Showing results by narrator "Carla Mercer-Meyer" in All Categories

Many Christians are alarmed by the decline in church attendance and seek a culprit. Too often, we point the finger away from the church, make culture the enemy, and build walls between us and others. But our antagonism and enemy-making are toxins that further eat away at our witness. Is there a better way? Tara Beth Leach could easily be one of those millennials giving up on the church. Instead, she is a pastor who loves the church and is paradoxically hopeful for its future.

In Sacred Mundane, Kari Patterson pulls open the dusty blinds to let the light of truth shine in. Even the most unremarkable life is an opportunity to see, know, love, and be utterly transformed by a God who knows no bounds and who upsets every expectation. He eagerly awaits your invitation to fill your world with mundane miracles and holy habits. Through her entertaining narrative, candid real-life stories, Bible study, and practical instruction, Kari will take you by the hand to discover the beautiful sacredness in the life you already lead.

Jordan Burke, billionaire owner of Burke Enterprises, doesn't have time to date. His sister thinks it's time for him to find love and sets him up with her best friend, but Jordan can't leave his work behind. After the disastrous date, a stray puppy saves his life, and Jordan meets a woman who makes him rethink his priorities. Madison is attracted to Jordan from their first meeting but wary of his billionaire status. Despite her fears, she can't ignore the pounding of her heart and the sparks flying between them or the tender way Jordan has with his new puppy.

Taylin Nichols has the perfect job as a nurse in the newborn unit in her hometown of Mitchel Creek, Georgia, but as for the perfect boyfriend - not so much. She knows she needs to dump the guy but figures it will happen naturally if she's accepted for the work abroad program. On a day when she should've stayed home, she runs into Luke McKay - literally. He's new at the hospital and already has a reputation as an unfriendly, brooding male. Even though he's hotter than a Georgia summer, he's not Taylin's type - at least that's what she tells herself.

When Lexi Burke escaped the remnants of a cold winter in Chicago, it wasn't a random vacation. She left the hectic pace of Burke Enterprises behind with enough money to retire at age 32, intent on settling into the idyllic island life... until she met local photographer Derek Mitchell - a talented man with a grudge against rich tourists. From art night to snorkeling lessons, hiking, and chopping coconuts, Lexi can't talk herself out of spending time with the handsome, hardworking man who knows the value of every dollar. She also can't find a way to tell him the truth about herself.

You were made for more than this life has to offer. In Age of Crowns, Kori de Leon will awaken the dreamer in you as she invites you to explore glorious images of the "Age to Come". This book is an inspiring examination of how the future hope of heaven changes your today. It will teach you how to faithfully await (and prepare for) the "Age to Come", as well as how to live a more purposeful and fulfilling life with Christ here and now.

Writer, speaker, and blogger Elizabeth Scalia takes a look at 13 little sins that, if left unexamined and unconfessed, can have a serious impact on our spiritual lives and relationship with Christ. Through her honest (and sometimes funny) examination of these same sins in her own life as well as Church teaching on each one, she helps us ask ourselves the tough questions and gives us the tools to kick these bad habits before they kick us.

In these profound reflections on the mysteries of life and death, Stone unpacks how childbirth reveals our anxieties, our physicality, our mortality. All who are born or give birth will someday die. While living and working in one of the world's most impoverished countries, teacher, doula, and mother Rachel Marie Stone unexpectedly caught a baby without wearing gloves, drenching her bare hands with HIV-positive blood. Already worried about her health and family and whether her service was of any use, Stone grappled with realities of human suffering, global justice, and maternal health.

We long to see firsthand the power of God as displayed in the Bible. Miracles, prophecy, dreams, healing - most of these tend to be missing from our normal, safe, predictable faith. Yet we tend to view any movement of God outside our own experience with mistrust and confusion. But what if we've got "normal" all wrong? In this audiobook is an invitation to a new way of living: embracing God's power through simple yet bold prayer. It's for the night owl, the caffeine-addicted, even the skeptic, beckoning all of us out of our comfort zones with stories of spiritual breakthrough, mind-blowing miracles, and physical healing.

Greta loves her job as assistant librarian. She loves her best friend, Will, the high school civics teacher and debate coach. She even loves her mother despite her obvious disappointment that Greta is still single. Then she meets Mac in the poetry section of the library, and she is smitten. Mac is heart-stoppingly gorgeous and showers her with affection - poetic text messages, and free hot chocolate at the local café where he works. The only problem is that he seems to be a different person in his texts than in his face-to-face conversation.

We all have "weeping years", seasons where the trials seem to come one after another. For Ashleigh and her husband, their weeping years included miscarriage, multiple job losses, feelings of betrayal, panic attacks, anti-depressants, cross-country moves, and even suicidal thoughts. Loss is a constant of life, but the intensity of those years changed Ashleigh, altering how she understood and responded to grief. This book tells her story.

Let's be honest. The journey to discovering Jesus - Real Jesus - can be complicated, messy, and a little crazy. Just ask Jami Amerine. Banned from the Mormon church as a child, she's spent the rest of her life trying to reconcile Fifth-Grade Jesus, Catholic Jesus, and Americanized Jesus (just to name a few). But when she met Real Jesus, everything changed. You can meet Him, too - right here, just as you are.

What happened to the girl who was not afraid to climb to the top of the waterfall and jump? Who backpacked across Europe? Who took on any feat of bravery without batting an eyelash? You wouldn't recognize her - she's become that woman paralyzed by fear, scared to death to trust God, and trying to manage her family's hectic life, financial crises (yes, plural), and family issues on her own steam. Relatable, touching, and yet hopeful, On the Other Side of Fear is the beautiful story of how one young woman learned to live in God's will, without fear.

There are so many moments in life when we choose to silence our intuition, abandon our own voice, and play small because we wonder, deep down: "Do I know who I really am? Is who I really am enough?" It's courageous work to learn to live from our essential identity - loved, worthy, whole. But what if God is calling us to shamelessly recover the woman he created us to be? What if God is urging us to be - for the first time in our lives - brazen?

Violet Mayhew is a proper young lady - who's on the run from her parents! Eleven-year-old Violet has one goal in mind when she runs away from home: To find her sister, Chloe. Violet’s parents say Chloe has turned into the "wrong sort of person", but Violet knows better. The only problem is that Chloe’s not in New York anymore. She's moved on to Tennessee, where she's fighting for women's right to vote. As Violet's journey grows longer, her single-minded pursuit of reuniting with her sister changes.

Set in the sparse frontier settlements of northeastern Brazil, Backlands tells the true story of a group of nomadic outlaws who reigned over the area from about 1922 until 1938. Taking from the rich and feared by the poor, they were led by the famously charismatic bandit Lampiao.

In 1918, rainy Dundee is nearly emptied of men. The Great War has left the town’s women both newfound freedom and servitude. They toil in the deadly jute mills, taking in the children of perished family members and praying their own bodies - and spirits - do not fail them too. A grateful widow of the war, Morag shelters her daughters as best she can: beautiful Caro schemes to escape the working class with well-calculated seduction, while Wallis works in the mill alongside her mother, slowly fortifying both spirit and pocketbook for a more radical departure.

Jami Amerine, author of Stolen Jesus, returns with a totally relatable account of her experiences as a mom. She's eager to help you see how to let your Heavenly Father parent you so you can embrace peace as you parent. Come find the miracle in the mayhem and meet the one whose presence turns sticky floors into sacred ground.

Women are fierce and fed-up, and they have been joining hands together for the purposes of societal change for as long as there has been injustice. Women of faith are guided by the Holy Spirit to work together to bring down these injustices, to build on the foundation Christ laid for the beloved community of God on earth. This book is women joining together to speak and act in new ways in response to the increasing challenges of our day.

With enthusiasm and contagious joy, Shauna Pilgreen assures listeners that, yes, God does have a plan and a purpose for them - right where they are. In fact, he sent them there. She invites listeners to "live sent", showing them how to see their surroundings with fresh eyes and renewed energy. Weaving her own remarkable story with biblical habits listeners can incorporate into their daily routines, Pilgreen equips us to reach out into our communities with God's love, knowing that our efforts are never in vain.