Staff Picks
Christian Living Ebooks
- Rachel
- Wednesday, January 22, 2020
Collection
In these ebooks authors share their wisdom on how to understand scripture for what it is--not what we want it to be. Tag along on a journey of navigating spiritual life and overcoming the doubts that keep us from living a devoted Christian life.
What is the Bible?
How an Ancient Library of Poems, Letters, and Stories Can Transform the Way You Think and Feel About Everything
Published in 2017
Rob Bell, the beloved author of Love Wins and What We Talk About When We Talk About God, goes deep into the Bible to show how it is more revelatory, revolutionary, and relevant than we ever imagined—and offers a cogent argument for why we need to look at it in a fresh, new way. In Love Wins, Rob Bell confronted the troubling questions that many people of faith were afraid to ask about heaven, hell, fate, and faith. Using the same inspired, inquisitive approach, he now turns to our most sacred book, the Bible. What Is the Bible? provides insights and answers that make clear why the Bible is so revered and what makes it truly inspiring and essential to our lives. Rob takes us deep into actual passages to reveal the humanity behind the Scriptures. You cannot get to the holy without going through the human, Rob tells us. When considering a passage, we shouldn't ask "Why did God say . . .?" To get to the heart of the Bible's meaning, we should be asking: "What's the story that's unfolding here and why did people find it important to tell it? What was it that moved them to record these words? What was happening in the world at that time? What does this passage/story/poem/verse/book tell us about how people understood who they were and who God was at that time?" In asking these questions, Rob goes beyond the one-dimensional question of "is it true?" to reveal the Bible's authentic transformative power. Rob addresses the concerns of all those who see the Bible as God's Word but are troubled by the ethical dilemmas, errors, and inconsistencies in Scripture. With What Is the Bible?, he recaptures the Good Book's magic and reaffirms its power and inspiration to shape and inspire our lives today.
Out of Sorts Making Peace with an Evolving Faith
Published in 2015
In Out of Sorts, Sarah Bessey, award-winning blogger and author of Jesus Feminist, helps us grapple with core Christian issues using a mixture of beautiful storytelling and biblical teaching. As she candidly shares her wrestlings with core issues - such as who Jesus is, what place the Church has in our lives, how to disagree yet remain within a community, and how to love the Bible for what it is rather than what we want it to be - she teaches us how to walk courageously through our own tough questions. In the process of gently helping us sort things out, Bessey teaches us how to be as comfortable with uncertainty as we are with solid answers. And as we learn to hold questions in one hand and answers in the other, we discover new depths of faith that will remain secure even through the storms of life.
The Explicit Gospel
Published in 2012
Too few people attending church today, even those in evangelical churches, are exposed to the gospel explicitly. Sure, many will hear about Jesus, and about being good and avoiding bad, but the gospel message simply isn't there--at least not in its specificity and its fullness. Inspired by the needs of both the overchurched and the unchurched, and bolstered by the common neglect of the explicit gospel within Christianity, Matt Chandler has written this punchy treatise. He begins with the specifics of the gospel--outlining what it is and what it is not--and then switches gears to focus on the fullness of the gospel and its massive implications on both personal and cosmic levels. Recognizing our tendency to fixate on either the micro or macro aspects of the gospel, Chandler also warns us of the dangers on either side--of becoming overly individualistic or syncretistic. Here is a call to true Christianity, to know the gospel explicitly, and to unite the church on the amazing grounds of the good news of Jesus!
The Bible Tells Me So Why Defending Scripture Has Made Us Unable to Read It
Published in 2014
Christians have been defending scripture from attack for two centuries. In fact, argues Bible scholar Peter Enns, we have become so busy protecting the Bible that we are now unable to read it. In The Bible Tells Me SoThe Bible Tells Me So, Enns wants to do for the Bible what Rob Bell did for hell in Love Wins: expose Christians' fear-based contradictory beliefs and show a new way forward. Here you will find a revolutionary guide that will liberate Christians so they can truly engage with God's Word.
Searching for Sunday Loving, Leaving, and Finding the Church
Published in 2015
New York Times Searching for Sunday is about overcoming cynicism to find hope and, somewhere in between, Church.
Everybody, Always
Published in 2018
What happens when we stop avoiding difficult people and simply love everyone? In his wildly entertaining and inspiring follow-up to the New York Times bestselling phenomenon Love Does, Bob Goff takes readers on a life-altering journey into the secret of living without fear, care, constraint, or worry. The path toward the outsized, unfettered, liberated existence we all long for is found in a truth as simple to say as it is hard to do: love people, even the difficult ones, without distinction and without limits. Driven by Bob's trademark hilarious and insightful storytelling, Everybody, Always reveals the lessons Bob learned—often the hard way—about what it means to love without inhibition, insecurity, or restriction. From finding the right friends to discovering the upside of failure, Everybody, Always points the way to embodying love by doing the unexpected, the intimidating, the seemingly impossible. Whether losing his shoes while skydiving solo or befriending a Ugandan witch doctor, Bob steps into life with a no-limits embrace of others that is as infectious as it is extraordinarily ordinary. Everybody, Always reveals how we can do the same.
Dealing with Doubt
Published in 2007
Based on the culmination of a lifetime of experience in ministry, Billy Graham guides the reader through a study guide series that explores the joys, triumphs, and conflicts that you will encounter along the journey of your spiritual life.
Soul Detox Participant's Guide
Clean Living in a Contaminated World
Published in 2013
In this five-session small group bible study (DVD/digital video sold separately), pastor and best-selling author Craig Groeschel sheds light on relationships, thoughts, and behaviors that quietly compromise our well-being. Using concise teaching and honest humor, Groeschel provides a source of inspiration and encouragements for a faith-filled lifestyle that will keep you free of spiritual toxins. More than an educated, insightful look at the negative aspects of our day-to-day culture, this grace-based experience will challenge you out of complacency into a life of clean, pure, and focused living based on the standard of God's holiness. This participant's guide provides individual and group activities, between-session personal studies, and additional background material that enhances the experience of the video sessions. The Soul Detox curriculum can be used in a variety of ways - as a whole church campaign (adult congregation), adult Sunday school, small group study, or individual Bible study. Sessions include:Lethal Language: Experiencing the Power of Life-Giving Words (11:30)Scare Pollution: Unlocking the Chokehold of Fear (11:30)Radioactive Relationships: Loving Unhealthy People without Getting Sick (12:00)Septic Thoughts: Overcoming Our False Beliefs (13:00)Germ Warfare: Cleansing Our Lives of Cultural Toxins (12:00)Designed for use with the Soul Detox Video Study (sold separately).
Every Bitter Thing is Sweet
Tasting the Goodness of God in All Things
Published in 2014
In the age of fingertip access to answers and a limitless supply of ambitions, where do we find the God who was birthed in dirt and straw? Sara Hagerty found him when life stopped working for her. She found him when she was a young adult mired in spiritual busyness and when she was a new bride with doubts about whether her fledgling marriage would survive. She found him alone in the night as she cradled her longing for babies who did not come. She found him as she kissed the faces of children on another continent who had lived years without a mommy's touch. In Every Bitter Thing Is Sweet, Hagerty masterfully draws from the narrative of her life to craft a mosaic of a God who leans into broken stories. Here readers see a God who is present in every changing circumstance. Most significantly, they see a God who is present in every unchanging circumstance as well. Whatever lost expectations readers are facing - in family, career, singleness, or marriage - Every Bitter Thing Is Sweet will bring them closer to a God who longs for them to know him more. What does it look like to know God's nearness when life breaks? What does it mean to receive his life when earthly life remains barren? How can God turn the bitterness of unmet desire into new flavors of joy? With exquisite storytelling and reflection, Hagerty brings readers back to hope, back to healing, back to a place that God is holding for them alone - a place where the unseen is more real than what the eye can perceive. A place where every bitter thing is sweet.
Girl, Wash Your Face
Published in 2018
With wry wit and hard-earned wisdom, popular online personality and founder of TheChicSite.com founder Rachel Hollis helps readers break free from the lies keeping them from the joy-filled and exuberant life they are meant to have. Founder of the lifestyle website TheChicSite.com and CEO of her own media company, Chic Media, Rachel Hollis has created an online fan base of hundreds of thousands of fans by sharing tips for living a better life while fearlessly revealing the messiness of her own. Now comes her highly anticipated first book featuring her signature combination of honesty, humor, and direct, no-nonsense advice. Each chapter of Girl, Wash Your Face begins with a specific lie Hollis once believed that left her feeling overwhelmed, unworthy, or ready to give up. As a working mother, a former foster parent, and a woman who has dealt with insecurities about her body and relationships, she speaks with the insight and kindness of a BFF, helping women unpack the limiting mind-sets that destroy their self-confidence and keep them from moving forward. From her temporary obsession with marrying Matt Damon to a daydream involving hypnotic iguanas to her son's request that she buy a necklace to "be like the other moms," Hollis holds nothing back. With unflinching faith and tenacity, Hollis spurs other women to live with passion and hustle and to awaken their slumbering goals.
Not a Fan Becoming a Completely Committed Follower of Jesus
Published in 2011
This book challenges you to consider what it really means to call yourself a Christian. With a direct frankness that you're not likely to hear in Sunday school class, the author invites you to take an honest look at your relationship with Jesus. His call to follow may seem radical to us, but Jesus desires it for every believer. --from back cover.
Mere Christianity
Published in 2009
One of the most popular and beloved introductions to the concept of faith ever written, Mere ChristianityMere Christianity provides an unequalled opportunity for believers and nonbelievers alike to absorb a powerful, rational case for the Christian faith.
The Screwtape Letters
Published in 2009
A milestone in the history of popular theology, The Screwtape LettersThe Screwtape Letters is a timeless classic on spiritual conflict and the psychology of temptation which are part of our religious experience.
Follow Me a Call to Die, a Call to Live
Published in 2013
2014 "Christian Retailing's Best" award winner! What did Jesus really mean when he said, "Follow Me"? In this new book, David Platt, author of the New York Times bestselling book, Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream, contends that multitudes of people around the world culturally think they are Christians yet biblically are not followers of Christ. Scores of men, women, and children have been told that becoming a follower of Jesus simply involves believing certain truths or saying certain words. As a result, churches today are filled with people who believe they are Christians . . . but aren't. We want to be disciples as long as doing so does not intrude on our lifestyles, our preferences, our comforts, and even our religion. Revealing a biblical picture of what it means to truly be a Christian, Follow Me explores the gravity of what we must forsake in this world, as well as the indescribable joy and deep satisfaction to be found when we live for Christ. The call to follow Jesus is not simply an invitation to pray a prayer; it's a summons to lose your life-and to find new life in him. This book will show you what such life actually looks like.
Radical Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream
Published in 2010
Examines the ways in which the gospel is contradicted by the American dream and challenges Christians to join in a one-year experiment in authentic discipleship that promises spiritual transformation through the word of God.
The Case for Christ
A Journalist's Personal Investigation of the Evidence for Jesus
Published in 2016
Is there credible evidence that Jesus of Nazareth really is the Son of God? Retracing his own spiritual journey from atheism to faith, Lee Strobel, former legal editor of the Chicago Tribune, cross-examines a dozen experts with doctorates from schools like Cambridge, Princeton, and Brandeis who are recognized authorities in their own fields. Strobel challenges them with questions like, How reliable is the New Testament? Does evidence for Jesus exist outside the Bible? Is there any reason to believe the resurrection was an actual event? Winner of the Gold Medallion Book Award and twice nominated for the Christian Book of the Year Award, Strobel's tough, point-blank questions read like a captivating, fast-paced novel. But it's not fiction. It's a riveting quest for the truth about history's most compelling figure. The new edition includes scores of revisions and additions, including updated material on archaeological and manuscript discoveries, fresh recommendations for further study, and an interview with the author that tells dramatic stories about the book's impact, provides behind-the-scenes information, and responds to critiques of the book by skeptics. As The Case for Christ and its ancillary resources approach 10 million copies in print, this updated edition will prove even more valuable to contemporary readers.
Leaving Church
A Memoir of Faith
Published in 2009
By now I expected to be a seasoned parish minister, wearing black clergy shirts grown gray from frequent washing. I expected to love the children who hung on my legs after Sunday morning services until they grew up and had children of their own. I even expected to be buried wearing the same red vestments in which I was ordained.Leaving Church will remind even the most skeptical among us that life is about both disappointment and hope -- and ultimately, renewal.
The Purpose-driven Life What on Earth Am I Here For?
Published in 2012
This book will help you understand why you are alive and God's amazing plan for you--both here and now, and for eternity.
None Like Him
10 Ways God is Different from Us (and Why That's a Good Thing)
Published in 2016
Human beings were created to reflect the image of God - but only to a limited extent. Although we share important attributes with God (love, mercy, compassion, etc.), there are other qualities that only God possesses, such as unlimited power, knowledge, and authority. At the root of all sin is our rebellious desire to be like God in such ways - a desire that first manifested itself in the garden of Eden. In None Like Him, Jen Wilkin leads us on a journey to discover ten ways God is different from us - and why that's a good thing. In the process, she highlights the joy of seeing our limited selves in relation to a limitless God, and how such a realization frees us from striving to be more than we were created to be.