New Release Books

Ravi Zacharias

Has Christianity Failed You? is for you if you have struggled to understand what exactly it is you believe. Acclaimed apologist Ravi Zacharias explores the hard questions about what it means to be a follower of Jesus Christ. In his landmark new book, he addresses the struggle he hears from both skeptics and Christians: Has Christianity failed us? And can irrefutable charges be brought against it by skeptics and disappointed believers alike?

Pub. Date:  July 2010
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Beth Redman

In this powerful and deeply vulnerable book, Beth Redman writes to pass along a message that changed her life - that the God who made us also understands us intimately. He hears our cries and reaches out in love to help us and fight for us. He's always at work shaping our character. And no matter what others do, He will never, ever leave or forget us. Drawing on Scripture and her own experience, Redman invites us to explore the revolutionary implications of being loved by a God who knows our name. And she invites us to call on His name as well - to respond to His heart and love Him as he loved us from the beginning.

Pub. date:  July 2010

Lisa Harper

How the Wild Side of Jesus Frees Us to Live and Love with Abandon

Through a powerful blend of storytelling and biblical insights, Lisa Harper invites you to engage with the Jesus of the gospels, a person so provocative that no one left an encounter with Him unchanged. Pharisees fumed, paralytics turned cartwheels, and pariahs found love and acceptance.
 
Come meet the Jesus who is both safe and strong—and learn how this radical Redeemer can liberate you to live and love with abandon.

Pub. Date: June 2010
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Rachel Held Evans

In Evolving in Monkey Town, Rachel Held Evans recounts her experiences growing up in Dayton, Tennessee, a town that epitomized Christian fundamentalism during the Scopes Monkey Trial of 1925. With fearless honesty, Evans describes how her faith survived her doubts and challenges readers to re-imagine Christianity in a postmodern context, where knowing all the answers isn’t as important as asking the questions.

Pub. Date:  June 2010

Kaye Dacus

Set in the early 1800s, this captivating, romantic second book of the Ransome Trilogy from author Kaye Dacus unfolds with the grace, power, and excitement of an ocean storm.

Charlotte Ransome, desperate to reach Jamaica to see her secret fiancé, disguises herself as a midshipman for a convoy led by her brother, Captain William Ransome. Meanwhile, William and his new bride, Julia, face the rough swells of the sea and of marriage as they try to adjust to life together.

When yellow fever befalls Charlotte and her identity is discovered, she begs first officer, Ned Cochran, and Julia to keep her presence and illness from her brother. But could this secret create insurmountable waves between Julia and William? And will Ned’s tender care of Charlotte change the tide of her affections forever?

This smart, engaging tale is about holding on to faith during the journey to love and be loved.

Pub. Date:  June 2010
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Tri Robinson

Cultivating and Sustaining Authentic Discipleship

Just like a fruitful tree, authentic faith is the result of careful tending, the passage of time, and good growing conditions. According to Jesus's parable of the sower, true belief takes root in good soil. But how is this truth translated into changed lives? Pastor and farmer Tri Robinson invites you to cultivate a deep and lasting faith through this insightful exploration of Jesus's parable. In a culture that seems enamored with quick fixes and superficial amusements, Rooted in Good Soil will show you a more intentional and fulfilling way to live.

Pub. Date: May 2010

Karen Kingsbury

A story of hope, heartbreak, and the search for happy endings

In Take Four, the final book in the Above the Line Series by New York Times bestselling author Karen Kingsbury, filmmakers Keith Ellison and Dayne Matthews have finally inked a deal to have the nation’s top young actor star in their current film. But the actor takes a public fall that threatens his reputation. Now the producers must act as missionaries to save the film, their families, and the young movie star.

Pub. Date:  June 2010
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Velocity Entertainment

3 CDs

The Red Letters Project is an electrifying performance of rock music based on the words of Jesus from the Book of Matthew in the New Living Translation. This dynamic, one-of-a-kind listening experience features 40 tracks—both sung and narrated. The Red Letters Project  is an excellent gift for teens, young adults, lovers of God’s Word, and music fans. A unique alternative to spoken-word audio Bibles, The Red Letters Project was produced by entertainment-industry legend Russ Regan, a committed Christian who envisions this as his legacy project.

Pub. Date:  June 2010

Dr. Gary Smalley

Too often, couples enter remarriage unaware of potential problems and unprepared for the challenges stepfamily life will bring. The Heart of Remarriage takes a unique approach to success in remarriage by going straight to the heart, helping couples heal from the inside out rather than offering surface suggestions that may change circumstances but not the lives of couples and their families.

Drs. Gary and Greg Smalley partner with remarried couple Dan and Marci Cretsinger to offer this marriage-changing idea: No matter what circumstances or challenges a remarried couple and their stepfamily face, the solution starts in their hearts. Remarried couples will learn how to examine their own hearts and heal them from the hurts of the past, so that they can be filled with God’s love and let that love overflow to their family members. The Heart of Remarriage teaches readers how to create emotional security for every family member, and offers practical ideas for connecting at the heart level with their spouse, children and stepchildren. Couples will be encouraged to keep their hearts open and challenged to leave a family legacy of love.

Pub. Date:  June 2010
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Chris Tiegreen

The Secret to Letting God Carry the Things That Weigh You Down

In his Word, God promises us freedom from worry. Wouldn’t it be nice if we actually believed him? What would happen if you took the concerns that grip you, that keep you awake at night, that clench your stomach in knots . . . and truly handed them over to his keeping?

Like no other writer can do, best-selling author Chris Tiegreen opens your eyes and heart to a better, more weightless way to live. Unburdened won’t teach you how to avoid responsibility or hide from serious issues. Neither is it about how to escape and go live on a beach—though having a couple of palm trees around never hurts. It’s about taking the burdens you currently carry and making them much, much lighter. It’s about transferring the weight of your responsibilities from the weak shoulders of your flesh to the strong fingertips of God. It’s about learning to live in deep-down, heart-level freedom. And no one who reads Unburdened will walk away unchanged.

Pub. Date:  June 2010
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Carla Stewart

It is the summer of 1958, and life in the small Texas community of Graham Camp should be simple and carefree. But not for twelve-year-old Sammie Tucker. Sammie has plenty of questions about her mother's "nerve" problems. About shock treatments. About whether her mother loves her.

When her mother commits suicide and a not-so-favorite aunt arrives, Sammie has to choose who to trust with her deepest fears: Her best friend who has an opinion about everything, the mysterious kid from California whose own troubles plague him, or her round-faced neighbor with gentle advice and strong shoulders to cry on. Then there's the elderly widower who seems nice but has his own dark past.
Trusting is one thing, but accepting the truth may be the hardest thing Sammie has ever done.

Pub. Date:  June 2010

Sharon Jaynes

Finding Your Significance Through the Women Jesus Encountered

Popular speaker, teacher, and author Sharon Jaynes (more than 235,000 copies sold) reveals the stories of women in the Bible who had meaningful encounters with Jesus. With her trademark biblical perspective, Sharon spends time with Jesus’ mother, Mary, the woman at the well, Mary Magdalene, and others, and brings to life their experiences with the forgiveness, healing, and love of Jesus.

As Sharon explores how God interacted with women of the Bible, she uncovers some surprises and is excited to share the news with readers today—God has great dreams for them and continues to transform women from

    insignificant to highly esteemed
    disgraced to full of grace
    guilty to forgiven

Readers will discover God’s heart and hope for them as He lovingly exchanges their heartache, hopelessness, or shame for the beauty of wholeness.

Pub. Date:  June 2010
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Dr. Gregory L. Jantz

Gotta Have It! Is every grown-up's guide for taming the inner two-year-old. Too many people spead so much time trying to get what they want they have no energy left to get what they need. Dr. Gregg Jantz calls this phenomenon excessity - when excess becomes a "neccessity." Excessities - whether they are activities, behaviors, objects - promises protection in a difficult world. Yet they never satisfy. In Gotta Have It! readers are invited to discover the truth about themselves that is hiding behind their secret desires. With real-life stories and guided sections for self-reflection, Gotta Have It! will help readers see life as never before - and delight in the way God longs to fulfill true needs.

Pub. Date:  July 2010

Jena Morrow

An Unpolished Tale

Twenty nine years, 7 months, 14 days and the battle still rages…

Jena Morrow has an eating disorder.  It can kill her.  Jena Morrow has a Savior.  He came to give her abundant life.

This is not a polished tale of victory but an honest, true story of fragility.  Hollow recounts  Jena’s daily struggle with anorexia and the God who is able and willing to reach down into the dirt.  A central theme of Hollow is the surrender of control to Jesus Christ.  His Word is interwoven throughout the story as rebuttals to the lies that besiege those engaged in any addiction. 

In addition to her point of view, Jena includes those of her friends, family, and former therapists providing  an undercurrent of hope.

Written in an easy conversational voice, Hollow will resonate with those in the midst of a struggle and those who stand beside them. 

Pub. Date: May 2010

Angie Smith

The Sacred Dance Between Grief and Joy

In 2008, Angie Smith and her husband Todd (lead singer of the group Selah) learned through ultrasound that their fourth daughter had conditions making her “incompatible with life.” Advised to terminate the pregnancy, the Smiths chose instead to carry this child and allow room for a miracle.

That miracle came the day they met Audrey Caroline and got the chance to love her for the precious two-and-a-half hours she lived on earth. Upon receiving the original diagnosis, Angie started a blog (Bring the Rain) to keep family and friends informed of their journey. Soon, the site exploded in popularity, connecting with thousands who were either experiencing their own heartbreaking situations or simply curious about how God could carry someone through something so tragic.

I Will Carry You tells the powerful story of a parent losing her child, interwoven with the biblical story of Lazarus to help those who mourn to still have hope—to find grace and peace in the sacred dance of grief and joy.

Pub. Date:  May 2010

Ace Collins

To most making it through tough times is never financially easy. Those who got through the periods of “Great Depression” did so with grit, determination, a can-do spirit and a lot of courage. Best of all, they came out stronger too! Those who survive those challenges and come out with a solid self-concept, a loving family and grounded faith ridded themselves of spiritual and mental baggage that would have otherwise destroyed them.
 
They had a lean mind to go with a toned body. As we gaze at the hard days in front of us, it is time to look back on some time-tested examples of those who thrived in tough times as well as those whose mental baggage caused them to crash and burn.
 
The lessons in this book involve not as much what each of us can add to insure survival, but what we can shed from our minds to keep out spirits high and our attitudes on an even keel.
 
In trying times or even when things are great a fit, lean, positive mind is the key to being happy.

Pub. Date:  May 2010
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Jonathan Acuff

Using the same humor and honesty that galvanized more than a million online readers from more than 200 countries, blogger Jonathan Acuff brings his insightful take on Christianity to the book world with Stuff Christians Like. From prayer shot blocks to Metro worship leaders, no stone is left unturned in this hilarious look at faith.

Pub. Date: March 2010

James C. Dobson

Bringing Up Boys by parenting expert and best-selling author Dr. James Dobson was, and continues to be, a runaway hit, selling more than 2 million copies to date. Now, Dr. Dobson presents his highly anticipated companion book: Bringing Up Girls. Based on extensive research, and handled with Dr. Dobson’s trademark down-to-earth approach, Bringing Up Girls will equip parents like you to face the challenges of raising your daughters to become healthy, happy, and successful women who overcome challenges specific to girls and women today and who ultimately excel in life.

Pub. Date:  April 2010
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Andy Andrews

A Story of Second Chances

A unique blend of historical fact and engaging fiction showing the power of forgiveness.

While digging up a withering wax myrtle tree beside his waterfront home on the Gulf coast, author Andy Andrews unearths a rusted metal container filled with Nazi artifacts and begins an intriguing investigation that unlocks an unspoken past that took place in his backyard . . . literally.

In 1942, as the country gears up for a full-scale commitment to WWII, German subs are dispatched to the Gulf of Mexico to sink U.S. vessels carrying goods and fuel. While taking a late-night walk, Helen Mason—widowed by war—discovers the near-lifeless body of a German sailor. Enraged at the site of Josef Landermann's uniform, Helen is prepared to leave him to die when an unusual phrase, faintly uttered, changes her mind.

Set in a period simmering with anger and suspicion The Heart Mender offers the very real chronicle of a small town preparing itself for the worst the world has to offer. As cargo from torpedoed ships begins to wash up on the beach, Josef and Helen must reconcile their pasts to create a future.

Blending his unique style of historical accuracy with unparalleled storytelling, New York Times best-selling author Andy Andrews offers a tale of war, faith, and forgiveness illuminating the one principle that frees the human spirit.

Previously released as Island of Saints.  Now includes a Reader's Guide and a Where are They Now? section.

Pub. Date:  May 2010
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Craig Groeschel

Believing in God but Living As If He Doesn't Exist

The Christian Atheist, by recovering Christian Atheist Craig Groeschel, is an honest, hard-hitting and eye-opening look into the ways people believe in God but live as if he doesn’t exist. From his own lapses in faith as a young man to the painful self-admission he had to make as an established pastor, Groeschel’s own journey will immerse you and challenge you into a deeper, Christ-filled life.

Pub. Date:  March 2010
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Mark Driscoll, Gerry Breshears

Doctrine is the word Christians use to define the truth-claims revealed in Holy Scripture. Of course there is a multitude of churches, church networks, and denominations, each with their own doctrinal statement with many points of disagreement. But while Christians disagree on a number of doctrines, there are key elements that cannot be denied by anyone claiming to be a follower of Jesus.

In Doctrine: What Christians Should Believe, Driscoll and Breshears teach thirteen of these key elements. This meaty yet readable overview of basic doctrine will help Christians clarify and articulate their beliefs in accordance with the Bible.

Pub. Date:  March 2010
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Ann Griffiths & Donna Inglis

Each of our lives is peppered with memories of people who made an impact on us – people who intentionally or unknowingly mentored us.

In A Mentor’s Fingerprint, authors, Ann Griffiths and Donna Inglis, take you into their own personal mentoring experiences, invite you to reflect on the men and women who made a difference in your life, and challenge you to think about the kind of fingerprint you are leaving.

Filled with real-life stories, guiding principles, and practical tools, this book will bring you to the realization that you are a mentor. That we are all mentors. And it will inspire, empower, and equip you to be an even more effective formal or informal mentor.

If you want to know what mentoring can do in and through your life and what it means to be used by God to affect others for eternity, A Mentor’s Fingerprint will help you get there. If you want to intentionally come alongside others and make a difference, A Mentor’s Fingerprint is for you and your friends.

Sharon Jaynes

In Becoming Spiritually Beautiful, popular author Sharon Jaynes gently shares how becoming spiritually beautiful is something full of promise and possibilities. Spiritual beauty brings new beginnings, fresh faith, and the hope of a beauty unique in the universe...the beauty of a woman who

    * overcomes lies about herself and sees the truth
    * believes that God has a good plan for her life
    * leaves the past in the past and finds peace in the present

Readers will discover that true beauty is not based on external adornments—it’s really all about what goes on inside a woman. In letting God transform their hearts, minds, wills, and emotions, women will see that knowing and loving the Lord is better than anything else.

Hannah Shah

My Desperate Flight to Freedom

Hannah Shah is an Imam’s daughter. She lived the life of a devout Muslim in a family of Pakistani Muslims in England, but behind the front door, she was a caged butterfly. For many years, her father abused her in the cellar of their home.
 
At sixteen, she discovered a plan to send her to Pakistan for an arranged marriage, and she gathered the courage to run away. Relentlessly hunted by her angry father and brothers, who were intent on executing an “honor” killing, she moved from house to house in perpetual fear to escape them.
 
Over time, she converted to Christianity and was able to live and marry as she wished.
 
Hannah found the courage to live her life free from shame, free from religious intolerance, and free from the abuse that haunted her childhood. This is a remarkable true story of how a young girl escaped a life of torture … a story you won’t forget.

Pub. Date: April 2010

Recommended by Staff
I couldn't help but mourn with Hannah over the loss of her childhood as she suffered at the hands of her father, a respected Imam in her Muslim community.  Her journey from abused daughter to a runaway to a healthy individual is amazing.  The way God worked in her life as she became His is wonderful.  She escaped torture and found true love in Jesus and her future husband! ~~ Denise

Pete Wilson

What Do You Do When God Doesn't Show Up the Way You Thought He Would?

Learn how God often does His best work in our most hopeless situations.

What do you do with a shattered dream? Or an unmet expectation? What do you do when your life isn't turning out the way you thought it would? What do you do when you have to turn to Plan B?

In Plan B pastor and author Pete Wilson uses real life stories of disappointments and hurts along with the biblical stories of men and women like David, Joseph, and Ruth to help readers come to grips with the truth that they will face situations that in themselves they are completely unable to handle but that in them God is simply trying to get them to surrender their plans so that they can receive His. He identifies our common responses to difficulties and offers hope, helping us to

    Understand what God might be up to
    See how surrender helps us to receive God's plan
    Embrace the community of believers
    Reconcile a God of love with a life of tragedy and suffering

Wilson points readers to the cross as not just the starting line but the centerpiece of our story with God and shares that it is there we turn in our Plan B and find the undeniable relationship between crisis and our hope followed by true spiritual transformation. "God wants to live inside the questions" says Wilson and then reminds us that "the cross is proof that He does not always change the circumstance but that He always has a purpose in every circumstance. He will never let go of us. He will hold us and His cross will be an anchor for us."



Pub. Date:  May 2010

Shane Stanford

Living with HIV as a Pastor, Husband, and Father

“More than anything, I wanted my life to matter …”
 
When Shane Stanford discovered he was HIV positive twenty years ago, he knew he had a choice: he could feel sorry for himself, or he could live as faith-fully and boldly as possible.
 
In A Positive Life, Shane offers nine basic yet powerful lessons for living well, all found within the life and ministry of Jesus. As Shane has discovered, even a difficult road offers glimpses of grace. Choosing how to live out that grace is the key to making life matter—and to being more alive than ever before.
 
“The positive life is not about achieving but about becoming. To understand this is to understand the whole journey.” At the age of sixteen, Shane Stanford contracted HIV from procedures used to treat hemophilia. But through the grace of God, he turned a positive diagnosis into an opportunity for positive living.
 
In this powerful mosaic of story, biblical insight, and spiritual reflections, Shane invites you to a simpler, more contented life as you live, laugh, and love in community as Jesus did—with an appreciation for God’s incredible adventure no matter the circumstances.
 
After all, the key to living with purpose is found not in some distant revelation but in our own story and in the stories of those around us. The daily routine that seems mundane might just hold the answers to greater joy. As Shane writes, “What we are looking for has been within our grasp all along.”
 
So discover how to treasure each day through this hope-filled account of faith, courage, and character. Shane’s hard-won words and unique perspective teach all of us about the simplicity of life’s most beautiful and enduring gifts.

Pub. Date:  April 2010
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Amy Clipston

In A Promise of Hope, the second installment in the Kauffman Amish Bakery series, bestselling author Amy Clipston compellingly unfolds the tensions, loves, and faith of the inhabitants of an Amish community and the family bakery that serves as an anchor point for the series.
 
When Sarah Troyer tragically loses her husband Peter, she is left to raise infant twins alone. Overwhelmed and grieving, she lives with her parents in the Amish community of Bird-in-Hand, Pennsylvania. Sarah is taken completely by surprise when a stranger arrives claiming connections to Peter’s past—Peter had told her he was an orphan with no family. From Luke, she learns her husband hid a secret life, one with ramifications that will change her own.
 
Sarah’s family, concerned for her and the future of her twins, encourages her to marry again. It should make sense … but Sarah’s heart says no. She feels trapped. Should she marry a man she doesn’t love? Or discover if her growing interest in Luke can be trusted?
 
A Promise of Hope is filled with surprising twists that will grip you to the very last words.

Pub. Date:  April 2010
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Jay K. Payleitner

Quite a few dads spend time with their kids. However, many have no clue what their kids really need.

Enter author Jay Payleitner, veteran dad of five, who’s also struggled with how to build up his children’s lives. His 52 Things Kids Need from a Dad combines straightforward features with step-up-to-the-mark challenges men will appreciate:

    a full year’s worth of focused, doable ideas—one per week, if desired
    uncomplicated ways to be an example, like “kiss your wife in the kitchen”
    tough, frank advice, like “throw away your porn”

And, refreshingly…

    NO exhaustive (and exhausting) lists of “things you should do”
    NO criticism of dads for being men and acting like men

Dads will feel respected and empowered, and gain confidence to initiate activities that build lifelong positives into their kids. Great gift or men’s group resource!

Pub. Date: March 2010

Mosab Hassan Yousef

A Gripping Account of Terror, Betrayal, Political Intrigue, and Unthinkable Choices

Since he was a small boy, Mosab Hassan Yousef has had an inside view of the deadly terrorist group Hamas. The oldest son of Sheikh Hassan Yousef, a founding member of Hamas and its most popular leader, young Mosab assisted his father for years in his political activities while being groomed to assume his legacy, politics, status . . . and power. But everything changed when Mosab turned away from terror and violence, and embraced instead the teachings of another famous Middle East leader.

In Son of Hamas, Mosab Yousef—now called “Joseph”—reveals new information about the world’s most dangerous terrorist organization and unveils the truth about his own role, his agonizing separation from family and homeland, the dangerous decision to make his new found faith public, and his belief that the Christian mandate to “love your enemies” is the only way to peace in the Middle East.

Pub. Date: March 2010