Beloved author Emile Barnes brings comfort to those who are struggling through difficult times with these encouraging words she gleaned from the book of Psalms. Sharing her innermost thoughts, Emilie provides a constant source of encouragement to others who feel discouraged and downtrodden. The pastel artwork of Carolyn Shores Wright's florals provide the ideal framework for Emilie's inspiring message.

In July of 1986, Steve Brock's life was thrown into turmoil when his son, David, was killed in an automobile crash. He shares his poignant story in this book, pointing to a God that can see you, too, through the grief and pain of loss.

Are things going to get better or am I doomed to fail? With your heart filled with doubts and worries about the future, where does your mind tell you to go? Pause for a while to train your thoughts, change your attitude, and lift your spirit. Through this collection of inspiring devotional messages steeped in God's Word, you can infuse the next 365 days with the assurance of His love, grace, and faithfulness. The world might be full of pain and empty promises, but there will always be a way to make it through this day. Turn to where you can find strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow.

Play dates, soccer practice, day care, political correctness, drudgery without facts, television, video games, constant supervision, endless distractions: these and other insidious trends in child rearing and education are now the hallmarks of childhood. As author Anthony Esolen demonstrates in this elegantly written, often wickedly funny book, almost everything we are doing to children now constricts their imaginations, usually to serve the ulterior motives of the constrictors. Ten Ways to Destroy the Imagination of Your Child takes square aim at these accelerating trends, in a bitingly witty style reminiscent of C. S. Lewis, while offering parents—and children—hopeful alternatives. Esolen shows how imagination is snuffed out at practically every turn: in the rearing of children almost exclusively indoors; in the flattening of love to sex education, and sex education to prurience and hygiene; in the loss of traditional childhood games; in the refusal to allow children to organize themselves into teams; in the effacing of the glorious differences between the sexes; in the dismissal of the power of memory, which creates the worst of all possible worlds in school—drudgery without even the merit of imparting facts; in the strict separation of the child’s world from the adult’s; and in the denial of the transcendent, which places a low ceiling on the child’s developing spirit and mind. But Esolen doesn’t stop at pointing out the problem; he offers clear solutions as well. With charming stories from his own boyhood and an assist from the master authors and thinkers of the Western tradition, Ten Ways to Destroy the Imagination of Your Child is a welcome respite from the overwhelming banality of contemporary culture. Interwoven throughout this indispensable guide to child rearing is a rich tapestry of the literature, music, art, and thought that once enriched the lives of American children. Ten Ways to Destroy the Imagination of Your Child confronts contemporary trends in parenting and schooling by reclaiming lost traditions. This practical, insightful book is essential reading for any parent who cares about the paltry thing that childhood has become, and who wants to give a child something beyond the dull drone of today’s culture.

The books of Lamentations, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah are rich with God’s truth concerning our need of redemption. But hope and mercy have the fi nal word as God promises to bless those who turn back to him in faith and repentance. This accessible study takes readers through these books over the course of 12 weeks. The prophecies, though far removed from our historical context, are deeply relevant and applicable to today’s contemporary issues—offering hope for restoration in our fallen world. Part of the Knowing the Bible series.

The Knowing the Bible series is a resource designed to help Bible readers better understand and apply God’s Word. These 12-week studies lead participants through books of the Bible and are made up of four basic components: (1) reflection questions that help readers engage the text at a deeper level; (2) “Gospel Glimpses” that highlight the gospel of grace throughout the book; (3) “Whole-Bible Connections” that show how any given passage connects to the Bible’s overarching story of redemption, culminating in Christ; and (4) “Theological Soundings” that identify how historic orthodox doctrines are taught or reinforced throughout Scripture. With contributions from an array of influential pastors and church leaders, these gospel-centered studies will help Christians see and cherish the message of God’s grace on every page of the Bible. Over the course of 12 weeks, this study connects Paul's letters to the Thessalonians to the lives of Christians today. These epistles encourage readers by reminding them of the salvation God will bring to all those whom he has called—strengthening them to pursue lives of holiness and love as they anticipate Jesus's return.

Sooner or later, each of us journeys through the valley of the shadow of death. Kirk H. Neely has been through that valley, including the unexpected death of his twenty-seven-year-old son. He has also been a pastor and counselor for forty years, helping others journey through their own experiences of grief. Full of compassion and wisdom, When Grief Comes helps readers understand how to come to terms with death, whether expected or sudden. It also walks readers through the process of grieving as we experience life as a series of attachments and separations. Through this journey of grief, readers will learn that God gives gifts of grace and symbols of hope to bring strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow.

This is no ordinary hope. This hope can transform us fully when we learn to see it correctly. Christ is risen, and Christ will come again. That is the hope that fueled the lives of Jesus' disciples and the momentum of the early church. The hope of seeing their risen Lord face-to-face powered their endurance through persecution, their patience in discipling new believers, and their courage to renounce injustice and sinful passions. Learning to renew our hope in Jesus' actual, promised return trains us to live differently and see the world with different eyes. What if we could hold that hope closer to us intellectually and emotionally? In Bright Hope for Tomorrow, pastor Chris Davis will help you see the Second Coming in a fresh way that recaptures your spiritual imagination, strengthens your discipleship, and recovers your theology from the confusion and controversy caused by end-times studies. This book is a journey into the heart of Christianity's eschatological anticipation that will help you: Explore the return of Jesus in the terms of the New Testament letters. Get a better, more biblical picture of what we will see when we behold Christ at his appearing. Develop rhythms and practices necessary to maintain your expectancy (including gathering, fasting, and resting). Rediscover the true heights of the hope we have in Christ—a fresh hope that can drive our daily responses to temptation, affliction, discouragement, and life in a broken world.