Thingification

Beyond Thingification

Author: Markus Watson

Publisher:

Published: 2020-02-12

Total Pages: 144

ISBN-13: 9781082805363

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Beyond Thingification will help you get clear on your church's mission and help your church do ministry that really matters. Leading churches is so much harder than it used to be. You used to be able to grow a church simply by starting one. Or by improving the preaching or the music or the children's ministry. That's just not the case anymore. We try to attract people to our churches with new programs. Occasionally it works. Most of the time it doesn't. That's frustrating! And it makes us feel like failures. Eventually, most of us realize that getting our churches to be bigger and better is not God's top priority. We begin to understand that what God really wants is to heal the world. And we want that, too. We want to help our churches bless our communities and restore shalom in the world. The problem is...it's so hard to know how to do that today. In Beyond Thingification: Helping Your Church Engage in God's Mission, Markus Watson: -Describes the historical background that got us to where we are... -Explores the mission to which all of us have been called, and... -Presents a practical way to discern how God is calling your particular church to participate in the healing of the world. As you and your church read Beyond Thingification and implement what Markus Watson terms "Vocational Connection Groups," you will: -Help your church meaningfully engage in God's mission. -Escape the hamster wheel of doing the same old-but now ineffective-ministry programs. Beyond Thingification will help you move: -From confused about the church's purpose...to clear about the church's mission. -From frustrated about your church's ineffectiveness...to excited about what God is doing through your people. -From distracted by meaningless measures of success...to focused on faithfulness as the true measure of success. If you're ready to get clear on how God is calling your church to engage in the mission of God in your unique context, Beyond Thingification will help you do just that.


STRIVING TO BE PERFECT AS THE HEAVENLY FATHER IS PERFECT

STRIVING TO BE PERFECT AS THE HEAVENLY FATHER IS PERFECT

Author: Fr. John F. Tuohey

Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.

Published: 2024-01-25

Total Pages: 52

ISBN-13:

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The Greek term that Matthew uses to quote Jesus’s call for us to be perfect is the same word used by St. Paul and St. Peter in their letters which we translate as mature. St. Paul tells us we are called to the “complete measure of the stature” that belongs to Christ: spiritual, emotional, moral, and intellectual maturity. How do we get there? Our Lord also teaches we are to be forgiving “seventy times seven times.” Does anyone find that easy? We are also called to examine our own consciences to discover if we need to “leave our gifts at the altar” and go and make amends. Now there is a challenge. In this book, Fr. Tuohey uses Scripture, the writing of the early church fathers, his professional experience, the Twelve Steps of AA, and his personal struggles with Jesus’s call to perfection to share the insights he has gained. They are shared here in the hopes it might be helpful to others as well.


We Are Daughters of Our Heavenly Father: Striving to Live the Young Women Values

We Are Daughters of Our Heavenly Father: Striving to Live the Young Women Values

Author: Jen Brewer

Publisher: Cedar Fort Publishing & Media

Published: 2023-02-02

Total Pages: 180

ISBN-13: 1462124798

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Learn the importance of the words you repeat each week. This inspirational book helps you better understand the Young Women theme by breaking down each section and sharing the story of how and why the theme was created. Discover your divine potential and how important you are in God’s plan! Thought provoking and uplifting, this book offers new insights for parents, leaders, and all young women.


GraceLaced

GraceLaced

Author: Ruth Chou Simons

Publisher: Harvest House Publishers

Published: 2017-09-01

Total Pages: 231

ISBN-13: 0736969047

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2018 Christian Book Award® This Journey Is as Perennial as the Seasons GraceLaced is about more than pretty florals and fanciful brushwork—it's about flourishing. With carefully crafted intention, this beautiful volume of 32 seasonal devotions from artist and author Ruth Chou Simons encourages readers in any circumstance to become deeply rooted in God's faithful promises. GraceLaced extends a soul-stirring invitation to draw close to God while... resting in who He is rehearsing the truth He says about you responding in faith to those truths remembering His provision to sustain you, time and time again More than 800 individual pieces of art came together in the crafting of this book, including dozens of new, hand-painted Scripture vignettes that Ruth is known for. Who we are and who God is never changes, even though everything else rarely stays the same. Let this book point you to truth as you journey through the changing seasons of your heart.


The Best Yes

The Best Yes

Author: Lysa TerKeurst

Publisher: Thomas Nelson

Published: 2014-08-19

Total Pages: 273

ISBN-13: 1400205867

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Are you tired of living with the stress of an overwhelmed schedule and aching with the sadness of an underwhelmed soul? Do you find yourself unable to say no even when you should? Are you stuck under the weight of endless demands and responsibilities? The good news is: it doesn't have to be this way. In The Best Yes, New York Times bestselling author Lysa TerKeurst guides you through the insightful lessons she's learned about what it means to live out the purpose that God has in store for you. Lysa demonstrates the incredible power of two words--yes and no--and the way that these simple, daily decisions can shape the story of our lives. Lysa has learned firsthand that there's a big difference between saying yes to everyone and saying yes to God. Drawing from applicable scriptures and her own personal experiences, Lysa teaches us that if we know and believe that God has a plan for each of us, we'll live it out--serving as living proof of His never-ending grace and kindness. Throughout The Best Yes, Lysa will give you the practical tools you need to: Stop people-pleasing by embracing a biblical understanding of love Escape the guilt of disappointing others by learning the secret of the small no Overcome the agony of hard choices by grounding your decisions in wisdom Grow closer to God as you sharpen your own discernment Learn to be intentional with your time, your choices, and yourself Incorporate the Best Yes as a filter for your daily decision making If we take time to slow down and rise above the rush of the world's endless demands, we can rest assured that God's wisdom will help us make decisions that will still be good tomorrow. No matter what season of life you find yourself in, you deserve the chance to make decisions that bring out the best you.


Father Hunger

Father Hunger

Author: Douglas Wilson

Publisher: Thomas Nelson

Published: 2012-04-30

Total Pages: 262

ISBN-13: 1595554777

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Fatherlessness is a “rot that is eating away at the modern soul,” writes Douglas Wilson, and the problem goes far beyond physical absence. “Most of our families are starving for fathers, even if Dad is around, and there’s a huge cost to our children and our society because of it.” Father Hunger takes a thoughtful, timely, richly engaging excursion into our cultural chasm of absentee fatherhood. Blending leading-edge research with incisive analysis and real-life examples, Wilson: Traces a range of societal ills?from poverty and crime to joyless feminism and paternalistic government expansion?to a vacuum of mature masculinity Explains the key differences between asserting paternal authority and reestablishing true spiritual fathering Uncovers the corporate-fulfillment fallacy and other mistaken assumptions that undermine fatherhood Extols the benefits of restoring fruitful fathering, from stronger marriages to greater economic liberty Filled with practical ideas and self-evaluation tools, Father Hunger both encourages and challenges men to “embrace the high calling of fatherhood,” becoming the dads that their families and our culture so desperately need them to be. "Wilson sounds a clarion call among Christian men that is pointedly biblical, urgently relevant, humorously accessible, and practically wise." ?Richard D. Phillips, author of The Masculine Mandate: God's Calling to Men "Father Hunger illulstrates one of the greatest influences or lack thereof on the identity of a man: a father. Read a book that will strike an invisible chord in the lives of men both lost and found." ?Dr. Eric Mason, pastor of Epiphany Fellowship, Philadelphia


No More Faking Fine

No More Faking Fine

Author: Esther Fleece Allen

Publisher: Zondervan

Published: 2017-01-10

Total Pages: 220

ISBN-13: 0310344778

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Scripture reveals a God who meets us where we are, not where we pretend to be. No More Faking Fine is your invitation to get honest with God through the life-giving language of lament. If you've ever been given empty clichés during challenging times, you know how painful it is to be misunderstood by well-meaning people. When life hurts, we often feel pressure--from others and ourselves--to keep it together, suck it up, or pray it away. But Scripture reveals a God who lovingly invites us to give honest voice to our emotions when life hits hard. For most of her life, Esther Fleece Allen believed she could bypass the painful emotions of her broken past by shutting them down altogether. She was known as an achiever and an overcomer on the fast track to success. But in silencing her pain, she robbed herself of the opportunity to be healed. Maybe you've done the same. Esther's journey into healing began when she discovered that God has given us a real-world way to deal with raw emotions and an alternative to the coping mechanisms that end up causing more pain. It's called lament--the gut-level, honest prayer that God never ignores, never silences, and never wastes. No More Faking Fine is your permission to lament, taking you on a journey down the unexpected pathway to true intimacy with God. Drawing from careful biblical study and hard-won insight, Esther reveals how to use God's own language to come closer to him as he leads us through our pain to the light on the other side, teaching you that: We are robbing ourselves of a divine mystery and a divine intimacy when we pretend to have it all together God does not expect us to be perfect; instead, he meets us where we are There is hope beyond your heartache, disappointment, and grief Like Esther, you'll soon find that when one person stops faking fine, it gives everyone else permission to do the same.