Make the Connection. The change you long for is just 18 inches away! Have you ever declared in frustration that your head knows what to do but your heart won't agree? The truth is, although the head and heart are only eighteen inches from each other, most of us spend our entire lives trying to make a genuine connection between what we profess to believe in our heads and what we actually believe in our hearts. We believe that God loves us, but our hearts still cling to lies from our past—lies from society, our families and friends, and the enemy of our souls. Don't allow these voices to keep you trapped any longer. “From Your Head to Your Heart” exposes how your negative thought patterns can keep you from the future God wants for you and reveals the secrets to achieve the long-term transformation desired by many, yet missed by most. With powerful examples from the Bible and redeeming stories from the author's own testimony involving abandonment, loneliness, rejection, and drug use, this book will give you the keys to access the power in God's Word. Begin the renewing journey from your head to your heart today.Forward written by Jim Cymbala with Endorsements from Bill Hybels, Chris Hodges, Nancy Alcorn and many more.“The heart and soul of the Christian life is learning to hear God's voice and then developing the courage to do what he asks us to do. “From Your Head to Your Heart” must be added to your life and library. If leaders aren't leading with their heads and hearts, the local church will never reach its full redemptive potential. Well done Maria Durso! This book will be a lifeline for so many people.” —Bill Hybels, Founding and Senior Pastor of Willow Creek Community Church“With honesty, wisdom, and encouragement, Maria Durso helps readers draw closer to God as they seek to know him and not simple knot about Him. From Your Head to Your Heart offers biblical wisdom and practical suggestions for connecting your mind and your heart with your faith. I recommend it for anyone wanting to experience more of God's power in their lives.” —Chris Hodges, Pastor of Church of the Highlands“In my travels over the years in ministry I have seen many people who have a “head relationship” “with the Lord, but not a close personal “heart relationship” with Him. From Your Head to Your Heart explores the depths of having an intimate walk with Jesus that will transform every part of your life and bring about a whole new level of victory and freedom!” —Nancy Alcorn, Founder and President of Mercy Ministries

ARE YOU BRAIN WASHED? This question has always had a negative connotation, but within this Bible Study Guide you will learn the importance of having your brain washed! Life is full of experiences that are stored in our brains that are a filter for how we see ourselves, the world we live in, our relationship with others, and most importantly how we see God! Scientists have discovered that we actually have two brains: the brain in our heads (the cranial brain-learn and remember), and the brain in our hearts (sense and feel). According to research, the brain in the head is connected to the brain in the heart. The two brains send messages to each other through thousands of neurons and tiny filaments, but the messages don't necessarily coincide. The Bible says in Proverbs 23:7 that as a man "thinks in his heart," so is he. So, the truth in God's Word needs to work its way down (18 inches) from the brain in our head to the brain in our heart so that we can experience its life changing power. Included with the Bible Study Guide is a welcome video which you can view on MariaDurso.com. This study has been designed for individual use as well as applying it to a Small Group.Maria Durso is living proof that if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17). Having come from a childhood devastated by loss and abuse she grew up to thinking she could mask her pain with drugs. Her lifestyle could have left her hopeless and alone-yet God kept and preserved Maria's life. Understanding firsthand the effects of abandonment, loneliness and rejection, she ministers to those whose hurt lies deep in the heart and works to minister to those who need hope. Armed with discernment, insight into the true character of God, honest about her own experience, and down to earth, Maria is an intercessor, teacher and powerful speaker. In 1975, immediately following the first most important walk Maria would ever take down a church aisle Maria took her second most important walk down the aisle and married her life-long love, Michael Durso. God continues to open doors for her to minister in conferences, seminars and retreats. Connect with Maria Durso at www.mariadurso.com.This study has been designed for individual use as well as applying it to a Small Group. To assist you in your study, the Bible Study Guide includes questions entitled Thoughts from the Heart at the end of each lesson. These exercises will hopefully challenge you to study further and apply God's Word to your personal life. In addition, there are Questions for Small Group Discussion, which are formulated to get your Small Group talking about the key issues in each lesson.Let's start to take the eighteen-inch journey from your head down into the deep valley of your heart, so you can slay the giants that are defying God's promises and blocking your blessings!

Stopping the spiral of toxic thoughts. In Get Out of Your Head, a six-session video-based Bible study, Jennie inspires and equips us to transform our emotions, our outlook, and even our circumstances by taking control of our thoughts. Our enemy is determined to get in our heads to make us feel helpless, overwhelmed, and incapable of making a difference for the kingdom of God. But when we submit our minds to Christ, the promises of goodness of God flood our lives in remarkable ways. It starts in your head. And from there, the possibilities are endless. This guide serves as a tool to prepare you in leading this Get Out of Your Head study and to encourage you along the way. It helps you as the leader to effectively point your group to the overarching theme of each lesson and point them to the themes of each study. This Get Out of Your Head Leader’s Guide includes: Session-by-session helps to guide your group through the study. Walk-through for using each piece of the study: Videos, Study Guide, and Conversation Card Deck. The vision for Get Out of Your Head. Tips for leading your group, and much more. This guide is designed for use with the Get Out of Your Head Video Study (9780310116394), sold separately. Streaming video, study guide, and conversation cards also available.

“If there were a Guinness Book of World Records entry for ‘amount of times having prayed the sinner’s prayer,’ I’m pretty sure I’d be a top contender,” says pastor and author J. D. Greear. He struggled for many years to gain an assurance of salvation and eventually learned he was not alone. “Lack of assurance” is epidemic among evangelical Christians. In Stop Asking Jesus Into Your Heart, J. D. shows that faulty ways of present- ing the gospel are a leading source of the confusion. Our presentations may not be heretical, but they are sometimes misleading. The idea of “asking Jesus into your heart” or “giving your life to Jesus” often gives false assurance to those who are not saved—and keeps those who genuinely are saved from fully embracing that reality. Greear unpacks the doctrine of assurance, showing that salvation is a posture we take to the promise of God in Christ, a posture that begins at a certain point and is maintained for the rest of our lives. He also answers the tough questions about assurance: What exactly is faith? What is repentance? Why are there so many warnings that seem to imply we can lose our salvation? Such issues are handled with respect to the theological rigors they require, but Greear never loses his pastoral sensitivity or a communication technique that makes this message teachable to a wide audience from teens to adults.

The Bible reveals glorious things. And yet we often miss its power because we read it the same way we read any other book. In Reading the Bible Supernaturally, best-selling author John Piper teaches us how to read the Bible in light of its divine author. In doing so, he highlights the Bible's unique ability to reveal God to humanity in a way that informs our minds, transforms our hearts, and ignites our love. With insights into the biblical text drawn from decades of experience studying, preaching, and teaching Scripture, Piper helps us experience the transformative power of God's Word—a power that extends beyond the mere words on the page. Ultimately, Piper shows us that in the seemingly ordinary act of reading the Bible, something supernatural happens: we encounter the living God.

“Women of the Word will help all who read it to find their way deeper into the Word of God without having to be seminary educated, a genius, or even an especially good student.” —Kathy Keller We all know it’s important to study God’s Word. But sometimes it’s hard to know where to start. What’s more, a lack of time, emotionally driven approaches, and past frustrations can erode our resolve to keep growing in our knowledge of Scripture. How can we, as Christian women, keep our focus and sustain our passion when reading the Bible? With over 250,000 copies sold, Women of the Word has helped countless women with a clear and concise plan they can use every time they open their Bible. Featuring the same content as the first edition, and now with added study questions at the end of each chapter, this book equips you to engage God’s Word in a way that trains your mind and transforms your heart.

In Love Life Again, Tracie reminds readers they each get only one life to live and inspires them not to take it for granted. Through compelling personal stories and powerful insights from Scripture, she helps women identify the stumbling blocks to their joy and offers tools and insights to take back control of their happiness. Every chapter ends with a practical call to action to motivate readers to begin loving their lives again. She also offers reflection questions, prayers, and creative ideas to help readers smile. Love Life Again helps readers learn how to live the abundant lives Jesus died for them to have, despite the circumstances they may face.