Through a journey of joys, tears, struggle, and hopelessness, Debra Delulio Jones found herself shaking her fist in the air and screaming, God, are you nice or mean? Debra and her husband, Alan, believed they were following Gods will when they adopted Dane from an orphanage in Romania in 1991. Scars of communism left their mark on this infant, and Debra searched for many years for answers for her troubled son. She found some answers, but what she didnt expect to find was that her relationship with God was much like that of an orphaned child who didnt really trust her adopted heavenly father. Dane didnt know how to trust the love of his parents due to his early abandonment and attachment issues. In his confusion he would say, Mommy, are you nice or mean? As she learned ways to connect to her son, Debra realized a twenty year course in clinging to God paralleled her parenting journey. She came to understand that her doubts about God were rooted in fear and pain, just like her sons maladaptive behaviors. As an adoptive mother in the role of healing parent, she gained insight into knowing God as her healer through lessons she learned in her relationship with Dane. In her transparent and humorous way, Debra shares how she went from living as a spiritual orphan to a trusting daughter in her daily walk with God.

Ulrich L. Lehner reintroduces Christians to the true God—not the polite, easygoing, divine therapist who doesn’t ask much of us, but the Almighty God who is unpredictable, awe-inspiring, and demands our entire lives. Stripping away the niceties with a sling blade, Lehner shows that God is more strange and beautiful than we imagine, and wants to know and transform us in the most intimate way. With his iconoclastic new book God Is Not Nice, Lehner, one of the most promising young Catholic theologians in America, challenges the God of popular culture and many of our churches and reintroduces the God of the Bible and traditional Christianity. As Lehner writes in the book’s introduction, "We all need the vaccine of the true transforming and mysterious character of God: The God who shows up in burning bushes, speaks through donkeys, drives demons into pigs, throws Saul from his horse, and appears to St. Francis. It’s only this God who has the power to challenge us, change us, and make our lives dangerous. He sweeps us into a great adventure that will make us into different people." This book is not safe. It may startle and annoy many people—including those who purport to teach and preach the Gospel, but are missing it, according to Lehner. God Is Not Nice intends to overthrow all of our popular misconceptions about God, inviting us to ask deeper questions about the nature of our lives and our relationship with him. When you're finished with God Is Not Nice, you may find the idols you constructed in God’s name smashed, replaced with a God who will ask you to live an entirely different life full of hope and transformation. God Is Not Nice has been translated into several foreign languages.

Overly concerned about what people think of you? Edward T. Welch uncovers the spiritual dimension of people-pleasing—what the Bible calls fear of man—and points the way through a true knowledge of God, ourselves, and others.

Sheba journeyed across the desert with a caravan of riches, only to find the greatest treasure of them all—and so can you. When it comes to famous queens of the Bible, we know the good one, Queen Esther, and the bad one, Queen Jezebel. Now meet the wise one, the queen of Sheba, who traveled to Jerusalem to test the mind and heart of a king. Her quest for wisdom will surprise you, challenge you, inspire you, change you. This wealthy royal from antiquity will show you how to live boldly, seek after truth, ask the right questions, encourage others, receive graciously, and honor the Lord above all. Shedding new light on this ancient biblical role model, Liz Curtis Higgs unveils timeless wisdom for all who aspire to please the king of Kings.

Through a journey of joys, tears, struggle, and hopelessness, Debra Delulio Jones found herself shaking her fist in the air and screaming, "God, are you nice or mean?" Debra and her husband, Alan, believed they were following God's will when they adopted Dane from an orphanage in Romania in 1991. Scars of communism left their mark on this infant, and Debra searched for many years for answers for her troubled son. She found some answers, but what she didn't expect to find was that her relationship with God was much like that of an orphaned child who didn't really trust her adopted heavenly father. Dane didn't know how to trust the love of his parents due to his early abandonment and attachment issues. In his confusion he would say, "Mommy, are you nice or mean?" As she learned ways to connect to her son, Debra realized a twenty year course in clinging to God paralleled her parenting journey. She came to understand that her doubts about God were rooted in fear and pain, just like her son's maladaptive behaviors. As an adoptive mother in the role of healing parent, she gained insight into knowing God as her healer through lessons she learned in her relationship with Dane. In her transparent and humorous way, Debra shares how she went from living as a "spiritual orphan" to a trusting daughter in her daily walk with God.

Our culture is self-obsessed – in our schedules, relationships, and especially online. (Can you say selfie?) But in this near-narcissism, people are less content than in decades past. Why? Because we forgot the joy that comes from putting others first. Doing so requires us to live alert, listening for “heart drops,” hints from those in our lives who need a helping hand or a generous dose of encouragement. Living alert lifts our own spirits, showing us that blessing others blesses us even more. Listen, Love, Repeat offers biblical teaching and suggests doable actions that are simple, heart-tugging, sentimental, even sneaky and hilarious. This message: • Presents scriptural examples of those who lived alert, including Jesus, who noticed those who least expected to be seen. • Explains the role of good works for followers of Christ. They aren’t our ticket to heaven but they are our marching orders on earth. • Gives creative ideas for showing love to friends and family, and suggests practical ways to reach out to the lonely, the marginalized, the outcast, and the odd duck. Additionally, it helps you comfort the grieving, showing what you can do when you don’t know what to say. • Provides inspiration for blessing the “necessary people” in your life, those often-overlooked souls who help you get life done every day, and teaches you how to hug a porcupine by genuinely loving the hard-to-love. As we scatter love, we create a safe space where we can openly share the gospel. We get to see lives changed right before our eyes. Most importantly, Listen, Love, Repeat will enable you to live a life that is full of kind deeds, not to selfishly shout, “Hey! Look at me!” but to humbly implore, “Will you look at Him?”

Ten of the Bible’s best-known femmes fatales parade across the pages of this popular and unforgettable study with situations that sound oh-so-familiar. Women everywhere marvel at those “good girls” in Scripture–Sarah, Mary, Esther–but on most days, that’s not who they see when they look in the mirror. Most women (if they’re honest) see the selfishness of Sapphira or the deception of Delilah. They catch of glimpse of Jezebel’s take-charge pride or Eve’s disastrous disobedience. Like Bathsheba, Herodias, and the rest, today’s modern woman is surrounded by temptations, exhausted by the demands of daily living, and burdened by her own desires. So what’s a good girl to do? Learn from their lives, says beloved Bible study teacher and speaker Liz Curtis Higgs, and choose a better path. Whether they were “Bad to the Bone,” “Bad for a Season, but Not Forever” or only “Bad for a Moment,” these infamous sisters show women how not to handle the challenges of life. With her trademark humor and encouragement, Higgs combines a contemporary retelling of the stories of these “other women” in Scripture with a solid, verse-by-verse study to teach us how to avoid their tragic mistakes and joyfully embrace grace. Let these Bad Girls show you why studying the Bible has never been more fun! Includes Discussion Questions and Study Guide