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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.

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 [ … ]

Late to the party

April 1, 2013

Luke 15:25:" Now his elder son was in the field: and as he came and drew nigh to the house, he heard music and dancing."

The party was already raging for the Prodigal son when the hard working brother came forth. I always wondered about how he might have felt coming late to the party. But at least he could hear the music.

Dorothea Dix, a social reformer of the early 19th century, might have thought she too came late to the party. She didn’t find her purpose in life until nearly the age of 46. That year she felt compelled to advocate for the mentally ill housed with criminals and debtors in a cold brick-walled prison in Boston. She insisted they have heat and got it for them. Thus began her life’s work.

Music played a part in her [ … ]

Sick of Secrets

March 26, 2013

“Living as a slave to a lie will set you up for an endless cycle of shame and guilt. When you feel worthless and ashamed most of the time, getting close to God—or even wanting to—is hard. Really hard. It’s easier just to go through the motions. Settle for secondhand religion.  Maybe move away from God and church altogether…

Unfortunately, it happens all the time.

But it doesn’t have to. Think  about what amazing things you could  do if you could  break free from those feelings of worthlessness and  shame. Imagine feeling like you could get close to God without fear of condemnation.  Imagine what  it would feel like to break free from the cycle of secrets-of beating yourself up with all that shame and guilt.

Your spirit would come alive. Your life would change. You would walk into [ … ]

God’s Gifts

March 13, 2013

Two months earlier I’d broken up with Bob Gresh. Even so, I was driving his white Toyota Supra to run an errand. Although I could have borrowed a car from any number of other students on campus, I’d asked Bob because I was still manipulating my interactions with him, trying to find ways to stay connected to the very guy I’d walked away from.

“God, what’s wrong with me?” I muttered under my breath. My eyes caught the cool blue moon illuminating the freshly cut cornfield. I pulled the car over to the side of the road to think.

I laid my head back against the soft, maroon headrest and turned the car off. I quieted my mind to pray…but it stayed focused on the boy. His sports car. Our friendship. Treasured conversations. Memories of our dates.

I’d thought he [ … ]

As Personal as it Gets

February 28, 2013

“Why doesn’t God just show himself to people?”
The waiter had walked off with our dessert plates. I had resisted the urge to scrape mine with my fork as I usually did at home. Waiting for coffee, I decided it was now or never to get some of my remaining questions about God and life answered. This one seemed like a decent place to start.
Jesus wiped his mouth with his napkin and returned it to his lap. “What would you have me do?”
“I don’t know – appear to everyone personally.”
He chuckled, and seeing the irony in my statement, I couldn’t help but join him momentarily.
“No, seriously,” I said. “Most people don’t get a dinner invitation.”
“I did appear to humanity. I became one of you. That’s about as personal as [ … ]

Wherever you are, be all there.

February 22, 2013

That statement has become a code in our family to remind us to focus all our attention on the moment we’re living in. It sounds simple, but for me it’s taken lots of practice to make it a way of life. My default state of mind seems to be worrying or zoning out, so I have to constantly and consciously remind myself to fully engage in every relationship that matters to me. That means that when someone I love is talking to me, I work to block out distractions and give them my complete attention so I can really connect with them. They need me to be all there so they’ll realize I value them and believe they’re worth my full focus. When I’m distracted, at best I miss out on what I need to know or understand about what [ … ]

Easter Resources

February 21, 2013

The easter season is a time for reflection on Jesus’s sacrifice, and the hope that we as believers find in Him. We hope that these three excerpts will encourage you during this easter season. Feel free to share these excerpts and accompanying graphics  online or post to your blog or website.

 

 

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Love & Fear by Kerry and Chris Shook

What keeps us clinging to our own efforts instead of risking the greatness that God directs us [ … ]

Memorize the Gospel

February 21, 2013

God instructs us in the Psalms to store up His Word in our hearts. I love that picture. God wants us to tuck His promises into our hearts so that, no matter where we are or what we’re doing, we can pull them out and be strengthened by their truth.

You might not think you’re good at memorizing Scripture. That’s okay. Don’t give up. Work at it. God isn’t keeping score. Even if it takes you longer than someone else, it’s worth the effort.

Excerpted from Living the Cross Centered Life by C.J. Mahaney

Daily Reflection: What holds you back from memorizing Scripture today?