Virtually everyone has—or will—face crises of life and faith. These pivotal times are part of everyone's spiritual journey. Why then do some people emerge from the crisis with their faith intact while others give up on God, the church, and holy living? If God Disappearscomes alongside the Christian who is spiritually drifting—or is on the verge—or knows someone who is considering leaving God and the church behind—and compassionately empowers them to re-embrace their faith. Author David Sanford shares nine “faith wreckers†and nine “faith builders†to help us better understand which circumstances and attitudes undermine our faith and which ones draw us closer to God.

In what he describes as a "late-life credo," renowned science writer Chet Raymo narrates his half-century journey from the traditional Catholicism of his youth to his present perspective as a "Catholic agnostic." As a scientist, Raymo holds to the skepticism that accepts only verifiable answers, but as a "religious naturalist," he never ceases his pursuit of "the beautiful and terrible mystery that soaks creation." Raymo assembles a stunning array of scientists, philosophers, mystics, and poets who help him discover "glimmers of the Absolute in every particular." Whether exploring the connection of the human body to the stars or the meaning of prayer of the heart, these challenging reflections will cause believers and agnostics alike to pause and pay attention.

What happens when the storm does not pass? When the pain does not stop? When the prodigal does not return? When our sins continue to taunt us? When we make the same mistakes and break the same hearts again and again? When the chasm between what we do and what God intends widens until we can't even see the other side? In six very special encounters recorded in the Gospels, Jesus addressed the too much and the too late scenarios of our lives. Pastor, teacher and author Shane Stanford brings these meetings vividly to life, offering a glimpse of Jesus' passion for restoring the unrestorable and redeeming the unredeemable. As a hemophiliac who lives with HIV and hepatitis-C, Stanford has deeply and personally experienced the too much and the too late of life, and recognizes his own story in these six appointments with Jesus. In When God Disappears, he helps us to do the same: to see ourselves in these messy, all too-human Jesus encounters and to experience the grace and hope of a God who has not forgotten us.

You have heard the questions before, and you may have even asked them yourself: "If God truly loves me, then why would he just allow __ (FILL IN THE BLANK) _ to happen to me?"Let's be honest for a minute here. If God really did so love the world, then why does He seem to be invisible when people are dying of cancer, starvation, torture, and disease? Why does He allow hate-filled people to come to power and inflict suffering on others? Why does He seem so invisible when the day to day struggles knock the wind out of us and demand we carry on as if nothing ever happened? WHY DOES GOD SEEM TO BE INVISIBLE? This book is intended to present perspectives that reveal God’s “Footprint in the snow” if you will. When you can learn to spot the footprint, then the “invisible” becomes the most amazing comfort you will ever experience.

Our most important battles are not always with the 'giants out there'--those external challenges which we all face. The greatest battles are often within ourselves. Too often, we diminish our own potential in ministry, business, and in life. Shane Stanford and Brad Martin frame their powerful book on one of the most well-known and well-loved stories in history: David and Goliath. We all feel like the seemingly powerless, scrawny boy David sometimes. And we all must face “giants”—those challenges that threaten to overwhelm us in ministry, work-life, and in our personal lives. Five Stones is a series of clear and compelling lessons. Each lesson arms the reader with practical and powerful tools of self-discovery, so that the reader’s own liabilities, opportunities, convictions, and capabilities are revealed. Like modern-day Davids, readers will leave this book empowered to conquer challenges, in ministry and in life, with clear-eyed confidence and well-grounded hope.

Why does God feel so far away? Why is my worship so empty? Has God left me? David Bowden knows these questions firsthand, having wrestled for years with God’s apparent absence and studying what the Bible says about it. In this new book, Bowden tackles the subject head-on, finding the key to understanding it in the Bible’s depiction of a God who is infinitely far from us, free to move where he wants, but who chooses to come near in the person of Jesus. A resource of encouragement for those who struggle with feeling God’s absence and a wake-up call to those who take God’s presence for granted, When God Isn’t There will forever change your understanding of why God sometimes seems to vanish and how he can be found again. Praise for the work of David Bowden “Awesome and inspiring.”—Blake Mycoskie, Founder and Chief Shoe Giver at TOMS Shoes “David brings a fresh, engaging and highly impactful approach to Scripture. His passion for the Word is both contagious and inspirational.” —Roy Peterson, President of American Bible Society