A CAT & DOG
Look At The Cross Seeing Christ’s Death Through New Eyes by: Bob Sjogren & Kevin Kimbrough Why did Christ die? To forgive us of our sins, right? Well, that’s true, but it’s also incomplete. Belief in only this partial truth causes conflict and confusion among God’s people, and it limits the depth of our understanding of God and his work. There are seven key reasons Christ went to the cross. All of them focus on the glory of his Father. If the glory of God is primary, it changes everything in our relationship with him. And if Christ suffered for the Father’s glory, then we should be willing to suffer as well. Rethink the cross, and rethink your purpose!
A DISRUPTIVE FAITH
Expect God To Interrupt Your Life by: A. W. Tozer Faith More Dangerous Than It Sounds The word “faith” is common, but placing our faith in God is an uncommonly weighty decision fraught with consequences and, by His design, inconvenience. Faith in God is consoling only so far as we trust Him and unshakable trust is the mark of mature Christians who have allowed faith to intrude on their lives ans shift their gaze away from their own aims, needs and desires. This is a life-discrupting, comfort-disturbing and even painful process. A Disruptive Faith is A. W. Tozer’s never-before-published teaching on what he called “faith that perturbs” that is, faith that contradicts the unbelieving man and threatens the complacency of the Christian. In these pages, the renowned pastor and theologian shows how genuine faith, by God’s design, breeds dissatisfaction with this life, weaning Christians from dependence on earthly things in order to prepare them for the glorious and everlasting life to come. In this way, each of us should be encouraged to deepen our faith to the point of holy discontentment – and experience the fresh hope for eternity with Almighty God!
A long obedience in the same direction discipleship in an instant society
As a society, we are no less obsessed with the immediate than when Eugene Peterson first wrote this Christian classic. If anything, email and the Internet may have intensified our quest for the quick fix. But Peterson’s time-tested prescription for discipleship remains the same–a long obedience in the same direction. Tucked away in the Hebrew Psalter, Peterson discovered “an old dog-eared songbook,” the Songs of Ascents that were sung by pilgrims on their way up to worship in Jerusalem. In these songs (Psalms 120-134) Peterson finds encouragement for modern pilgrims as we learn to grow in worship, service, joy, work, happiness, humility, community and blessing. This 20th anniversary edition of A Long Obedience in the Same Direction features these Psalms in Peterson’s widely acclaimed paraphrase, The Message. He also includes an epilogue in which he reflects on the themes of this book and his ministry during the twenty years since its original publication.
A PLACE OF HEALING
by: Joni Eareckson Tada If God Can Heal Me, Why Won’t He? Over four decades ago, a diving accident left Joni Eareckson Tada a quadriplegic. Since that time, she has become a beloved writer and speaker to millions. But today, Joni faces a new battle: chronic, unrelenting pain. As she writes, Just as I said to God years ago when I was first injured, I find myself praying, Lord, I can’t live like this for the rest of my life! This ongoing urgency has forced me to look back on familiar scriptures and examine them from new angles. Does God miraculously intervene in the lives of all who pray for release from migraine headaches, multiple sclerosis, cancer or, in my case, chronic pain? And if not, why not? Here Joni invites you to walk with her through an intense and baffling season of her life. Her words offer not a bundle of ivory-tower theological conclusions but intimate insight from a woman on a journey a woman who believes in healing from a God who chooses when that healing will come.
A praying life connecting with god in a distracting world
This new edition includes an expanded chapter on using the practical “prayer cards”―a hallmark of the teaching found in A Praying Life―and a chapter on the need and use of prayers of lament. Prayer is so hard that unless circumstances demand it―an illness, or saying grace at a meal―most of us simply do not pray. We prize accomplishments and productivity over time in prayer. Even Christians experience this prayerlessness―a kind of practical unbelief that leaves us marked by fear, anxiety, joylessness, and spiritual lethargy. Prayer is all about relationship. Based on the popular seminar by the same name, A Praying Life has discipled thousands of Christians to a vibrant prayer life full of joy and power. When Jesus describes the intimacy He seeks with us, He talks about joining us for dinner (Revelation 3:20). A Praying Life feels like having dinner with good friends. It is the way we experience and connect to God. In A Praying Life, author Paul Miller lays out a pattern for living in relationship with God and includes helpful habits and approaches to prayer that enable us to return to a childlike faith.
A WOMAN WHO REFLECTS THE HEART OF JESUS
30 Days to Christlike Character by: Elizabeth George Elizabeth George has long been a favorite source of encouragement and wisdom for women who hunger to know how God desires for them to live. In her newest release, Elizabeth asks, “Where better can we learn about right character and conduct than Jesus Himself?” There is much we can learn from this perfect life example: His generosity in caring for the needs of others, the abundance of His kindness and forgiveness even to His enemies, His persistence in watching over His own, and His willingness to give His all even though He had nothing. Every woman who desires to… • skillfully make the most of limited time • give freely without expecting anything in return • achieve all things in God’s strength and not her own • let her light shine and glorify God …will find a treasure trove of truths and applications that enable her to follow well in the footsteps of Jesus.
AFTER THE HEAVY RAIN
Khmer Rouge Killed His Family. He Tracked Them – But Not for Revenge… by: Sokreaksa S. Himm Thirteen of Reaksa Himm’s immediate family, including both his parents, were executed by the Khmer Rouge under Pol Pot. The young killers marched them from the remote northern village to which they had been exiled, out into the jungle.One by one the machetes fell.Severely wounded, Reaksa was covered by the bodies of his family. His remarkable story of survival is told in ‘The Tears of My Soul’. In this second book he describes how he tracked down his family’s killers, one by one, embraced them, gave them a scarf of friendship and presented each with a Bible.He has also funded and had built a clinic, school and five churches in the area. This is an astonishing tale of the consequences of spiritual rebirth. Today Sokreaksa Himm is an evangelist and church planter in Cambodia, with an international speaking ministry. He is a frequent visitor to the UK.
ANOTHER CHANCE AT LIFE
by: Warren W. Wiersbe Find Your New Beginning in the Story of the Prodigal Son—and a Cast of Characters When you’ve really blown it . . . . . . is there is any way out of the mess? In his unique depiction of the prodigal son, Warren Wiersbe examines the cast of characters from this well-known story and draws lessons from each individual. Find yourself in the wasteful son, or perhaps in the spiteful brother, and recognize afresh the One who can forgive every sin—our merciful Father. If you’ve left the path of grace and think you’ve gone too far, or if you simply need a reminder of God’s mercy and love, this book holds a welcome dose of encouragement. Your Father is waiting to receive you, ready to give you another chance at life.
Astronished by God: Ten truths to turn the world upside down
For more than thirty years, John Piper pastored in the rough and tumble realities of downtown Minneapolis, preaching his people through the ups and down of life one Sunday at a time. When it came to capturing a generation of joy in one final sermon series, he turned to ten trademark truths to leave ringing in his peoples’ ears. These ten are world-shaking truths—each astonishing in its own way. First they turned Piper’s own world upside down. Then his church’s. And they will continue to turn the whole world upside down as the gospel of Christ advances in distance and depth. These surprising doctrines, as Piper writes, are “wildly untamable, explosively uncontainable, and electrically future-creating.” Join a veteran author, pastor, and Christian leader as he captures the ten astonishing, compassionate, life-giving, joy-awakening, hope-sustaining truths that have held everything together for him.