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The Real Jesus

January 17, 2014

We all know who Jesus is. Right?

We preach and teach about His will and His ways; tell His stories by heart; celebrate Him in worship; and serve Him with enthusiasm. Yet underneath it all (if we are truly candid), there is a gnawing sense that there should be something…well, more to this relationship.

Why is it that He often feels so far away? The distance between knowing Him and knowing about Him is vast. And the space between these two experiences separates the spectators from intimate participants.

Jesus intends for you to experience the pleasure and reassuring peace of His presence at the core of your life. He wants to be more than just another volume in your encyclopedia of biblical facts. He didn’t die for you to simply strike a deal guaranteeing heaven. He died for you to [ … ]

God’s Story

January 16, 2014

While most of my [Randy Alcorn] books are nonfiction, I’ve written seven full-length novels. Now, if I were to write a novel about lives without conflict, where characters get everything they want, where life marches on comfortably and no one ever loses anything, nobody would read it. Who likes a boring story? In fact, my central characters always face great conflict, turmoil, uncertainty, and suffering. Some die. That it makes for a far better story is my main reason for doing this. (We enjoy in fiction much that we do not enjoy in life.) So who am I to say that God shouldn’t write such things into his story, including my part?

In our lives God uses conflict not just to make the story better but to make us better. In life, not just literature, we repeatedly see that protection [ … ]

Sneak Peek: The Pursuit of Tamsen Littlejohn by Lori Benton

January 15, 2014


Frontier dangers cannot hold a candle to the risks one woman takes by falling in love

Click here to download chapter one of The Pursuit of Tamsen Littlejohn.

In an act of brave defiance, Tamsen Littlejohn escapes the life her harsh stepfather has forced upon her. Forsaking security and an arranged marriage, she enlists frontiersman Jesse Bird to guide her to the Watauga settlement in western North Carolina. But shedding her old life doesn’t come without cost. As the two cross a vast mountain wilderness, Tamsen faces hardships that test the limits of her faith and endurance.

Click here to download chapter one of The Pursuit of Tamsen Littlejohn.

 

 

NEWS: Shaunti Feldhahn Featured on Glamour.com

January 15, 2014

Bestselling author Shaunti Feldhahn was recently featured on Glamour.com concerning her newest release, The Surprising Secrets of Highly Happy Marriages: The Little Things That Make a Big Difference. The article entitled “Want a Happy Marriage? 5 Simple Things Men Need From Their Wives and 5 Simple Things Men Need From Their Wives” offers ten slides from Feldhahn for both husbands and wives in how to make their marriage stronger. 

For example, “Most of us think grateful thoughts but don’t actually say thank you,” Feldhahn says. “In my survey, this mattered to nearly all men, with 72 percent saying it deeply pleased them when their wife or girlfriend gave them props for their hard work. In fact, ‘thank you’ appeared to be the guy’s equivalent of ‘I love you.'”

To read the article, click here. 

 

Sweeter than Honeycomb

January 15, 2014

Are you facing stress, burnout, or depression beyond what you think you can bear? If so, there’s a good chance you know exactly what it feels like to crave sweet relief. Sure, you can turn to chocolate or temporary, feel-good fixes the world offers. But for lasting relief – eternal relief – there’s something that is sweeter and more satisfying even than honey.

These are the exact words that King David used to describe the effect that the Word of God had on his trouble spirit: “How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!” (Psalm 119:103). And in Proverbs 4:20-22, King Solomon wrote that wise words are to be hidden deep within our hearts “for they are life to those who find them and health to a man’s whole body.”

Excerpted from The Chocolate [ … ]

SNEAK PEEK: A Table by the Window by Hilary Manton Lodge

January 14, 2014

Heirloom recipes, family secrets…and a chance for love

Click here to download chapter one of A Table by the Window.

 The youngest heir to a French-Italian restaurant dynasty, food writer Juliette D’Alisa has spent her life negotiating her skill with words and her restaurant aspirations. When her brother Nico offers her a chance to open a restaurant together, she feels torn—does she really have what it takes? Should she risk leaving her journalism career?

Click here to download chapter one of A Table by the Window.

 

 

A Divine Calling

January 14, 2014

If we ever wonder if we have what it takes to live in victory, we have only to look at the life of our Savior. Jesus walked by the Spirit, the same Holy Spirit who lives in us…We have the same Spirit, the same authority, and the same power.

Our problem is that we don’t know it, or we know it and don’t appropriate it, or we don’t believe it’s for today. Our faith is small. It moves sandcastles, not mountains.

Just before Jesus ascended, He said:

All authority has been given to Me in heaven and
on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the
nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and
the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe
all that I commanded you; and lo, I am [ … ]