Religious Growth

Easter weekend, eighteen years earlier, an ordinary workday turned into a nightmare when Ema McKinley passed out and was left hanging upside down in the storage room. Rather than improving, Ema's body became progressively bent and disfigured. Doctors diagnosed Ema with reflex sympathetic dystrophy (RSD), an extremely painful trauma-induced disease which led to Ema's hand and foot deformities, painful sores, insomnia, gastrological distress, curvature of the neck and spine, heart and lung failure, and permanent confinement to a wheelchair.

In Finding God in the Waves, "Science Mike" draws on his personal experience to tell the unlikely story of how science led him back to faith. Among other revelations, we learn what brain scans reveal about what happens when we pray; how fundamentalism affects the psyche; and how God is revealed not only in scripture but in the night sky, in subatomic particles, and in us.

Every week a terrorist attack, riot, or political scandal makes the headlines - and we feel the world around us shaking again. We struggle to separate truth from biased statements and hope from naïveté. We wonder how we got here and where these uncertain days will take us. One of the world’s top investigative reporters, John S. Dickerson, addresses this post-truth, post-Christian society in Hope of Nations. Hope of Nations shows us how and why the world is changing, where those changes will lead, and what it looks like to live like Christ in today’s society.

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.

Do you feel like your life is a series of shattered dreams? Have you bought into the lie that you'll never amount to anything? In Think Big, Dr. Ben Carson is here to tell you some good news: none of that is true.

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."

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.

These truths will come alive in your studies and excite you with fundamental principles of holiness as taught in the Scriptures.

If you have ever wondered why life is sometimes unfair, if God really hears your prayers, or if you just can’t figure out Scripture, My Fight With God promises to stir you into new conversations with your heavenly Father and deepen your personal walk with Jesus. Written with a strong, cut-to-the-chase approach, the author’s refreshing and natural responses to questions and situations that you face everyday will make you laugh as well as scratch your head more than once as you wonder “Gee, how did he know that’s what I was thinking?”

“One thing in particular the high priest wants to make you aware of, no one has ever gotten out of our secret society alive. You and I were brought into it by the special workings of the spirit, and we are to be in subjection to them, not they to us.” With these words Roger’s friend tried to convince him to remain within the camp of the prince of darkness—but Roger had caught a glimmer of Light and was determined to learn more.

Satan doesn't usually hit us with an all-out frontal attack. It's the subtle landmines that do the most damage. They're hidden just below life's surface, and at the slightest misstep - boom! Suddenly you find yourself flown right off the path, feeling separated from God and His blessings, humiliated, estranged from the love and respect of friends and family. Dr. Charles Stanley addresses nine main landmines that every Christian needs to be able to identify.

For three years, the Cloaked Bandit has terrorized Wessex, robbing the nobility by knifepoint and a well-placed arrow. But little does anyone know, this bandit is in fact Juliana Wessex, the rightful ruler of the land, and a girl her tyrannical uncle - the current Lord Wessex - believes was killed along with father.

Dallas Willard was a personal mentor and inspiration to hundreds of pastors, philosophers, and average churchgoers. His presence and ideas rippled through the lives of many prominent leaders and authors, such as John Ortberg, Richard Foster, James Bryan Smith, Paula Huston, and J. P. Moreland. As a result of these relationships and the books he wrote, he fundamentally altered the way tens of thousands of Christians have understood and experienced the spiritual life.

The world is a very religious place. Wherever you look, people are worshipping, praying, believing, following, even dying for their faith. But what does it mean to be religious? Are all religions the same? Do they all call on the same God simply using different names? Are their beliefs and practices simply cultural expressions of the same spiritual longings? This audiobook presents each of the world's five major systems of faith, carefully outlining the history, doctrines, beliefs, and spiritual practices of Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

In May 2003 prominent philosopher, author, and professor J. P. Moreland awoke in the middle of the night to a severe panic attack. Though often anxious by temperament and upbringing, Moreland had never experienced such an incident before. Thus began an extended battle with debilitating anxiety and depression. More than a decade later, Moreland continues to manage mental illness. Yet along the way he's moved from shame and despair to vulnerability and hope. In Finding Quiet Moreland comes alongside fellow sufferers with encouragement and practical, hard-won advice.

America's pastor has gone home. But his lifelong message, his passion for the gospel, and his compassion for people still echo in Hear My Heart. This intimate work, a compilation of articles that spans Billy's ministry from 1955 to 2014, invites you to sit down with Billy and hear in his own unvarnished words the things that moved his heart regarding relevant issues of the day. The Biblical convictions he abided by. The reasons and regrets behind some of his decisions. And the wisdom he gained in his century on this earth.

Born the unwanted third daughter, Esther Ahmad grew up Muslim in Pakistan. Her faith and country drove every aspect of her first 18 years, from what she wore and what she ate to her prospects for work and marriage, even to the manner of her death. Unveiled chronicles Esther’s conversion to Christianity and her escape from radical Islam. Chapter by chapter, Esther lays out the lies of the Qur’an and holds them against the truths she found in the Bible.

Declining church attendance. A growing feeling of betrayal. For Christians who have begun to feel set adrift and disillusioned by their churches, Where Goodness Still Grows grounds us in a new view of virtue deeply rooted in a return to Jesus Christ’s life and ministry.

In Biography of God, Pastor Skip Heitzig draws on his biblical knowledge and personal experience to tackle the universal questions: Is God real, and can he be truly known? Drawing on philosophy and science to unpack the Bible, Heitzig offers answers to these questions and more as he helps you explore what it means to be God's friend and how to know him intimately. As you begin to recognize and remove the limits you've placed on God and you get to know him personally - his nature, his character, and his plans - you will experience a richer faith.

Here is a perceptive evaluation of the new “emerging church” movement showing how we must not only interact with a fast-changing culture but also have our vision and practice of ministry shaped by biblical theology with Scripture as the norm.