Religious Personal Development

Interfaith marriages fail more often than same-faith partnerships. So what are the chances of survival for the ultimate mixed marriage - one between religious and nonreligious partners? Nearly 20 percent of Americans now self-identify as nonreligious, including millions who are married to religious believers. Despite the differences, many of these marriages succeed beautifully. In this landmark book, popular author and secular humanist Dale McGowan explores some of the stories of these unions.

In Mother to Son, Jasmine Holmes shares a series of powerful letters to her young son. These are about her journey as an African American Christian and what she wants her son to know as he grows and approaches the world as a Black man. Holmes deals head-on with issues ranging from discipleship and marriage to biblical justice. She invites us to listen as she reminds Wynn that his identity is firmly planted in the person and work of Jesus Christ, even when the topic is one as emotionally charged as race in America.

The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success was a phenomenally successful book, more than 1,600,000 copies were sold, and as copies were passed between friends and loved ones, it touched millions more lives. Its author, Deepak Chopra, received thousands of letters from fans, many of whom expressed the desire to convey those same principles to their children, along with questions about how to do so.

At the age of six, Tim Guest was taken by his mother to a commune modeled on the teachings of the notorious Indian guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh. Tim and his mother were given Sanskrit names, dressed entirely in orange, and encouraged to surrender themselves into their new family. In 1985, the movement collapsed amid allegations of mass poisonings, attempted murder, and tax evasion, and Yogesh was once again Tim. In this extraordinary memoir, Tim Guest chronicles the heartbreaking experience of being left alone on earth while his mother hunted heaven.

Tras la muerte de su padre, el comediante Mickey Fellows conoce a un misterioso personaje quien transforma su vida para siempre al surgir entre ellos un debate sobre la verdadera naturaleza del ser. En esta refrescante y novedosa perspectiva acerca de la espiritualidad, Deepak Chopra se vale de un extraordinario relato para mostrar un sendero de regreso a la esperanza, el gozo y la iluminación. A través de una parábola, el autor comparte información para lograr una conciencia espiritual, optimismo y alegría.

A 29-year-old son and only child passes. He nudges his mother to open up to spirit so she can build a new relationship with him. Letters to David unlocks a door to spirit and offers hope for parents who have suffered tragic grief. There is an immediacy and accessibility to Claudia and David's relationship that provides laughter, tears, and hope to those grieving what they see as the "end" of a relationship. Enclosed, you will find valuable tools for healing and growth. We don't die, and our loved ones remain with us forever.

After a five-year cultic misadventure in a secret "school," Friedman wrote her cautionary tale. Memoir led to research on narcissistic abuse and a recovery template for empaths. With humor and compassion, Friedman describes how the cult exploited her empathy. She interviews former members from other cults and includes research from leading experts. We learn that all cults and cons market false hope by leveraging human nature to profit from the vulnerable.

It's not just hype or hope or a spiritual cliche. It's a scientific fact: Prayer heals. Recent medical and psychological studies claim that prayer can relieve stress, improve attitudes, and mend bodies. Prayer generates peace, power, and health - a triple preventative that guards against anxiety and disease. It's a simple act that heals.

Are you suffering the effects of sexual abuse? There is a way out. In Not Marked: Finding Hope and Healing After Sexual Abuse, Mary DeMuth illuminates the way to go from shame-filled to joy-filled, from traumatized to finding enduring peace. This isn't theory. Mary has lived it. She's traveled this path and offers a uniquely qualified, insider's view of the healing process.

Taking care of a family member who is ill, disabled, or dying requires courage, strength, commitment, and love. Now Terry Hargrave, an expert in counseling and caregiving, offers you help with a devotional written with your specific needs in mind. The morning prayers and evening reflections in this book are short and to the point. Strength and Courage for Caregivers weaves together powerful stories, practical advice, and the restorative promises of Scripture, reminding caregivers that they're not alone in this important yet all too often unacknowledged and underappreciated work.

One dramatic day in her college dorm, self-injury lands a young woman in the surreal world of a psych ward for 74 hours. Those traumatic hours define her life for many years, until she comes to see the trauma through the lens of self-forgiveness, ongoing recovery, and God’s grace of revelation. Within Discovering My Scars, Stephanie Kostopoulos makes herself vulnerable and invites listeners into her reality with raw and visceral depictions of non-suicidal self-injury. The journey encapsulates life during her 20s, while stepping back to childhood, revealing abuse....

Harry Potter has captivated the imagination of millions of children. And Harry Potter has caused controversy in churches and schools. What's a parent to do with the magical, mystical world of Harry and his friends? Gina Burkart chose to read the books with her own children. As they read together, she discovered many parallels between Christian faith and the themes of these books. Indeed, the escapades of Harry Potter sparked significant conversation between Burkart and her kids.

Read by the author, this book, for one year follows her painful divorce. Denise Hildreth Jones chronicled every emotion, every new discovery, and every moment of God's unyielding presence. Flying Solo, the diary of that roller-coaster year, begins on the day Denise sat in court to hear a judge end her 13-year marriage and follows her through twelve months of soul-searching, heartbreak, and healing.

These are the faces that call me "mom", the three children who made me a mother. When I started my journey into parenthood I never thought it would look like this. I never planned on having three adopted children, and I certainly never imagined that two of them would have Down syndrome. But like most of the things God does, once we stepped into the craziness and confusion of the unknown and unplanned, we quickly realized that we were indeed among the lucky few.

A powerful, experiential journey from white cult to Black consciousness: Harrison Mooney’s riveting story of self-discovery lifts the curtain on the trauma of transracial adoption and the internalized antiblackness at the heart of the white evangelical Christian movement.

This book is my personal contribution to the Great Commission, chronicling my spiritual journey from early adolescence to a deeper understanding of salvation. As a curious child, I wondered about God and the origins of the world, inspired by my mother's guidance rooted in Proverbs 22: 6. When I was baptized in my youth, I believed I had achieved spiritual fulfillment, yet I later realized my growth had stalled because I relied solely on church services and Sunday school without engaging in personal Bible study.

Imagination, appreciation of beauty, creativity: all of these qualities have been given to us by God. For the Christian artist, the drive to create something wonderful is also a means to glorify and better understand our Lord. Using excerpts from her own works as well as those of writers who have gone before her—Emily Dickinson, Annie Dillard, C.S. Lewis, and others—poet and writer Luci Shaw proves that symbolism and metaphor provide ways for humans to experience God in new and powerful ways.

Master storyteller Zig Ziglar is an authority on character, leaving a legacy, true greatness, personal integrity, and overcoming adversity. In this new compilation, Happiness to Live By, he shares from his own life along with others who have shared encouraging experiences through the years.

Suppose knowledge of the foundational principle of mind and consciousness had been lost thousands of years ago. How would we know it? We wouldn't — until it was rediscovered. Richard L. Haight, three-time award-winning author, has uncovered and decoded an ancient principle that has lain dormant, hidden for thousands of years within Genesis, the first book of The Holy Bible.

Kate Braestrup's life was transformed by the loss of her husband; now Kate faces the possibility that she may lose her son. As a young mother, Kate Braestrup discovered the fierce protectiveness that accompanies parenthood. In the intervening years - through mourning her husband and the joy of remarriage and a blended family - Kate has absorbed the rewards and complications of that spirit. But when her eldest son joins the marines, Kate is at a crossroads.