Religious Growth

In fast-food society we long for quick fixes and easy answers. But no worthwhile goal is easily reached, and a deep spiritual life is not created in a week or two. It takes perseverance over the long haul to finish well. The Finishing Touch encourages you to keep on keeping on to reach your goals and reap the harvest of a life worth living. Daily devotionals for fifty-two weeks help you discover gut-level authenticity, hope in the midst of despair, courage in the face of fear, the light of faith in the shadows of doubt, and peace in the midst of stress.

What does the Bible mean when it says we are to fear God? Is it difficult for you to reconcile the two sides of God’s nature - His wrath and His love? Mattie Montgomery teaches that a right pursuit of the fear, fire, and fullness of God can lead you into the knowledge of a side of God you may never have imagined before. He notes that the fear of God does not mean that we should be afraid of God; but rather, that we should be afraid to be against Him.

The church is filled with people asking, "Is this it? Is this all the Christian life is supposed to be?" They long to experience more of God's presence - they just don't know how to get there. Some have been burned by "charismania." Others are fearful of it. Is there a way to experience the Spirit - without the weirdness? Author and pastor Alan Kraft provides a biblical pathway into the exhilaration of an everyday experience with the Holy Spirit, showing how normal it can be to hear God's voice, know his love, and walk in his power.

The goodness of God is waiting for us to taste and see. The aroma of Christ surrounds us. In Sensing God, musician and theologian Joel Clarkson points us to a life of faith that is enchanted by the glory of divine craftsmanship, inviting us to practice a faith that is true, good, pure, and altogether lovely.

In conversations with the Dalai Lama over the past several years, Howard Cutler has asked the questions we all want answered about how to find happiness in the place we spend most of our time - work. This guide is an invaluable source of strength and peace for anyone who earns a living.

In this powerful and prophetic audiobook, nationally syndicated columnist and trusted political commentator Cal Thomas offers a diagnosis of what exactly is wrong with the US by drawing parallels to once-great empires and nations that declined into oblivion. Citing the historically proven 250-year pattern of how superpowers rise and fall, he predicts America's expiration date is just around the corner and shows us how to escape their fate.

Fourth-generation fundamentalist Carlton Pearson, a Christian megastar and host, takes a courageous and controversial stand on religion: he proposes a hell-less Christianity and a gospel of inclusion that calls for an end to local and worldwide conflicts and divisions along religious lines.

Thirty-five years of following in the footsteps of Charles de Foucauld color little sister Kathleen’s portrayal of the man and his message. Rather than relying too heavily on Charles de Foucauld's spiritual writings, little sister Kathleen draws on fresh material taken from his correspondence and diaries to set out his legacy for those who live in the deserts of the modern world, reminding us that at the heart of the Christian adventure is friendship with Jesus of Nazareth.

Walking through Psalm 23 phrase by phrase, therapist and author K.J. Ramsey explores the landscape of our fear, trauma, and faith. When she stepped through her own wilderness of spiritual abuse and religious trauma, K.J. discovered that courage is not the absence of anxiety but the practice of trusting we will be held and loved no matter what. The Lord is My Courage is for the deconstructing and the dreamers, the afraid and the amazed, for those whose fear has not been fully shepherded but who can't seem to stop listening for their Good Shepherd's Voice.

Sean was a seventh-grade drop-out, a dishwasher then a construction worker to help his mother and sister scrape by, and a self-described "nobody with a sad story behind him." Yet he cannot deny the glimmers of life's goodness even amid its rough edges. Such goodness becomes even harder to deny when Sean meets the love of his life at a fried chicken church potluck, and harder still when his lifelong love of storytelling leads him to stages across the southeast, where he is known and loved as "Sean of the South."

Many young African Americans are disinterested in Christianity and others are leaving the church in search of what these false religious ideas appear to offer, a spirituality more indigenous to their history and ethnicity. Edited by Dr. Eric Mason and featuring a top-notch lineup of contributors, Urban Apologetics is the first book focused entirely on cults, religious groups, and ethnocentric ideologies prevalent in the black community.

In 2010, using a specialized robotic camera, authors Tabor and Jacobovici, working with archaeologists, geologists, and forensic anthropologists, explored a previously unexcavated tomb in Jerusalem from around the time of Jesus. They made a remarkable discovery. The tomb contained several ossuaries, or bone boxes, two of which were carved with an iconic image and a Greek inscription. Taken together, the image and the inscription constitute the earliest archaeological evidence of faith in Jesus’ resurrection.

Raised in a happy, atheist home, Jennifer had the freedom to think for herself and play by her own rules. Yet, a creeping darkness followed her all of her life. Finally, one winter night, it drove her to the edge of her balcony, making her ask, once and for all, why anything mattered. At that moment, everything she knew and believed was shattered.

When we rewind history to Abraham's era, we encounter people who concocted false superstitions to explain the unexplainable. Powerful kings claimed to be gods, building massive pyramids in an attempt to achieve immortality. Out of this mass of misunderstandings, this collage of confusion, one man emerged. Why, thousands of years later, are we still discussing the faith of this desert nomad? Chuck Swindoll answers that question and many more in this compelling and insightful biography that will inspire your own faith.

Becky Powell faced the unthinkable on May 16, 2013. Her husband, Mark, called and said, "I've done something terrible." Within hours, she learned that he had taken his own life and, over a period of several years, millions of dollars from friends and colleagues. Everything she believed to be true, the very fiber of her marriage, was called into question. Yet from that first horrific moment, God was there. Awful Beautiful Life is Becky's journey through the two years surrounding Mark's death and how she overcame.

Young listeners will enjoy The Berenstain Bears Seasonal Collection 1, a four-book treasury of Berenstain Bears Living Lights™ audiobooks. Children will learn biblical values through these classic seasonal stories about the familiar and well-loved Bear family.

When political division shows up not only on the campaign trail but also at our dinner tables, we wonder: Can we be part of a better way? The Spirit of Our Politics says "yes," offering a distinctly Christian approach to politics that results in healing rather than division, kindness rather than hatred, and hope rather than despair.

In A Prophetic Vision for the 21st Century, Joyner discusses why revival tarries for America, what it means to be delivered from the Mark of the Beast, the rise and fall of America, the greatest awakening, a famine in the land, and practical ways to serve in the latter days. It includes encouragement for weary church leaders as well as the second part of The Hordes of Hell are Marching, illustrating the unified church rising as an army in the most pivotal battle of all time between the light and darkness.

For anyone who feels caught in the tension between the beauty of God’s story and the ugliness of human hypocrisy, Why I Still Believe by apologist and Professor Mary Jo Sharp is the hopeful story of an unlikely convert and an approachable case for believing in God when you want to walk away from Christianity.

"Benedict XVI was a spiritual master," writes Robert Cardinal Sarah of his longtime mentor, after his death early 2023. "His very precise and profound theological thought is rooted in an authentic mystical and spiritual experience." This book offers not an academic analysis of Ratzinger's intellectual work, but a personal sketch of the "soul of Joseph Ratzinger", a glimpse into "the secret recesses of his heart". In He Gave Us So Much, Cardinal Sarah traces the spiritual contours of Ratzinger's life and thought, revealing the image of a man on fire with love for God and neighbor.