Showing posts with label Christian living. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Christian living. Show all posts

Wednesday, January 6, 2016

The Comeback by Louie Giglio

Have you ever longed for a comeback? We all know what it feels like to have life disappoint us and not work out as we'd hoped. We all know what it's like to long for something different, something better, something more. The Comeback celebrates new beginnings. It offers encouragement and perspective, and it's for you if you feel frustrated or confused, if you're sorrowing or in pain, if you've made mistakes or are grieving, if you're disappointed or feel as though life doesn't make sense. The good news is that God is in the business of giving fresh starts to people. He gives hope to the hopeless. Direction to the directionless. Help to those who need help. God is always good, all the time, and God's plans will always prevail, even when our plans don't. God already knows what the solutions are. No matter what kind of disappointment or grief or pain or trouble or heartache you encounter, God always offers a new beginning, a change of heart, or a powerful spiritual turnaround. God offers the way forward, and his pathways are always good. Your current circumstances will not get the final say in your life. God is the God of the comeback, no matter what kind of challenge you're facing. And your story can become a great comeback story too.


Wednesday, December 30, 2015

Unlikely Rebel by Kelli Gotthardt

No formulas, no pat answers. Just real life. Real questions. Real transformation. Approach many women in the church and if they re being honest, they ll tell you they
try hard to keep it all together;
are frustrated that being good doesn t deliver the perfect life;
feel trapped in expectations;
make decisions based on shoulds ;
feel selfish when they say no; and
are uncertain of their place in God s kingdom.

Between the desire to please God, the need to feel valued, and the compulsion to make everyone around them happy, women often find themselves denying their desires. It s safer to stay in the life of shoulds even if it means being spiritually and emotionally disconnected.

Kelli Gotthardt knows their pain. Always considered a good girl, she threw herself into every ministry, saying yes to every request her church family made. On the outside, her life looked completely together but she was drowning in self-doubt and shame. Unlikely Rebel is the story of how Kelly slowly shed shoulds and shame, learning to love God and love who He created her to be.

The journey from the comfort of doing everything expected of a perfect pastor s wife to the uncertainty of living authentically and true to her unique calling is equal parts exhausting and exhilarating. Many Christians condemned her, responding with fear or anger to her greater intimacy with God s calling when it didn t match their own vision. For others, though, her journey inspired courage to embrace God s path for their own lives.

Now Kelli invites other women to discover God s leading in their lives, learning that if they throw off the despondency of underserved shame, abundant life awaits.

Saturday, December 19, 2015

The Super Mom Myth by Becky Kopitzke


"This book isn't about raising kids. It's about raising Moms. . ." says author, speaker, blogger, lunch packer, and sidewalk chalk artist Becky Kopitzke. In a Pinterest-perfect culture, you've likely sensed an accelerated pressure to measure up. Then you either weigh yourself down with guilt or become resigned--desensitized, even--to this so-called failure. The Supermom Myth--with humor and grace, yet all the while maintaining a firm grasp on reality--aims to empower you to become the mom God created you to be. With 8 chapters, each personifying a "dirty villain" of motherhood, including The Grouch on the Couch (Anger), Worry Woman (Fear), and The Calendar Queen (Busyness), Kopitzke offers a gentle reminder to rest in the super power of our grace-filled God.