DIVCompelled by Love, the true story of the ministry of Heidi and Rolland Baker in the war-torn, poverty and disease-stricken country of Mozambique, chronicles twenty-seven years of ministry among the poorest people on earth. The book is based upon the beati/div

Trusted missionologist Stetzer and pastor Nation challenge readers to look at love within the context of God, the church, and the lives of individual believers. They provide a basic theological grounding and a platform for personal application of missional living--simply the calling to love others.

Deep in the heart of every believer, there is a faint whisper. A call. A prompting. We go about our business and we hear it. We see and interact with lost people each day, and the whisper echoes again: "Share your faith. Tell them about Jesus." But fear, busyness, and lack of tools or motivation silence the whisper. Another day, another year, another life passes and we haven't told anyone about the best thing that ever happened to us -- the life-changing message of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Modern-day messages of kindness and acceptance deceive us into thinking we never have to open our mouths and actually share the truth with others in love. And yet the whisper is trying to tell you that you have the key to eternity in your possession. Can you hear it? In Compelled, Dudley Rutherford shares his earnest desire for each and every believer to be equipped and bold with the good news of salvation. He encourages you with inspiring stories of men and women, young and old, who have accepted the irresistible call to share Jesus with everyone they meet. And he provides practical methods to overcome your fears and effectively articulate the message of salvation. Allow these pages to strengthen the gentle nudging in your spirit until it's too loud to ignore -- until you are compelled to tell others about the hope you've found.

This is a book for anyone who has battled a mental illness - any mental illness - or for anyone who loves someone with a mental illness. It is also a book for anyone who has struggled to understand the role of faith in his/her suffering. Blue recounts a 35-year battle with the daily despair of OCD. For the first 25 years, his Christian upbringing convinced him he had a faith issue, not a chemical one. At age 25, after realizing there was more going on than a simple lack of faith, he spent the next 10 years struggling to find the right diagnosis, doctor, and treatment plan. This journey landed him in 7 different psychiatrists offices, countless psychologists offices, and even in the mental hospital for three days. In the end, Blue finds some answers but also comes to grips with the presence of his questions. This book will engage you, encourage you, and make you think about the sometimes toxic blend between spirituality and mental illness. Excerpt from chapter 3: At its core, OCD is a quest for certainty where certainty doesn’t/can’t exist. The person who washes his hands a million times wants certainty that the deadly germs are banished from his hands, but he can never be sure. The driver who fears she has accidentally hit a pedestrian re-drives the same route over and over, looking for absolute certainty that she didn’t hit the innocent pedestrian, but there’s no way to be absolutely certain that that odd color on the sidewalk isn’t the blood of the child she just ran over who is now at the hospital or the morgue. Or the kid who is terrified he’ll be abandoned by his parents…he can never ask enough questions or stand in just the right spot to check on their early arrival so as to be completely certain that they will always come back. Uncertainty dooms the sufferer of OCD to his torture chamber. For the religious person, uncertainty will, at some point, attack his quest for peace through faith. Let’s face it: religion comes with plenty of uncertainty. Sooner or later, everyone on the quest to understand or know God will have to ask some difficult questions: Why does God allow bad things to happen to good people? Why does God allow so much suffering when he could simply zap the evil-doers? What does it mean to be saved? Unsaved? Is there such a thing as hell, and if so, how do I know that the sweet little old lady who used to live next door who wasn’t very religious but who was the kindest person I ever knew isn’t there? (See appendix for a fuller discussion of hell). My inevitable questions about the black-and-white certainties of the Christian faith caused the struggle between my internal self and my external self to rage on. Spiritual questions plagued my brain from the time I was old enough to ponder such matters, but the stakes were high in my family, where failure to see things the Right Way was not acceptable. My family’s certainty mixed with my inevitable lack of certainty created a struggle within me between intellectual honesty and family acceptance – a struggle that persists to this day. One of the certainties of my upbringing that troubled my uncertain brain was the question of hell. To make matters worse, in my early childhood, we were Southern Baptists to the core – no drinking, church on Sunday and Wednesday (and sometimes Sunday night just in case!), suits to church so Jesus could admire our wardrobes, etc. Dogmatic Christian groups are guilty of excessive certainty about countless uncertain things, like how long it took the world to be created, where the precise line is between those who are “saved” and “unsaved,” and that hell is a real place where anyone who hasn’t “accepted Jesus as his/her savior” is going. Middle-school-Southern-Baptist-Tim, who had outgrown his fear of being left by his parents, needed some new way to be petrified of abandonment and isolation. Eternal damnation seemed like just the right thing for my brain to grab ahold of.

Look at the love of God; begin to truly understand what is at the center of the church's foundation, commission, and direction; but most importantly, understand your role within the mission of God as you integrate love into all aspects of your missional calling.

Even the most desperate poverty, the most devastating illness, the most heart-wrenching grief is not beyond God's help. His love and power have no limits-and that's a message readers from all walks of life need to hear. The modern miracles that Rolland and Heidi Baker experience every day in their work with Mozambique's throwaway children, movingly chronicled in Always Enough, will inspire anyone looking for hope in the midst of suffering. The Bakers, formerly missionaries in Indonesia and Hong Kong, share how their work for the past eight years in Mozambique, one of the poorest nations on earth, has borne spiritual fruit beyond their wildest dreams. Every day presents multiple impossible needs. But in the face of everything Satan can do, as Rolland and Heidi lay down their lives and "minister to the one," there is always enough. Readers will discover that the simple practice of choosing to step out and trust God every day unleashes his provision for every need.

"Our feet will bleed, and we'll have nothing to protect us from the bitter cold," cried Lilly. "God will be with us," PG assured her. They clasped their hands and prayed as they looked up toward the cooking fires in the distant, far-flung villages of the Himalayan Mountains. Willing to do whatever was necessary, no matter what the cost, they were indeed compelled to take the gospel to the unreached people of North India. "Everyone deserves to hear that Jesus loves them at least once," whispered PG. From his life as a soldier in the Indian Army to his journey as a new Christian walking the steep, crooked paths of Himalayan villages, PG Vargis conveys his inspiring testimony in Compelled, a story of how the love of God touched one man'and changed a nation. God has a plan for all humanity, and He has a plan for you. This book will challenge you to move toward the things that touch the very heart of God. Each chapter ends with a short, scripture-based study and steps that will compel you to discover the destiny God has had for you since the beginning of time. Don't discount your God-given potential. People are waiting for the love of Christ, and you are the messenger. For Christ's love compels us...

Grace is compelling when it is allowed to make its way into every aspect of the Christian life. With our personal abandonment and absolute trust in Him, God will lead us through a journey in life that will provide us the most challenging, yet satisfying, spiritual adventure we could ever desire. This book offers just such a journey for the reader, as we venture into Gabe 's valley and discover the kingdom secrets waiting to be revealed. Make some time in your busy schedule and take a walk through the story you will read in this book. Perhaps you will discover something you have been looking for, an important kingdom secret God wants you to know.

Now a New York Times Bestseller As a college student he spent 16 days in the Pacific Ocean with five guys and a crate of canned meat. As a father he took his kids on a world tour to eat ice cream with heads of state. He made friends in Uganda, and they liked him so much he became the Ugandan consul. He pursued his wife for three years before she agreed to date him. His grades weren't good enough to get into law school, so he sat on a bench outside the Dean's office for seven days until they finally let him enroll. Bob Goff has become something of a legend, and his friends consider him the world's best-kept secret. Those same friends have long insisted he write a book. What follows are paradigm shifts, musings, and stories from one of the world's most delightfully engaging and winsome people. What fuels his impact? Love. But it's not the kind of love that stops at thoughts and feelings. Bob's love takes action. Bob believes Love Does. When Love Does, life gets interesting. Each day turns into a hilarious, whimsical, meaningful chance that makes faith simple and real. Each chapter is a story that forms a book, a life. And this is one life you don't want to miss. Light and fun, unique and profound, the lessons drawn from Bob's life and attitude just might inspire you to be secretly incredible, too. Endorsements: "If this book does not make your heart beat faster, book the next flight to Mayo Clinic " --Bill Hybels, Senior Pastor, Willow Creek Community Church, Chairman, Willow Creek Association "Bob Goff is a one-man tsunami of grace, a hurricane of love. He doesn't just talk about change, he really is change, as Love Does chronicles in such a vivid way. Yet, Love Does doesn't leave you feeling like you want to celebrate its author, it awakens a sense deep within that you, too, have an outrageous role to play in God's unfolding story or rescue and repair." --Louie Giglio, Passion Conferences/Passion City Church "An interesting and compelling story (with Young Life roots) that ends with a practical challenge and punch: 'love does' and God can use you to do it " --Denny Rydberg, President, Young Life "Every once in a while someone like Bob Goff shows up to remind us that some things matter a lot more than others. Love Does has a kind of 'north star' effect that will push you to refocus your life and energy on what is most significant. It doesn't just invite you to respond with your God-given potential, it invites you to become a part of what God can do beyond your potential." --Reggie Joiner, Founder and CEO of Orange "We liked the book a lot. Mostly, the balloons on the cover. The rest was pretty good too. Lots of stories about how God helps us." --Aedan, Asher and Skye Peterson ages 13, 12 and 9 "This may look like a book. It's not. It is an invitation to enter into the greatest adventure you have ever known--your life as it was meant to be lived. Hang on " --Michael Hyatt, Author, Platform: Get Noticed in a Noisy World, MichaelHyatt.com "Bob's ability to love people brings contagious hope and inspiration wherever he goes. The power of love showcased in this book will surely touch the hearts and souls of many people. Read Love Does and find a friend in one the world's best hidden secrets, a person who shows how love can create connection and make a difference--even across oceans." --George Tsereteli, Deputy Chairman of the Parliament of Georgia (former Russian Republic)

Analyzes the feelings and problems involved in different types of human love, including familial affection, friendship, passion, and charity.