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Road-tested with over 400 families, Before You Were Mine equips adoptive parents to celebrate and commemorate their adopted children's birth stories. Parents will benefit from practical worksheets and real-life stories on creating a Lifebook---a unique tool that offers adopted children the gift of acceptance, peace, and security as a part of God's plan.

This book provides small-group leaders with everything they need to know to help their small group of any kind. It's an operating system for small groups. You'll get the most out of your group, no matter your topic, from divorce recovery to marriage enrichment, from grief recovery to spiritual formation---grow spiritually, emotionally, and relationally.

Pain is not something that most of us would count as a blessing; however, what it is and why we need it if we're to live life fully is brought to light in this book.

White-knuckling can never get you where you want to go. But grace can.You already know because you've tried: repeated attempts to earn God's love and approval get you nowhere and leave you exhausted. When performance taints our relationship with him, the Christian life can turn into an unholy hustle. It was never meant to be like this.In Saving the Saved, Pastor Bryan Loritts reveals the astonishing truth that God doesn't want your spiritual scorekeeping. He simply wants your surrender. The punchline of the gospel of Matthew is just thata message of grace and performance-free love to do-good, try-harder Jews who thought they had to earn their way into God's favor. It's an ancient message, yet it can be a lifeline to us today as we live in a world of performance metrics. Just as Matthew wrote to the Jews in his gospel, we were never meant to flounder under the pressures and anxieties of show Christianity. Make no mistake: we are called to live in obedience, but Jesus wants us to save us from the illusion that our actions can ever earn God's acceptance of us.In Pastor Bryan's relevant, uncompromising style, Saving the Saved proclaims the good news that once the pressure is off to perform, we are free to abide. Beyond the man-made rules and the red tape, there is a God who knows you by name. Come and meet him as you've never known him before.

Scripture reveals a God who meets us where we are, not where we pretend to be. No More Faking Fine is your invitation to get gut-level honest with God through the life-giving language of lament. If you've ever been given empty cliches during challenging times, you know how painful it can feel to be misunderstood by well-meaning people. When life hurts hard, we often feel pressure--from others and ourselves--to keep it together, to suck it up, or pray it away. But Scripture reveals a God who lovingly invites us to give honest voice to our emotions when life hurts hard.For most of her life, Esther Fleece Allen believed she could bypass the painful emotions of her broken past by shutting them down altogether. She was known by all as an achiever and an overcomer on the fast track to success. But in silencing her pain, she robbed herself of the opportunity to be healed. Maybe you've done the same.Esther's journey into healing began when she discovered that God has given us a real-world way to deal with our raw emotions and an alternative to the coping mechanisms that end up causing more pain. It's called lament--the gut-level, honest prayer that God never ignores, never silences, and never wastes.No More Faking Fine is your permission to lament, taking you on a journey down the unexpected pathway to true intimacy with God. Drawing from careful biblical study and hard-won insight, Esther reveals how to use God's own language to come closer to him as he leads us through our pain to the light on the other side.And, like Esther, you'll soon find that when one person stops faking fine, it gives permission to everyone else to do the same.

Between Heaven & Hollywood is David's inspirational journey from the wheat fields of his Mennonite home outside of Dodge City Kansas, to the bright lights of Los Angeles. This story of perseverance will assure you that your dreams aren't frivolous. They might be the most important part of your life. White has starred in more than twenty-five movies and produced forty films, including the blockbuster God's Not Dead. He serves as a Managing Partner of Pure Flix, the largest faith-based movie studio in the world. With his signature wit and sidesplitting hilarity, David's story of faithfulness, grounded in the biblical truth that no dream is too big for God, will inspire you to relentlessly pursue your dreams, and in the process, bring the reality of God's kingdom a little closer to the here and now. God has planted a dream in your heart that is both unique to you and essential to the world. White reminds us that there is no one too common, too uneducated, too poor, too inexperienced, or too broken that he or she cannot be used by God.

Build your second marriage on more than a hope and a prayer. Beat the odds and make remarriage the best thing that's ever happened to you. Sixty percent of second marriages fail, but yours can be among the ones that succeed. Relationship experts Les and Leslie Parrott show how you can beat the odds with flying colors and build a future together that is everything marriage can and ought to be. More than a million couples have used the award-winning Saving Your Marriage Before It Starts to prepare for life-long love. And now, with Saving Your Second Marriage Before It Starts, Les and Leslie have added material for couples where one or both individuals are entering marriage for the second time. Uncover and understand the unique shaping factors you bring into your marriage as a woman. Prepare for some surprising and helpful insights, for honest, intimate, and enjoyable relationship-strengthening conversations with you and your fiance, and for engaging discussions with a small group. EXERCISES: 28 Self-Tests to Put the Book into Action Twenty-eight assessments will help couples identify and meld your love styles. Shed amazing new light on the way you are put together, how that affects specific aspects of how you and your loved one relate, and how you can improve those areas to build a better relationship. You will gain unprecedented insights into topics such as: facing the myths of remarriage honestly exploring unfinished business your personal ';Ten Commandments' making your roles conscious assessing your self-image getting your sex life off to a great start cultivating intimacy listening to your self-talk avoiding the blame game how well do you communicate? your top ten needs mind reading how to listen identifying your ';hot topics' money talks your spiritual journey becoming soul mates DISCUSSION GUIDE SESSIONS: 9 Questions to Ask Beforeand AfterYou Marry Les and Leslie will help you enjoy lively and eye-opening interaction with each other and with a small group through nine sessions on the DVD (sold separately). The discussion guide, included in this workbook, guides you through an opening exercise, note-taking as you watch the video, linking to the workbook exercises, and group discussion, concluding with an exercise each couple can do together over the next week. Designed for use with Saving Your Second Marriage Before It Starts Workbook for Men Updated (9780310875598) and Saving Your Second Marriage Before It Starts Video Study (9780310885436), both sold separately. The SYMBIS Assessment(R) shows two people how their personalities mesh in marriage. For information about completing the SYMBIS Assessment, which is recommended for both partners prior to beginning the SYMBIS course, visit http://www.symbisassessment.com.

Build your second marriage on more than a hope and a prayer. Beat the odds and make remarriage the best thing that's ever happened to you. Sixty percent of second marriages fail, but yours can be among the ones that succeed. Relationship experts Les and Leslie Parrott show how you can beat the odds with flying colors and build a future together that is everything marriage can and ought to be. More than a million couples have used the award-winning Saving Your Marriage Before It Starts to prepare for life-long love. And now, with Saving Your Second Marriage Before It Starts, Les and Leslie have added material for couples where one or both individuals are entering marriage for the second time. Uncover and understand the unique shaping factors you bring into your marriage as a man. Prepare for some surprising and helpful insights, for honest, intimate, and enjoyable relationship-strengthening conversations with you and your fiancee, and for engaging discussions with a small group. EXERCISES: 28 Self-Tests to Put the Book into Action Twenty-eight assessments will help couples identify and meld your love styles. Shed amazing new light on the way you are put together, how that affects specific aspects of how you and your loved one relate, and how you can improve those areas to build a better relationship. You will gain unprecedented insights into topics such as: facing the myths of remarriage honestly exploring unfinished business your personal ';Ten Commandments' making your roles conscious assessing your self-image getting your sex life off to a great start cultivating intimacy listening to your self-talk avoiding the blame game how well do you communicate? your top ten needs mind reading how to listen identifying your ';hot topics' money talks your spiritual journey becoming soul mates DISCUSSION GUIDE SESSIONS: 9 Questions to Ask Beforeand AfterYou Marry Les and Leslie will help you enjoy lively and eye-opening interaction with each other and with a small group through nine sessions on the DVD (sold separately). The discussion guide, included in this workbook, guides you through an opening exercise, note-taking as you watch the video, linking to the workbook exercises, and group discussion, concluding with an exercise each couple can do together over the next week. Designed for use with Saving Your Marriage Before It Starts Workbook for Women Updated (9780310875710) and Saving Your Second Marriage Before It Starts Video Study (9780310885436), both sold separately. The SYMBIS Assessment(R) shows two people how their personalities mesh in marriage. For information about completing the SYMBIS Assessment, which is recommended for both partners prior to beginning the SYMBIS course, visit http://www.symbisassessment.com.

You can do more than hope. Safeguard your relationship and build a love that not only goes the distance but fulfills your deepest dreams. More than a million couples have used the award-winning Saving Your Marriage Before It Starts (SYMBIS for short) to prepare for life-long love. The Saving Your Marriage Before It Starts Workbook for Men will help you uncover and understand the unique shaping factors you bring into your marriage as a man. Prepare for some surprising and helpful insights, for honest, intimate, and enjoyable relationship-strengthening conversations with you and your fiancee, and for engaging discussions with a small group. EXERCISES: 24 Self-Tests to Put the Book into Action Twenty-four assessments will shed amazing new light on the way you are put together, how that affects specific aspects of how you and your loved one relate, and how you can improve those areas to build a better relationship. You will gain unprecedented insights into topics such as: your personal ';Ten Commandments' making your roles conscious exploring unfinished business assessing your self-image getting your sex life off to a great start cultivating intimacy listening to your self-talk avoiding the blame game how well do you communicate? your top ten needs mind reading how to listen identifying your ';hot topics' money talks your spiritual journey DISCUSSION GUIDE SESSIONS: 7 Questions to Ask Beforeand AfterYou Marry Les and Leslie will help you enjoy lively and eye-opening interaction with each other and with a small group through seven sessions on the DVD (sold separately). The discussion guide, included in this workbook, guides you through an opening exercise, note-taking as you watch the video, linking to the workbook exercises, and group discussion, concluding with an exercise each couple can do together over the next week. Designed for use with Saving Your Marriage Before It Starts Workbook for Women Updated (9780310875475) and Saving Your Marriage Before It Starts Updated Video Study (9780310875734), both sold separately. The SYMBIS Assessment (R) shows two people how their personalities mesh in marriage. For information about completing the SYMBIS Assessment, which is recommended for both partners prior to beginning the SYMBIS course, visit http://www.symbisassessment.com.

Signs have been almost as much a part of the modern church as the front doors. For that matter, they've been the entry into church life for countless people who have responded to their brief but cogent message. Your church sign has more potential than you may imagine -- if you're smart in using it. Your Church Sign offers you sound pointers on signage. You'll find tips on impactful sign placement, captions, themes, and how to write effective messages. And you'll get more than one thousand ready-made, eye-catching sayings. Some are humorous, some are encouraging, some are wise, some are convicting. All are designed to turn scant seconds of drive-by time into active spiritual awareness. Arranged by theme, Your Church Sign offers captions on: -Marriage and the Family - Prayer - Going to Church - Seasonal Themes - Christian Living - God in Charge - Evangelism - The Bible - Speech . . . and more. Turn to this practical, easy-to-use book for fast ideas and proven advice for helping your church sign make a difference in people's lives.

No story has more significance than this: the death and resurrection of Jesus. But somehow the oft-repeated tale of Christ's passion can become too familiar, too formalized, for us to experience its incredible immediacy. The meditations in Reliving the Passion, which received a Gold Medallion Award in 1993, follow the story as given in the gospel of Mark-from the moment when the chief priests plot to kill Jesus to the Resurrection. But these readings are more than a recounting of events; they are an imaginary reenactment, leading the reader to re-experience the Passion or perhaps see it fully for the very first time. As only a great storyteller can, Walter Wangerin enables the reader to see the story from the inside, to discover the strangeness and wonder of the events as they unfold. It's like being there. In vivid images and richly personal detail, Wangerin helps us recognize our own faces on the streets of Jerusalem; breathe the dark and heavy air of Golgotha; and experience, as Mary and Peter did, the bewilderment, the challenge, and the ultimate revelation of knowing the man called Jesus. "e;The story gets personal for every reader,"e; writes Wangerin, "e;for this is indeed our story, the story whereby we personally have been saved from such a death as Jesus died. "e;No, there is not another tale in the world more meaningful than this-here is where we all take our stands against sin and death and Satan, upon this historical, historic event. I consider it a holy privilege to participate in it retelling. "e;Read this book slowly. Read it with a seeing faith. Walk the way with Jesus. We, his followers of later centuries, do follow even now. Read, walk, come, sigh, live. Live! Rise again!"e;

True Christian faith is a profoundly transformational experience in which every part of our being is marked by God's change and energized by his presence. This transformation takes us far beyond mere sin avoidance to a robust "e;full-bodied"e; holiness in which we make ourselves "e;holy available"e; to God every minute of the day. From Starbucks, to the office, to the soccer fields, to the boardroom, believers have the opportunity to carry the presence of Christ wherever they go. God offers the reader more than mere forgiveness; he wants to radically change and fill them with his presence, so they can experience an entirely different kind of life based not just on what they do or don't do but on who they are.Yet while many Christians today profess belief, their Christianity has no pulse. Holy Available is a manifesto of fully alive faith. Gary Thomas issues a compelling call for readers to see with Christ's eyes, feel with Christ's heart, and serve with Christ's hands. We make ourselves available to become "e;God oases,"e; places of spiritual refuge where God can bring the hurting and lost to enjoy his presence and ministry.

Slowly she turned to face the door just as Graham came through at full stride. At the sight of him a wild kind of joy seized her. Graham halted on the threshold. He drew in his breath sharply, and in spite of himself, his pulse thundered at the sight of the tall, willowy figure. The last time he had seen Avril she had been a child. Here in her place was a graceful young woman. "e;Avril, my dear,"e; he said, finding his voice. "e;Welcome home!"e; Fortune's Bride, the third in a series of award-winning novels by Jane Peart, is a revision of the story of Avril Dumont, a wealthy young heiress and orphan, who gradually comes to terms with her lonely adolescence. There is romance and heartbreak, true love and fulfillment in this story of Avril's seemingly unreturned but undaunted love for her bachelor guardian, Graham Montrose. Readers of Fortune's Bride will be smitten with the charm of the old South as they follow Avril's development into womanhood, and meet the people who give her a sense of self-worth. So skillfully drawn is the plot of this romance that the reader will suffer form ongoing suspense throughout Avril's story.

Sixty percent of second marriages fail. Yours can be among the ones that succeed. Relationship experts Les and Leslie Parrott show how you can beat the odds with flying colors and make remarriage the best thing that's ever happened to you. Do you have the skills you need? Now is the time to acquire them--and build a future together that is everything marriage can and ought to be.Also available: men's workbook, women's workbook, and abridged audio cassette version

What does it take to raise great kids? If you've read any books on parenting, conflicting opinions have probably left you feeling confused. Get tough! Show acceptance. Lay down the rules. Lighten up, already!There's got to be a balance--and there is. Joining their expertise with the wisdom of MOPS International (Mothers of Preschoolers), Drs. Henry Cloud and John Townsend help you provide both the care and acceptance that make grace real to your child, and the firmness and discipline that give direction. Avoiding the twin extremes of permissiveness and over-control, Drs. Cloud and Townsend show how you can help your child cultivate six necessary character traits: attachment, responsibility, reality, competence, morality, and worship/spiritual life.At last, here is an effective middle ground for raising up children who will handle life with maturity and wisdom. Raising Great Kids will help you equip your son or daughter to accept life's responsibilities, grow from its challenges, and freely and fully explore all that it has to offer.

If you want to know where and how the church is going to grow, think local and global. Think glocal.Glocal is Bob Roberts' term for the seamless connectedness between the local and global. That connection is affecting the church in ways that never could have been imagined in the first-century church, or even the twentieth-century church. And it's creating unprecedented opportunities for individuals and churches-for you and your church-to live out their faith in real time across the world.Glocalization offers a vision of the unprecedented changes of our times and how they are impacting the church. Discover how these changes will transform the way churches define their mission and how Christians relate to one another and to the world. This provocative book turns the traditional mission-agency model upside down and shows how transformed people and churches can make a glocal (global and local) impact.Glocalization offers an exciting vision for churches and individuals who want to reach this changing world for Christ.

It doesn't take a long list of statistics to convince you that our world is broken. Mission trips, service projects, and supporting children through relief organizations are just a few of the ways that many youth workers engage their students in serving the least, the last, and the lost. As good and helpful as these things may be on the surface, that's where they remain-at the surface. The problems run far deeper than an occasional paint job or fundraising project can solve. But it's not hopeless. Deep social justice is possible in your youth ministry.Following their bestselling book, Deep Ministry in a Shallow World, Kara Powell and Chap Clark provide you with research and insights that will help your ministry get to the next level. In addition to helping you further understand the Deep Design method (introduced in their previous book), their practical Kingdom of God theology will help you go beyond simply trying to motivate your students to serve those in need, and invite your students (and maybe even your leaders) to wrestle with why those people are in need in the first place. You'll hear from well-known social justice leaders and youth workers who are making a difference in urban, suburban, and small town settings including:* Jim Wallis (Sojourners)* Tony Campolo (Eastern University)* Lina Thompson (World Vision/Vision Youth)* John Perkins (Christian Community Development Association)* Shane Claiborne (The Simple Way)* Larry Acosta (Urban Youth Workers Institute)* Rudy Carrasco (Harambee Christian Family Center)* Jeremy Del Rio (Community Solutions, Inc.)* Noel Castellanos (Christian Community Development Association), and more In addition to expanding your personal justice commitments, Deep Justice in a Broken World will help you reflect with your own leadership team, and will provide you with online resources to take you even deeper into the journey. So go ahead, dig deeper into what it means to heal the broken world in which we live. Take your ministry deeper into social justice.

What if your child's "e;life-after-divorce"e; could be better than you've hoped for?As the post-divorce dust settles, your child's chances of leading a healthy, successful life are directly linked to how you and your former spouse relate. So instead of listening to statistics, read this book to discover real world co-parenting strategies from author, counselor, and co-parent Tammy Daughtry.Discover how you can make positive co-parenting work for you and your child by:* Understanding how today's actions will affect your child in five, ten, and twenty years* Teaming with your child's co-parent to develop strategies in the best interest of your children* Helping your child feel at ease in both homes* Increasing your child's self-esteem while minimizing anxiety* Integrating stepparents into your co-parenting teamCo-parenting isn't easy. But with these strategies for success, you'll be prepared to create an enjoyable childhood and a healthy upbringing that will impact your child for a lifetime. Take heart-the future can be better and brighter than you've dared to hope.

Yes, you CAN say no to your child and still be a loving parent. Discover how boundaries make parenting better today!What the award-winning, bestselling Boundaries has done for adult relationships, Boundaries with Kids will do for you and your children. Drs. Henry Cloud and John Townsend provide the help and guidance you need for raising your kids to take responsibility for their actions, attitudes, and emotions.With wisdom and empathy, they take you through the ins and outs of instilling the kind of character in your children that will help them lead balanced, productive, and fulfilling adult lives. Learn how to:set limits and still be a loving parentbring control to an out-of-control family lifeapply the ten laws of boundaries to parentingdefine appropriate boundaries and consequences for your kids. . . and much more!Plus, check out Boundaries family collection of books dedicated to key areas of life - dating, marriage, raising teenagers, and leadership. Workbooks and Spanish editions are also available.

In her moving spiritual memoir, Mary DeMuth traces the winding path of "e;thin places"e; in her life-places where she experienced longing and healing more intensely than before. As DeMuth writes, "e;Thin places are snatches of holy ground, tucked into the corners of our world, where we might just catch a glimpse of eternity. They are aha moments, beautiful realizations, when the Son of God bursts through the hazy fog of our monotony and shines on us afresh."e;From losing her earthly father to discovering a heavenly Father who never leaves, from singing Olivia Newton-John songs to the sky to worshiping God under a French sun, from surviving abuse as a latchkey kid to experiencing the joy of mothering three children, DeMuth's story calls readers to a deeper understanding of their own story. With unusual spiritual wisdom, she looks for God in the past so that she might experience him more profoundly in the present. Her powerful words invite readers to know God in a new way-a God ready to break through any ordinary day or extraordinary pain and offer a glimpse of eternity.

Gary Thomas, one of this generation's most trusted writers about the spiritual life, explores what it means to build a life of true pleasure - one that will liberate your spiritual life, marriage, family, community, and outreach.Many Christians assume "e;pleasure"e; and "e;sin"e; are synonymous. Others define godly pleasure so narrowly that they drastically minimize the powerful and holy role that pleasure can play in their lives. Still others feel guilty even thinking about how to build a life of pleasure.For all of them, Pure Pleasure provides an entirely new paradigm. It invites Christians to embrace a life of true pleasure as a pathway to obedience, worship, and service. Building on his bestselling books Sacred Pathways, Sacred Marriage, and the ECPA Gold Medallion-winning Authentic Faith, Gary Thomas takes readers to a new level of faith by providing a theological and inspirational framework to help them cultivate the kind of life that pleases God.Abounding with spiritual insights and practical exercises, this book invites you to shake off the shackles of misunderstanding about sin, provides the freedom to approach life in Christ with new wonder and joy, and challenges you to experience life as God meant it to be: overflowing with pleasure.Also available: Pure Pleasure small group video study and study guide, Spanish edition, and more.

The letters L.O.V.E. represent four personality dimensions that make up your personal "e;love style."e; Once you know your own love style and that of your spouse, you will be able to love him or her in a way that will help you get the love you need in return.Relationship experts Drs. Les and Leslie Parrott stand on a mountain of research to show you how this single insight can draw you closer together. Never before have we had such an easy-to-use and scientifically proven tool for pinpointing each person's approach to love. You'll discover how much these dimensions inform your love style:L - Leader: The Take-Charge SpouseO - Optimist: The Encouraging SpouseV - Validator: The Devoted SpouseE - Evaluator: The Careful SpouseThe L.O.V.E. online assessment, in combination with this book, will show you how you are designed to approach everything from communication and conflict to sex and intimacy. This is not your typical marriage book. It's a practical tool for learning how to express love to your spouse and feel truly loved in return.

The abrupt disappearance of young Daisy Chance from a small Texas town in 1973 spins three lives out of controlJed, whose guilt over not protecting his friend Daisy strangles him; Emory Chance, who blames her own choices for her daughter's demise; and Ouisie Pepper, who is plagued by headaches while pierced by the shattered pieces of a family in crisis. In this first book in the Defiance, Texas Trilogy, fourteen-year-old Jed Pepper has a sickening secret: He's convinced it's his fault his best friend Daisy went missing. Jed's pain sends him on a quest for answers to mysteries woven through the fabric of his own life and the lives of the families of Defiance, Texas. When he finally confronts the terrible truths he's been denying all his life, Jed must choose between rebellion and love, anger and freedom. Daisy Chain is an achingly beautiful southern coming-of-age story crafted by a bright new literary talent. It offers a haunting yet hopeful backdrop for human depravity and beauty, for terrible secrets and God's surprising redemption.

Choose the parent you'll be--and you choose the child you'll raise.When it comes to parenting, who you are is more important than what you do. After all, your child internalizes your traits more than anyone else's on the planet. And that's why Les and Leslie Parrott--in a parenting book like no other--give you a proven plan for cultivating the traits you most want your child to have.Discover:the most important question you'll ever ask as a parentthe three-step method to avoid being the parent you don't want to bethe secret to making your "e;intentional traits"e; stick on even your worst days. . . and much more.A husband and wife team made up of two of today's leading relationship experts, Les and Leslie Parrott reveal their personal experiences as parents to help you fulfill the most important calling you will ever have. The Parent You Want to Be is inspiring, warm, and filled with a transformational power for your entire family.

We know the bedrock themes upon which the Christian faith stands: creation, fall, redemption, restoration. As Christians, we live within these great moments of God's plan for humanity and all of his creation. In other words, our lives are part of Christian theology-every part of our lives, even surgery.As a part of Zondervan's Ordinary Theology series, The Scalpel and the Cross recounts New Testament professor Gene Green's encounter with open-heart surgery and carefully examines the many ways in which Christian doctrine spoke into the experience. The result is a short book that avoids shallow explanations and glib promises, instead guiding readers to deeper understanding and enduring hope in the face of one of modern life's necessary traumas.

People are leaving the church J.D. Greear pastors. Big givers. Key volunteers. Some of his best leaders and friends. And that's exactly how he wants it to be.When Jesus gave his disciples the Great Commission, he revealed that the key for reaching the world with the gospel is found in sending, not gathering. Though many churches focus time and energy on attracting people and counting numbers, the real mission of the church isn't how many people you can gather. It's about training up disciples and then sending them out. The true measure of success for a church should be its sending capacity, not its seating capacity.But there is a cost to this. To see ministry multiply, we must release the seeds God has placed in our hands. And to do that, we must ask ourselves whether we are concerned more with building our kingdom or God's.In Gaining By Losing, J.D. Greear unpacks ten plumb lines that you can use to reorient your church's priorities around God's mission to reach a lost world. The good news is that you don't need to choose between gathering or sending. Effective churches can, and must, do both.

BETTER INFORMED,BETTER EQUIPPED TO MINISTERto today's blurred youth cultureMobile. Connected. Wired in. This is a generation that skips over perceived cultural boundaries and resists definition. They are a mash-up of identity, a blur of old categories and classes. Creators and consumers of a rapidly changing culture.But how does one reach a demographic that is so difficult to pin down?Many of the most popular approaches to youth ministry today begin by portraying youth as collections of fixed snapshots, "e;profiles"e; based on sociological research studies. Yet according to Dr. Jeff Keuss, today's teens cannot be adequately characterized by these simplistic and static descriptions. Keuss argues that what is needed, instead, is a qualitative approach to describing young people, one that recognizes the "e;blurred"e; nature of today's mobile youth culture.Jeff Keuss presents an optimistic new way of thinking about youth, one that sees them more holistically and less clinically. As we learn to see youth culture through this new lens, we will become better informed and better equipped to minister to the teens of today's rapidly changing world.

Charles is 78 years old and there is much he cannot remember. He cannot remember the names of his children, why he lives in a nursing home, or even whether he ate breakfast today. His forgetting causes confusion, and in his fear and uncertainty he sometimes lashes out at those who try to care for him. But when someone reads a favorite Psalm he quickly joins in, reciting each cherished word. When he hears an old hymn of faith, his hand slowly raises and he breathes out each word quietly, his face reflecting a peace that passes all understanding.Alzheimer's disease has been described as the "e;defining disease"e; of the baby boomer generation. Millions of Americans will spend much of their retirement years either caring for a loved one with Alzheimer's disease or experiencing its effects on their lives firsthand. When a person is diagnosed with Alzheimer's, they face great uncertainty, knowing that they can expect to live their remaining years with increasing confusion and progressively greater reliance upon other people to care for them. As the disease advances it seems to overwhelm a person, narrowing their focus and leading them to forget critical truths about the Lord, their life with him, and his promises.Through the personal stories of those affected and the loved ones who care for them, Dr. Benjamin Mast highlights the power of the gospel for those suffering from Alzheimer's disease. Filled with helpful, up-to-date information, Dr. Mast answers common questions about the disease and its effect on personal identity and faith as he explores the biblical importance of remembering and God's commitment to not forget his people. In addition, he gives practical suggestions for how the church can come alongside families and those struggling, offering help and hope to victims of this debilitating disease.If you are a Christian who knows or loves someone with Alzheimer's disease, have recently been diagnosed with early Alzheimer's disease, or are a pastor or ministry leader seeking to better understand and minister to people with Alzheimer's disease this book will encourage you with the good news of God's faithfulness and the future hope he calls us to.