A God you can know Is God a wrathful judge? A gentle healer? A father? Brother? Friend? In The Relentless Tenderness of Jesus, Brennan Manning brings you to a deeper understanding of the true nature of God. Through poignant and unforgettable stories and challenging observations, Manning helps you stretch your mind and reject simplistic explanations of who God really is. With rich insights you'll see how God can at once be a roaring lion, pacing the globe and seeking you out; and simultaneously a tender lamb, there to comfort you in any time of need. A unique experience, this book will forever change the way you think about God. "As I read these honest, grace-saturated, humbly iconoclastic, distinctly un-sugarcoated but still somehow gentle words, I could taste familiar water, living water that only people who are thirsty for life can enjoy. Read it--and hope again!" --from the foreword by Larry Crabb Brennan Manning is a former Franciscan priest and author of a dozen books including the best-selling The Ragamuffin Gospel. He has lived a faithful life of service to others and to God and shares his intellect and love through the words found in this book.

How to Love When You Don't Feel Like Loving Everywhere we look, we see evidence that love is in short supply. Terrorists and political corruption, school shootings and troubled marriages, impatient online sniping and character assassination--all point to the fact that we do not know how to love one another as Jesus commanded and modeled. We put our own interests and happiness first, despite the fact that the greatest happiness comes through sacrificial love. In this book, Dr. Larry Crabb shows readers how to understand the deep and perfect love we are shown by our Creator and Redeemer, and how to pour that love into other people. This love is about more than being nice and serving others. It's about relating to others in such a way that they feel heard, seen, and valued. This love sacrifices and suffers and keeps loving, even when doing so is costly. This kind of love, says Crabb, is the kind worth fighting for in all of our relationships, and A Different Kind of Happiness shows how to make it a reality.

An ECPA 2003 Gold Medallion Finalist We need companions on our spiritual journey. The modern world has taught us to value autonomy and individualism. Our churches often see spirituality as personal and private. But we cannot go long in our Christian pilgrimage before realizing that isolation leads to spiritual barrenness. We soon discover that our souls long for accompaniment, intimacy and spiritual friendship. As a result, many Christians today are rediscovering the ancient practice of spiritual direction. In this inviting guide, David G. Benner introduces readers to the riches of spiritual friendship and direction, explaining what they are and how they are practiced. Spiritual direction moves beyond mere moral lifestyle accountability and goes deeper than popular notions of mentoring or discipling. Through prayerful, guided attunement to God's activity, sacred companions provide care for the soul. If we are to experience significant spiritual formation and growth, our souls must be nurtured through spiritual companions. Benner, well-accustomed to God's work through relationships, models the kind of traveling companion who can move us toward deeper intimacy with God.

In today's frenetic society, people rarely develop intimate friendships. Instead, they spend their lives essentially disconnected from others, rushing through life content with brief visits and casual conversations. But what if one were to develop a community, a spiritual community, of people who walked with and supported each other through life's journey? A community of real friends who listened to each other's personal tragedies without merely trying to fix the problems, who encouraged and nurtured each other's strengths, and who accepted people for who they really are, instead of the image they try to portray. In Becoming a True Spiritual Community (formerly titled The Safest Place on Earth), Larry Crabb explores such a place, where God can heal disconnected people and allow them to reconnect with each other and, ultimately, with Him.

Forever change the way you look

at the Bible . . . and your own life

Have you ever read the Bible only to come away confused? Ever wondered if God actually had you in mind when He began telling His story?

Though life may not be going according to your plan, God has another one, far better than you can imagine. From Genesis to Revelation, experience His invitation to get you dancing with joy.

In "66 Love Letters" Larry Crabb offers a fresh, relational look at Scripture:

"When you finish reading my first love letter to you, I want you to realize that I never underestimated how thoroughly you'd mess up your life or how painfully you would struggle and suffer, and I don't want you to underestimate your failures or struggles either. They're all part of the story I'm telling. "But neither have I underestimated my determination or ability to enter both the mess you've made and the pain you feel, then turn everything around. I can, and I will, make everything good again. Never underestimate me."

Larry's intimate conversation with God asks deeply honest questions such as:

"God, what is it you wanted me to see in Obadiah?" "And what's up with Leviticus? Is there anything there for me?" "This one verse in Galatians has always frustrated me. Why is that?" "The way you wrote Revelation makes it difficult to understand--why didn't you just describe what will happen in a straightforward way?"

Listen to the story of God unfold through these chapters, and you'll fi nd not only His redeeming love but His plan and provision designed especially for you.

Two people can face the same type of adversity and have two vastly different reactions, even when they have the same background and worldview. What makes the difference when one person responds with joy and the other responds with bitterness? Perspective--the way they think about things. Right thinking matters and, thankfully, it's something we can all learn to employ. In this insightful unpacking of Philippians 4:8, pastor Jamie Rasmussen shows readers how to focus their thoughts and attention on the things in life that God has declared will make a meaningful impact on both a person's outlook and experience. It's the kind of thinking that has the power to change us, pointing us away from self-pity, anger, and resentment and toward contentment and personal peace, which helps us get the most out of life. Anyone who yearns to live a life characterized by joy no matter what the circumstance will benefit from this thoughtful, practical, and inspiring book.

According to Drs. Larry Crabb and Dan Allender, encouragement is more than a compliment or a pat on the back. It's a skill that can be mastered by anyone. Crabb and Allender ask: "What must we know in order to fulfill the biblical exhortation to 'encourage one another?'" Encouragement provides the answer. Part one deals with understanding encouragement, and part two explores the process of encouragement, including such practical how-tos as developing a careful selection of encouraging words; cultivating active listening skills; using biblical fellowship to move beyond superficial smiles and shallow greetings; and recognizing subtle opportunities for encouragement. Without the encouragement of a caring community, biblical truth taught in church tends to just thicken people's defense layers. But authenticity, freedom, and greater love for God and others are the fruit of encouragement, and evidence of the tremendous power God invests in individuals who practice it.

In his most significant book to date, Dr. Larry Crabb expands on his lifelong work in the field of psychotherapy to adopt a groundbreaking, but biblical, approach to healing the deep wounds of the soul-an approach that centers around building intimate, healing mini-communities in our lives and churches.

Dr. Crabb envisions a day when communities of God's people-ordinary Christians whose lives connect as husband to wife, brother to sister, friend to friend-will accomplish most of the healing that we now depend on mental health professionals to provide.

God has deposited within us the power to heal soul-disease and that power is released to do its work as we relate to each other in revolutionary new ways. In challenging, practical language, Dr. Crabb shows us how.

This revised and updated edition now includes a full workbook for those who want to better learn how to connect with the hearts and souls of those around them.

If you want a more vital union with God, a richer relationship with others, and a deeper sense of personal wholeness, learn how to look inside yourself and discover how God works real, liberating change when you live from the inside out. Packed with new and compelling insights, this 25th-anniversary edition of Inside Out is an essential tool for personal discipleship, counseling, and encouragement. Includes a 12-week study guide.

Bestselling author Larry Crabb cuts to the heart of the biblical view of marriage: the 'one-flesh' relationship. He argues convincingly that the deepest needs of human personality---security and significance---ultimately cannot be satisfied by a marriage partner. We need to turn to the Lord, rather than our spouse, to satisfy our needs. This frees both partners for 'soul oneness, ' a commitment to minister to our spouse's needs rather than manipulating them to meet our own needs. With 'soul oneness' comes renewed 'body oneness, ' where couples enjoy sexual pleasure as an expression and outgrowth of a personal relationship. The Marriage Builder also identifies three building blocks essential to constructing marriage: the grace of God, true marriage commitment, and acceptance of one's mate. Discussion questions are included to aid couples who want to dig into it and apply the principles to their own lives and marriages. The Marriage Builder is for anyone who longs to transform marriage from trial to triump

"Church as I know it usually leaves deep parts of me dormant, unawakened, and untouched. I don't much like going. So, what now?"

What's happening to the Church? Why are so many people who for decades have been faithful, steady churchgoers (and others who want to start going to church but can't seem to find one that meets their needs) losing interest in even attending church, let alone getting involved? What is fundamentally wrong with the "types" of churches (Seeker, Bible, Emergent, Liberal, Evangelical) that dot the religious landscape? Larry Crabb believes it is time to rethink the entire foundation and focus of what we know today as church -- everything we're doing and are wanting to see happen. In his most honest and vulnerable book to date, the author reveals his own struggles in this area and then offers a compelling vision of why God designed us to live in community with Him and others, and what the church he wants to be a part of looks like.

Learn the revolutionary way to talk with God

Like millions of Christians, Dr. larry Crabb has always considered his prayer life a weakness - "dull, intense only in crisis, occasionally meaningful and passionate but mostly lifelessly routine." But for everyone who struggles to pray in a way that matters, who is bored with prayer and doesn't know where else to turn, this groundbreaking book whispers of hope for change.

Something new and real and deep started happening in him, Crabb says, when he began practicing the four steps of what he calls the PAPA prayer - a revolutionary conversational approach to talking with and enjoying God. As this fellow seeker shares his journey and education in the mysteries of prayer, he guides us to see ourselves and God in a different light . . . which will alter the way we talk - and listen - to Him.

Learn How to Look Through Life's Tragedies and See the Lavish Blessings God Has For You
"Shattered dreams," writes Dr. Larry Crabb, "are never random. They are always a piece in a larger puzzle, a chapter in a larger story. The Holy Spirit uses the pain of shattered dreams to help us discover our desire for God, to help us begin dreaming the highest dream."
To help you understand this neglected truth in the deepest and most helpful way, author and counselor Larry Crabb has written a wise, hopeful, honest, and realistic examination of life's difficulties and tragedies. He wraps insights around the bold story of Naomi in the Bible's book of Ruth.
As Crabb retells and illuminates this sometimes disturbing and often profoundly touching story, we are shown how God stripped Naomi of happiness in order to prepare her for joy. And we gain an unforgettable picture of how God uses shattered dreams to release better dreams and a more fulfilling life for those He loves.
Shattered dreams have the power to change our lives for good. Forever.

It doesn't take too much living before we realize that life never goes quite the way we want it to. But when things get hard and we don't understand what God is doing, what is our first impulse? Is it to resist him and run away like Jonah? Or is it to trust him even while trembling in fear of suffering like Habakkuk? In this powerful exploration of God's often mysterious and counterintuitive ways, Dr. Larry Crabb challenges readers to seize the opportunities for growth and maturity that come our way when we experience troubles and failures. Rather than pushing back against adversity, he invites us to look closer at what God is doing in our lives when it feels like he is far from us. Unpacking the stories of two very different prophets, Crabb lights the way to a life of resting in the goodness of a God who is always working out his plan for our lives.

What makes a man masculine? A woman feminine? Did God design the two genders so differently? If so, why? The answers to these questions will free women and men to gladly embrace all that it means to be fully alive as gendered bearers of God's image who can profoundly impact others for good by the way they relate.
Author and psychologist Dr. Larry Crabb presents a biblically grounded understanding of gender uniqueness. His illustration of a bridge of connection shows how the two genders can relationally come together in God-revealing harmony as they celebrate their God-designed uniqueness. Readers will discover that God created male and female to relate in gender-specific ways to make a difference in others by displaying God's relational character. Crabb clearly shows men and women what it means to live fully alive as feminine women and masculine men.

Dear (your name here),

I love you.

Love, God.

What if you had a letter from the Lord of the Universe, written specifically to you with unique insight into who He is and what He has planned for you?

What if you could enter into a real conversation with the God of the Bible?

WELL, YOU DO. AND YOU CAN.

The greatest love letters of all time did not come from the pen of a playwright or the mouth of a poet. They weren't formed on warped sheets of music or with the quills of romantics. These letters come from the Word of the Almighty God.

Based on" 66 Love Letters" --Dr. Larry Crabb's intimate conversation with God--this devotional experience offers the chance to completely change the way you think about love.

Give yourself forty days to fall head-over-heels in love with the Savior who calls you by name and welcomes you into a sweeping, incredible relationship with Him. Discover the language and story of true love as it was originally intended--personal letters from God to you.

Is servanthood a way to lead or a way of life? Leadership has its place in Christian ministry, but God calls us, first and foremost, to servanthood. Servant is not a modifier for some other activity but the foundation of the Christian life. Siang-Yang Tan calls the church back to its primary role of being servants of Christ and other people. This genuine Spirit-inspired servant attitude will enable you to enter more deeply into God's rest and grace and will revolutionize your life and ministry. "Dr. Tan has wonderfully distilled and critiqued the vast literature on servanthood and leadership and given us practical insights into how servanthood looks in daily life."--Richard J. Foster, author of Celebration of Discipline; founder of RENOVAR?? "I have benefited from Siang-Yang's servanthood as a student, beginning writer, and friend. This book is an act of servanthood for you!"--John Ortberg, author, God Is Closer Than You Think; teaching pastor, Menlo Park Presbyterian Church "Finally, the cart has been put back behind the horse! Tan reminds us that Jesus' call to servanthood is both primary and universal."--Gary W. Moon, editor, Conversations journal; author, Falling for God "This superb book on servanthood reflects the exceptional wisdom and spiritual depth for which Dr. Tan has become known."--Donald A. Hagner, George Eldon Ladd Professor of New Testament, Fuller Theological Seminary "The message of this book is biblical, balanced, and countercultural."--Chi-Hok Wong, president, First Evangelical Church Association Siang-Yang Tan is professor of psychology at Fuller Theological Seminary and senior pastor of First Evangelical Church Glendale in California. He has written numerousbooks, including Coping with Depression and Disciplines of the Holy Spirit.

In Hope When You're Hurting, Drs. Larry Crabb and Dan Allender consider four key questions people ask: What's wrong? Who can help? What will the helper do? And, What can I hope for? In answering these questions, Crabb and Allender shed light on the strengths and weaknesses of different counseling models. They consider the psychological, medical, and spiritual aspects of emotional pain. They examine the role of the church as a vital agent for restoration and growth. And most important, they offer guidance, choices, and hope for people struggling with spiritual and emotional pain.

Dr. Larry Crabb helps readers understand that instead of using God to solve their problems, they need to use their problems to find God.

"The local church should and can successfully assume responsibility within its ranks for restoring troubled people to full, productive, creative lives." "If we are to hope for success in such immense and seriously neglected responsibility, pastors need to return to the biblical model not of ministering to their people but of equipping their people to minister to each other by using their spiritual gifts." "Congregations need to regain that wonderful sense of 'koinonia' fellowship and pro practice true community."