Learn how to face and overcome the fears we feel about loneliness, illness, financial insecurity, disappointing others, failure, insignificance, and aging “A thoughtful, literate, faith-filled guide to reclaiming our minds and our lives.”—John Ortberg, senior pastor of Menlo Church and author of I’d Like You More If You Were More Like Me You’d be hard-pressed to overstate the extent to which fear, anxiety, and worry permeate our lives today. Fear wreaks havoc on our relationships and communities. It leads us into making bad decisions. It holds us back from the very pursuits that promise fulfillment and joy. As the senior pastor of a large, diverse church in America’s heartland, Adam Hamilton has seen the cost of fear up close. When he surveyed his congregation on how fear affects them, 2,400 people responded—and what they said was eye-opening. Eighty percent admitted to living with moderate or significant levels of fear. Unafraid is Hamilton's insightful and impassioned response. Drawing on recent research, inspiring real-life examples, and fresh biblical insight, Hamilton uses a mixture of facts and faith to help readers understand and counter fears related to such outsize perils as death and illness, as well as the everyday anxieties all of us encounter. He invites us to: Face our fears with a bias of hope Examine our fears in light of the facts Attack our anxieties with action Release our cares to God Writing with generosity and intelligence, Hamilton shows how believer and unbeliever alike can develop sustaining spiritual practices and embrace Jesus’s recurring counsel: “Do not be afraid.” For anyone struggling with fear or wondering how families and communities can thrive in troubled times, Unafraid offers an informed and inspiring message full of practical solutions.

This is a new release of the original 1958 edition.

In her deeply affecting, vividly written memoir, Rosemary L. Bray describes with remarkable frankness growing up poor in Chicago in the 1960s, and her childhood shaped by welfare, the Roman Catholic Church, and the civil rights movement. Bray writes poignantly of her lasting dread of the cold and the dark that characterized her years of poverty; of her mother's extraordinary strength and resourcefulness; and of the system that miraculously enabled her mother to scrape together enough to keep the children fed and clothed. Bray's parents, held together by their ambitions for their children and painfully divided by their poverty, punctuate young Rosemary's nights with their violent fights and define her days with their struggles. This powerful, ultimately inspiring book is a moving testimony of the history Bray overcame, and the racial obstacles she continues to see in her children's way.

Just when life bloomed full of promise, multiple sclerosis attacked Jo's body. How would she cope with this erratic disease? How could she overcome her husband's betrayal? Unveiling her struggles to understand-not merely survive-MS and her painful unwanted divorce, transforming them into meaningful life experiences, author Jo Franz leads readers through her story of perseverance and continually growing faith. Not only learning who she is, but to whom she belongs, Jo finds love and triumphant victories despite abuse, abandonment and physical injury, showing the world how she can "Soar Unafraid." After reading "Soar Unafraid" I got to know another Jo-one who has been through more than I had ever known. Her deep faith, courage and perseverance are a lesson for us all. Katie Croskrey Executive Director, American Diabetes Association, San Diego, CA (former vice president, National MS Society, Orange County, CA) It's the tale of a life faithfully lived. What a vulnerable, powerful testimony In persevering and growing toward God even in difficulties and disappointments, Jo gives inspiration, pointing us toward the grace, redemption, and hope found in Christ. Gary Thomas author of "Sacred Marriage and Sacred Influence" With tender vulnerability and biblical wisdom, Jo shares her journey of physical and emotional healing. Her faith challenges and inspires me. I enthusiastically recommend this book. Sandra D. Wilson, PhD. seminary professor, spiritual director, and retired family therapist author of "Released From Shame and Into Abba's Arms"