Resources for Changing Lives
Resources for Changing Lives provide book- and booklet-length counsel and guidance from a biblical perspective, for a host of personal issues and problems. Authors of these outstandingly readable and digestible series include David Powlison, Paul David Tripp, Ed Welch, and Robert Jones, who know how reach into the heart of our struggles and help us understand the spiritual issues involved. But they don’t just understand others, they are effective guides to seeing life in light of biblical truths. The outcome will be that we learn to honor God in how we live. One of the best features of these booklets is, they’re brief enough that the discouraged person who you give one to doesn’t find it too dauntingly long to read.
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Instruments in the Redeemer’s Hands (Paul David Tripp)
$15.50People in Need of Change – Helping People in Need of Change
We might be relieved if God placed our sanctification only in the hands of trained professionals, but that is not his plan. Instead, through the ministry of every part of the body, the whole church will mature in Christ.
Paul David Tripp helps us discover where change is needed in our own lives and the lives of others. Following the example of Jesus, Tripp reveals how to get to know people, and how to lovingly speak truth to them.
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Angry At God: Bring Him Your Doubts & Questions
$5.49How could God allow this to happen to me? I’m angry with him, but I don’t know if I’m “supposed” to be angry! Is it ok to be angry with God? If we are angry, should we hold it inside, or voice our feelings outright? Jones writes that we should not take a “grin and bear it” approach to our anger, nor should we rashly vent our emotions to God. Instead, we need to humbly bring him our struggles, doubts, and questions.
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Anger: Escaping the Maze
$5.49Anger. We all experience it, some more than others. When is it righteous, and when is it not? How can we control our anger and not get caught in a maze of rage when things don’t go our way? David Powlison takes a close look at anger to help us to understand what it is and why we have it. He exposes three common misconceptions that leave us powerless to overcome anger.
Using the illustration of a traffic jam, he probes the assumptions and cravings of the heart behind a typical angry response. In place of the false premises and futile consequences of ungodly anger, Powlison guides us to biblical truths and outcomes that honor God and teach us how to live.
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Domestic Abuse: Recognize, Respond, Rescue
$5.49Experienced Christian counselor Darby Strickland demonstrates how to recognize and uncover oppression, then uses Scripture to show what is truly happening in abusive marriages. She equips us to be wise and informed as we confront oppressors and advocate for the oppressed.
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God’s Love: Better than Unconditional
$5.49“God’s unconditional love.” Sounds nice, but is it enough? Is there more to God’s love?
Describing unconditional love as detached “blanket acceptance” and “benign affirmation,” David Powlison challenges our common assumption about the nature of God’s love. Although wonderfully accepting, divine love is also intrusive, intimate, personal, and active. Instead of simply loving us as we are, God loves us enough to change us.
Powlison acknowledges four underlying truths of unconditional love, offers biblical improvements on the idea, and urges us to see God’s love for what it really is—better than unconditional.
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Guidance: Have I Missed God’s Best?
$5.49What choice should I make? How do I know that my decision will fit with God’s plan for me? “We tend to think that while God has a ‘best’ plan for our life, he also has ‘cheaper’ plans for people who miss the best,” writes Petty. “But for those who are in Christ, there is only one plan.” Petty explains that God’s plan and our actions work in concert. With all the decisions we face and despite the mistakes we make, God works in all things for the good, transforming us into the image of Christ (Rom. 8:28). How comforting to know that our choices fulfill that plan in every detail.
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Homosexuality: Speaking the Truth in Love
$5.99“Homosexuality is the hot issue of the day,” says Edward T. Welch in this booklet. “Even more than abortion, it will confront the church throughout this generation, forcing us to listen, study, and respond wisely.” How can we answer claims that the Bible does not prohibit committed homosexual relationships? Or that science proves that homosexuality is genetic, not a chosen lifestyle? Welch supplies us with timely biblical and biological insight into homosexuality. Just as importantly, he calls us to examine our attitudes in order to minister to homosexuals truthfully, compassionately, humbly, and persuasively.
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Just One More: When Desires Don’t Take No for an Answer
$5.49I hate doing this. I love doing this. Sometimes our desires can be cruel lovers. We think we should be rid of a particular desire, but we feel stuck. “What’s the use in trying to rid my life of this desire?”, we ask ourselves. “I’ve tried, but there’s just no way out for me.” Or is there? The problem may be more complicated than just being stuck. Might there be a path to true change? If so, would you want to take that path? Author Ed Welch may surprise you with his answers.
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OCD: Freedom for the Obsessive-Compulsive
$5.49Repeated thoughts about contamination. Recurring doubts. A need to have things in a particular order. An irrational fear of getting a life-threatening disease. Repetitive checking, washing, cleaning, arranging. Hoarding. These are some of the common obsessions and compulsions experienced by people with OCD (Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder). Do you know anyone who struggles like this? What causes obsessive-compulsive behavior? Is this primarily a spiritual or sin issue? “These questions must be answered if we are to minister wisely and compassionately to those who struggle in this way,” writes Michael Emlet. In this booklet, he discusses the causes of OCD and gives a biblical approach to helping those who fight it. He shows how trusting in Jesus Christ “brings freedom from the tyranny of performance and perfectionism.”
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Pornography: Slaying the Dragon
$5.49Private sexual fantasy can preoccupy vast areas of a person’s mental life, notes David Powlison. As explicit sexual images proliferate in films and magazines, on television, and over the Internet, the temptations increase and the bondage seems unbreakable. Even Christians can find that their lives have become a push-pull struggle between indulging in fantasy and resisting it. Is it really possible to slay the dragon of pornography and fantasy once it has gained control of your life?, asks Powlison. The answer is yes, as you will see from this interview with a man called Bob, who experienced Christ’s deliverance in this part of his life.
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Pre-Engagement: 5 Questions to Ask Yourselves
$5.49How do you know if you’re ready to marry? What are the signs that a man and a woman are heading in the same direction and are right for each other? In this booklet a biblical counselor and a pastor team up to offer five pertinent questions that will help couples decide whether to commit themselves to each other for life. These questions bring to light basic convictions, assumptions, expectations, priorities, and more. As couples think through and discuss them, they will get to know themselves and each other better-a wise investment toward building a marriage on a solid foundation, with Christ at the center.
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Priorities: Mastering Time Management
$5.49Do you wish for more hours in the day? A shorter “to do” list? Control in the midst of chaos?
With insight and clarity, James C. Petty helps bring focus into frazzled lives. Using the “Assessing My Priorities” worksheet, he walks us through the process of organizing time under the categories of God, the people of God, and God?s work in the world. With sound biblical advice and practical application, this booklet demonstrates ways in which we can reduce unnecessary stress, identify true priorities, and begin to get our overbooked schedules under control.
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Procrastination: First Steps to Change (Walter Henegar)
$5.49“I’ve been procrastinating most of my life. If a task is even remotely unpleasant, my tendency is to put it off. It’s not that I’m lazy; I’m actually very busy. I just wait as long as possible to do the really hard stuff.” This is how author Walter Henegar describes his life. Does it sound like your experience? If so, this booklet will help you see procrastination from God’s point of view, and show you how to change.
Author Walter Henegar recognizes that even though procrastination is acceptable in our culture, it is a deeply rooted sinful pattern in our lives. Only by God’s goodness and grace can our hearts be changed. Do you procrastinate? Do you doubt that you can change? Ask God to change you, and trust that He is able to do it.
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Sexual Sin: Combatting the Drifting and Cheating
$5.49“Any time you see a person engage in illicit sexual behavior, you can be sure that he or she is a cheater,” writes Jeffrey S. Black. “He or she wants sexual gratification without intimacy.” Likewise, Black tells us that people never leap into extreme forms of sin; they “drift” into them, and habits that were bad soon move to worse, even unthinkable. How does such a person cease their cheating and drifting? Because sexuality is a spiritual act, not a purely biological one, the solution has to do with planting God’s Word in our hearts. Here Black shows us how the Bible reaches to the roots of sexual sin.
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Stress: Peace Amid Pressure
$5.49Are you overwhelmed by stress? On edge? Pressured to achieve? Spinning into free fall? What is the “noise” going on inside you? Or are you quiet inside? David Powlison invites you to look at Psalm 131 to learn how to calm your soul. “Psalm 131 gives us intimate access to the inner life of someone who has learned composure,” Powlison writes.
“This person is quiet on the inside because he has learned the only true and lasting peace.” Psalm 131 is not about unruffled detachment or stoic indifference. It’s not about having an easygoing personality or low expectations. It is about learning composure through a relationship with Jesus Christ. His presence in our lives is the only thing strong enough to overpower stress. We can learn how to say with the psalmist, “Surely I have composed and quieted my soul.” (Psalm 131:2)
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Thankfulness: Even When It Hurts
$5.49Is God asking too much when he calls us to be thankful even in the midst of trials? Susan Lutz helps us see that being thankful does not mean ignoring painful realities. It means bringing our trials to a God who loves us and sent his Son to be our savior.
What results from a thankful heart?
– A stronger relationship with God
– Protection from life’s spiritual hazards
– Intimate connection and communication with the Heavenly Father
Lutz explains how believers in Christ have a reason to be thankful that they never had before: Jesus removes the barrier of sin and brings them into a realtionship with God.$5.99 -
Why Me? Comfort for the Victimized
$5.49“Why is this happening to me? Where is God in my time of anguish?” Knowing our hearts, God has spoken powerful words of comfort. Psalm 10, for example, is God’s word to those who have been victimized by others. It guides people into knowing God in the midst of being violated. David Powlison walks us through Psalm 10, helping us see its message of anguish and refuge. Can this ancient text help us in our pain today? Yes, because God is present and listening. What others may have meant for evil, God means for good.
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Worry: Pursuing a Better Path to Peace (David Powlison)
$5.49There’s always something to worry about.
David Powlison recognizes that we have good reason to worry about things. But he assures us that we have much better reasons not to worry! Anxiety is a universal human experience, and we need to approach it with a plan. What do you do when anxieties take over your life? Powlison describes a six-point game plan based on these truths: “It is your Father’s pleasure to give you the kingdom. Your father is God. You need not worry.”
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Teens & Sex: How Should We Teach Them?
$5.49Distorted images of sex bombard our children from every angle. Where can they find a healthy view of their sexuality? How can parents and youth leaders teach kids the life-transforming truths that expose the counterfeits for what they are?
Paul Tripp unearths the premises that underlie popular views of sex and notes several characteristics that make teenagers especially vulnerable to sexual temptation. In addition to showing how sex relates to our worship, our identity, our hearts, and our need for grace, Tripp offers a threefold plan for helping teens deal with sex realistically and in the hope of the gospel.
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Domestic Abuse: Help for the Sufferer
$5.99Scripture has much to say about your experience, your safety, and God’s heart for you—he does not blame you for your suffering and does not tolerate oppression. In fact, he wants to rescue you.
Experienced family counselor Darby Strickland helps you to cut through confusion, speak out and find support, and then determine your next steps.
