Religious Growth

Professor, pastor, and well-known counselor Jay E. Adams bases his whole approach on Scripture. This book provides an unparalleled opportunity to see how he discovers and applies biblical principles as well as the way in which Scripture functions as the basis for his counseling approach.

For the Spirit, being somewhat forgotten is an occupational hazard. The Holy Spirit is so actively involved in our lives that we can take his presence for granted. As they say, familiarity breeds contempt. Just as we take breathing for granted, we can take the Holy Spirit for granted simply because we constantly depend on him. Like the cane that soon feels like an extension of the blind man's own body, we too easily begin to think of the Holy Spirit as an extension of ourselves.

Too many discipleship books are written for clean, perfect people who know all the right Sunday school answers. The Imperfect Disciple is for the rest of us - people who screw up, people who are weary, people who are wondering if it's safe to say what they're really thinking. For the believer who is tired of quasi-spiritual lifehacks being passed off as true, down-and-dirty discipleship, here is a discipleship book that isn't afraid to be honest about the mess we call real life.

The companion to the bestselling The Heavenly Man, Living Water shares the vision of one of China's most dedicated, courageous, and intensely persecuted house church leaders. Brother Yun's dramatic life story and teachings offer a message that inspires and challenges Christians to live out a passionate commitment to serve Jesus Christ.

In honor of the 50th anniversary of C. S. Lewis' death, celebrated Oxford don Dr. Alister McGrath presents us with a compelling and definitive portrait of the life of C. S. Lewis, the author of the well-known Narnia series. For more than half a century, C. S. Lewis’ Narnia series has captured the imaginations of millions. In C. S. Lewis - A Life, Dr. Alister McGrath recounts the unlikely path of this Oxford don, who spent his days teaching English literature to the brightest students in the world and his spare time writing.

Rose has been appointed as a healer’s apprentice at Hagenheim Castle, a rare opportunity for a woodcutter’s daughter like her. While she often feels uneasy at the sight of blood, Rose is determined to prove herself capable. Failure will mean returning home to marry the aging bachelor her mother has chosen for her. When Lord Hamlin, the future duke, is injured, it is Rose who must tend to him. As she works to heal his wound, she begins to understand emotions she’s never felt before and wonders if he feels the same.

Christians have proclaimed the good news about Jesus for centuries. But the good news isn't sounding so good these days, at least to some. More and more surveys show that people view Christians as bearers of bad news, judgment, and intolerance. In Vanishing Grace, best-selling author Philip Yancey acknowledges the problem and then explores how we can respond with both grace and truth. He offers a discerning look at what contributes to a hostility toward Christians, and identifies three groups - pilgrims, artists, and activists - who can show us a different way.

The Mind of the Maker will be relished by those already in love with Dorothy L. Sayers and those who have not yet met her. A mystery writer, a witty and perceptive theologian, culture critic, and playwright, Dorothy Sayers sheds unexpected new light on a specific set of statements made in the Christian creeds. She examines anew such ideas as the image of God, the Trinity, free will, and evil, and in this text, a wholly revitalized understanding of them emerges.

For decades Steven Curtis Chapman's music and message have brought hope and inspiration to millions around the world. Now, for the first time, Steven openly shares the experiences that have shaped him, his faith, and his music in a life that has included incredible highs and faith-shaking lows. Listeners will be captivated by this exclusive look into Steven's childhood and challenging family dynamic growing up, how that led to music and early days on the road, and his wild ride to the top of the charts.

Organized around the main beliefs that undergirded his ministry - the centrality of Christ, the importance of the new birth, the indwelling of the Spirit, and the necessity of the Bible - this introduction to Charles Spurgeon’s life and thought will challenge listeners to live their lives for the glory of God.

Many of us find ourselves caught somewhere between unbelieving activists and inactive believers. We can write a check to feed starving children or hold signs in the streets and feel like we've made a difference without ever encountering the faces of the suffering masses. In this book, Shane Claiborne describes an authentic faith rooted in belief, action, and love, inviting us into a movement of the Spirit that begins inside each of us and extends into a broken world.

Christians have long differed with one another on both the meaning and the practice of water baptism. Using the classic Counterpoints forum of presentation-critique-response, this insightful book explores four prominent views of baptism held by different branches of Protestantism: Baptist, Christian Church/Church of Christ, Lutheran, and Reformed.

How does worship work? How exactly does liturgical formation shape us? What are the dynamics of such transformation? In the second of James K. A. Smith's three-volume theology of culture, the author expands and deepens his analysis of cultural liturgies and Christian worship he developed in his well-received Desiring the Kingdom. He helps us understand and appreciate the bodily basis of habit formation and how liturgical formation—both "secular" and Christian—affects our fundamental orientation to the world.

The Color of Compromise takes listeners on a historical journey: from America's early colonial days through slavery and the Civil War, covering the tragedy of Jim Crow laws and the victories of the Civil Rights era, to today's Black Lives Matter movement. Author Jemar Tisby reveals the obvious - and the far more subtle - ways the American church has compromised what the Bible teaches about human dignity and equality.

What if everything you think you know about Jesus is wrong? In The Jesus Papers, Michael Baigent reveals the truth about Jesus's life and crucifixion. Despite, or rather because of, all the celebration and veneration that have surrounded the figure of Jesus for centuries, Baigent asserts that Jesus and the circumstances leading to his death have been heavily mythologized.

The first person ever to complete the perilous 10,000 mile journey across the inscrutable desert landscape of the Middle East, Bruce Feiler, a fifth generation Southern Jew, embarks upon a quest to reconnect with the stories of the Bible, and uncover fresh answers to profound questions.

Best-selling author Brian D. McLaren followed his love of nature (specifically, tortoises) all the way to the Galapagos Islands. There, he paid close attention to the flora and fauna around him but also to what was happening within him, how the natural world awakened his soul in a way that organized religion could not. McLaren's descriptions of birds, reptiles, fish, and flowers sing; he walks in the footsteps of Charles Darwin and grieves that Darwin has been demonized by his fellow Christians; and he reflects on how his own faith has evolved in the years since he left the pastorate.

How do we effectively confront racial injustice? We need to move beyond talking about racism and start equipping ourselves to fight against it. In this follow-up to the New York Times bestseller The Color of Compromise, Jemar Tisby offers an array of actionable items to confront racism. How to Fight Racism introduces a simple framework—the A.R.C. Of Racial Justice—that teaches listeners to consistently interrogate their own actions and maintain a consistent posture of anti-racist behavior.

Does science discredit the Bible, God, religious faith? Absolutely not, says Dr. Michael Guillen, former Harvard physics instructor and Emmy-winning ABC News science editor. In Amazing Truths, he uses his entertaining, down-to-earth storytelling skills to reveal 10 astonishing truths affirmed by both ancient Scripture and modern science.

Pastor Jim Cymbala believes that Jesus wants to renew his people - to call us back from spiritual dead ends, apathy, and lukewarm religion. In this compelling audio presentation, Cymbala tells the story of the Brooklyn Tabernacle, a struggling congretation of 20 - until they began to pray, and God began to move, and street-hardened lives by the hundreds were transformed by Christ's love.