How familiar are you with the concept of keeping score? Seems like a silly question since most are very aware of scores that are kept, especially when they involve us. Would you also say that it's accurate to indicate that we are a people who appreciate fairness, exercised toward ourselves and others? It should go without saying that fairness is very important to all of us. There are many areas in this physical life where keeping score to ensure fairness would be abundantly evident. For example, a score is kept during a baseball game, or a basketball game, or a football game. Why? To fairly determine which team ultimately wins the game. In addition, a very accurate time clock is utilized to declare the winner of a race, whether it involves automobiles, swimmers, or those who are running on a track. These simple examples, and many others, should strike a familiar chord with us. Since we are flesh and blood human beings, the physical world is important to our lives. We can only deal with the things that can be seen and touched and heard and smelled and tasted. That is the world we live in, the world where our familiarity rests. However, we need to understand that we are limited by the physical world, the things we experience on a physical plane. This is the case because there is another world surrounding us that deserves even more of our attention. The most critical realm for each of us is the spiritual world, and it does surround us even though we may not always be aware of it. What I want to consider through this study is the fact that God is also keeping score. It seems obvious that there are many times when we feel cheated in this physical realm, that we have not been treated fairly. But when it comes to the spiritual realm, no one will ever be cheated or treated unfairly. And this can only occur because God is keeping score. As we shall see through the pages of this book, in a very real sense, God is the ultimate scorekeeper!

A basic training manual for anyone who wants to understand spiritual warfare principles and know how to stand against satanic attacks, this resource explains that by incorporating demon-defying principles in daily spiritual lives, Christians can move from bondage into freedom.

Four Australian thinkers come together to ask and answer the big questions, such as: What is the nature of the universe? Doesn't religion cause most of the conflict in the world? and Where do we find hope? We are introduced to the detail of different belief systems - Judaism, Christianity, Islam - and to the argument that atheism, like organised religion, has its own compelling logic. And we gain insight into the life events that led each author to their current position. Jane Caro flirted briefly with spiritual belief, inspired by 19th century literary heroines such as Elizabeth Gaskell and the Brontë sisters. Antony Lowenstein is proudly culturally, yet unconventionally, Jewish. Simon Smart is firmly and resolutely a Christian, but one who has had some of his most profound spiritual moments while surfing. Rachel Woodlock grew up in the alternative embrace of Baha'i belief but became entranced by its older parent religion, Islam. Provocative, informative and passionately argued, For God's Sake encourages us to accept religious differences but to also challenge more vigorously the beliefs that create discord.

A Year of Love Each day of this year I am challenging myself, and anyone else who will join, to love like you’ve never been hurt. Love unconditionally. Love completely. Love forgivingly. What if when Jesus said to love your neighbor as yourself, He really meant it? Think about your neighbors, your co-workers, your in-laws and even your outlaws..... Do you love them as yourself? I would like to start with the two greatest commandments: Matt. 22:34, “Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. 35 One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: 36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” 37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” In Reality, Jesus said this: Love God & Love People Let us hold these two truths in our hearts this year and Love God with all of our heart, soul, and minds and Love others as much as we love ourselves....

Society today rejects the idea of absolute truth and is openly hostile toward God. For boys who want to be more like Christ, going through adolescence in this culture is like crossing a minefield without a map. They need parents and youth workers to engage with them early and equip them with the skills needed to thrive. Checkpoints plots a course through this enemy territory that not only steers young men toward godliness but also explains how to avoid potential pitfalls. Checkpoints honestly talks about the core issues boys face, opening a vital dialogue between fathers and sons, pastors and students. Key takeaways: Created by student pastors with 20+ years in ministry 8 lessons Written in a devotional style Guys spend just 15 minutes each day to prepare them for their small group time.

We have been seduced by half-truths and whole lies since time began. Remember the garden? In Seeing through the Lies, author and speaker Vonda Skelton humorously addresses the disappointments women experience as they search for truth while believing a lie. Each chapter opens with amusing anecdotes from real life and ends with answers and guidance straight from God's Word. Exploring topics such as pride, fear, motherhood, and the busyness of life, this book offers practical steps for peeling away the layers of deceit and finding the joy of living in real truth. Through honesty and humility, Vonda takes women on a hilarious journey through all things female and brings them to a soul-searching point of decision. Readers will identify with both the positive and negative examples of women in the Bible, and will be encouraged by Scripture, as well as quotes from notable men and women. Each chapter ends with five steps for exposing the lie and embracing the truth of God's Word.

Henri Nouwen wisely said, “The great illusion of leadership is to think that man can be led out of the desert by someone who has never been there.” Jesus has “been there” and knows how to lead us out—but first, he just may lead us in. He meets us in the desert and does his best work in us there. We look for an easier way in vain. I myself reluctantly entered the desert and eventually received unimagined gifts there—gifts I didn’t ask for, deserve, or want—gifts hidden in such painful loss that I despaired—and yet, looking back now, these “desert gifts” were the best thing that ever happened to me. I entered the desert, and years later, found my way out. It’s not a new way, it was just new to me. Jewish and Christian sages had been living it for thousands of years. Somehow, in recent generations, we managed to forget it. In this collection I mean to begin to make those riches available to you. I’m hoping that like me, you’ll discover something that you didn’t know you wanted or needed—and something now you wouldn’t give up at any price.

Growing up, Mykel Mitchell found more truth in the words of Run DMC than any preacher’s sermon. He saw more prosperity in the lives of local drug dealers than in the lives of neighborhood saints. It was only natural that he would gravitate toward hustling. Years later, when “the life” left him empty and he had nothing to lose, he gave Jesus Christ a chance—and he has never looked back. In Word, Mykel takes us on the personal, moving and at times humorous journey that helped him reconcile his faith in Christ, not only with his intellect and instincts—but with his passion for all things hip hop. In this refreshingly candid take on Church doctrine, he addresses questions like: “Why does God need my money?” and “What’s the big deal with sex anyway?” and explains how he came to rock baggy jeans and sports jerseys right along with his platinum cross and tattered bible, without shame or apologies.

This book is for those who hunger for a healing they have yet to find. If you want to learn what is standing between you and wholeness and how to connect with the healing touch of Jesus, then this book is for you. For our loving God has both the power and the passion to make you whole.