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Stand Up

April 9, 2013

Sometimes we do stand up for what we believe. We tell someone it’s wrong to use God’s name as a cuss word, or we ask our unbelieving friends what they think happens after they die. But more often than not, it seems we just sink deeper into our chair, change the subject, leave the room, or just tell our conscience to take a hike. Our convictions are a private matter, we rationalize (that is, rational lies). It’s important not to make waves or come across as if we’re better than somebody else.

When we make decisions to obey God—even when it costs us something—and to live out our faith in our day-to-day life, it will be hard, but it will be good. And it will be good because God loves to bless us when we are faithful to stand for [ … ]

Sneak Peek: For Women Only, For Men Only, For Couples Only Participant’s Guide by Shaunti and Jeff Feldhahn

April 7, 2013

So that’s what she means! So that’s what he’s thinking!

Click here to download chapter one of this Participant’s Guide.

For years, men and women have seen great life change as they used these groundbreaking books in small groups, Bible studies, Sunday school classes, and premarital or marriage counseling.  Now this participant’s guide makes the content even more illuminating.

Get ready to know “the other half” in a whole new way!

Click here to download chapter one of this Participant’s Guide.

Apple of His Eye

April 5, 2013

Psalm 17:8 finds the psalmist pleading, “Keep me as the apple of your eye.” The apple of the eye is the tiny reflection of yourself that you can see in another person’s pupil. To see it, you have to be close. Intimate. To see yourself as God does, you have to get lost in His intimacy.

Excerpted from Get Lost by Dannah Gresh

Daily Reflection: Do you see yourself as God does?

SNEEK PEAK: Moving Forward by Everett Worthington Jr.

April 4, 2013

“I can never forgive myself,” she said. “Every time I think about it, I get sick to my stomach.”
I knew that feeling. I had felt it due to my own failures and shortcomings.

Click here to download chapter one of Moving Forward.

The partial truth about us is hard to accept: We hurt those we love. We fail to step in when others need us most. We do wrong—and we need forgiveness. From others and from God, but also from ourselves. But the full truth about us is liberating and freeing: while we are more deeply flawed than we can imagine, we also are far more valuable and cherished than we can [ … ]

Treasure vs. Stuff

April 4, 2013

“Time passes more simply in St. Cecilia, and we are surrounded by less stuff. There are fewer clothes in the closet and on the shelves and in the drawers. There are fewer pots and pans and dishes and such. Lord knows there are fewer tables.

Sometimes when I am on St. Cecilia, I think of all my stuff back in Tennessee and wonder how it is doing and whether or not it misses me.”

* * * * *
“I am afraid sometimes I do not really have my stuff but rather my stuff has me. “Your heart is where your treasure is,” or so I have heard it said, and I hate to think all my treasure is to be found on my tables and on my shelves.”

Excerpted from Home by Another Way: Notes from the Caribbean [ … ]

SNEAK PEEK: Plastic Donuts by Jeff Anderson

April 3, 2013

Once you see your gifts from God’s perspective, your giving will never be the same.

Click here to download chapter one of Plastic Donuts.

When she was a toddler, Jeff Anderson’s daughter opened his eyes to how delighted God is with our gifts. She brought him a plastic donut from her play kitchen, and he was surprised by the intensity of his reaction. His delight in receiving this simple gift—and his daughter’s joy in giving it—led him to dig deeper. Anderson would not rest until he found the scriptural connection between our gifts and God’s heart.

Click here to download chapter one of Plastic Donuts.

A Shot of Faith

April 3, 2013

“Like a morning with no coffee, there are times when we are sluggish in our faith. Times when trusting God doesn’t come easily. Times when we need a shot of God-caffeine in our day. A spiritual espresso. What can we do at these times? Are there things in the Scriptures that tell us how we can strengthen our trust-muscles and jump-start our faith? Absolutely!

One practical way to build your faith is by remembrance. When David was just a shepherd boy, he had courage to face a giant partly because he remembered the previous victories the Lord had allowed him to experience. He approached King Saul with great confidence, saying: ‘The Lord who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine’ (1 Samuel 17:37).

David’s [ … ]

SNEAK PEEK: Turning Your Down Into Up by Dr. Gregory L. Jantz

April 2, 2013

You Can Hope Again

Click here to download chapter one of Turning Your Down Into Up.

This practical book includes a three-month personal recovery plan that focuses on spiritual renewal, emotional wellness, environmental balance, physical health, relational healing, and tech detox. Along with unique insights into treating the whole person, Turning Your Down into Up includes questions for reflection and journaling prompts. Here you will find real answers…Real freedom…Real hope.

Click here to download chapter one of Turning Your Down Into Up.

Longing for Intimacy

April 2, 2013

Have you ever felt that there must be more to this Christian life? Is your faith dead? Does it all seem superficial and powerless? Well, maybe what you’re experiencing is exactly that.

We desire something more because we were meant to have something that’s been taken from us. Both our intimacy with God and with one another were harmed when original sin entered the world and we began to live under the Curse. Deep in our spirits is a longing to be restored to the intimacy we were created to experience.

Excerpted from Get Lost by Dannah Gresh

Daily Reflection: How can work toward a more intimate relationship with God?