Download or read book I Love Jesus But I Want to Die written by Sarah J. Robinson and published by WaterBrook. This book was released on 2021-05-11 with total page 257 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A compassionate, shame-free guide for your darkest days “A one-of-a-kind book . . . to read for yourself or give to a struggling friend or loved one without the fear that depression and suicidal thoughts will be minimized, medicalized or over-spiritualized.”—Kay Warren, cofounder of Saddleback Church What happens when loving Jesus doesn’t cure you of depression, anxiety, or suicidal thoughts? You might be crushed by shame over your mental illness, only to be told by well-meaning Christians to “choose joy” and “pray more.” So you beg God to take away the pain, but nothing eases the ache inside. As darkness lingers and color drains from your world, you’re left wondering if God has abandoned you. You just want a way out. But there’s hope. In I Love Jesus, But I Want to Die, Sarah J. Robinson offers a healthy, practical, and shame-free guide for Christians struggling with mental illness. With unflinching honesty, Sarah shares her story of battling depression and fighting to stay alive despite toxic theology that made her afraid to seek help outside the church. Pairing her own story with scriptural insights, mental health research, and simple practices, Sarah helps you reconnect with the God who is present in our deepest anguish and discover that you are worth everything it takes to get better. Beautifully written and full of hard-won wisdom, I Love Jesus, But I Want to Die offers a path toward a rich, hope-filled life in Christ, even when healing doesn’t look like what you expect.

Download or read book If God Is Love Don t Be a Jerk written by John Pavlovitz and published by Westminster John Knox Press. This book was released on 2021-09-28 with total page 266 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Thou Shalt Not Be Horrible. Imagine for a moment what the world might look like if we as people of faith, morality, and conscience actually aspired to this mantra. What if we were fully burdened to create a world that was more loving and equitable than when we arrived? What if we invited one another to share in wide-open, fearless, spiritual communities truly marked by compassion and interdependence? What if we daily challenged ourselves to live a faith that simply made us better humans? John Pavlovitz explores how we can embody this kinder kind of spirituality where we humbly examine our belief system to understand how it might compel us to act in less-than-loving ways toward others. This simple phrase, "Thou Shalt Not Be Horrible," could help us practice what we preach by creating a world where: spiritual community provides a sense of belonging where all people are received as we are; the most important question we ask of a religious belief is not Is it true? but rather, is it helpful? it is morally impossible to pledge complete allegiance to both Jesus and America simultaneously; the way we treat others is the most tangible and meaningful expression of our belief system. In If God Is Love, Don't Be a Jerk, John Pavlovitz examines the bedrock ideas of our religion: the existence of hell, the utility of prayer, the way we treat LGBTQ people, the value of anger, and other doctrines to help all of us take a good, honest look at how the beliefs we hold can shape our relationships with God and our fellow humans—and to make sure that love has the last, loudest word.

Download or read book Pastors Are Special But a Pastor s Wife Is a Blessing written by Scott Publishing and published by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform. This book was released on 2018-07-03 with total page 110 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A unique gift that is useful, memorable and cost effective! This special Christian notebook or journal is a great way to express your gratitude! Filled with 50+ double-sided sheets, 100+ writing pages of lined paper, this notebook makes a useful gift idea. With a color and matte cover, this notebook will help remind any Christian that they are truly appreciated. With 6"x9" pages this notebook with a unique design is the perfect size to tuck into a purse, keep on a desk or as a keep sake beside your bed. Give someone a gift they'll really remember and use! Gifts for Religious & Christian Men, Women, Kids & Teens Pastor & Pastor Wife Appreciation Gifts Sunday School and Youth Group Gifts Family Birthday and Christmas Gift The Perfect Stocking Stuffer Retirement Gifts And Much More...

Download or read book Workship written by Kara Martin and published by Graceworks. This book was released on 2017-11-01 with total page 121 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “The Hebrew root word for ‘work’ is also the root word for ‘service’, particularly service to God in worship. By combining the two English words, ‘work’ and ‘worship’, I hope to challenge people to integrate their faith and work. Work does not just refer to what is done in paid employment. I believe God sees work as any purposeful activity requiring focus and effort. It could be housework, schoolwork, caring for children or parents, study, paid work, voluntary work, etc.” — Kara Martin In her book, Kara explores the biblical view of work, provides six spiritual disciplines to integrate faith and work, shares practical wisdom on how to make a difference in the workplace, and offers ideas to help churches better equip their congregations to live out their faith at work.

Download or read book BLESS written by Dave Ferguson and published by Salem Books. This book was released on 2021-01-05 with total page 208 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What If You Could Change the World without Changing Your Daily Routine? When you’ve been transformed by God’s love, you can’t help but want others to experience the same grace and freedom. But how do you share it without scaring them away or offending them? For most Christians, “evangelism” is an intimidating word that suggests handing out tracts to strangers or doing other awkward things. But what if there was a more organic, more authentic way to share your faith with your friends, neighbors, and coworkers? Dave and Jon Ferguson have found five simple, straightforward practices that will allow any believer to do just that. And by consistently living them out, you can affect not just individual lives but your entire neighborhood and community—one person at a time.

Download or read book Pastors Like You Are Harder to Find Than Toilet Paper During a Pandemic written by Binouchy Publishing and published by . This book was released on 2021-09-30 with total page 110 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Line Journal notebook for daily note, lecture- Simple funny notebook for gift- 6 x 9 Inches size, 110 pages- durable matte finish- Can be used as tracker of church meetings, take sermon notes, write down ideas, make lists, or Journal

Download or read book Resilient Faith written by Gerald L. Sittser and published by Brazos Press. This book was released on 2019-10-15 with total page 289 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In our Western, post-Christendom society, much of Christianity's cultural power, privilege, and influence has eroded. But all is not lost, says bestselling author Gerald Sittser. Although the church is concerned and sobered by this cultural shift, it is also curious and teachable. Sittser shows how the early church offers wisdom for responding creatively to the West's increasing secularization. The early Christian movement was surprisingly influential and successful in the Roman world, and so different from its two main rivals--traditional religion and Judaism--that Rome identified it as a "third way." Early Christians immersed themselves in the empire without significant accommodation to or isolation from the culture. They confessed Jesus as Lord and formed disciples accordingly, which helped the church grow in numbers and influence. Sittser explores how Christians today can learn from this third way and respond faithfully, creatively, and winsomely to a world that sees Christianity as largely obsolete. Each chapter introduces historical figures, ancient texts, practices, and institutions to explain and explore the third way of the Jesus movement, which, surprising everyone, changed the world.

Download or read book Three Pieces of Glass written by Eric O. Jacobsen and published by Brazos Press. This book was released on 2020-05-05 with total page 223 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Loneliness is increasingly recognized as a major public health crisis that is on the rise and impacting people of all ages. Addressing the crisis of loneliness from a fresh perspective, this book introduces belonging as an overlooked but critical aspect of a flourishing Christian life. Eric Jacobsen shows how three pieces of glass--the car windshield, TV, and smartphone--are emblematic of significant societal shifts that have created a cultural habit of physical isolation. We feel increasingly disconnected from the people and places around us. Jacobsen explains how adopting everyday practices and making changes in our neighborhoods can help us create a sense of belonging and rediscover what belonging in a place looks like. In order to effectively solve the problem of loneliness, we need to recover patterns and practices of community life that encourage us to form meaningful connections with people and stories that are part of the places where we live, work, and worship. To this end, Jacobsen offers four redemptive strategies for living a more intentional and spiritual life.

Download or read book The Last Pastor written by Gail Cafferata and published by Westminster John Knox Press. This book was released on 2020-01-18 with total page 238 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Gail Cafferata was heartbroken when the church she pastored voted to close its doors. It may have been the right decision, but it led to a million questions in her mind about her call, leadership, and future. She began to think that other pastors who close churches perhaps go through this same experience. This led her to conduct a sociological study of over 130 pastors in five historically established denominations (Episcopal, Lutheran, United Methodist, Presbyterian, and United Church of Christ) who were called to serve churches that closed. This book tells the results of that study, which consisted of many interviews, and the hard-won lessons learned by these courageous pastors.

Download or read book In the Kingdom of the Lonely God written by Robert Griffin and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2003 with total page 128 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In a writing style that captivates with its almost poetic insight and lustre, Griffin writes about life's toughest troubles and offers encouragement for fortitude, compassion, grace and peace.

Download or read book Like Streams to the Ocean written by Jedidiah Jenkins and published by Convergent Books. This book was released on 2021-02-02 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • “As inviting, wide-ranging, and philosophical as an all-night conversation with a best friend, and as revealing and thought-provoking as the diary of a curious adventurer.”—Sasha Sagan, author of For Small Creatures Such as We You can travel the world looking for yourself, but if you don't know what you're looking for, how can you find it? Like Streams To The Ocean is about examining the things that make us who we are and getting to know ourselves, our stories, and the decisions that shape our one and only life. Writing with the passion and clarity that made his debut, To Shake the Sleeping Self, a national bestseller, Jedidiah Jenkins brings together new and old writings to explore the eight subjects that give life meaning: ego, family, home, friendship, love, work, death, the soul. Who am I? What am I made of? How much of how I act boils down to avoiding the things that make me feel small? As he examines the experiences that shape our conscious and subconscious answers to these questions, Jenkins leads readers in a wide-ranging conversation about finding fulfillment in the people and places around us and discovering the courage to show our deepest selves to the world.

Download or read book A Practical Wedding written by Meg Keene and published by Da Capo Lifelong Books. This book was released on 2019-12-17 with total page 219 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A companion to the popular website APracticalWedding.com and A Practical Wedding Planner, A Practical Wedding helps you sort through the basics to create the wedding you want -- without going broke or crazy in the process. After all, what really matters on your wedding day is not so much how it looked as how it felt. In this refreshing guide, expert Meg Keene shares her secrets to planning a beautiful celebration that reflects your taste and your relationship. You'll discover: The real purpose of engagement (hint: it's not just about the planning) How to pinpoint what matters most to you and your partner DIY-ing your wedding: brilliant or crazy? How to communicate decisions to your family Why that color-coded spreadsheet is actually worth it Wedding Zen can be yours. Meg walks you through everything from choosing a venue to writing vows, complete with stories and advice from women who have been in the trenches: the Team Practical brides. So here's to the joyful wedding, the sensible wedding, the unbelievably fun wedding! A Practical Wedding is your complete guide to getting married with grace.

Download or read book Enjoying God written by Tim Chester and published by The Good Book Company. This book was released on 2018-09-01 with total page 190 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Discover the key to enjoying God in every moment of every day We believe in God, we serve God, we trust God, but would we say that we experience God on a day to day basis? Do we really know him personally? What exactly does a relationship with God look like, and how is it even possible? In this seminal work by Tim Chester, we’ll see how the three persons of the Trinity relate to us in our day-to-day lives and how to respond. We’ll discover that as we interact more with God, and understand how awesome he is, we will experience the joy of being known by the creator of the universe. Every Christian will benefit from discovering the key to enjoying God in every moment of everyday.

Download or read book Your Church Is Too Safe written by Mark Buchanan and published by Zondervan. This book was released on 2012-03-06 with total page 278 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “These men who have turned the world upside down have come here also.” That was the startled cry, circa 50 AD, from a hastily assembled mob in Thessalonica. These men who have turned the world upside: their description of Paul and Silas. Holy vandals on the loose, anointed marauders running amok, men out ransacking Roman cities with the gospel. You’d think they were heralding the arrival of Barbarian hordes, fierce Berserkers descending on poorly fortified villages, not two hungry men with no more than a fire in their bellies and a wildness in their eyes. These were just two ordinary men. But, as Paul says to the Corinthians, he was a man who preached “with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power,” a man whose weapons were not of the world but had “divine power to demolish strongholds.” Two simple, ordinary men, walking in the power of God. A whole town in uproar because of them. It’s been a while since we’ve seen the likes of this. Your Church Is Too Safe is an ebook based on a simple idea: that God meant his church to be both good news and bad news, an aroma and a stench – a disruptive force to whoever or whatever opposes the Kingdom of God, and a healing and liberating power to those who seek it. That the church has not always lived this mandate is well-documented. That the church needs to recover this mandate is much touted. Your Church Is Too Safe is a plea, a celebration, and a manifesto. It’s an attempt to call the church to be the church. It is a tribute to the many churches that seek to be this. And it is a roadmap to become this. Above all, Your Church Is Too Safe is a biblical reflection and exhortation on why we should be this. Its main narrative is rooted in the story of how the early church, for all her failings and heresies and squabbles, managed to turn the world upside down. And its principal claim is that the modern church, for all her failings and heresies and squabbles, has every advantage they had, and maybe more, and faces no more challenges than they did, and maybe fewer.

Download or read book Leading Change Without Losing It written by Carey Nieuwhof and published by reThink. This book was released on 2012-08-24 with total page 119 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Leaders try to bring about change. And change almost always elicits opposition. So how do leaders navigate change, and the opposition to it, without giving up their dream for what could and should be? Carey Nieuwhof, pastor of Connexus Church near Toronto, examines five strategies that can help church leaders engineer change: 1. Determine who is for (or against) the change and why. 2. Decide where to focus your attention. 3. Develop the questions that will set your course. 4. Learn to attack problems instead of people. 5. Persevere until the critical breakthrough. Insightful and practical, Leading Change Without Losing It offers hope and encouragement for leaders, no matter where they serve in the church.

Download or read book A Testament of Devotion written by Thomas R. Kelly and published by Harper Collins. This book was released on 1996-08-02 with total page 148 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Since its first publication in 1941, A Testament of Devotion, by the renowned Quaker teacher Thomas Kelly, has been universally embraced as a truly enduring spiritual classic. Plainspoken and deeply inspirational, it gathers together five compelling essays that urge us to center our lives on God's presence, to find quiet and stillness within modern life, and to discover the deeply satisfying and lasting peace of the inner spiritual journey. As relevant today as it was a half-century ago, A Testament of Devotion is the ideal companion to that highest of all human arts-the lifelong conversation between God and his creatures. I have in mind something deeper than the simplification of our external programs, our absurdly crowded calendars of appointments through which so many pantingly and frantically gasp. These do become simplified in holy obedience, and the poise and peace we have been missing can really be found. But there is a deeper, an internal simplification of the whole of one's personality, stilled, tranquil, in childlike trust listening ever to Eternity's whisper, walking with a smile into the dark."

Download or read book Slow Church written by C. Christopher Smith and published by InterVarsity Press. This book was released on 2014-05-06 with total page 251 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In today's fast-food world, Christianity can seem outdated or archaic. The temptation becomes to pick up the pace and play the game. But Chris Smith and John Pattison invites us to leave franchise faith behind and enter the kingdom of God, where people know each other well and love one another as Christ loves the church.