Boomers on the Edge

"Scripture teaches us that life is not about feeling good or being happy; rather, it's about growth."
Terry Hargrave, Boomers on the Edge (website)

Transformation

"Worship takes on a completely new expression on the other side of the world. No sound systems, no calculated transitions, just sweaty believers crammed together into small rooms, weeping as the Holy Spirit oozes out among them."
Bob Roberts Jr., Transformation (website)

When Answers Aren't Enough

"Embracing mystery brings peace."
Matt Rogers, When Answers Aren't Enough (website)

Take the Risk

"Anyone who refuses to test his limits, anyone unwilling to move out of her comfort zone, is destined to live life inside the envelope. The most important developments in science, history, technology, and the arts came from taking risks."
Ben Carson MD, Take the Risk (website)

The Myth of Happiness

"The pursuit of happiness has become the Zeitgeist of the postmodern world."
Rich Wagner, The Myth of Happiness (website)

Seismic Shifts

"If you are soul-fatigued and long for rest, God wants you to know that he has established a way for you to order your life so there is always space for play, worship, refreshment, and community with those you love."
Kevin G. Harney, Seismic Shifts

Sinners in the Hands of an Angry Church

"As God looks down from the vastness of heaven at this third planet from the sun, what is he seeing? What is he thinking? What is he saying to the angels about the goings-on here? What is he applauding, and what is he reproaching? What does he wish his people to do -- and not do?"
Dean Merrill, Sinners in the Hands of an Angry Church

Father and Son

"Matthew smiled and whispered in an easy creed, 'I love you, dad.' I was an old man young in the love of his son."
Walter Wangerin Jr., Father and Son (website)

Honey for a Child's Heart

"Take all the words available in the human vocabulary and read them from the dictionary, and you have only a list of words. But with the creativity and imagination God has given human beings, let these words flow together in the right order and they give wings to the spirit. Every child ought to know the pleasure of words so well chosen that they awaken sensibility, great emotions, and understanding of truth."
Gladys Hunt, Honey for a Child's Heart

Freedom of Simplicity

"The pace of the modern world accentuates our sense of being fractured and fragmented. The complexity of rushing to achieve and accumulate more and more threatens frequently to overwhelm us."
Richard J. Foster, Freedom of Simplicity

How Jewish Is Christianity?

"The history of Jewish believers in Jesus is a fascinating one, but life for Messianic Jews has been difficult ever since the Greek contextualization of the Christian message and lifestyle."
Louis Goldberg, How Jewish Is Christianity?

An Agenda for Change

"A knowledge of the real Jesus is essential, not just for Christians but for wider society, because his influence is so wide. The reality of an individual who has set the western calendar, permeated human thought and history for over 2,000 years, and influenced the culture of the dominant nations for a millennium demands to be taken seriously."
Joel Edwards, An Agenda for Change (website)

Unmasking the Cults

"A cult of Christianity is a group of people who claim to be Christian, yet embrace a particular doctrinal system taught by an individual leader, group of leaders, or organization, which (system) denies (either explicitly or implicitly) one or more of the central doctrines of the Christian faith as taught in the 66 books of the Bible."
Alan W. Gomes, Unmasking the Cults

Boundaries with Teens

"Be soft on preferences and style, and hard on disrespect and selfishness."
Dr. John Townsend, Boundaries with Teens

In His Image

"The image of God -- the first man on earth received it, and in some refracted way each one of us possesses this quality wondrous strange."
Paul Brand MD, In His Image

Ready for Responsibility

"Just as the school sees it as part of their job to set up a practice opportunity for teenagers with the SAT exams, it's a parent's job to set up practice opportunities with as many of the expected adult competencies as possible."
Robert G. Barnes, Ready for Responsibility

Character Makeover

"God cares more about the character we bring to our life mission than he does about our ministry's strategic plan."
Katie Brazelton & Shelley Leith, Character Makeover

Holy Discontent

"There is something out there that God is waiting for you to grab on to so that he can use you to help solve it."
Bill Hybels, Holy Discontent (website)

Issues Facing Christians Today

"God is concerned for the whole of humankind and for the whole of human life in all its color and complexity. These universals have important consequences for our thinking."
John R. W. Stott, Issues Facing Christians Today

Finding a Church You Can Love and Loving the Church You've Found

"God calls the church his bride, and he loves the church as a groom loves his radiant bride. We need to see the church through his eyes."
Kevin & Sherry Harney, Finding a Church You Can Love and Loving the Church You've Found

Creating a Prodigal-Friendly Church

"God is like the smitten father who anxiously scans the horizon, looking for the crazy, mixed-up kid that is me and you both. Prodigals utterly matter to God."
Jeff Lucas, Creating a Prodigal-Friendly Church

Stories Behind the Hymns That Inspire America

"As a tune that salutes the unselfish service of men and women whose devotion to duty and country set them apart from their peers, Taps signifies life built on faith, hope, and love."
Ace Collins, Stories Behind the Hymns That Inspire America

The Faith

"If the Church has any hope of answering today's challenges, it must pursue what we call radical Christianity or orthodoxy."
Charles W. Colson & Harold Fickett, The Faith

The Complete Divorce Recovery Handbook

"The day of divorce doesn't represent a final point in anything but the legal status of the marriage. For many, ongoing battles will continue for months or years."
John P. Splinter, The Complete Divorce Recovery Handbook

Shattered Vows

"Every woman who has been sexually betrayed recalls with vivid clarity that darkest, loneliest day when betrayal entered the sanctuary of her marriage and forever changed her life."
Debra Laaser, Shattered Vows

Mending the Soul

"It is precisely at the juncture of intractable evil, abuse, and human misery that the Christian gospel offers the only possible hope."
Steven R. Tracy, Mending the Soul

Honey for a Child's Heart

"Children and books go together in a special way. I can't imagine any pleasure greater than bringing to the uncluttered, supple mind of a child the delight of knowing the many rich things God has given us to enjoy. Parents have this wonderful privilege, and books are their keenest tools."
Gladys Hunt, Honey for a Child's Heart

Prince Caspian by C. S. Lewis

"Aslan," said Lucy, "you're bigger." "That is because you are older, little one," answered he. "Not because you are?" "I am not. But every year you grow, you will find me bigger."
Dialogue from Prince Caspian by C. S. Lewis

The Unexpected Journey

"Eventually Rauni finally could not doubt the massive number of contradictions she read and translated. The evidence was just too overwhelming. 'Mormonism just doesn't make sense,' she told us."
Thom S. Rainer, The Unexpected Journey

An Hour on Sunday

"Every Sunday morning a minority of people in your town and mine prepare to go to church. For those who walk into a church and take a seat, what is at stake? How much does it really matter what takes place in the next hour?"
Nancy Beach, An Hour on Sunday

How Christianity Changed the World

"The very freedom of speech and expression that ironically permits critics to castigate Christian values is largely a by-product of Christianity's influences that have been incorporated into the social fabric of the Western world."
Alvin J. Schmidt, How Christianity Changed the World

Leadership from the Inside Out

"We all have learned that we can go through the motions of leadership with an empty heart. Love is our heartbeat, and too often our heartbeat is weaker than we want to admit."
Kevin G. Harney, Leadership from the Inside Out

The Purpose Driven Life

"Only in God do we discover our origin, our identity, our meaning, our purpose, our significance and our destiny."
Rick Warren, The Purpose Driven Life

How to Be Evangelical without Being Conservative

"Gradually the impression has sunk into the American mind that being a conservative Christian, being evangelical, and being narrow, rigid, militant, and angry are the same."
Roger E. Olson, How to Be Evangelical without Being Conservative

A Friendly Dialogue between an Atheist and a Christian

"Forgiveness has to be the highest level of spiritual development."
Luis Palau, A Friendly Dialogue between an Atheist and a Christian

Listening to the Beliefs of Emerging Churches

"True emerging churches must go deep within, and from the inside out, rethink, reshape, and revalue how we go about everything as culture changes. We must rethink leadership, church structure, the role of a pastor, spiritual formation, how community is lived out, how evangelism is done, how we express our worship, etc. It's not just about what we do in the worship service, but about everything."
Dan Kimball, Listening to the Beliefs of Emerging Churches

An Agenda for Change

"A knowledge of the real Jesus is essential. The reality of an individual who has set the western calendar, permeated human thought and history for over 2,000 years, and influenced the culture of the dominant nations for a millennium demands to be taken seriously."
Joel Edwards, An Agenda for Change

The Jesus I Never Knew

"I am drawn to Jesus, irresistibly, because he positioned himself as the dividing point of life -- my life. According to Jesus, what I think about him and how I respond will determine my destiny for all eternity."
Philip Yancey, The Jesus I Never Knew

Prayer: Does It Make Any Difference?

"Prayer means keeping company with God who is already present. Prayer offers the chance to attend and respond to that presence."
Philip Yancey, Prayer: Does It Make Any Difference?

Be the Change

"Maybe you think slavery was eliminated a long time ago. That's what a lot of people think. Unfortunately, it's not true. That's right, slavery still goes on today."
Zach Hunter, Be the Change

Going Public with Your Faith

"The seemingly insignificant words you speak and actions you take can have great significance before God and in the lives of the people you encounter."
William Carr Peel & Walt Larimore, MD, Going Public with Your Faith

Giving

"Our stewardship of money tells a deep and consequential story. It forms our biography."
Randy Alcorn, quoted by John Ortberg, Laurie Pederson, & Judson Poling in Giving

The Faith

"God has a double standard in Islam when it comes to forgiveness that introduces a potentially deadly relativism into Islam's ethics. Only in Christianity does God sacrifice Himself to pay the debts of humankind."
Charles Colson & Harold Fickett, The Faith

Character Makeover

"You can know everything there is to know about yourself, your potential, and your goals, but if you are hesitant about developing some of the essential character qualities it takes to fulfill your godly dreams (such as humility, generosity, and confidence), you'll get derailed from your life's calling at every turn."
Katie Brazelton & Shelley Leith, Character Makeover

Finding Your Way after the Suicide of Someone You Love

"Many survivors eventually come to a point in their healing when the 'why' questions become less important and 'Where do we go from here?' becomes the focus."
David B. Biebel & Suzanne L. Foster, Finding Your Way after the Suicide of Someone You Love

It's Easy Being Green

"Protecting the ecosystem can't become another failed New Year's resolution -- like an exercise plan or a work ethic that fizzles out after three weeks. We need to have endurance, if we are going to change the world."
Emma Sleeth, It's Easy Being Green

Jesus for President

"To claim that one's citizenship is in heaven is to say that you pledge allegiance not to any of the kingdoms of the world but to Jesus and the body of those who take on his suffering, enemy-loving posture toward the world."
Shane Claiborne & Chris Haw, Jesus for President

God and Government

"The state is not a remedy for sin, but a means to restrain it."
Charles Colson, God and Government

Surviving Information Overload

"Might there be something about information -- the speed with which it comes, the sense of control it gives us -- that can truly become addictive?"
Kevin A. Miller, Surviving Information Overload

When Answers Aren't Enough

"If I refuse to bury my head in the sand, pretending all is well, but rather think and speak of the world as it actually is, can I, then, still know God as good? Can my experience of him be more consistent than my circumstances, which alternate between good and bad?"
Matt Rogers, When Answers Aren't Enough