Embrace the Youthful Spirit at Any Age. As you face the mirror each day, do you meet an older version of yourself? It’s a familiar journey, one where we acknowledge that we’re not as young as we once were, yet not quite ready to embrace being old. But what if there was a way to traverse this path with grace and vitality?
12 Ways to Age Gracefully author Susan Neal is an RN with an MBA and MHS who combines her passion for health and her faith to guide others toward wellness.
The good news is you can slow down time. By making the right choices, you can look and feel younger. You don’t have to spend a fortune on products either; simply learn and implement the tools needed to move gracefully and joyfully through your senior years. By making simple lifestyle changes, you’ll look and feel better. Discover how to choose vitality over disease; joy over depression; youthfulness over listlessness. 12 Ways to Age Gracefully will empower you to:
boost your energy levels,
improve senior brain health,
learn how to feel better about yourself,
develop better stress management, and
fulfill your God-appointed purpose with renewed vigor.
What path will you choose? Discover the secrets to not just feeling better but also looking fantastic as you do so! Visit shop.ironstreammedia.com to learn more. †
The Key to Trusting Comes Down to Knowing His Name. Trust. Sounds simple. But trust is a complicated and delicate matter. We know we should trust God, yet we grapple with the question: How do we actually do that? Especially when life presents unexpected trials, trusting a God we can’t see seems like a big challenge.
Tethered Trust releases on May 7, 2024. Visit shop.ironstreammedia.com to learn more about the book.
Author Becky Harling’s passion is to help women strengthen their faith in the goodness of God. Harling is a popular speaker at retreats and conferences and the host of The Connected Mom podcast. Her life experiences as a pastor’s wife, parent, grandparent, women’s ministries director, and survivor of breast cancer all bring depth and transparency to her message.
Her latest release, Tethered Trust brings new insight into the names of Jesus as taught in Isaiah 9:6. The main message is that Jesus is totally trustworthy. As women gather with their friends to truly understand His names, it will be easier for them to trust Christ even in life’s challenges. Life has so many unexpected changes that send us in multiple directions, but Jesus will hold us close and provide all we need to remain faithful. So, what are you waiting for? Grab a cup of coffee, gather your girlfriends, open your Bibles, and begin to process together how you can trust God more fully! †
Have you ever felt “less than”? Are you seeking to discover or further define the unique calling God has for your life? Reading the scripture based blessings and word studies found in Don Ankenbrandt’s new book, Your True Reflection, Trade in What You See for What God Sees, could be the game changer you are looking for.
Of the sixty devotions/blessings in his book, Ankenbrandt says his favorite is “You have a New Name” based on Revelations 2:17. Click here to read this sample devotion from the book. The book also has a study guide designed for small groups.
Ankenbrandt founded Alliance Ministries nearly 20 years ago to coach people to discover their unique Kingdom calling, and his book seems to be a clear extension of that. In fact, he says the book came out of his conversations over the years with thousands of people. “I felt like it was time to probably write this,” adding that the concept for the book came some 30 years ago when he took what he calls a “day of solitude” to be with God.
At that point in his life, Ankenbrandt admits he felt God was disappointed in him. “I was very works oriented. I just felt like I always had to perform.” And Ankenbrandt found his performance- less than. “I felt like my quiet times hadn’t been consistent. I had little kids, and I was on the run and I just felt disconnected from God most of the time.” That day Ankenbrandt sat and read the entire New Testament. “I was looking for what disappointed Jesus with his followers, not the Pharisees. And I couldn’t find a lot.”
Don Ankenbrandt shares with publisher Laurie Franklin the story behind his latest book, Your True Reflection. Ankenbrandt is also co-author of The 210 Project, Discover God’s Place in Your Story. Learn more here.
“The only thing that Jesus kept saying to them is, ‘Don’t you know who I am? Where’s your faith?’ That was the main theme that I found in reading all the Gospels. And then I run into this verse Ephesians 1:3. ‘Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every’– every is the key word- ‘spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.’ And I thought, what is that, Lord? What’s a spiritual blessing? So I began to read. There’s over 30 just in the book of Ephesians.”
Ankenbrandt found over 140 different terms in the New Testament that describe the very specific things that God has done for us. “I walked out of that day looking at this long list of terms and going, ‘This is who I am.’” Ankenbrandt chose 60 blessings, 60 biblically based truths about our God-given identity to focus on in his book. Each devotion breaks down the definition of the key word in each of the 60 blessings and then provides a deeper dive into that word as it appears in other parts of Scripture. “I think most people, if they’re honest, would probably say, ‘I think God’s disappointed with me a lot.’ And that’s just not true,” says Ankenbrandt adding, “God loves you and look at what else He thinks of you…That’s the whole point of this book and the study.”
One day, Savannah Guthrie read a passage from the Bible that hit her like a thunderbolt. As she describes it, the moment generated a radical re-framing of her concept of God. The verse grabbed her and held her heart. Having been raised in a church environment that leaned into guilt, condemnation, and the judgment of God, the verse transformed her spiritual life, ushering in a profound sense of joy, hope, and love. “Watch what God does, and then you do it, like children who learn proper behavior from their parents. Mostly what God does is love.” Ephesians 5:1-2 The Message Bible
Savannah Guthrie co-anchors the NBC News morning show Today. Her latest book, Mostly What God Does is available for purchase at Sanctuary Christian Books and Gifts in Alabaster.
In her excellent new book, Mostly What God Does (Thomas Nelson Publishing), Guthrie offers an array of essays on what it means to live in the abiding awareness that we are beloved by God. God’s love for us is deep enough to care about the details of our lives. It is powerful enough to withstand our unworthiness. It is unshaken by our failures and mistakes. It is forever fixed.
Yes, God loves us as individuals, but his love is far too expansive to be restricted. God’s love is wide enough to cover the world. Guthrie not only reminds us that we are loved, but that we also are commanded to love others. When we extend genuine love to others, the act becomes a form of worship. Perhaps nothing brings God more glory than our acts of compassion to another human being. What does God do? Mostly what He does is love. What should we do? Love God and one another. Walking in God’s love should not only change us. It should change the world.
After serving in Vietnam, Bobby Richards thought he’d left the jungles and adversaries behind, but becoming an Oakland cop proved to be a life-altering career choice. The world had transformed during his time spent in Southeast Asia. The poodle skirt was replaced by the mini, work jeans had become flowered bell-bottoms, and the beatnik had morphed into a hippie. The foliage was replaced with concrete and the bamboo with high-rises. As a cop, Bobby encounters the best and worst of humanity. Later in life, as he reflects on his career as both a cop and a prison chaplain, he knows that his greatest challenge is yet to come- facing Death Row inmates inside San Quentin State Prison.
With a decade of law enforcement experience in the San Francisco Bay Area, three years as a volunteer chaplain at San Quentin State Prison, and a lifetime of friendship with those who protect and serve, author B. F. Randall has seen these characters firsthand. Through Three Gates to Hell, Randall hopes readers “see the compassion that truly resides in the hearts of most police officers and that they are real people facing conflicts each day that most will never experience in a lifetime.” He adds, “When trouble comes our way, the first two we call upon are God, and then a cop, and not necessarily in that order. Three Gates to Hell presents a story of how God can work in those who are expected to be the final answer… This book isn’t about superheroes, it’s about men and women compassionately protecting their community, and bringing order to those in the midst of the chaos.”
Randall is an award-winning author, graduate of the University of San Francisco, Global University (ICI), Berean Institute, and an attendee of Golden Gate Theological Seminary. He was licensed and ordained by the Evangelical Church Alliance in 1984 after serving ten years as a police officer in the San Francisco Bay Area. He founded and pastored New Hope Christian Fellowship, an evangelical Christian church, and served as a volunteer chaplain at San Quentin State Prison. As a police chaplain, Randall is a trained hostage and critical incident negotiator and counselor of law enforcement personnel. He has spoken at numerous churches, conferences, seminars, retreats, and global missions. He also produced and hosted a weekly radio show that reached across the Bay Area and wrote editorials, articles, plays, and skits. His dramatic monologue from the book of James brings the Scriptures to life as he performs “A Man Called James.” Read more about Randall’s latest release, Three Gates to Hell, at shop.ironstreammedia.com. †
For Christians, history is divided by the life of one person – Jesus of Nazareth, the Messianic Son of God. What happened before and after Jesus may be important, but it pales in significance when compared to the events surrounding Jesus. His life, His teachings, His death, and His resurrection were not just world changing – they changed even the nature of eternity.
Susan Hill’s latest devotional A Savior is Risen is available for purchase at Sanctuary Christian Books and Gifts in Alabaster.
Holy Week is the annual observance of the story of Jesus’ entrance into Jerusalem, His crucifixion by Rome, and His resurrection from the dead on the first day of the week. A Savior is Risen- An Easter Devotional (Zondervan), by Susan Hill, is a collection of forty devotions designed to enhance this season of reflection on the final days of Jesus. Bible verses and prayers accompany each devotion, offering thoughtful meditations of hope and love.
In A Savior is Risen, Hill reminds us that, “It is because of the physical resurrection of Christ that you can have hope. You can have faith. You can have freedom…This is not just a feel-good story. This is the story that rewrites your story…His relationship with you is ever-fixed and abounding in steadfast love.”
May your Easter season be filled with peace as we embrace the message of Jesus, contemplate His death, and rejoice in the power and promise of His resurrection.
Golf is one of the most difficult sports to play well. But practicing the sport can promote honesty, integrity, and patience. Golf can be enjoyed in an afternoon with your buddies, your family, or even business partners. A golfer can experience both euphoria and disappointment on the same hole.
Click here to find a preview of Birdies, Bogeys & Blessings.
Birdies, Bogeys & Blessings author Del Duduit says, “Everyone—even professional athletes—face similar struggles and successes like everyone else. It doesn’t matter if you have won a major championship in golf or you clock in at 7 a.m. at your office job, you will face challenges and you will also enjoy victories. But it’s how you deal with the problems and how you celebrate the wins that matters. And in the end, the only thing that really matters is your personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Trophies are great and job promotions are fabulous, but none of that matters if you don’t know Christ.”
Del Duduit is an award-winning sportswriter and author.
Being good at this sport requires endurance, humility, and practice. The same can be applied to your daily walk with the Lord. Duduit adds, “This book is not about golf. It’s about hope and what a personal relationship with Jesus Christ can do for you. I just happen to use well-known golfers and their personal stories to drive it home. They face struggles like you and me, but they also rely on their faith to get them through struggles.” Read about what some of the most famous golfers to play the game have to say about the sport, the God they love, and the faith required to hit a hole-in-one on and off the course.
The author of the Stars of the Faith series, Duduit has been published in Clubhouse Magazine, Sports Spectrum, and on ToddStarnes.com. He is a contributor for Athletes in Action, The Christian View and more. He also covers the Cincinnati Bengals for the Portsmouth Daily Times and is a regular guest on My Michelle Live podcast and on PJNET.tv.
Birdies, Bogeys & Blessings releases on March 12, 2024. Learn more at shop.ironstreammedia.com. †
Sometimes broken people break the world around them. Sometimes the brokenness of the world breaks the best of people. Humans are a strange species. We are capable, both individually and collectively, of love and hatred, generosity and selfishness, godliness and wickedness. Virtue and vice reside within all of us, even among people of faith. In it all, in the brokenness and the healing, in the beauty and the ugliness, God is always at work.
Esau McCaulley’s latest book How Far to the Promised Land is available for purchase at Sanctuary Christian Books and Gifts in Alabaster. McCaulley is associate professor of New Testament at Wheaton College and a contributing opinion writer for the New York Times.
Love sometimes means acknowledging and bearing the broken parts of people. In his new book, How Far to the Promised Land– One Black Family’s Story of Hope and Survival in the American South (Convergent), Esau McCaulley explores his family’s journey through brokenness, pain, healing, and forgiveness. The degree to which individual choices impact the trajectory of life, for both good and bad, is in constant tension with the forces of the world around us. Where is God in the trouble and trauma of life? How can love and hatred so easily reside within us? Why do people of faith exhibit selfishness as well as kindness? Why do those without faith exhibit kindness as well as selfishness? The fact of evil and the hope of godly faith are forever in tension.
How Far to the Promised Land is not a story of uncommon heroics. It is not a story of how one man rose from poverty to become a respected professor, theologian, and author. It is a story that reveals something profound about what it means to be human. It acknowledges that we have a measure of freedom in how we live our lives. But it also exhorts us, in accordance with the Scriptures, to be strong in faith because we don’t wrestle with just our own flesh and blood – our own humanity. We also fight against external principalities and powers, against the darkness of the world and wickedness in high places. Evil isn’t simply an individual problem – it is social and collective power. How Far to the Promised Land is a beautifully written and compassionate exploration of what it means to be a broken people living in a broken world with faith in an unbroken God.
Can they find her son in time?Sophie Cayes is on the road to success as an artist, until her ex-husband threatens to sue for full custody of their son. Upon learning of a guest ranch in Eastern Washington that keeps a room open for women in need, she grabs her son and bolts.
Although Chad Davis loves starting colts on the Seven Tine Guest Ranch, his goal is to have his own spread. Everything’s on course until a woman and her preschool son show up. He’s not thrilled about helping out. Until the boy comes up missing. On his watch. Along with a tribal cop, they head back to Montana in search of the boy, knowing his dad was the one who kidnapped him. Sophie prays they find him before her ex-husband and his new wife go on the run. Taking her son with them.
Renewed Hope releases on February 6, 2024.
While the story of Sophie Cayes in Renewed Hope is fictional, the theme of domestic violence and abuse toward indigenous women is very real and happens at a rate far exceeding the national average. In fact, in 2021, President Joe Biden signed the “Executive Order on Improving Public Safety and Criminal Justice for Native Americans and Addressing the Crisis of Missing or Murdered Indigenous People” (MMIP). Author Carmen Peone, who lost a niece to domestic violence, hopes to shed even more light on this subject.
Peone is an award-winning author of young adult and inspirational western romantic suspense. She worked with a tribal elder, Marguerite Ensminger, for three years learning the Arrow Lakes Language and various cultural traditions, which led to her writing career. With the love of history and the western woman’s lifestyle, she weaves healing, hope, and horses into her stories. With a thread of romance. She lives with her husband on the Colville Confederated Indian Reservation in northeast Washington. Learn more about Renewed Hope at shop.ironstreammedia.com. †
My father was a preacher for the entirety of his adult life. One of the things I remember most about his preaching was his ability to quote Scriptures from memory throughout his sermon. Although he always quoted from his King James Bible, he developed an interest in his later years in a version far removed from the classic KJV. The Message by Eugene Peterson is a paraphrased version that uses artistic, idiomatic, and powerfully poetic language to emphasize the point of a passage. My father foundThe Message to be both intriguing and thought-provoking. Sometimes, after reading a passage in his Bible, he would reach for a copy of The Message and say, “Let’s see what Eugene says.”
Lights a Lovely Mile – Collected Sermons of the Church Year is available for purchase at Sanctuary Christian Books and Gifts in Alabaster.
Before the publication of The Message, Peterson served as a pastor for many years to a small congregation in Maryland. After his death in 2018, a collection of his sermons was compiled and has been recently published for the first time. Lights a Lovely Mile – Collected Sermons of the Church Year (Waterbrook)is filled with words of grace and peace. Over forty of Peterson’s sermons are offered, providing Scriptural insight, spiritual enhancement, and practical advice for all who aspire to be faithful followers of Jesus. The sermons are arranged in sequence with the church calendar, beginning with Advent and proceeding through all the various seasons. Lent and Easter are quite appropriately emphasized. Lights a Lovely Mile – Collected Sermons of the Church Year is one of those uncommon books that I believe every Christian can benefit from. Peterson was a wonderful writer, and his sermons reflect a true pastoral heart.
My father and Peterson are now residents in the kingdom of heaven. Both pastored small churches, shared a profound love and respect for the Scriptures, and served faithfully for decades. Although I am uncertain as to what the interval between death and resurrection looks like, I think it’s possible they are aware of each other. I’d like to think they’ve met. Perhaps, one day in heaven, my dad read a passage in his King James Bible, contemplated the text for a moment, and then said. “I think I’ll go over and see what Eugene says.”
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