I Love Jesus, But I Want to Die


Book Description

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.




Suffering and the Heart of God


Book Description

She's seen slave dungeons in Ghana. Genocide in Rwanda. Systemic sexual abuse in Brazil. Child abuse and domestic violence in the US. After forty years of counseling abuse survivors around the world, Dr. Diane Langberg, a world renowned trauma expert, remains certain that what trauma destroys, Christ can and does restore. This book will convince you, too, of the healing heart of God. But it's not a fast process, instead much patience is required from family, friends, and counselors as they wisely and respectfully help victims unpack their traumatic suffering through talking, tears, and time. And it's not a process that can be separated from the work of God in both a counselor and counselee. Dr. Langberg calls all of those who wish to help sufferers to model Jesus's sacrificial love and care in how they listen, love, and guide. The heart of God is revealed to sufferers as they grow to understand the cross of Christ and how their God came to this earth and experienced such severe suffering that he too is "well-acquainted with grief." The cross of Christ is the lens that transforms and redeems traumatic suffering and its aftermath, not only for the sufferer, but it also transforms those who walk with the suffering. This book will be a great help to anyone who loves, listens to, and seeks to help someone impacted by trauma and abuse. There is no quick fix, but there is the hope for healing through the love of God in Christ.




It's Not Supposed to Be This Way


Book Description

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER What do you do when God’s timing seems questionable, his lack of intervention hurtful, and his promises doubtful? Lysa TerKeurst unveils her heart amid shattering circumstances, inviting you to live assured when life doesn't turn out like you expected. Life often looks so very different than we hoped or expected. Some events may simply catch us off guard for a season, but others shatter us completely. We feel disappointed and disillusioned at best and overwhelmed and hopeless at worst. We quietly start to wonder about the reality of God’s goodness and why he allows us to suffer and experience grief and loss. Lysa TerKeurst understands this deeply. But after many tears, godly counseling, and prayerful seeking, she's also discovered that our disappointments can be the divine appointments our souls need to radically encounter God. In It's Not Supposed to Be This Way, Lysa invites us into her own journey of faith and, with grit, vulnerability, and honest humor, helps us to: Stop being pulled into the anxiety of disappointment by discovering how to better process unmet expectations and other painful situations. Train ourselves to recognize the three strategies of the enemy, so we can stand strong and persevere through unsettling relationships and uncertain outcomes. Discover the secret of being steadfast and not panicking when God actually does give us more than we can handle. Shift our suspicion that God is cruel or unfair to the biblical assurance that God is protecting and preparing us. Know how to encourage a friend and help her navigate hard realities with real help from God's truth, the Bible. Look for additional biblically based resources and devotionals from Lysa: Good Boundaries and Goodbyes Forgiving What You Can't Forget Uninvited You're Going to Make It Embraced Seeing Beautiful Again




The Prayer That Turns the World Upside Down


Book Description

“Our Father, who art in heaven….” The opening words of the Lord’s Prayer have become so familiar that we often speak them without a thought, sometimes without any awareness that we are speaking at all. But to the disciples who first heard these words from Jesus, the prayer was a thunderbolt, a radical new way to pray that changed them and the course of history. Far from a safe series of comforting words, the Lord’s Prayer makes extraordinary claims, topples every earthly power, and announces God’s reign over all things in heaven and on earth. In this groundbreaking new book, R. Albert Mohler Jr. recaptures the urgency and transformational nature of the prayer, revealing once again its remarkable, world-upending power. Step by step, phrase by phrase, The Prayer That Turns the World Upside Down explains what these words mean and how we are to pray them. The Lord’s Prayer is the most powerful prayer in the Bible, taught by Jesus to those closest to him. We desperately need to relearn its power and practice. The Prayer That Turns the World Upside Down shows us how.




Finding Hope in Crisis


Book Description

Enjoy having 90 daily devotions to find hope in crisis using Scripture, prayer, and practical applications. Start your journey to hope and healing today. A diagnosis. Death of a loved one. A layoff. A broken relationship. Life changes in a nanosecond when storms sweep in, often without warning. With minds barely able to think clearly, we often set our Bible aside. However, in reality, that’s when we need its comfort and strength most. This devotional is written for those longing for hope, but are lacking the ability to focus on a lengthy Scripture passage. Enjoy having a devotional that will help you:Tap into inner strength and wisdom with short reflectionsMake the best of your day without shame or guilt, using encouragement from God’s WordFind comfort in routine in meeting with the Lord dailyEasy-to-Use Format for Even the Busiest People This Christian book contains 90 devotions. Each day’s entry follows a simple pattern:Key VersePause (short devotion)Ponder (application question or action step)Pray (short prayer)Relevant quoteKey Benefits Whether this is for you, a loved one, a friend at church, neighbor, or coworker, this book is for those who are in crisis. Crisis looks different for everyone. For some, it means facing the fallout of betrayal or divorce. For others, it means a cancer diagnosis, the death of a loved one, experiencing job loss or home foreclosure, or watching an adult child make choices that carry lifelong consequences. Some would say that hitting a relationship roadblock with a friend or family member constitutes crisis, while others would say it’s losing their family pet. Regardless, their greatest need is hope. They need reassurance that God’s love will never let them go, His presence will never leave them, and His strength will carry them through. Finding Hope in Crisis addresses these needs as follows:Its overall message directs their minds to God’s character and promises. These bite-sized bits of truth will feed their soul and give them the strength and encouragement needed for that day.Its devotions are short enough to read and keep their focus even when their minds are on overload.Its relevant quotes reinforce the day’s teaching to help them remember that particular truth.










I Want God


Book Description

I Want God, now revised and updated, will help you focus on your true pursuit of God and watch Him move your soul. Lisa Whittle amplifies the solution to the heart cry of the "sick of me" life. It is in the heart of every person to want God, but life gets loud, and we forget Him. We get consumed by our problems, our desires, ourselves. We forget our first encounter with the Savior and how much we once wanted Him. But Lisa Whittle believes that if we calibrate our attention, refocusing on God determines the perspective for everything in our life: what we fight for, what we tolerate, how we make decisions, what we choose, what we love, what we chase, what we let go of, and what we are willing to change. A guidebook, a teacher, and a resource, all in one, I Want God brings rich simplicity to life-altering principles, perfect for your personal Lenten reflection. With her signature boldness and raw authenticity, author and podcast host of The Jesus Over Everything podcast, Lisa Whittle inspires with bottom line truth when we want Him and experience a soul revival, there is no limit to what we will do for Him.




The Monthly Review


Book Description