Spiritual Growth

Winning leaders have winning points-of-view—succinct, practical, portable leadership proverbs that help them arbitrate decisions and arouse troops to action. In Axiom: The Language of Leadership, Pastor Bill Hybels reveals sixty God-given, from-the-gut truths that continue to raise his game and his vision, thirty-plus years into his local-church leadership experience.

Author John Stott examines the cultural, social, geographical, and historical background of the Bible, as he outlines the story with its central theme, and as he explains its message. The book now includes study questions, index, and maps.

In ReFocus, Jim Daly shows us how can live more like Jesus and reflect God's heart as we positively engage people, no matter their beliefs or their politics, in this quickly changing and increasingly contentious world.

More than a million couples can’t be wrong! And with this updated edition of their award-winning book, Drs. Les and Leslie Parrott help you launch lifelong love like never before. This is more than a book―it’s an experience. Get ready for deeper intimacy with the best friend you’ll ever have. Saving Your Marriage Before It Starts, in more than 15 languages, is the most widely used marriage prep tool in the world. • Uncover the misbeliefs of marriage • Learn to communicate with instant understanding • Discover the secret to resolving conflict • Master the skills of money management • Get your sex life off to a great start A compelling video, featuring real-life couples, is available, and with this updated edition Les and Leslie unveil the game-changing SYMBIS Assessment (see www.SYMBISassessment.com). Now you can discover how to leverage your personalities for a love that lasts a lifetime. Make your marriage everything it is meant to be. Save your marriage―before (and after) it starts.

Play with Fire, the debut book by popular speaker and teacher Bianca Juarez Olthoff, is the reminder that God isn’t waiting until you have more resources or a spouse or a job so he can use you. He’s ready to use you now. Using the mythical creature, the Phoenix, which was also referenced by early church leaders, she parallels this story with God’s work in her own life, highlighting the beauty of reinvention with fire as both the impetus and the method for change. Olthoff reminds us that we serve a God who is redemptive and can take the worst situations and use them for His glory. Play With Fire is a bible-infused message that will help women discover: The way out of the middle is moving forward The personal and powerful nature of the Holy Spirit The power and sacrifice of transformation The unique calling and purpose of life involves transformation With Olthoff’s distinct style, strong storytelling gifts, and powerful bible teaching, Play with Fire will remind readers that God has huge dreams for them. In Bianca’s words, “He’s whispering in the wind and speaking through the fire and shouting in silence the extraordinary dream He is birthing in you. His dream for you is far greater than the dream you have for yourself. It’s not your identity or income or influence that will make this happen. Like Zechariah 4:6 says, “’It’s not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the Lord.” It’s time to play with fire.

Lisa Gungor thought she knew her own story: small-town girl meets boy in college and they blissfully walk down the aisle into happily ever after. Their Christian faith was their lens and foundation for everything - their marriage, their music, their dreams for the future. But as their dreams began to come true, she began to wonder if her religion was really representative of the "good news" she had been taught. She never expected the questions to lead as far as they did when her husband told her he no longer believed in God. The death of a friend, the unraveling of relationships and career, the loss of a worldview, and the birth of a baby girl with two heart defects all led Lisa to a tumultuous place, one of depression and despair. And it was there that her perspective on everything changed. The Most Beautiful Thing I've Seen tells the story of what can happen when you dare to let go of what you think to be true, to shift the kaleidoscope and see new colors and dimension by way of broken pieces. Lisa's eloquent, soul-stirring memoir brings you to a music stage before thousands of fans and a front porch where two people whisper words that scare them to the core. It is the story of how doubt can spark the beginning of deeper faith, how a baby born with a broken heart can bring love and healing to the hearts of many, and, ultimately, how the hardest experience in life often ends up saving us.

Drawn from the Beatitudes, Celebrate Recovery helps people resolve painful problems in the context of the church as a whole. Rather than setting up an isolated recovery community, it helps participants and their churches come together and discover new levels of care, acceptance, trust, and grace.

The Zondervan Biblical and Theological Lectures series provides a unique audio learning experience. Unlike a traditional audiobook's direct narration of a book's text, Moral Choices: Audio Lectures includes high-quality live recordings of college-level lectures that cover the important points from each subject as well as relevant material from other sources. Moral Choices: Audio Lectures features 16 lessons and is designed to help listeners develop a sound and current basis for making ethical decisions in today's complex postmodern culture. The lectures outline the distinctive elements of Christian ethics while avoiding undue dogmatism. They also introduce other ethical systems and their key historical proponents, including Plato, Aristotle, Augustine, Thomas Aquinas, and Immanuel Kant. After describing a seven-step procedure for tackling ethical dilemmas, ethicist and professor Scott Rae uses case studies to address some of today's most pressing social issues. He guides listeners in thinking critically and biblically about abortion, reproductive technologies, genetic technologies and human cloning, euthanasia, capital punishment, sexual ethics, war, and economics. All new sessions on violence and gun control; race, gender, and diversity; and immigration, refugees, and border control help listeners wrestle with today's most difficult ethical issues.   Designed with the learner in mind, each lecture is approximately 20 minutes. Moral Choices: Audio Lectures is useful for formal students and laypeople alike, providing an accessible introduction to Christian ethics and equipping them to form a basis for practical, ethical decision-making in contemporary culture.

Year after year, Ann Spangler has provided readers with uniquely appealing devotional books. When You Need a Miracle continues the tradition by selecting the best stories from her first two books, An Angel a Day and A Miracle a Day, to offer readers a picture of a God who is far bigger and better than most people think.

We've all experienced the pain of broken promises. When those we love fail to keep their commitment to us, we feel betrayed and hurt, less likely to trust again. People fail us. Plans fail. But there is one who is unfailing, who always keeps his word. In Unfailing, pastor and teacher Rob Renfroe reminds us that because God is faithful to his Word we can base our lives on what he has said. And though hard times may follow where we experience confusion, loss, and pain--feeling overwhelmed--if we stand on the promises of God we, too, will not fail. Jesus promised that everyone who hears his words and puts them into practice is like a wise man who builds his house on a rock. Though the storms blow and the streams rise, the house does not fail because it is built on the rock. Renfroe unpacks seven key ways in which God will not fail you, looking at God's promises, grace, peace, presence, guidance, power, strength, and love. Each of these is an important and essential aspect of God's trustworthy and unfailing character, reflecting his faithfulness to you. Each chapter includes a sample prayer as well as personal reflection questions that help you to further apply these truths to your life.

In The Bible as Improv, author Ron Martoia helps you move beyond maxims and read the Bible so that its story shapes your own stories. In this new light, you will deepen your spiritual life and avoid the confusion about what is true for you today and what is “outdated.” Come take a look at the big picture of the Bible. The view is incredible.

ou are here for a reason. God is calling you to change the world. How will you do that? Inside the pages of this book, you’ll discover that God has definitely created you for a purpose, and you’ll learn what that purpose is. So, dive in, explore who you are and what you’re made to do—so you can change the whole world.

Jesus instructed us to abide in him and bear fruit. Yet too often we forget that fruit needs different seasons in which to grow. Mark Buchanan’s powerful new book, Spiritual Rhythm, will help you recognize, embrace, and steward the spiritual season you are in. Come discover anew that Christ is with you—in season and out.

Take My Heart, Oh God is an inspirational, one-year devotional for women that’s elegantly designed with a padded cover and a satin ribbon marker. Each daily reading references a timeless insight from a great Christian female author. This attractive book will challenge, motivate, and stir your heart, encouraging you in your daily walk.