Random Thoughts On Life Love Laughter And Living For Jesus

This book was a long time coming. God had to take me through a lifetime of learning to prepare me for writing this book. There are three areas that He impressed upon me to write about. The first was to write about the life lessons that He has taught me. Things like how to be a better, more loving husband, how to take control of my life by planning for and accomplishing things, and how to use the gifts He has given me. The second was to make apologetics understandable. Apologetics is rationally and credibly defending the faith. I’ve has a passion for this ever since I’ve been a believer. Christianity is not just subjectively true. It’s objectively true. It is factually true and can be proven so beyond a reasonable doubt. The third was to highlight some of the lesser-known Christians and how God used them to make a difference in our world. I hope the lessons contained in this book will bless you, as they have blessed me in learning them. But even more than that, I hope they will draw you closer to Jesus.

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.

Follow God's process for growth and find hope in life's darkest moments with Bishop T.D. Jakes' uplifting stories and advice from his own faith journey. In this insightful book, #1 New York Times bestselling author T.D. Jakes wrestles with age-old questions: Why do the righteous suffer? Where is God in all the injustice? In his most personal offering yet, Bishop Jakes tells crushing stories from his own journey -- the painful experience of learning his young teenage daughter was pregnant, the agony of watching his mother succumb to Alzheimer's, and the shock and helplessness he felt when his son had a heart attack. Bishop Jakes wants to show you how God uses difficult, crushing experiences to prepare you for unexpected blessings. If you are faithful through suffering, you will be surprised by God's joy, comforted by His peace, and fulfilled with His purpose. Crushing will inspire you to have hope, even in your most difficult moments. If you trust in God and lean on Him during setbacks, He will lead you through.

"Your life isn't over." My dad says this. "I mean, YOUR life isn't over. Beyond the kids. You'll go on living, doing things. This isn't it." I know, I assure him. I have the kids. They need me. They're my life now. "OK," he replies, then grunts—more of a brief hum. He only hums when he thinks I'm full of shit. Shockingly single. Amy Biancolli's life went off script more dramatically than most after her husband of twenty years jumped off the roof of a parking garage. Left with three children, a three-story house, and a pile of knotty psychological complications, Amy realizes the flooding dishwasher, dead car battery, rapidly growing lawn, basement sump pump, and broken doorknob aren't going to fix themselves. She also realizes that "figuring shit out" means accepting the horrors that came her way, rolling with them, slogging through them, helping others through theirs, and working her way through life with love and laughter. Amy Biancolli is an author and journalist whose column appears in the Albany Times Union. Before that, Amy served as film critic for the Houston Chronicle where her reviews, published around the country, won her the 2007 Comment and Criticism Award from the Texas Associated Press Managing Editors Association. Biancolli is the author of House of Holy Fools: A Family Portrait in Six Cracked Parts, which earned her Albany Author of the Year. Amy lives in Albany, New York, with her three children.

It's Okay to Laugh with Jesus is about a God who loves to laugh because he's proud of his perfect world and loves the people he put in it. He laughs at the folly of humankind that rejects him and rewards faithfulness rather than success. He laughs at a mother as she cuddles her newborn, a baby's giggle, a father tucking a blanket under his son's chin and praying him to sleep. God laughs at the folly of humankind that rejects his love and at the devil knowing his doom is sealed. Those who laugh with Jesus enter a world of smiles and surprises. Starting the adventure costs nothing; living it costs everything. It's easy to become a Christian and difficult to live like one. Once the adventure begins, the awareness shifts from ownership to service, from selfishness to sacrifice, from world-thinking to heaven thinking. Goals change, values deepen, and variables that make no earthly sense develop eternal significance. Where did we ever get the idea that sorrow, sadness and skepticism represent the Christian religion? Not from God. He laughs with a world of people who live and die laughing all the way to heaven. When we laugh with God, the sorrows of life blend with joy; anxiety is calmed with forgiveness; and heartache balances against happiness. In a book of fun and surprises, It's Okay to Laugh with Jesus reveals how, and what, sharpens the faith that brings us closer to our God than we ever thought possible. And when we laugh with him, he knows we're getting it. What a delightful way to spend an hour, a day, a lifetime laughing with Jesus.

Why would a loving and powerful God allow so much pain and suffering? In Why Suffering? Ravi Zacharias and Vince Vitale carefully walk you through a variety of responses that considered together provide a clear, comprehensive, and convincing answer. Responses like: Where there is the possibility of love, there has to be the reality of freedom, and therefore the possibility of pain. Wishing God had made a different world is to wish yourself out of existence. The cross is the key to a compelling and rational explanation for trusting in God in the face of suffering. In comparison with other world religions, the Christian response is highly distinctive. The reality of evil only makes sense in light of the reality of divine goodness. Relational knowledge about God takes the argument beyond reason to the presence of God amidst suffering. God's decision to allow temporal suffering is understandable when viewed from an eternal perspective. Divine goodness shows how to conquer not in spite of, but even through suffering. Here is a book written with great respect for the complexity of the issue, recognizing that some who read it will be in the trenches of deep suffering themselves and others questioning the very existence of a loving God. Why Suffering? provides an answer to the problem of pain and suffering with emotional sensitivity and intellectual integrity.

Ryan and Selena Frederick were newlyweds when they landed in Switzerland to pursue Selena's dream of training horses. Neither of them knew at the time that Ryan was living out a death sentence brought on by a worsening genetic heart defect. Soon it became clear he needed major surgery that could either save his life--or result in his death on the operating table. The young couple prepared for the worst. When Ryan survived, they both realized that they still had a future together. But the near loss changed the way they saw all that would lie ahead. They would live and love fiercely, fighting for each other and for a Christ-centered marriage, every step of the way. Fierce Marriage is their story, but more than that, it is a call for married couples to put God first in their relationship, to measure everything they do and say to each other against what Christ did for them, and to see marriage not just as a relationship they should try to keep healthy but also as one worth fighting for in every situation. With the gospel as their foundation, Ryan and Selena offer hope and practical help for common struggles in marriage, including communication problems, sexual frustration, financial stress, family tension, screen-time disconnection, and unrealistic expectations.

An award-winning actress. A soldier’s wife. A cancer survivor. A college student. What these women—what all of us—have in common is a need for love: to give it, to receive it, to express its many aspects. Now Andrea Buchanan, who Cosmopolitan called the “girl power guru,” follows her first collection, Note to Self, with a new compilation of thought-provoking, illuminating, often poignant essays on love written by some of America’s most fascinating and vibrant women. Join author and cancer survivor Kelly Corrigan, describing why her most romantic fantasy now involves sitting on the sofa opening the mail; journalist Giselle Fernandez, sharing why, even though the journey can sometimes end painfully, an adventure in love should never be passed up; Afghanistan war widow Marie Tillman on learning to open her heart again after the devastating loss of her husband, Pat; celebrity stylist Tameka Raymond on the challenges of marrying the rap star Usher in the glare of the public eye; and college student Jaclyn Katz on how her “perfect” traditional family fell apart, and her mother’s brother and his partner gave her back the stability that could have been lost forever. These courageous women have portrayed their own innermost emotions and laid bare their own experiences for readers to learn from, laugh at, and lean on.

With honesty, humor, and strength Joni Parsley walks readers through the ups and downs of her life, inspiring them to "get real with God and with others and live with faith."

Using the same humor and honesty that galvanized more than a million online readers from more than 200 countries, speaker Jon Acuff brings his insightful take on Christianity to the book world with this new edition of Stuff Christians Like. Do you constantly find yourself towing the fine line between praying before certain types of meals and not others? This book is for you. Have you fallen in love on a mission trip, just to break up when you get home? This book is for you. Are you a unicorn of purity who ranks honeymoon sex slightly higher than the second coming of Christ? Guess what – this book is for you, too. It’s time to shake off Somber Christian Syndrome and embrace the quirks of being a member of God’s kingdom. This book will teach you how to: Break up with your small group Subtly find out if your new Christian friends drink beer too Recognize the shame grenade that is a Jesus Juke Avoid a prayer handholding faux pas Say something Christian-y without looking like a snake handler From prayer shot blocks to metro worship leaders, no stone is left unturned in this hilarious look at faith. “I never knew how much I needed Jesus until I found out I was judging people who use the table of contents in their Bible. This book saved me from looking like a bad Christian.” – Sister Mary Francis, Rhode Island. “It’s such a time saver to know that my Chick-fil-a from the drive-thru comes pre-blessed. I always knew I was making the right choice by choosing the Lord’s chicken.” – Dave L., South Carolina.