Religious Growth

Why You Think the Way You Do traces the development of the worldviews that underpin the Western world. Professor and historian Glenn S. Sunshine demonstrates the decisive impact that the growth of Christianity had in transforming the outlook of pagan Roman culture into one that—based on biblical concepts of humanity and its relationship with God—established virtually all the positive aspects of Western civilization.

Too many people stumble through life with an inaccurate view of who God is. They believe in His existence, but don't know how to relate to Him in a practical and meaningful way. As a result, they fail to achieve anything beyond a superficial relationship with their Creator, and live less-than-fulfilling lives. In Whatever, God, Fr. Anthony Messeh shares his unique story and the lessons he's learned that helped him go from a "don't get too close to God because He might ruin your life" Christian, to a fully devoted "I can't get enough of God in my life" believer.

Through these stories, Shannon explains the intimate connection between faith and family—and how God’s unexpected agenda can redefine the way we think about family. Not all of these mothers and daughters in the Bible were paragons of virtue. Like us, they were human beings who faltered and struggled to do their best. While some heard God’s voice, others chose their own paths. Through the lens of their imperfections, we can see how God used their stories to bring about His divine plans. He’s still doing the same work in our lives today.

There are times when looking back helps to fuel our future. Looking back at the life of evangelist Maria Woodworth-Etter, you will be emboldened by the truth that nothing is impossible to the believer who surrenders to God. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Maria Woodworth-Etter, the grandmother of the Pentecostal movement, astounded many Americans as she traveled across the country holding revivals. At these meetings, the worst sinners in the town were saved, the most diseased were healed, and her biggest critics were proven wrong.

“We can do extraordinary things when we lead with love,” Barbara Becker reminds us in her debut memoir Heartwood. When her earliest childhood friend is diagnosed with a terminal illness, Becker sets off on a quest to immerse herself in what it means to be mortal. Can we live our lives more...

Renowned Bible teacher and #1 New York Times bestselling author Joyce Meyer shows readers how to realign their perspective on success to conform with God’s vision for the kind of life that brings us true purpose and lasting joy. The world tells us that having a good job, your own business...

This comprehensive book presents a political philosophy from the perspective that the Gospel pertains to all of life, including politics. Politics—According to the Bible is an in-depth analysis of conservative and liberal plans to do good for the nation, evaluated in light of the Bible and common sense.

Christians have proclaimed the good news about Jesus for centuries. But the good news isn't sounding so good these days, at least to some. More and more surveys show that people view Christians as bearers of bad news, judgment, and intolerance. In Vanishing Grace, best-selling author Philip Yancey acknowledges the problem and then explores how we can respond with both grace and truth. He offers a discerning look at what contributes to a hostility toward Christians, and identifies three groups - pilgrims, artists, and activists - who can show us a different way.

This is a guidebook for how to defend Christianity with Christ-like gentleness and respect toward those who persecute the faith, making you a stronger witness to the good news of the gospel than many other apologetics books that focus on crafting unbreachable arguments. Conversational in tone and balanced in approach, Apologetics at the Cross provides a listenable introduction to the field of apologetics. You'll be informed and equipped for engaging a wide range of contemporary challenges with the best in Christian thought.

How can you still be a Christian? This is the most common question Diana Butler Bass is asked today. It is a question that many believers ponder as they wrestle with disillusionment in their church and its leadership. But while many Christians have left their churches, they cannot leave their faith behind. Bass challenges the idea that Jesus can only be understood in static, one-dimensional ways and asks us to instead consider a life where Jesus grows with us and helps us through life’s challenges in several capacities: as Friend, Teacher, Savior, Lord, Way, and Presence.

In Accidental Saints, New York Times best-selling au­thor Nadia Bolz-Weber invites readers into a surprising encounter with what she calls "a religious but not-so-spiritual life." Tattooed, angry and profane, this former standup comic turned pastor stubbornly, sometimes hilariously, resists the God she feels called to serve. But God keeps showing up in the least likely of people - a church-loving agnostic, a drag queen, a felonious Bishop and a gun-toting member of the NRA.

King David was a complicated, conflicted man of flesh. But too often he is viewed as an Americanized shepherd boy on a Sunday school felt board or a New Testament saint alongside the Virgin Mary. Not only does this neglect one of the Bible’s most complex stories of sin and redemption, it also bypasses the gritty, life lessons inherent in the amazing true story of David. Mark Rutland shreds the felt-board character, breaks down the sculpted marble statue, and unearths the real David of the Bible.

The Color of Compromise takes listeners on a historical journey: from America's early colonial days through slavery and the Civil War, covering the tragedy of Jim Crow laws and the victories of the Civil Rights era, to today's Black Lives Matter movement. Author Jemar Tisby reveals the obvious - and the far more subtle - ways the American church has compromised what the Bible teaches about human dignity and equality.

In Coming Clean, Seth Haines writes a raw account of his first 90 days of sobriety, illuminating how to face the pain we’d rather avoid, and even more importantly, how an abiding God meets us in that pain. Seth shows us that true wholeness is found in facing our pain and anxieties with the tenacity and tenderness of Jesus, and only through Christ's passion can we truly come clean.

Does science discredit the Bible, God, religious faith? Absolutely not, says Dr. Michael Guillen, former Harvard physics instructor and Emmy-winning ABC News science editor. In Amazing Truths, he uses his entertaining, down-to-earth storytelling skills to reveal 10 astonishing truths affirmed by both ancient Scripture and modern science.

Preparing for Eternity presents an objective contrast between the traditions of the Roman Catholic Church and the word of God. It is an excellent discipleship manual for Roman Catholics who have not discovered the narrow road that leads to eternal life.

The most important work of the devotio moderna movement, Thomas à Kempis’s classic, The Imitation of Christ, is saturated with Scripture and classical philosophy and reveals a deep understanding of human nature. Matthew Arnold called it “the most exquisite document, after those of the New Testament, of all that the Christian spirit has ever inspired.”

Christian music icon Sandi Patty has long astounded listeners with her powerful voice. Yet, off the stage, Sandi struggled to have a voice at all. Through deeply intimate stories of her life and the empowering spiritual truths she’s learned, Sandi offers listeners wisdom to navigate the journey from voicelessness to discovering the voice God has given you. Sandi’s warm and invitational writing will draw you to the voice of God. With timeless wisdom, The Voice will help you uncover your God-given identity and a voice of your very own.

Pastor and scholar Patrick Henry Reardon travels through the Gospel narratives to discover the real Jesus, to see him through the eyes of those who knew him best—the apostles, his community, believers who vividly portrayed him in stories filtered through their own faith. Through these living, breathing accounts, we contemplate who God’s Son really was and is—and we understand how he came to redeem and sanctify every aspect of every human life.

In Why Government Can't Save You: An Alternative to Political Activism, John MacArthur illustrates through Scripture that regardless of the numerous immoral, unjust, and ungodly failures of secular government, believers are to pray and to seek to influence the world for Christ by godly, selfless, and peaceful living under that authority, not by protests against the government or acts of civil disobedience.