To young Christians of the world, Pope Francis has a message for you: "Christ is alive, and he wants you to be alive!" In his fourth apostolic exhortation, Christus Vivit, Pope Francis encapsulates the work of the 2018 synod of bishops on "Young People, The Faith, and Vocational Discernment." Pope Francis has always had a special relationship with young people, and in his fatherly love for you he shows that: You can relate to young people in Scripture who made a difference You identify with the Christ who is always young You face difficult issues in the world today You yearn for the truth of the Gospel You are capable of amazing things when you respond to the Gospel You learn and grow with help from the faithful of all generations You need bold and creative youth ministry You can discover who God made you to be You are urged to pray for discernment Christus Vivit is written for and to young people, but Pope Francis also wrote it for the entire Church, because, as he says, reflecting on our young people inspires us all. "May the Holy Spirit urge you on as you run this race. The Church needs your momentum, your intuitions, your faith. We need them! And when you arrive where we have not yet reached, have the patience to wait for us."

A compassionate, shame-free guide for your darkest days “A one-of-a-kind book . . . to read for yourself or give to a struggling friend or loved one without the fear that depression and suicidal thoughts will be minimized, medicalized or over-spiritualized.”—Kay Warren, cofounder of Saddleback Church What happens when loving Jesus doesn’t cure you of depression, anxiety, or suicidal thoughts? You might be crushed by shame over your mental illness, only to be told by well-meaning Christians to “choose joy” and “pray more.” So you beg God to take away the pain, but nothing eases the ache inside. As darkness lingers and color drains from your world, you’re left wondering if God has abandoned you. You just want a way out. But there’s hope. In I Love Jesus, But I Want to Die, Sarah J. Robinson offers a healthy, practical, and shame-free guide for Christians struggling with mental illness. With unflinching honesty, Sarah shares her story of battling depression and fighting to stay alive despite toxic theology that made her afraid to seek help outside the church. Pairing her own story with scriptural insights, mental health research, and simple practices, Sarah helps you reconnect with the God who is present in our deepest anguish and discover that you are worth everything it takes to get better. Beautifully written and full of hard-won wisdom, I Love Jesus, But I Want to Die offers a path toward a rich, hope-filled life in Christ, even when healing doesn’t look like what you expect.

Taking a multi-purpose and inter-denominational approach, this is a book addressed to all Christians, who in this sceptical age, may be experiencing a religious crisis or doubts as to their commitment to Christ's teaching and Revelation. Whilst this book is written from the basis of conviction, it insists on demonstrating factual evidence. Nothing is presented which is contrary to the reason of the ordinary man or woman in arguing the basis of religious truth. With this in mind, the reader is taken through the Bible, from the book of Genesis onwards, and answers are offered for many of those difficult questions which usually arouse anxiety in the minds of the faithful from time to time. In addition, the book offers questions and discussion topics at the conclusion of each chapter. This is an ideal handbook which religious teachers and ministers of all denominations will find helpful, written by a fully-qualified scholar holding a doctorate in theological studies.

Every journey is best pursued by having an authentically wise guidebook to aid us in our understanding of (our ULR) how to wisely journey through life and reality. An authentically wise understanding (ULR understanding of life and reality) is informed both about how and why to travel, journey wisely. It is self-evident that truth and love matter to a life wisely lived, but it is not plainly evident whose explanation of life and reality (ELR) contains the very best explanation of constitutes enduring truth and authentic love. The God of the Bible said if left to ourselves, collectively we would be plagued by wars and rumors of wars, that famine and pestilent would plague our days. And we would also individually and in our intimate relationships as couples and families would find loving oneness much longed for but difficult to find and even more challengingly to sustain. Our much self-heralded humanly constructed ELRs, have not resulted in an enlightenment informed, progressively enriched existence but a reality persistently plagued by unity/chaos, clarity/confusion, peace/despair, and all life still finally ends in death. We were warned by the God of the Bible, we would come to suffer from a mind and heart condition similar to snow blindness termed reality blindness: better equipped to see analytically but yet persistently, congenitally spiritually blinded. Reality blindness is a congenital condition of humanity, a manifestation of being spiritually stillborn, if we elect to exist outside of a right standing with God. When all things are relative being equally true and false at the same time in the same relationship nothing is relevant: real gold is equal to fool’s gold, momentary lust and enduring love are equally valid emotional expressions. Humanly sourced understanding results in a form of mental, emotional hypothermia: reality began at my birth, all meaning is temporary, and in death we return to nothingness. In our various hypothermic states of existence, we numb our inevitable despair by self-medications found in drugs, sex, achievement, entertainment, etc. or some lash out with a coping strategy of hurting themselves or others. But wait! All is not lost. Our existence failure is not new nor unexpected nor unexplained. God created us with love hungry hearts only He can satisfy. God is both the great physician and ultimate parent who can both heal us spiritual today and gift us with an eternal relationship for all our tomorrows including a post-physical-death forever home. But you have to respond with a yes and to His offer of the Live Wise Solution: forgiveness and adoption. As directed by God, Live Wise is a Jesus sourced how-to guidebook for facing life and reality’s complexities and messiness with the singularly valuable wisdom and love of God only found in God’s ELRs: Jesus and the Bible. Initially God’s offer is a gift of forgiveness of our sins and an outpouring of love and peace that only need be accepted. Stop. Think. Believe. You make the call. Live Wise.

Professor John Jefferson Davis shows what's really needed for the renewal of worship in our evangelical churches. Moving far beyond the "worship wars" Davis provides profound theological analysis and fresh recommendations to help us recognize obstacles to worship and learn to rightly respond to the glory and gracious real presence of God among us in our worship.

In Like a Christ Andrew Murray presents 31 chapters a true manual of Christian life. This is an essential book for you who want to follow the footsteps of Jesus. And now I entrust the little book to the gracious care of the blessed Lord of whose glory it seeks to tell May He give us to see that there is no beauty or blessedness like that of a Christ-like life. May He teach us to believe that in union with Him the Christ-like life is indeed for us. And as each day we listen to what His Word tells us of His image, may each one of us have grace to say, "O my Father! even as Thy beloved Son lived in Thee, with Thee, for Thee on earth, even so would I also live." Andrew Murray