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The apostle Peter described faith as "much more precious than gold that perishes". As gold passes through purifying fire, so Peter says a man's faith must be tried in order that it "might be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ" (1 Peter 1:7). While we address the crises in our lives that try our faith, we rarely praise God the way Job did, and we rarely submit ourselves to the purifying fire as Peter suggests.

Life hit Pat and Tammy McLeod hard when their son Zach collapsed on a high school football field; he had sustained a severe brain injury. Facing the devastating possibility that things would never be the same for their beloved son, they committed to staying strong as a family and finding a way to maintain their footing. But the journey would reshape their faith, their family, and their future in ways they never saw coming.

After her brother died unexpectedly and her mother moved into a dementia-care facility, spiritual travel writer and Episcopal deacon Lori Erickson felt called to a new quest: to face death head-on, with the eye of a tourist and the heart of a pastor. Blending memoir, spirituality, and travel, Near the Exit examines how cultures confront and have confronted death by investigating Egypt's Valley of the Kings, Mayan temples, Colorado cremation pyres, Day of the Dead celebrations, Maori settlements, and tourist-destination graveyards.

There are never quick fixes or easy answers when it comes to suffering. But even when we can’t immediately see God’s hand - when the struggle is hard and painful - he is working. Weaving together Scripture, personal stories, and the words of the classic hymn “How Firm a Foundation”, David Powlison brings an experienced counselor’s touch to exploring how God enters into our sufferings, helping us see God working in our own particular struggles - and discover how God’s grace goes deeper than we could ever imagine.

Life can change in an instant. “He died at the scene.” “It’s malignant.” “I want a divorce.” Certain words, whether whispered or shouted, once uttered, severs us from the life we once knew. Such words can send us into a spiritual free fall, descending into a world we never wanted to enter. Often times, words meant to comfort can feel empty. Hope seems out of our reach when loss, grief, and depression tries to smother our faith. Freefall reminds us the God we serve gave us the tools to survive our darkest hours.

Physical sickness affects more than just our bodies; it takes a toll on our emotional and spiritual health as well. In this honest book, best-selling author John Piper shares 10 lessons he learned while in the hospital. Written to help those in the hospital focus their attention on God, his grace, and his plan - when such focus can be especially hard - this volume blends together personal narrative with biblical reflections to help listeners rely on the God who stands ready to comfort and support his people.

Kara Tippetts discovered how to find joy in the small moments of life. She learned how to hold tight to hope, even while battling intense physical and emotional pain. And she lived out the truth that God can redeem any story. In her final book, Kara offers gentle reflections on living and dying well. She invites us to cultivate soft hearts, even when we face great disappointment. Her ideas for living are hard-won, wrestled with in the crucible of family, illness, and faith.

We all have questions about death. Despite the strong assurance the Bible gives us about life beyond the grave, Christians are often troubled by other questions. What will happen on the day of judgment? Will we have bodies in heaven? Will there be rewards? This short, simple book is designed to help Christians understand what God has said about these questions in the scripture. Suitable for all Christians - especially those with questions about death.

Heaven. Eternity. The Afterlife. You mention any of these concepts, and people of all ages and from all walks of life are certain to have opinions. Maybe that's why there are so many books and movies that feature heaven-and-back experiences. But how can we know if those accounts are accurate? How can we know for sure what heaven will be like? Well, according to New Testament scholar and popular author Scot McKnight, all we need to do is to turn to scripture to answer our questions.

Everybody waits. We wait for a spouse, wait for a baby, wait on our children, wait for our parents. We wait for clarity and direction. We wait on a job, a promotion, a new direction. We wait for hope, for healing, and for miracles. We wait on God. And when we misunderstand what waiting is about, we can get confused about what God is up to. Waiting is one of God’s favorite tools. He can do certain things in our hearts, our lives, and our relationships while we wait - things we cannot experience once we’ve opened the gift we have been waiting for.

Life is marked by a variety of losses, says certified trauma specialist H. Norman Wright. Some are life-changing, such as leaving home, the effects of natural disasters or war, the death of a loved one, or divorce. Others are subtle, such as changing jobs, moving, or a broken friendship. But whether listeners encounter family, personal, or community disaster, there is always potential for change, growth, new insight, understanding, and refinement.

When you’re in the midst of suffering, you want answers for the unanswerable, resolutions to the unresolvable. But there is a pathway through this suffering. It’s not easy, but God will use it to lead you toward healing. This path is called lament. In the midst of your darkest times, you will discover that lament leads you back to a place of hope - not because lamenting does anything magical, but because God sings a louder song than suffering ever could, a song of renewal and restoration.

People are broken all over the place. Places are broken all around us. But we were made for better than this: We were made for shalom. We were made to be whole - and to make things whole. This is an empowering journey for those who hunger for a better life, for a better world...for those who want to plant and grow the seeds of restoration in themselves and their communities...and for those who want to see the jagged edges made smooth as we move from brokenness to wholeness.

Come rain or shine, hardship or ease, confusion or clarity, worship is always a choice. But what does it look like when worship meets suffering? How can God be good when it seems the world is collapsing around you? In this inspiring audiobook, Matt and Beth Redman draw on their experiences to explore how to offer praise even in the face of hardship and pain. Focusing on the psalms, they reveal how difficult or tragic circumstances and the choices you make can propel you toward God or away from him.

Texas businessman Mike Fechner had it all. Money. Investments. Prestige. Until he did the unthinkable. He sold his company and poured his life's earnings into a ministry for the poor. With a strong faith in God at his core, this millionaire turned missionary envisioned a long future serving the urban Dallas poor and the people of poverty-stricken Africa.

Dallas Willard spent his life making eternal living concrete for his friends. After his unexpected passing in 2013, the kaleidoscope of memories and the diversity of the lives he had touched could not be confined to one or even two memorial services but three. It is this wide breadth of impact that inspired friends, family, colleagues, students, and leaders of the church to gather their reflections on this celebrated yet humble theologian and philosopher.

We are not taught how to grieve, and yet grief comes to every one of us at some time. Bestselling author Lauraine Snelling discovered this truth when she began her own journey with grief in 1985, the year her 20-year-old daughter, Marie, lost her battle with cancer.

In this nonfiction book,A Hand to Hold, Lauraine helps us release the fears that make us uncomfortable around those who grieve. She urges us to offer those who grieve the gifts of touch, tears, talk, and time.

An exploration of identity and faith, Seeing through the Fog invites listeners to a vibrant life, an expectant life, a life of joy in each new morning. Pastor Ed Dobson has spent his life preaching sermons, but this book is not a sermon. He has spent more than 10 years with a debilitating illness, but this book is not about grief. He has found joy in the midst of sorrow, but this book is not about looking on the bright side. Seeing through the Fog is about living well when you realize you can’t live forever.

Nobody is immune to disappointment. Unfortunately, at some point all of us will face that horrific moment when the bottom completely drops out of out of our life, leaving us broken, devastated, and desperately searching for God's grace. Pastor and theologian Robert Bugh has experienced unthinkable pain and disappointment firsthand, having lost both his wife and his best friend to cancer within a year and a half of each other.

In 2006, Abby Rike lost the life she knew and loved when her husband and two young children were killed in a car accident. Devastated and numb, she shut down. For nearly three years she walked through life like a spectre, present in body only. As she descended, so did her health. Fortunately, Abby was not alone. She had loving parents, supportive friends, and a faith that continued to sustain her. Little by little she found the courage to return to life. Joining The Biggest Loser proved a catalyst for the physical and emotional changes she needed to make.