Stumbling Toward Eternity
Stumbling Toward Eternity

Author: Josh White

Publisher: Multnomah

Published: 2023-02-28

Total Pages: 241

ISBN-13: 0593193946

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Live with freedom and abundance as you freshly discover the cross of Jesus through the powerful stories and biblical insights of influential preacher and musician Josh White. “[A] vision of gospel hope.”—John Mark Comer Desperation reverberates at the very center of our anxious age. Despite our fiercest efforts, we never seem to find the meaning, depth, and beauty we long for. Where do we turn? There are so many voices promising happiness and endless ladders for us to climb toward a wholeness we can’t seem to reach. Yet what if what we are looking for has already come down to us? In Stumbling Toward Eternity, writer, pastor, and recording artist Josh White offers confessional stories and theological insights as he interprets the pain of his own past, the complicated “mixture” of the present, and the beautiful uncertainty of the future through the lens of grace. Using crisp and honest prose, he reveals why the most familiar symbol of Christianity—the cross of Jesus—is also the most misunderstood. He shows us why the goal of our desperate existence is not arriving at perfection or success but knowing the crucified Christ. The cross is not something to climb toward status. It is something to die on. It is where illusions die and wounds are healed. The cross is where the crucified God speaks over us words that bring freedom. Freedom from futility. Freedom to live with hope. Freedom to truly love. When we lose and find ourselves in the cross of Jesus, we discover that even the most dissonant notes of life can be redeemed in His song, even as we stumble toward eternity.

The Very Good Gospel
The Very Good Gospel

Author: Lisa Sharon Harper

Publisher: WaterBrook

Published: 2016-06-07

Total Pages: 242

ISBN-13: 1601428596

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

God once declared everything in the world “very good.” Can you imagine it? A Vision of Hope for a Broken World Shalom is what God declared. Shalom is what the Kingdom of God looks like. Shalom is when all people have enough. It’s when families are healed. It’s when churches, schools, and public policies protect human dignity. Shalom is when the image of God is recognized in every single human. Shalom is our calling as followers of Jesus’s gospel. It is the vision God set forth in the Garden and the restoration God desires for every relationship. What can we do to bring shalom to our nations, our communities, and our souls? Through a careful exploration of biblical text, particularly the first three chapters of Genesis, Lisa Sharon Harper shows us what “very good” can look like today, even after the Fall. Because despite our anxious minds, despite division and threats of violence, God’s vision remains: Wholeness for a hurting world. Peace for a fearful soul. Shalom.

Echoing Hope
Echoing Hope

Author: Kurt Willems

Publisher: WaterBrook

Published: 2021-03-16

Total Pages: 256

ISBN-13: 0593193512

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Where is Jesus when we need him most? An influential pastor shares how despair can lead us to discover true hope and a deeper relationship with God, helping us emerge stronger and more joyful from times of crisis. “May this careful look at pain in the context of Jesus’s life open up avenues of discovery and healing.”—Mindy Caliguire, cofounder and president of Soul Care We all experience difficulties and hardships. But how can we learn to live richly in the midst of them? And even grow spiritually because of them? The answer is found in the hopeful humanity of Jesus. As the Son of God, Jesus wasn’t exempt from suffering, disappointment, or injustice. He lived in the real world as a real person. He wept for those he loved. He felt hunger and thirst. He endured temptation, betrayal, and ridicule. He died after being unjustly tortured. And somehow through it all, he embodied hope—by defeating death and opening a new world of life for us. In Echoing Hope, influential pastor and blogger Kurt Willems reveals how understanding the humanity of Jesus can radically transform our identity and empower us to step into our pain-filled world in a new way. Combining rich theological insight with personal stories and practices for response, he shows how we can overcome despair and encounter the beautiful potential of our lives.

Bringing Heaven to Earth
Bringing Heaven to Earth

Author: Josh Ross

Publisher: WaterBrook

Published: 2015-05-05

Total Pages: 226

ISBN-13: 1601426712

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

You Can Help Bring Heaven to Earth God so loved the world, and he still does. He values his creation too much to destroy it. If you know where to look, you can see that the coming of a new heaven and a new earth already has begun. Life on earth is renewed every time you live out Jesus’s prayer that God’s ways will be followed on earth. The work of God’s Kingdom involves restoring what has been broken. This includes people, unjust systems, relationships, anything that has been separated from God and needs to be healed, reconciled, and set right. This is how heaven collides with earth—not following fiery destruction but in the power of restoring to life everything that God created. What you believe about God’s plan for humanity and for his creation determines how you will invest your life. God calls all of us to this renewing work. You can help bring heaven to earth, starting today.

Even If
Even If

Author: Mitchel Lee

Publisher: Multnomah

Published: 2021-08-17

Total Pages: 225

ISBN-13: 0593192524

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

How do you worship God even if life isn’t going the way you had hoped? “Even If is not some bumper sticker to display, but a daring commitment to live.”—Kyle Idleman, senior pastor of Southeast Christian Church “I believe we will see more resilient people in the face of suffering because of this great book.”—Bryan Loritts, teaching pastor at The Summit Church What happens when the test comes back positive? The relationship ends? The dream goes unfulfilled? The plans don’t move forward? Amid confusion, hurt, and anger, we wonder where we went wrong. What is God doing? In Even If, Mitchel Lee reminds us that while God does not promise a pain-free life, he offers something better: his presence in the pain. No matter our circumstances, God is worthy of our worship, and he can meet us even in our greatest difficulties. Drawing on his own journey, Mitchel explores the compelling story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in Daniel 3. These three men chose to worship God even if God didn’t rescue them from the fire. From their example and countless others, we can do the same. Maybe you are stuck in regret, grieving a loss, or unsure of how to take your next step because there is no promise of success. Even If offers the courage you need to move forward, declaring devotion—not in spite of life’s fires but because of them—to a God whose goodness never changes.

The Next Christians
The Next Christians

Author: Gabe Lyons

Publisher: Multnomah

Published: 2012-03-13

Total Pages: 274

ISBN-13: 0385529856

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

“I recommend The Next Christians, which will give you great insight into the hopes and aspirations of the next generation…." —Chuck Colson, founder of Prison Fellowship “Provocative, yet massively optimistic!” —Louie Giglio, pastor and founder of the Passion Movement Gabe Lyons is optimistic that Christianity’s best days are yet to come. His best-selling book, UnChristian, revealed the pervasiveness of culture’s growing disregard for Christians. Now, in The Next Christians, Lyons shows how a new wave of believers are turning the tide by bringing the truth of the Gospel to bear on our changing, secular society. “Restorers,” as Lyons calls them, approach culture with a different mentality than generations past. Informed by truth, yet seasoned with grace and love, these believers engage the world by drawing it to the sensibility and authenticity of the Christian life. You can be one of these “next” Christians and change the negative perception of Christianity by living a life that is faithful to the Gospel, yet credible and coherent to your friends and neighbors.

Sinners in the Hands of a Loving God
Sinners in the Hands of a Loving God

Author: Brian Zahnd

Publisher: WaterBrook

Published: 2017-08-15

Total Pages: 226

ISBN-13: 1601429525

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Pastor Brian Zahnd began "to question the theology of a wrathful God who delights in punishing sinners, and has started to explore the real nature of Jesus and His Father. The book isn’t only an interesting look at the context of some modern theological ideas; it’s also offers some profound insight into God’s love and eternal plan." —Relevant Magazine (Named one of the Top 10 Books of 2017) God is wrath? Or God is Love? In his famous sermon “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God,” Puritan revivalist Jonathan Edwards shaped predominating American theology with a vision of God as angry, violent, and retributive. Three centuries later, Brian Zahnd was both mesmerized and terrified by Edwards’s wrathful God. Haunted by fear that crippled his relationship with God, Zahnd spent years praying for a divine experience of hell. What Zahnd experienced instead was the Father’s love—revealed perfectly through Jesus Christ—for all prodigal sons and daughters. In Sinners in the Hands of a Loving God, Zahnd asks important questions like: Is seeing God primarily as wrathful towards sinners true or biblical? Is fearing God a normal expected behavior? And where might the natural implications of this theological framework lead us? Thoughtfully wrestling with subjects like Old Testament genocide, the crucifixion of Jesus, eternal punishment in hell, and the final judgment in Revelation, Zanhd maintains that the summit of divine revelation for sinners is not God is wrath, but God is love.

Stumbling Toward Obedience
Stumbling Toward Obedience

Author: David R. Hawkins

Publisher: WestBow Press

Published: 2013-07

Total Pages: 131

ISBN-13: 1449799078

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Jesus demonstrated complete submission to the Father's will to the point of His confident assertion, "I always do those things that please My Father" (John 8:29). He gave Himself in humility at Calvary to satisfy God's wrath against all sin, as well as all sinners, and declared from the cross, "It is finished." He then experienced death but rose in victory over death, thus proving His claims to divinity and giving to all His spiritual descendants resurrection power for daily living. So what is to be our response to all Christ Jesus is and all that He has suffered and accomplished on our behalf? What should be our life's focus, our objective, our agenda, and our passion? Obedience to the things our Lord and Savior has commanded. Obedience is our duty, to be sure, but it is more than that. It is the way we express our thanksgiving for what Christ has done for us. It is gratefulness lived out on a daily basis. This kind of living involves a consistent orientation toward laying aside personal or selfish desires and agendas that bring us temporal gratification. Instead, we embrace what Jesus Christ tells us to do: to proclaim the gospel of hope to those who know it not. This is the highest expression of gratefulness from a life made new by the living Lord. Your culture, your communities, your friends, your co-workers, and your family members need to hear a word from God. You and I are the delivery persons for God's message. We are the spokespersons for the gospel of Jesus Christ! We are the ones to whom God has said, "Arise, go to Nineveh." Our Nineveh, dear people of God, is the lost people around us.

Wrong Lanes Have Right Turns
Wrong Lanes Have Right Turns

Author: Michael Phillips

Publisher: WaterBrook

Published: 2022-01-25

Total Pages: 257

ISBN-13: 0593193911

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

The unforgettable true story of one man’s escape from the school-to-prison pipeline, how he reinvented himself as a pastor and education reform advocate, and what his journey can teach us about turning the collateral damage in the lives of our youth into hope. “A heart-wrenching and triumphant story that will change lives.”—Bishop T. D. Jakes Michael Phillips would never become anything. At least, that’s what he was told. It seemed like everyone was waiting for him to just fall through the cracks. After losing his father, suffering a life-altering car accident, and losing his college scholarship, Michael turned to selling drugs to make ends meet. But when his house was raided, he was arrested and thrown into a living nightmare. When it looked like he would be sentenced to spend years behind bars, the judge gave him a choice—go to a special college program for adjudicated youth or face the possibility of a thirty-year prison sentence. It wasn’t hard to pick. From that choice, a mission was born—to help change the system that shuffles so many young Black men like Michael straight from school to prison. Today, Michael is the pastor of a thriving church, a local leader in Baltimore, and a member of the Maryland State Board of Education. He discovered that education was the path to becoming who he was created to be. Armed with research, statistics, and his powerful story, Michael tackles the embedded privilege of the education system and introduces ideas for change that could level the playing field and reduce negative impacts on vulnerable youth. He explores ways in which the readers can help advocate and provide resources for students, and points us to the one thing anyone can start doing, no matter who we are or what our role is: speak into young kids’ lives. Tell them of their inherent worth and purpose. In this inspiring, thought-provoking, and energizing call to action, Michael’s practical steps provide a way forward to anyone wanting to help create space for collateral hope in the lives of for young people around them.

The Prayer of Agur
The Prayer of Agur

Author: Jay Payleitner

Publisher: Multnomah

Published: 2020-06-09

Total Pages: 114

ISBN-13: 052565383X

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

“Learn a simple prayer that will help you find your sweet spot in life.”—Josh McDowell, author of More Than a Carpenter “Give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread.” Proverbs 30:8 This simple, unexpected request from a little-known biblical author named Agur is the only prayer in all of Proverbs, and it offers life-changing potential. Imagine finding new purpose and contentment in your work, personal ministry, and relationships. Open your heart to Agur’s wit and wisdom, and you can learn to • escape imbalance • overcome fear of failure and eliminate envy • joyfully pursue your passions • reap the eternal rewards of trusting God • find your personal sweet spot In our modern, busy lives, embracing balance leads us away from bad decision-making and the emotional cost of trying to do too much or survive with too little. This engaging and practical book faithfully unpacks Agur’s humble prayer. Read it in an evening. Affirm it for a lifetime. Share it with those you love.