Books

What I've read recently

Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones

James Clear2018

No matter your goals, Atomic Habits offers a proven framework for improving—every day. James Clear, one of the world's leading experts on habit formation, reveals practical strategies that will teach you exactly how to form good habits, break bad ones, and master the tiny behaviors that lead to remarkable results. If you're having trouble changing your habits, the problem isn't you. The problem is your system. Bad habits repeat themselves again and again not because you don't want to change, but because you have the wrong system for change. You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems. Here, you'll get a proven system that can take you to new heights. Clear is known for his ability to distill complex topics into simple behaviors that can be easily applied to daily life and work. Here, he draws on the most proven ideas from biology, psychology, and neuroscience to create an easy-to-understand guide for making good habits inevitable and bad habits impossible. Along the way, readers will be inspired and entertained with true stories from Olympic gold medalists, award-winning artists, business leaders, life-saving physicians, and star comedians who have used the science of small habits to master their craft and vault to the top of their field. Learn how to: - Make time for new habits (even when life gets crazy); - Overcome a lack of motivation and willpower; - Design your environment to make success easier; - Get back on track when you fall off course; ...and much more. Atomic Habits will reshape the way you think about progress and success, and give you the tools and strategies you need to transform your habits--whether you are a team looking to win a championship, an organization hoping to redefine an industry, or simply an individual who wishes to quit smoking, lose weight, reduce stress, or achieve any other goal.

John: A 10 Week Bible Study

Darren Hibbs

John is often the first book recommended to new Christians to read for good reason. John is not interested in teaching us about Jesus. He wants us to come to know the Man that he knew personally. John will introduce us to the Living Word, Jesus Himself. He is our creator, our savior, our teacher and our friend. ABOUT THE 10 WEEK BIBLE STUDY METHOD Bible studies can be a challenge. They're hard to keep people engaged in long enough to finish and often people feel intimidated by their lack of Bible knowledge. The 10 Week Bible Study eliminates those concerns. At 10 weeks, you'll find it's the perfect length to gain a greater understanding of God's Word one book at a time.

When Helping Hurts: How to Alleviate Poverty without Hurting the Poor...and Yourself

Steve Corbett2009

Churches and individual Christians typically have faulty assumptions about the causes of poverty, resulting in the use of strategies that do considerable harm to poor people and themselves. Don't let this happen to you, your ministry or ministries you help fund! A must read for anyone who works with the poor or in missions, When Helping Hurts provides foundational concepts, clearly articulated general principles and relevant applications. The result is an effective and holistic ministry to the poor, not a truncated gospel. "Initial thoughts" at the beginning of chapters and "reflection questions and excercises" at the end of chapters assist greatly in learning and applying the material. A situation is assessed for whether relief, rehabilitation, or development is the best response to a situation. Efforts are characterized by an "asset based" approach rather than a "needs based" approach. Short term mission efforts are addressed and economic development strategies appropriate for North American and international contexts are presented, including microenterprise development. Now with a new preface, a new foreword, and a new chapter to assist in the next steps of applying the book's principles to your situation, When Helping Hurts is a new classic!

Better Decisions, Fewer Regrets: 5 Questions to Help You Determine Your Next Move

Andy Stanley

Life is all about decision-making. Some choices lead to joy and become celebrated accomplishments, while others leave us filled with regret and disappointment. Your decisions determine the direction and quality of your life, and every decision you make becomes a permanent part of your story. They are the steering wheel of your life. In Better Decisions, Fewer Regrets , Andy Stanley helps readers to learn from experience and stop making bad decisions. He introduces five questions that provide a decision-making filter to help you make better decisions and live with fewer regrets: Am I being honest with myself … really? What story do I want to tell? Is there a tension that deserves my attention? What is the wise thing to do? What does love require of me? Nobody plans to complicate their life with a bad decision. Yet too many people don't plan not to. These five questions provide a simple safeguard to ensure a life with fewer regrets. And by incorporating these five questions into the rhythm of your life you'll have the tools you need to write a fabulous story. This is the story of your life. You only get to write one. Make it a good one. Make it a story worth telling.

The Screwtape Letters (Screwtape, #1)

C.S. Lewis1942

A Masterpiece of Satire on Hell’s Latest Novelties and Heaven’s Unanswerable Answer C.S. Lewis’s The Screwtape Letters has entertained and enlightened readers the world over with its sly and ironic portrayal of human life and foibles from the unique vantage point of Screwtape, a highly placed assistant to “Our Father Below.” At once wildly comic, deadly serious, and strikingly original, C.S. Lewis gives us the correspondence of the wordly-wise devil to his nephew Wormwood, a novice demon in charge of securing the damnation of an ordinary young man. The Screwtape Letters is the most engaging account of temptation—and triumph over it—ever written.

Fatherless Generation: Redeeming the Story

John Sowers2010

What happens when givers of life give a lifetime of tears? Fatherlessness is written into the heart of our generation. It is heard in our songs, seen in our movies, read in our blogs. It is a story of shame, loneliness and rejection. A story that desperately needs to be heard. Fatherlessness is both a personal tragedy and a growing epidemic. Fatherlessness is the engine driving gangs, teenage pregnancy, drug abuse and suicide. The fatherless are all around us - but they are often missed or ignored. In Fatherless Generation , Dr. John Sowers How can the faith community rewrite this tragic story? This book calls us to take a long look at the issue of fatherlessness, and spurs us to move and to act.

Nine Lies About Work: A Freethinking Leader’s Guide to the Real World

Marcus Buckingham2019

Forget what you know about the world of work You crave feedback. Your organization's culture is the key to its success. Strategic planning is essential. Your competencies should be measured and your weaknesses shored up. Leadership is a thing. These may sound like basic truths of our work lives today. But actually, they're lies. As strengths guru and bestselling author Marcus Buckingham and Cisco Leadership and Team Intelligence head Ashley Goodall show in this provocative, inspiring book, there are some big lies--distortions, faulty assumptions, wrong thinking--that we encounter every time we show up for work. Nine lies, to be exact. They cause dysfunction and frustration, ultimately resulting in workplaces that are a pale shadow of what they could be. But there are those who can get past the lies and discover what's real. These freethinking leaders recognize the power and beauty of our individual uniqueness. They know that emergent patterns are more valuable than received wisdom and that evidence is more powerful than dogma. With engaging stories and incisive analysis, the authors reveal the essential truths that such freethinking leaders will recognize that it is the strength and cohesiveness of your team, not your company's culture, that matter most; that we should focus less on top-down planning and more on giving our people reliable, real-time intelligence; that rather than trying to align people's goals we should strive to align people's sense of purpose and meaning; that people don't want constant feedback, they want helpful attention. This is the real world of work, as it is and as it should be. Nine Lies About Work reveals the few core truths that will help you show just how good you are to those who truly rely on you.

The Prodigal God: Recovering the Heart of the Christian Faith

Timothy J. Keller2008

Newsweek called renowned minister Timothy Keller "a C. S. Lewis for the twenty-first century" in a feature on his first book, The Reason for God . In that book, he offered a rational explanation of why we should believe in God. Now, in The Prodigal God , he uses one of the best-known Christian parables to reveal an unexpected message of hope and salvation. Taking his trademark intellectual approach to understanding Christianity, Keller uncovers the essential message of Jesus, locked inside his most familiar parable. Within that parable Jesus reveals God's prodigal grace toward both the irreligious and the moralistic. This book will challenge both the devout and skeptics to see Christianity in a whole new way. Look out for Timothy Keller's latest book, The Songs of Jesus , coming from Viking on November 10, 2015.

Marriage and Raising Children (Every Man a Warrior)

Lonnie Berger2011

After walking with God, marriage and raising children are the most important responsibilities in a married man's life. With so many broken families in our culture, these lessons have profoundly impacted the lives of men wanting to be a better husband and father. Marriage and Raising Children trains a man how to practically give up his life for his wife. It equips him to have a successful one-on-one time with his children. Book 2 of the Every Man a Warrior series has a special emphasis on raising teenagers.

The Complete Guide to Fasting: Heal Your Body Through Intermittent, Alternate-Day, and Extended Fasting

Jason Fung2016

Thousands of books have been written about the latest and greatest diets that will help people lose weight and improve health. But a key element in any successful nutritional health program is a tried-and-true method that most people haven't thought about—yet it could be revolutionary for taking health to the next level. This ancient secret is fasting. Fasting is not about starving oneself. When done right, it's an incredibly effective therapeutic approach that produces amazing results regardless of diet plan. In fact, Toronto-based nephrologist Dr. Jason Fung has used a variety of fasting protocols with more than 1,000 patients, with fantastic success. In The Complete Guide to Fasting he has teamed up with international bestselling author and veteran health podcaster Jimmy Moore to explain what fasting is really about, why it's so important, and how to fast in a way that improves health. Together, they make fasting as a therapeutic approach both practical and easy to understand. The Complete Guide to Fasting The book also provides tools to help readers get started and get through their fasts, including a 7-Day Kick-Start Fasting Plan and healing liquid recipes.

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