On Thursday as they ate the Passover meal with Jesus, the disciples believed that the kingdom was coming and they were on the front end of a revolution. Then came the tragedy of Friday and, somehow even worse, the silence of Saturday. They ran. They doubted. They despaired. Yet, within the grave, God's power was still flowing like a mighty river beneath the ice of winter. And then there was Sunday morning. Real, raw, and achingly honest, A Glorious Dark meets readers in the ambiguity, doubt, and uncertainty we feel when our beliefs about the world don't match up to reality. Tackling tough questions like Why is faith so hard? Why do I doubt? Why does God allow me to suffer? and Is God really with me in the midst of my pain? A. J. Swoboda puts into sharp focus a faith that is greater than our personal comfort or fulfilment. He invites readers to develop a faith that embraces the tension between what we believe and what we experience, showing that the very tension we seek to eliminate is where God meets us.

'A leader's ability to achieve anything great for God begins in his or her heart and mind.' --John C. Maxwell Effective leadership starts with healthy, clear thinking. Successful leaders know how to focus on the essentials. Best-selling author and leadership specialist John C. Maxwell shares meditations sure to challenge us as leaders to reach our full potential as servants of God. In this 30th anniversary edition of his very first book, we learn that 'our ability to achieve anything great for God begins in our hearts and minds.' Ready for a change of heart? Ready to be transformed by the renewing of your mind? Increase your effectiveness as both leader and servant as you 'think on these things.

In The Magnificent Defeat, Frederick Buechner examines what it means to follow Christ, the lessons of Christmas and Easter, the miracles of grace, and "the magnificent defeat" of the human soul of God.

Are you burning brightly-or burning out-in your spiritual, mental, physical, and emotional life? Do you find yourself being torn between work and family? Between what you have to do and what you want to do? In Burn Brightly Without Burning Out, Richard K. Biggs examines twenty delicate contrasts we all face and urges readers to gradually improve the balance between work and the other aspects of life. Filled with examples and exercises, each brief chapter reveals timeless truths, offers practical application tips, and issues a call to action."I love the big message of this small book," writes John Maxwell in the foreword. "Whether you're struggling to find work/life balance, or seeking to better the quality of life you now enjoy, Richard can help."

This collection of nine meditations from renowned biblical scholar and Anglican Bishop Tom Wright carries Holy Week from its solemn beginnings to the dramatic conclusion on Good Friday and Easter. "I hope that these addresses," Wright says in his preface, ." . . will contribute both to the enriched understanding, and also to the empowered living out, of the vital and inexhaustible events at the heart of Christian faith." The writings for Palm Sunday through Maundy Thursday morning, as well as the Easter Vigil, focus on texts from the Gospel of Matthew; Maundy Thursday evening, Good Friday, and Easter morning focus on texts from the Gospel of John.

Stories from a Place That Feels Like Home

Master storyteller Philip Gulley envelops readers in an almost forgotten world of plainspoken and honest small-town values, evoking a simpler time when people knew each other by name, folks looked out for their neighbors, and people were willing to do what was right--no matter the cost.

When Philip Gulley began writing newsletter essays for the twelve members of his Quaker meeting in Indiana, he had no idea one of them would find its way to radio commentator Paul Harvey Jr. and be read on the air to 24 million people. Fourteen books later, with more than a million books in print, Gulley still entertains as well as inspires from his small-town front porch.