Finding God in the Margins


Book Description

The ancient book of Ruth speaks into today's world with astonishing relevance. In four short episodes, readers encounter refugees, undocumented immigrants, poverty, hunger, women's rights, male power and privilege, discrimination, and injustice. In Finding God in the Margins, Carolyn Custis James reveals how the book of Ruth is about God, the questions that surface when life falls apart, and how God reaches into the margins and chooses two totally marginalized women who, in the eyes of the patriarchal culture, are zeros. Against the backdrop of disturbing issues in today's world, this bracing narrative puts on display a radical gospel way of living together as human beings that shouts the Kingdom of God, foreshadows Jesus' gospel, and raises the bar for men and women, then and now.




Does God Really Like Me?


Book Description

We might believe in God's love in the abstract, but we often live our lives without experiencing it in any deep or lasting way. In this warm, engaging book, pastors Cyd and Geoff Holsclaw share personal stories and simple, clear teaching from the story of Scripture that God not only likes us and wants to be with us, he also wants to work through us to bless the whole world.




The Good Dad


Book Description

It’s never too late to be a better father Jim Daly, president and CEO of Focus on the Family, is an expert in fatherhood—in part because his own "fathers" failed him so badly. His biological dad was an alcoholic. His stepfather deserted him. His foster father accused Jim of trying to kill him. All were out of Jim's life by the time he turned 13. Isn’t it odd—and reminiscent of the hand of God—that the director of the leading organization on family turned out to be a guy whose own background as a kid and son were pretty messed up? Or could it be that successful parenting is discovered not in the perfect, peaceful household but in the midst of battles and messy situations, where God must constantly be called to the scene? That is the mystery unraveled in this book. Using his own expertise, humor, and inexhaustible wealth of stories, Jim will show you that God can make you a good dad, a great dad, in spite of the way you’ve grown up and in spite of the mistakes you’ve made. Maybe even because of them. It’s not about becoming a perfect father. It’s about trying to become a better father, each and every day. It's about building relationships with your children through love, grace, patience, and fun—and helping them grow into the men and women they’re meant to be.







The Marriage Builder


Book Description

Bestselling author Larry Crabb cuts to the heart of the biblical view of marriage: the "one-flesh" relationship. He argues convincingly that the deepest needs of human personality--security and significance--ultimately cannot be satisfied by a marriage partner. We need to turn to the Lord, rather than our spouse, to satisfy our needs. This frees both partners for "soul oneness," a commitment to minister to our spouse's needs rather than manipulating them to meet our own needs. With "soul oneness" comes renewed "body oneness," where couples enjoy sexual pleasure as an expression and outgrowth of a personal relationship. The Marriage Builder also identifies three building blocks essential to constructing marriage: the grace of God, true marriage commitment, and acceptance of one's mate. Discussion questions are included to aid couples who want to dig into it and apply the principles to their own lives and marriages. The Marriage Builder is for anyone who longs to transform marriage from trial to triumph.




Sacrifice your love [electronic resource]


Book Description

Sacrifice Your Love develops the idea that sacrifice is a mode of enjoyment--that our willingness to sacrifice our desire is actually a way of pursuing it. Fradenburg considers the implications of this idea for various problems important in medieval studies today and beyond.




Art and Sacrificial Love


Book Description

This work is a profound and illuminating conversation between two Catholic artists who are also gifted writers. The setting is a house in the woods near Combermere, Canada. The two men are alone, free to explore the wellsprings of Christian art and the suffering that its creation entails. This moving discussion between the two artists and writers is not theoretical. It lays bare the anguish and the joy of a life lived in the service of an artist's vocation. Includes an eight-page art insert. "Christ and the Church ask Christian artists to be willing to suffer in order to give birth to such works. In the age of comfort and materialism, many artists draw back in revulsion from this invitation and, like the rich young man in the Gospel, turn sadly away. They fail to understand that within the mystery of suffering with Christ is hidden a great joy, and inexhaustible riches." -- Michael D. O'Brien, from Remembrance of the Future "Michael O'Brien's images arrest viewers in the here and now before propelling them into the depths of spirituality. His story recalls that of Fra Angelico--living Truth while pain




God as Sacrificial Love


Book Description

In dialogue with a range of post-enlightenment critiques of Christian theologies regarding sacrificial love, Asle Eikrem presents an unconventional systematic approach to this multi-layered and complex theological topic. From Hegel to prominent 20th century theologians, from feminist theologies to postmodern philosophers, this volume engages in a critical conversation with a host of different voices on all the classical topics in theology (creation, trinity, incarnation, atonement, sin, faith, sacraments, and eschatology), also providing a moral and socio-historical vision for Christian living. The result is a unique appraisal of the significance that the life and death of Jesus holds for the world today.




A Different Kind of Happiness


Book Description

How to Love When You Don't Feel Like Loving Everywhere we look, we see evidence that love is in short supply. Terrorists and political corruption, school shootings and troubled marriages, impatient online sniping and character assassination--all point to the fact that we do not know how to love one another as Jesus commanded and modeled. We put our own interests and happiness first, despite the fact that the greatest happiness comes through sacrificial love. In this book, Dr. Larry Crabb shows readers how to understand the deep and perfect love we are shown by our Creator and Redeemer, and how to pour that love into other people. This love is about more than being nice and serving others. It's about relating to others in such a way that they feel heard, seen, and valued. This love sacrifices and suffers and keeps loving, even when doing so is costly. This kind of love, says Crabb, is the kind worth fighting for in all of our relationships, and A Different Kind of Happiness shows how to make it a reality.




Messy Beautiful Love


Book Description

Messy Beautiful Love delivers an incredible testimony of grace that offers hope for today’s marriages and a spark for rekindling love. Love gets messy. Financial problems, sickness, aging parents, a chronically unhappy spouse . . . trials will inevitably come that threaten your marriage. No matter how long you’ve been married or how strong your relationship is, sooner or later you are going to have a mess to clean up. Messy Beautiful Love is about cleaning up messes God’s way, exchanging your ideas for His, and being prepared for both the best and the worst that marriage has to offer. When you surrender your relationship to God, then and only then will you experience the blessing of marriage as He intended. This is the blessing of obedience. Messy Beautiful Love is an invitation to that obedience. The cynical world says marriages don’t last, but God knows better. Tune out the world and tune in to Him. When you do that, a beautiful marriage is not only possible, it’s inevitable.