In this lively, challenging book, Brett Hoover says that the typical young-adult loss of faith is a necessary part of maturing spirituality: faith can grow only when religion is doubted, lost, and found again in a new light. Using the metaphor of a road trip, Hoover describes the lifelong process of discovering both God and self. "Losing your religion" is just one necessary obstacle on the road to a holistic spirituality.

William Lobdell's journey of faith—and doubt—may be the most compelling spiritual memoir of our time. Lobdell became a born-again Christian in his late 20s when personal problems—including a failed marriage—drove him to his knees in prayer. As a newly minted evangelical, Lobdell—a veteran journalist—noticed that religion wasn't covered well in the mainstream media, and he prayed for the Lord to put him on the religion beat at a major newspaper. In 1998, his prayers were answered when the Los Angeles Times asked him to write about faith. Yet what happened over the next eight years was a roller-coaster of inspiration, confusion, doubt, and soul-searching as his reporting and experiences slowly chipped away at his faith. While reporting on hundreds of stories, he witnessed a disturbing gap between the tenets of various religions and the behaviors of the faithful and their leaders. He investigated religious institutions that acted less ethically than corrupt Wall St. firms. He found few differences between the morals of Christians and atheists. As this evidence piled up, he started to fear that God didn't exist. He explored every doubt, every question—until, finally, his faith collapsed. After the paper agreed to reassign him, he wrote a personal essay in the summer of 2007 that became an international sensation for its honest exploration of doubt. Losing My Religion is a book about life's deepest questions that speaks to everyone: Lobdell understands the longings and satisfactions of the faithful, as well as the unrelenting power of doubt. How he faced that power, and wrestled with it, is must reading for people of faith and nonbelievers alike.

When the challenges you've faced threaten to destroy your life, how do you find your way back to the truths you thought you believed? I Am Restored tells the untold story of how Lecrae's past nearly ruined his future--until he learned that the wounds we carry can have the potential to be unlikely guides to healing and freedom for ourselves and others. Throughout I Am Restored, Lecrae documents the shattering yet hopeful story of how he faced the scars of his past--sexual abuse, physical trauma, addiction, and depression--and emerged more fully human than ever before. With remarkable transparency and vulnerability, Lecrae reveals that at the height of his professional success, his life was spinning out of control, driven by a past that he had never confronted and a religious perspective that was incapable of meeting the challenge. I Am Restored takes an unflinching look at the personal and public spaces that are too often at the societal core of our pain and heartache--culture, politics, family, church, and more--and teaches us that forgiveness can be the birthplace of the life that God has created for us. Throughout this powerful, deeply personal account, Lecrae shares the life lessons he's learned about: Confronting the pain and trauma that has shaped your story Breaking the cycle of sin and shame and embracing joy and authenticity Finding hope and healing in the midst of chaos The simple practices that can change your mental, emotional, and spiritual health Leading a life that's bursting with creativity and true freedom I Am Restored is a hopeful, inspiring charge to start your journey to lasting healing today. No matter what your past has held, God is near you, he hears you, and he's not done writing your story.

Argues that one can retain their faith, even when distancing oneself from the traditional methods of worship through the organized church, and helps readers identify six life-tested passages that lead through changes in faith towards authentic renewal.

How do you know when you need to believe again? If you have ever gone through burnout in your spiritual life or disappointment in your church experience, then it may be evident. For others, it is not so clear. You continue to push forward despite the check engine light warning you something is wrong beneath the surface. In Believe Again, Josh uses his real-life fish out of water story to demonstrate how you can leave behind exhausting religion and find refreshing faith. Josh's entire life was wrapped up in his job, relationships, and involvement at his church. But what happens when all of that is stripped away, and he enters the "real world" for the first time as an adult? Instead of preaching on stage and enjoying the trappings of being a successful ministry leader, he found himself delivering pizza, attending church with homeless people under a bridge, and wrestling with the realities of life outside of his church bubble. And that is just the beginning of this intentional yet unconventional journey to discover a new way to relate to God, church, and those who do not believe as we do. Whether you are like Josh and unaware of how much you need to make a change, or you are already looking for something new, Believe Again's raw and sometimes hilarious story will inspire you to overcome life's setbacks and rejuvenate your faith.

However, the book's sensitive detailing of the stories themselves makes conversion more than a theoretical occurrence; it makes the immediacy, and often the difficulty, of conversion both real and moving.

Crucial to the vitality of any religious community is its ability to attract and engage descendants and converts. By this measure, notwithstanding the proliferation of mosques and Islamic organizations, the Muslim community in America is not doing at all well. This rather sober assessment motivates Dr. Lang to address, in this book, the alienation from the Mosque of the great majority of America's homegrown Muslims. In Losing My Religion: A Call For Help, the author comes to terms with many of the queries put to him by Americans of Muslim parentage and converts to Islam since the publication of his book Even Angels Ask in 1997. Lang asserts that to effectively respond to the general malaise of American-born Muslims, the Islamic establishment in America needs to be willing to listen to the doubts and complaints of the disaffected. This entails engaging in open discussions on issues with which many in the Muslim community will be uncomfortable, but Lang avers that such open dialogue will be of more benefit to young American Muslims struggling with their faiths than the covert and uniformed discussions that often take place or no discussion at all. In addition to examining questions of theodicy, hadith authenticity, and moot practices within the American Muslim community, the author includes many testimonials and inquiries that make this book informative.

Over the past few years, John Pavlovitz's blog, Stuff That Needs To Be Said, has become a virtual hub for millions of people from all over the world, drawn there by his clear, compelling words on compassion, equity, love, and justice. This expansive, like-hearted community transcends race, orientation, gender, religious tradition, political affiliation, and nation of origin--and finds its affinity in the deeper place of our shared humanity, which is the True North of his writing. This collection lovingly pulls together some of John's most widely-read and most beloved essays on faith, politics, grief, and the elemental parts of being human. It is an encouraging, inspiring, challenging storehouse of "stuff that needs to be said."

Is there a way to walk faithfully through doubt and come out the other side with a deeper love for Jesus, the church, and its tradition? Can we question our faith without losing it? Award-winning author, pastor, and professor A. J. Swoboda has witnessed many young people wrestle with their core Christian beliefs. Too often, what begins as a set of critical and important questions turns to resentment and faith abandonment. Unfortunately, the church has largely ignored its task of serving people along their journey of questioning. The local church must walk alongside those who are deconstructing their faith and show them how to reconstruct it. Drawing on his own experience of deconstruction, Swoboda offers tools to help emerging adults navigate their faith in a hostile landscape. Doubt is a part of our natural spiritual journey, says Swoboda, and deconstruction is a legitimate space to encounter the living God. After Doubt offers a hopeful, practical vision of spiritual formation for those in the process of faith deconstruction and those who serve them. Foreword by pastor and author John Mark Comer.

Recounting his own history, Matt Rogers explores the question of how, in a world of suffering, we can call God good. This challenging question can manifest itself as a conspiracy of doubt and depression, so that our emotions and our intellect come under attack. Will God deliver us through this distressing journey?