Religious Growth

One rainy day, years ago, a little girl named Lucy discovered that the back of a wardrobe isn't always just the back of a wardrobe. Sometimes, it's a door into another world. In Lucy's case, that other world was called Narnia, and though she was among the first to enter it, she was by no means the last. Millions of children (young and old) have followed her there and met its strange but wonderful inhabitants - Mr. Tumnus, Reepicheep, and Puddleglum, among others.

Many Christians are under the impression that God's grace and his favor are two different things - that while his grace may be a gift, his favor is something we must earn. This misunderstanding has led to destructive teachings about "prosperity" and blessings, and ultimately to lives that feel unfulfilled and inadequate. Pastor Greg Gilbert puts favor back in its rightful place, as God's gift through Jesus Christ. He shows how the favor that Jesus earned through his perfect life and sacrificial death becomes ours the moment we believe.

Moses never wanted to be a leader. Jonah ran away from his mission's call. And when Marcia Moston's husband came home with a call to foreign missions, she was sure God had the wrong number. His call conflicted with her own dreams, demanded credentials she didn't have, and required courage she couldn't seem to find. She promised to follow where God led, but she never thought the road would lead to a Mayan village on a Guatemalan mountainside.

Almighty is His Name is the riveting story of God's hand of protection as missionary, SoPhal Ung, and his family fought for their lives in Cambodia. Although the Vietnamese invaded Cambodia in 1979, SoPhal started a house church, which grew from five members to 600 in eight months. He was arrested for this "illegal" activity, imprisoned, severely beaten, and chained by hand and foot, losing 75 pounds in the terrible ordeal. God miraculously spared his life on numerous occasions.

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.

In Unparalleled, Wilson holds up the teachings of the Bible to the clear light of day, revealing how Christianity rises above every other religion and philosophy of the world, and how its unmatched truth answers the deepest longings of every human heart. He provides an overview of Christianity's key claims showing how, from top to bottom, it is distinct from all other competing ideologies, religious and secular.

Blindness became Captain Scotty Smiley’s journey of supreme testing. As he lay helpless in the hospital, he resented the theft of his dreams, but with his wife’s love and the support of family and friends, Scotty’s response became God’s transforming moment. Since the moment he forced his way through nurses and cords to take a simple shower, he has climbed Mount Rainier, won an ESPY Award, surfed, skydived, become a father, earned an MBA from Duke, and much more.

A child peeling an orange on the subway. A bearded man with gentle eyes holding a tin cup on the corner. When we see life through the lens of faith, everyday moments become a source of hope and strength. In this collection of essays, chaplain Andrea Raynor reveals the unexpected places she has experienced the Divine and shows us how we, too, might come to see life as a spiritual adventure - one on which we are never truly alone.

Award-winning journalist Rob Moll chronicles the fascinating ways in which our brains and bodies interact with God and spiritual realities. He reports on neuroscience findings that show how our brains actually change and adapt when engaged in spiritual practices. We live longer, healthier, happier, and more fulfilling lives when we cultivate the biological spiritual capacity that puts us in touch with God. God has created our bodies to fulfill the Great Commandment.

In Unshaken, Jeanne shares powerful, relevant, and inspirational teaching that answers the critical question we are all facing: How do I stand strong in these uncertain, turbulent times and not be controlled by fear, stress, apathy, or frustration?

Before May 31, 2008, September Vaudrey's life was beautiful. But on that day, with one phone call from the ER, her whole world - everything she knew and believed - was shaken to the core. Katie, her 19-year-old artist daughter, had been in a car accident and would not survive. How does a family live in the wake of devastating tragedy? When darkness colors every moment, is it possible to find light? Can God still be good, even after goodbye?

Self-care is the practice of taking an active role in protecting one's own well-being and happiness. In order to do so, we must get in touch with who we are at our core. Only then can we realize how we need to show up in the world—how we want to express, without any apologies, our most authentic selves. Lessons from the Empress focuses on what the tarot can teach us about ourselves and provides exercises to strengthen our confidence in our own creative expression.

The role of organized religion in our society is undergoing monumental changes. Church attendance is decreasing at unprecedented rates. At the same time, there is an increase in the number of people who identify as “spiritual but not religious.” Clearly, the need for religion remains as strong as ever, yet more and more, people are seeking spirituality elsewhere. Why? What accounts for these trends? Can organized religion still play a valuable role in today’s world?

10 Branches of Growth is about living a fruitful life of growth. Kalen Bruce, financial coach and world traveler, gives a concise explanation of how to live a better life. In this short manual for living, Kalen breaks down the 10 branches of our life and explains how we can take a biblical approach to grow every branch.

Uncensored grace is what you get from a loving God when all the religious types have gone home, and every last hope for your own effort has ended. What comes to mind first when you think Las Vegas? Maybe glitz and glam. Or dealers and dancers, high rollers and hell raisers. And why not? After all, the town they call Sin City is an American icon, an anything-goes shrine to pleasure, money, sex-and another lucky roll of the dice.

First published anonymously in 1418, Thomas à Kempis's The Imitation of Christ is a classic Christian devotional work that has been read through the ages by such notable figures as Sir Thomas More, John Wesley, and Pope John Paul I. A meditation on spiritual life, it offers instructions for renouncing worldly vanity and discovering eternal truths with the goal of living out the teachings of Jesus by taking inspiration from his life.

When Rob’s foray into street evangelism began leading him into stunning encounters with spiritual darkness, his faith and trust in God grew stronger. For years, he witnessed miracle after miracle—until a series of unanswered prayers left him reeling. Depressed and filled with doubt, he began asking hard questions of himself and others.

In the first three books of the Torn Between Two World series, we established a framework for human dualism. In the fourth book, we move from a philosophical discussion to a hands-on self-help presentation, providing helpful answers to everyday issues. Every human being can aspire to their full potential, and therefore, all the suggestions in this book can be used to move closer to this goal, regardless of the current state of your spiritual health.

Join Andy Stanley for Twisting the Truth, a six-session audio bible study developed to help you understand how truth can get twisted and distorted, and how that impacts your life. Throughout the study Stanley exposes four destructive and all-too-prevalent lies about authority, pain, sex, and sin...

In the beginning, I was part of a strong Christian family with great role models. My mother's family was Presbyterian, and my father's family was First Baptist. Although I attended church regularly as I grew up, I did not attend as regularly during my middle years. I always believed in God, but sometimes my priorities were not Christian-oriented. I always had faith, but there were times when I allowed other priorities to prevail. Much later in my life, I realized how critical my faith in God was.