Showing results by narrator "Van Tracy" in All Categories

Prayer can sometimes be a frightening thing. How do you approach the maker of the world, and what exactly can you pray for? In this student adaptation of The Circle Maker, Pastor Mark Batterson uses the true legend of Honi the circle maker, a first-century Jewish sage whose bold prayer saved a generation, to uncover the boldness God asks of us at times and what powerful prayer can mean in your life.

Texas governor and rising star in the Republican Party - one of the first prominent politicians to govern from a wheelchair since Franklin D. Roosevelt - Governor Greg Abbott pens his deeply personal and inspiring life story and proposes a plan to restore America to greatness in what Newt Gingrich calls a "bold and compelling" read. Texas Governor Greg Abbott lost his ability to walk when a huge oak tree crashed down on his back, fracturing vertebrae into his spinal cord, leaving him forever paralyzed.

At some point in our lives, we all find ourselves in a boat in the middle of a lake. We might be there due to a job loss or the death of a loved one. Maybe disability, divorce, or financial insecurity has stranded us. Patrick and Ruth Schwenk found themselves feeling battered after five miscarriages and then surrounded by the waves with Patrick’s cancer diagnosis at age 43. They were alone. Drifting. And that’s when their transformation began.

For many Christians who've tried their hands at evangelism or have had to defend their faith, it can feel like doing PR work for God—limiting ourselves to a series of strategies and tactics. In The Faithful Apologist, Scott Oliphint provides a foundation for Christians to explain their faith in a welcoming manner that avoids any burden to "sell" Christianity to non-Christians. Drawing as much from the rich tradition of Western apologetics as from the wisdom of effective communication, this book bridges the gap between sharing the truth of our faith and the art of persuasion.

It's easy to feel paralyzed by uncertainty. We want our questions answered, our decisions affirmed, and our plans applauded. But life doesn't come with an instruction manual and rarely follows a straight path. How would your life change if you learned to lean into uncertainty instead of waiting on the sidelines for just the right moment or opportunity?

Blessed by the Blood is an insightful and in-depth study of what the blood of Christ means in our lives today. Samuel M. Ebenezer explains and expounds on the significance of the blood of Jesus before, during, and after the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. Each of the 30 revelations gives thoughtful reflections on how the sacrifice of Jesus’ blood represented the fulfillment of the Old Covenant and ushered in the New Covenant.

Being a misfit does not disqualify you from a dynamic life - it prepares you for it.Matthew Barnett knows a thing or two about misfits. As founder of the Dream Center in Los Angeles, a 24-hour church that ministers to 35,000 hurting people a week, Barnett has seen a little of everything. Gangsters, addicts, orphans, taggers, cutters, the sick, the suffering, the hopeless . . . all the misfits of the world come through the church's doors in search of hope.

What can the military teach all of us about success? Plenty. Col. Mark Bender's Operation Excellence shows how to harness the success strategies of the US Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps and apply them to every facet of our lives: wealth and success, business and leadership, health and well-being, personal relationships, and more.

In Solving Your Money Problems, Pastor David Crank simplifies the scary and unleashes the new of way of thinking about money. Teaching the nuts and bolts of finances, he outlines easy and accessible ways to budget, eliminate debt, increase savings, and give generously.

Following a deadly car crash, small-town lawyer Lance Cooper risked everything to battle one of the most powerful auto corporations in the world to get justice for a young woman. A fast-paced, journalistic account of tragedy turned to triumph, despair to hope, Cobalt Cover-Up is an inspirational, thoroughly compelling, and victorious listen.

Moral evaluation must be based on more than our subjective feelings or the received wisdom or majority opinion of our community. But thinking objectively and reasonably about our ethical commitments is a process that's rarely taught in contemporary education or even in churches. Ethics Beyond Rules is a clear and accessible introduction for thoughtful Christians who want to lead moral lives - who want to define their moral code by firm biblical standards while acknowledging the complex nature of the issues at hand.

Evolving from the premise that customers have always behaved more like cats than Pavlov's dogs, Waiting for Your Cat to Bark? examines how emerging media have undermined the effectiveness of prevailing mass marketing models. At the same time, emerging media have created an unprecedented opportunity for businesses to redefine how they communicate with customers by leveraging the power of increasingly interconnected media channels.

Your past is not your past if it’s still impacting your present. Do you ever feel as though your life has become a broken record? You’re hearing the same song play over and over again? Nearly every human being on earth has likely spent some time on the carousel of pain. Whether you’re dealing with the guilt and regret of your own sinful choices, or you’re sitting in the shame of someone else’s deceitful actions, God wants to bring you healing.

Let God guide you in thinking, acting, and becoming like Jesus through these 365 powerful devotions. Randy and Rozanne Frazee walk you through the key beliefs, practices, and virtues of the Christian faith and help you along the journey to renew your mind, practice your faith, and be transformed - to live more like Jesus. This devotional is a great standalone devotional or a wonderful companion to the Believe campaign.

The evangelical church is home to many who claim to follow Christ but who show little evidence of a truly transformed life. Todd Wilson's Real Christian: Bearing the Marks of Authentic Faith biblically defines what it means to be a true Christian, calling listeners to look at their own lives and diagnose where they aren't living authentically for God.With a prophetic voice, Wilson looks at how we deceive ourselves into thinking we are really living for God through believing the right things or doing lots of spiritual activities.

Halfway is no way to live. Quit holding back. Quit holding out. It's time to go all in and all out for God. The good news is this: If you don't hold out on God, God won't hold out on you. If you give everything you have to follow Jesus, you'll receive amazing spiritual rewards. But this reality also comes with a deeper truth: Nothing belongs to you. Not even you. In All In: Student Edition, Mark and Parker Batterson explore what going all in can mean for your life, sharing unique illustrations and unforgettable stories, as well as compelling accounts of biblical characters.

Despite high-minded ideals, temptation always seems to loom around the corner, threatening to derail us into a desperate world of secret behavior and covered-up indiscretions. From families to marriages to businesses, on a scale as global as the credit default swap meltdown or as personal as our last session on the Internet, we are suckers for bad ideas.Why do we so often make poor decisions that can lead to life-shattering results? Why do we promise ourselves to do better only to slide back into our old habits?

Cut costs - it's a common corporate refrain. But if you constantly slash expenditures, what happens to innovation? How can you stay competitive and satisfy customers? Costovation solves the dilemma of how to spend less and innovate more. The book's revolutionary approach broadens the definition of innovation beyond products to the business model itself. With costovation, you let go of assumptions, take a fresh look at the market, and relentlessly focus on what customers really want.

Trying to discover where ultimate truth really begins and ends - if it even exists - can be brutal work. Getting support from someone who has struggled with the same issues is invaluable. In A Man Who Told Us the Truth, author Will Davis Jr. wrestles with questions of truth and spiritual realities, offering a bridge between spiritually inquisitive people and the person of Jesus Christ. Written in a language that seekers and the nonreligious will understand, this remarkable book asks the hard questions about faith.

The Covid crisis has been a proving ground of sorts for business leaders, forcing them to adapt to new realities and unprecedented uncertainty. Leading through it has often been painful, but it’s also produced valuable lessons about rallying employees, navigating global pressures, and finding opportunity amid hardship. Leadership in Crisis profiles leaders of a range of business from auto giants like Telsa and General Motors to Moderna, the upstart that developed a Covid-19 vaccine, to a small grocery store in North Carolina.