The Peacemaker: A Biblical Guide to Resolving Personal Conflict
by Ken Sande
from Baker Books
Jesus said, "Blessed are the peacemakers." But it often seems like conflict and disagreement are unavoidable. Serious, divisive conflict is everywhere-within families, in the church, and out in the world. And it can seem impossible to overcome its negative force in our lives. In The Peacemaker, Ken Sande presents a comprehensive and practical theology for conflict resolution designed to bring about not only a cease-fire but also unity and harmony. Sande takes readers beyond resolving conflicts to true, life-changing reconciliation with family members, coworkers, and fellow believers. Biblically based, The Peacemaker is full of godly wisdom and useful suggestions that are easily applied to any relationship needing reconciliation. Sande's years of experience as an attorney and as president of Peacemaker Ministries will strengthen readers' confidence as they stand in the gap as peacemakers.
Preparing for Marriage: A Complete Guide to Help You Discover God's Plan for a Lifetime of Love
by David Boehi
from Regal Books
Healing for Damaged Emotions (Personal Growth Bookshelf)
by David A. Seamands
from Chariot Victor Publishing
A realistic, Bible-based approach to dealing with the painful past. With over 1,000,000 copies sold, it has helped hundreds of thousands of readers deal successfully with their inner hurts.
Richard J. Foster's Study Guide for "Celebration of Discipline"
by Richard J. Foster
from HarperOne
Brief, incisive essays clarify key issues raised in Celebration of Discipline and encourage a fuller understanding and practice of the spiritual disciplines.
The Heart of the Artist
by Rory Noland
from Zondervan
This book explores issues of character facing Christian artists who want to use their gifts more effectively in church ministry.
The Gift of Being Yourself: The Sacred Call to Self-Discovery
by David G. Benner
from InterVarsity Press
Recipient of the Award of Merit in the Personal Growth/Individual Category of The Word Guild 2005 Canadian Christian Writing Awards!A Formatio book. "Grant, Lord, that I may know myself that I may know thee." AugustineMuch is said in Christian circles about knowing God. But Christians throughout the ages have agreed that there cannot be deep knowledge of God without deep knowledge of the self. Discerning your true self is inextricably related to discerning God's purposes for you. Paradoxically, the more you become like Christ, the more you become authentically yourself.In this profound exploration of Christian identity, psychologist and spiritual director David G. Benner illuminates the spirituality of self-discovery. He exposes the false selves that you may hide behind and calls you to discover the true self that emerges from your uniqueness in Christ. Freeing you from illusions about yourself, Benner shows that self-understanding leads to the fulfillment of your God-given destiny and vocation. "Christian spirituality," writes Benner, "involves a transformation of the self that occurs only when God and self are both deeply known." The self is not God, but it is the place where you meet God. Genuine self-knowledge revitalizes your spiritual life and opens the door to becoming who God has created you to be. Rest assured, you need not try to be someone you are not. But you will deepen your experience of God through discovering the gift of being yourself.
Spiritual Formation as if the Church Mattered: Growing in Christ through Community
by James C. Wilhoit
from Baker Academic
The yearning and restlessness of our souls drive us toward God. This hunger and homesickness is the beginning of spiritual formation, according to James C. Wilhoit. In Spiritual Formation as if the Church Mattered, Wilhoit takes a unique approach to the topic. Whereas most books focus on the individual's spiritual transformation, this one intentionally concentrates on how the local church itself is the seedbed of spiritual growth and how the process is a community effort. This book's short chapters, sidebar material, and concluding prayers fit well with readers' busy lives without sacrificing quality and depth of content.
Addictions: A Banquet in the Grave : Finding Hope in the Power of the Gospel (Resources for Changing Lives)
by Edward T. Welch
from P & R Publishing
A worship disorder: this is how Edward T. Welch views addictions. "Will we worship our own desires or will we worship the true God?" With this lens the author discovers far more in Scripture on addictions than passages on drunkenness. There we learn the addict's true condition: like guests at a banquet thrown by "the woman Folly," he is already in the grave (Proverbs 9:13-18). Can we not escape our addictions? If we're willing to follow Jesus, the author says that we have "immense hope: hope in God's forgiving grace, hope in God's love that is faithful even when we are not, and hope that God can give power so that we are no longer mastered by the addiction." Each chapter concludes with "Practical Theology," "As Your Face Your Own Addictions," and "As You Help Someone Else."
Generation to Generation: Family Process in Church and Synagogue
by Edwin H. Friedman
from The Guilford Press
Friedman compares the emotional processes at work within individual families to those in church and synagogue, suggesting that clergy can often do more to help families by the way they lead their congregations than they can through specific counseling interventions. Specific topics examined in depth include leadership through self-differentiation, managing separations in families and in congregations, and the influence of previous generations upon life cycle events. The power of the family model is clearly demonstrated in numerous examples drawn from Friedman's own extensive experience as a rabbi and practicing family therapist and from many other rabbis, priests, nuns, and ministers with whom he worked.
Both clergy and lay leaders will find that this book directly addresses the dilemmas and crises they encounter daily, while family therapists and other helping professionals may wish to recommend it to students and clients as a lucid introduction to family processes.
Seeing With New Eyes: Counseling and the Human Condition Through the Lens of Scripture (Resources for Changing Lives)
by David Powlison
from P & R Publishing
"When our gaze awakens to the gaze of God, we have started to see. Seeing clearly, we can love well."
Seeing with New Eyes is collection of essays written over almost twenty years by a respected biblical counselor. David Powlison's articles are Bible exposition, topical essay, editorial, and sermon. All of them show God's gracious self-revelation in Jesus Christ and Scripture.
"We learn to see how God sees," writes Powlison. "Learning the gaze of God, we come to weigh life aright. We discern good and evil, fair and foul, lovely and degraded. We become able to pry apart true from false, instead of living in a murk of half-truths and flat lies."
This book explores two main topics.
- Scripture: God's voice speaks into real life to reveal the gaze and intentions of the Christ who pursues us. How do we embrace, probe, and unravel Scripture?
- Understanding people amid their real life struggles: How do we embrace, probe, and unravel the problems of daily life?
We learn how to see many of life's struggles through the lens of Scripture, including
- Worry
- Victimization
- Love languages
- Biological Psychiatry
Powlison encourages readers to "think Christianly" by thinking God's thoughts after him. He asks, "Does God have a take on counseling? Of course, yes, amen." This book seeks to listen, look, and think hard within the patterns of God's gaze.
God has the real take on things. And God teaches us his gaze!
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