Live Hard

A local church should be a place of true community and connection—where people belong to God and one another. But in our individualistic culture, many Christians end up struggling with social isolation and loneliness. Lacking a sense of authentic belonging within the church, some eventually stop attending or question their faith altogether. How can believers overcome these negative cultural effects and restore the biblical vision of belonging in their churches today?

Praise for Alice Crowley's writing: "I LOVED THE IMAGINATION OF THIS AUTHOR!" ~Satisfied Kindle Reader "FIVE STARS!" ~ Multiple Fans "Alice Crowley is one of our best living authors!" ~ G. Taylor The big, beautiful woman they've chosen... Her name's Bessie and she has always been told she was a healthy, plump corn-fed young woman. Now the Preacher has chosen her, to be the one to get initiated into his group of worshippers. And she consents to it. Now they are taking her, and she wants them to. They are using her as a vessel, and they have called upon the Beast in total human form, the ...

Why is suffering the common lot of all people everywhere - believers and non-believers alike - and why does it seem that the world is out of control when it comes to the problem of pain and suffering? Who’s in Charge of a World that Suffers? includes an informative and inspirational new introduction by Franklin Graham that speaks to today’s reader in the midst of painful circumstances.

the NEW Payton Sherwood Mystery Novel, sequel to EAST OF A New 2011 eBook Edition with BONUS mystery story "East Village Noir" Down-and-out East Village private eye Payton Sherwood finds himself once again at the bottom of a pig-pile of murder, lust, and greed on Manhattan's Lower East Side. By the author of EAST OF A, this is another modern-update of the classic hardboiled private eye novel. A complex, fast-paced murder mystery with a high body count. "[O]ne of the best private eye novels of recent years...fast and funny and contemporary." James Reasoner, ROUGH EDGES blogspot

Using fast and furious hit-and-run tactics, Marcus GioAvanti and mercenaries have earned a tough reputation throughout the Inner Sphere. But the Inner Sphere isn't where their newest job is taking them, because their latest employer resides in that remote and mysterious region of space known as the Periphery. Marcus and his Angels will have to face the real force behind the hostilities, the religious cult known as Word of Blake. This fanatical group has a scheme deadly enough to trap even Avanti's Angels!

PAST AND FUTURE CLASH in the final book of the globe-spanning paleontology thriller that began with Living Memory. The threat of extinction by killer organism leads to world war as national powers vie to control the powerful technology uncovered in Thailand. Samira and her team are on the run from the United States, even as a Chinese scientist mirrors their discoveries and resists her own government's demands. Will the ancient creatures they found turn the tide and save humanity before it tears itself apart?

You're strong. You're responsible. You're good. But…as day fades to dusk, you begin to feel the familiar fog of anxiety, the weight and pressure of holding it together and of longing left unmet. Good girls sometimes feel the Christian life means doing hard work with a sweet disposition. We tend to focus only on the things we can handle, our disciplined lives, and our unshakable good moods. But what would happen if we let grace pour out boundless acceptance into our worn-out hearts and undo us?

Please, God, no more hard things. Nicki Koziarz knows what it's like to whisper those words to God. She understands what it feels like to be flooded by hopelessness and hard situations, wondering if it will ever stop. Hard circumstances often stir something so destructive in a soul: doubt.

Wise and embodied, fearless and necessary, Being (Sick) Enough is both a wild awakening and a love letter to your whole self: the pains and suffering, joys and brightness, and vital connections that hold each of us as we navigate what it means to be here, like this, right now.

Finding grace in the everyday…Kara Tippetts knows the ordinary days of mothering four kids, the joy of watching her children grow . . . and the devastating reality of stage IV cancer. In The Hardest Peace, Kara doesn’t offer answers for when living is hard, but rather she asks us to join her in moving away from fear and control and toward peace and grace. Most of all, she draws us back to the God who is with us in the mundane and the suffering, and who shapes even our unmet expectations and pain into beauty.

In The Barbarous Coast, Lew Archer's pursuit of a girl who jackknifed too suddenly from high diving to high living leads him to an ex-fighter with an unexplained movie contract, a big-time gambler who died by his own knife, and finally to an answer he would rather not have known.

Learn to better understand and tolerate the people in your life who are hard to love and live with. When we learn to see the hard-to-love people through the eyes of Christ, we are able to have patience for their behavior and love them like Christ instructed us to perfectly. As we love people that are hurting, we become more like Christ every day. Make a dramatic difference in the life of others that everyone else has given up on.

When she was 7, Rayya Elias and her family fled the political conflict in their native Syria, settling in Detroit. Bullied in school and caught between the world of her traditional family and her tough American classmates, she rebelled early. Elias moved to New York City to become a musician and kept herself afloat with an uncommon talent for cutting hair. At the height of the punk movement, life on the Lower East Side was full of adventure, creative inspiration, and temptation.

Using extraordinary stories from his own life and the lives of others, Yaconelli offers a narrative journey through ways in which disappointments have turned into gifts. In this audio is a wealth of spiritual practices that will carry us deeper into the grace we find in unexpected places.

Stop Wasting Money—Start Living Smarter! Are you tired of wondering where your paycheck actually goes? Do you want to save money without feeling like you're missing out on life? Frugal for Hard Times shows you how to live well on less—without sacrificing fun, comfort, or your daily caffeine fix. This isn’t another boring finance book that tells you never to eat out again. It’s a practical, funny, and totally doable guide to saving money, shopping smarter, and taking control of your finances without feeling deprived. Inside this book, you’ll discover how to: Budget like a pro—...

Motherhood can often feel overwhelming and isolating. Your feelings swing between joy and uncertainty, intense love and anxiety, laughter and tears. Ashlee Gadd and the writers behind the popular blog Coffee + Crumbs have written a beautiful reminder of your identity. The Magic of Motherhood is a curated collection of honest stories weaving together the love, joy, and magnificent heartache of motherhood. Instead of offering advice, the writers offer something even better: their hearts. You'll listen to essays about identity, adoption, body image, miscarriage, friendship, faith, and more.

Living Faith Out Loud: Real Life, Real Struggles, and Real Growth: A Pocket Devotional for When You're Ready to Live What You Believe Are you ready to live your beliefs, even when life gets messy? Living Faith Out Loud is a powerful pocket devotional for people facing real struggles. Whether you're overwhelmed, weary, waiting, or starting over, these 10 uplifting devotionals will help you reconnect with God freshly and honestly. Each chapter features: A relatable Scripture from the New Living Translation (NLT) A short, encouraging message rooted in real-life faith A reflection activity to ...

Jesus came to seek and to save the lost, paying particular attention to the downtrodden and the poor. As followers of Jesus, Christians are called to imitate his example and reach out to those who have the least. This book offers biblical guidelines and practical strategies for reaching those on the margins of our society with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

According to Google, the phrase “I’m offended” has increased in usage by more than 5,600% in just the past century. Humans have always taken offense, but never have we been so obsessed with it. Offense stunts our conversations and divides our relationships. It infects our families, politics, entertainment, and churches. Yet few seem to be asking why or what it might be costing us. If you trace the offense deep enough, you’ll find a culture and our individual lives drowning in insecurity. For all our self-help, self-affirming, and self-esteem rhetoric, we can’t seem to overcome it.

Violent wars, harsh laws, pronounced judgments. Christianity proclaims God's goodness, yet the Bible is filled with passages that seem to paint a different picture. On the surface, such depictions can hinder our confidence in God's goodness. But when we're willing to look deeper, we discover a consistent purpose behind everything God does-and that he is greater than we could ever imagine.