Isn't it encouraging when you hear someone share an experience they have gotten through? It can be discouraging though when no one seems to share similar experiences as you. It can make you feel alone and even think something is wrong with you. Stephanie felt that way about her salvation story and other parts of her life. She wants to give you hope that you are not alone and encourage you. If she could get through abuse, self-hate, grief, relationships, ministry, and more on her journey of life and faith, then you can get through anything life throws at you too.
Dasia "DasiaVu" Edmond tells the story of how after constantly being told that "Girls Don't Play Football" she not only made the Pop Warner Team, but played for 3 years! She takes the readers on a journey of how she convinced her parents to allow her to play and earned the respect of her teammates and Coaches.
God Made Me Unique, a beautifully illustrated picture book, helps parents and caregivers teach children that God creates every person in the image of God and each individual has tremendous value, regardless of his or her appearance or abilities. The story is set in a Sunday school classroom where a new girl, Brie, is introduced by her mom. Brie's Sunday school teacher takes the time to welcome Brie and to explain to the other children why she is wearing headphones. Through getting to know Brie, the children are guided into a biblical understanding of the uniqueness of each of God's children. Along the way they learn to ask questions and gain an understanding about their new friend. Told in a charming rhyming style, this colorful, hardcover book will help eliminate fear and misconceptions about those who have special needs and emphasizes that every person deserves to be treated with kindness and respect. The back of the book contains a special section just for parents and caregivers that will guide them in how to have biblical, loving conversations with children and gives them additional information and to equip them in talking about this important subject. Like God Made All of Me by Justin and Lindsey Holcomb and God Made Me AND You by Shai Linne, God Made Me Unique gives parents the tools to have important, impactful conversations with their children that will grow their understanding of God, themselves, and others.
Now an HBO Max series starring Ray Romano and Cristin Milioti From one of our most exciting and provocative young writers, a poignant, riotously funny story of how far some will go for love—and how far some will go to escape it. Hazel has just moved into a trailer park of senior citizens, with her father and Diane—his extremely lifelike sex doll—as her roommates. Life with Hazel’s father is strained at best, but her only alternative seems even bleaker. She’s just run out on her marriage to Byron Gogol, CEO and founder of Gogol Industries, a monolithic corporation hell-bent on making its products and technologies indispensable in daily life. For over a decade, Hazel put up with being veritably quarantined by Byron in the family compound, her every movement and vital sign tracked. But when he demands to wirelessly connect the two of them via brain chips in a first-ever human “mind-meld,” Hazel decides what was once merely irritating has become unbearable. The world she escapes into is a far cry from the dry and clinical bubble she’s been living in, a world populated with a whole host of deviant oddballs. As Hazel tries to carve out a new life for herself in this uncharted territory, Byron is using the most sophisticated tools at his disposal to find her and bring her home. His threats become more and more sinister, and Hazel is forced to take drastic measures in order to find a home of her own and free herself from Byron’s virtual clutches once and for all. Perceptive and compulsively readable, Made for Love is at once an absurd, raunchy comedy and a dazzling, profound meditation marriage, monogamy, and family.
Tap into the secrets of what makes you who you are--passions, talents, experiences, temperament, and spiritual gifts--and you'll discover the path to a life of unimagined purpose, impact, and fulfillment. Rick Warren's bestselling book The Purpose Driven® Life describes God's five purposes for every Christian. Now Erik Rees helps you discover God's unique purpose for your life based on the way God has shaped you. He made you marvelously unique for a reason. In this eye-opening, empowering, and liberating book, Rees shows you how to uncover God's most powerful and effective means of advancing his kingdom on earth: your own irreplaceable, richly detailed personal design. Filled with Scripture and real-life stories, S.H.A.P.E. presents a series of challenges that will guide you through the process of discovering your personal blend of: Spiritual Gifts: A set of special abilities that God has given you to share his love and serve others. Heart: The special passions God has given you so that you can glorify him on earth. Abilities: The set of talents God gave you when you were born, which he also wants you to use to make an impact for him. Personality: The special way God wired you to navigate life and fulfill your unique Kingdom Purpose. Experiences: Those parts of your past, both positive and painful, which God intends to use in great ways. In addition, this inspiring guidebook utilizes the purpose of ministry outlined in The Purpose Driven Life to give you the tools to: Unlock your God-given potential Uncover your specific Kingdom Purpose Unfold a kingdom plan for your life It's all here: insights that can change the way you look at yourself and how you live your life and practical guidance for applying them. Discover how to apply your amazing array of personal attributes in ways that bring confidence, freedom, clarity, and significance that can only come from your Creator.
"God's eternal plan for us involves our body. We can't write off our physical life as spiritually irrelevant." — Sam Allberry There's a danger in focusing too much on the body. There's also a danger in not valuing it enough. In fact, the Bible has lots to say about the body. With the coming of Jesus, "The Word became flesh and dwelt among us"—flesh that was pierced and crushed for the sins of the world. In What God Has to Say about Our Bodies, Sam Allberry explains that all of us are fearfully and wonderfully made, and should regard our physicality as a gift. He offers biblical guidance for living, including understanding gender, sexuality, and identity; dealing with aging, illness, and death; and considering the physical future hope that we have in Christ. In this powerfully written book, you'll gain a new understanding for the immeasurable value of our bodies and God's ultimate plan to redeem them.
According to the author, God is raising women in the body of Christ with power. She discusses the urgency for women to be a big part of the great revival that is going to spread across the Earth. (Practical Life)
WHAT DOES GOD EXPECT OF US? Is our faith just about going to church, studying the Bible and avoiding the most serious sins—or does God expect more? Have we embraced the whole gospel or a gospel with a hole in it? Ten years ago, Rich Stearns came face-to-face with that question as he sat in a mud hut in Rakai, Uganda, listening to the heartbreaking story of an orphaned child. Stearns’ journey there took much more than a long flight to Africa. It took answering God’s call on his life, a call that tore him out of his corner office at one of America’s most prestigious corporations—to walk with the poorest of the poor in our world. The Hole in Our Gospel is the compelling true story of a corporate CEO who setaside worldly success for something far more significant, and discovered the full power of the gospel of Jesus Christ to change his own life. He uses his journey to demonstrate how the gospel—the whole gospel—was always meant to be a world changing social revolution, a revolution that begins with us. ECPA 2010 Christian Book of the Year Award Winner! “Read this compelling story and urgent call for change—Richard Stearns is a contemporary Amos crying ‘let justice roll down like waters....’ Justice is a serious gospel-prophetic mandate. Far too many American Christians for too long a time have left the cause to ‘others.’ Read it as an altar call.” --Eugene H. Peterson, translator of The Message, Professor Emeritus of Spiritual Theology, Regent College, Vancouver, BC “Rich Stearns calls us to exhilarating obedience to God’s life-altering, world-changing command to reflect his love to our neighbors at home and globally. The Hole in Our Gospel is imbued with the hope of what is possible when God’s people are transformed to live radically in light of his great love." --Gary Haugen, President & CEO, International Justice Mission “Richard Stearns is quite simply one of the finest leaders I have ever known.... When he became president of World Vision I had a front row seat to witness the way God used his mind and heart to inspire thousands.... His new book, The Hole In Our Gospel will call you to a higher level of discipleship.... Now is the time...Richard Stearns has the strategy...your move!” --Bill Hybels, Founding and Senior Pastor, Willow Creek Community Church, South Barrington, IL “Rich Stearns has given us a book that makes absolutely clear what God hopes for and expects from each of us.... He reminded me of my personal responsibilities and the priority I must give them and also where life’s true rewards and fulfillment are to be found.” --Jim Morris, former executive director, United Nations World Food Program "World Vision plays a strategic role on our globe. As the largest relief organization in the history of the world, they initiate care and respond to crisis. Rich Stearns navigates this mercy mission with great skill. His book urges us to think again about the opportunity to love our neighbor and comfort the afflicted. His message is timely and needed. May God bless him, the mission of World Vision and all who embrace it." --Max Lucado, author of 3:16—The Numbers of Hope, Minister of Writing and Preaching, Oak Hills Church, San Antonio, TX “With passionate urging and earnestness, Rich Stearns challenges Christians to embrace the whole Gospel of Jesus Christ by embracing the neediest and most vulnerable among us. After reading the moving stories, the compelling facts and figures, and Stearns’ excellent application of scripture and his own experiences at World Vision, you will no doubt be asking yourself: What should I do?” --Chuck Colson, Founder, Prison Fellowship
(Worship Musician Presents). Whether you're in a band yourself or part of a ministry involved with teams, this book can help you on your journey. For 30 years, musician, songwriter, and worshipper Tom Lane has worked in the Christian worship music industry and alongside churches, ministries, and movements around the world associated with worship. In this collection of articles, Lane encourages honesty and clear communication from all sides while aiming for the right thing to be a band that worships, first and foremost. Spiritual, relational, professional, and practical issues relevant for individuals and groups in worship ministry of any kind are addressed head on. Historically, bands have helped lead revolutions, crusades, campaigns, churches, rallies, and entire nations. The role bands play in worship, though important, is not the pinnacle of the calling or mandate according to Jesus. While it's okay to have a good rock band and want to go places, many creatively gifted Christians miss the mark entirely and are derailed by their own quests for something other than God. Likewise, worship teams sometimes miss the mark by placing too much emphasis on performance and not enough on relationships. This book will help lay the foundation for a healthier pursuit of creative dreams and a closer walk with God.
A new theory of the evolution of human cognition and human social life that emphasizes the role of information sharing across generations. Over the last three million years or so, our lineage has diverged sharply from those of our great ape relatives. Change has been rapid (in evolutionary terms) and pervasive. Morphology, life history, social life, sexual behavior, and foraging patterns have all shifted sharply away from those of the other great apes. In The Evolved Apprentice, Kim Sterelny argues that the divergence stems from the fact that humans gradually came to enrich the learning environment of the next generation. Humans came to cooperate in sharing information, and to cooperate ecologically and reproductively as well, and these changes initiated positive feedback loops that drove us further from other great apes. Sterelny develops a new theory of the evolution of human cognition and human social life that emphasizes the gradual evolution of information-sharing practices across generations and how these practices transformed human minds and social lives. Sterelny proposes that humans developed a new form of ecological interaction with their environment, cooperative foraging. The ability to cope with the immense variety of human ancestral environments and social forms, he argues, depended not just on adapted minds but also on adapted developmental environments.
