Showing results for "Through the Fire" in Christian Living

The astonishing, Job-like story of how an existence filled with loss, suffering, questioning, and anger became a life filled with shocking and incomprehensible peace and joy. Vaneetha Risner contracted polio as an infant, was misdiagnosed, and lived with widespread paralysis. She lived in and...

When Mark McDonough was a teen, a catastrophic fire claimed the lives of his mother and younger brother. It also left Mark with burns on over 65 percent of his body. During a long and painful recovery, his faltering faith in God was strengthened by a remarkable near-death experience. Inspired to pursue a career as a plastic surgeon to help those who suffer as he has, McDonough has overcome numerous other adversities on his journey, including addiction and a stroke.

If you follow the works of best-selling authors Malcolm Gladwell, Faith Popcorn, Daniel Pink, and other trend forecasters, you’ll appreciate learning about over 25 rings of fire that lie ahead for Christians around the world. Len Sweet once again maps the future for the church in this sweeping survey of the 21st century. In the face of eruptive and disruptive culture changes from economics and communications to bioethics and beyond, how do we fight fire with fire, not only catching up to our culture but leading our friends and neighbors toward the feet of Christ?

MercyMe was just a small worship band from Texas until January 2002, when Bart Millard’s song “I Can Only Imagine” swept the airwaves. Suddenly Bart, his bandmates, and their families were riding a wave of success beyond their wildest dreams. Then everything changed again. Bart and Shannon lost Shannon’s brother to a tragic accident. Their second child was born prematurely. Their oldest child was diagnosed with diabetes. Their marriage struggled as Bart spent more and more time on the road, feeling the weight of the band’s success on his shoulders.

Get out! Run! We must leave this place! They are going to destroy this whole place! Go, children, run first! Go now! These were the final shouts nine-year-old Kim Phuc heard before her world dissolved into flames - before napalm bombs fell from the sky, burning away her clothing and searing deep into her skin. It's a moment forever captured, an iconic image that has come to define the horror and violence of the Vietnam War. Kim was left for dead in a morgue; no one expected her to survive the attack. Napalm meant fire, and fire meant death.

For a long time, Edie thought she had escaped. It started in an Appalachian trailer park, where a young girl dreamed of becoming a doctor. But every day, Edie woke up to her reality: a poverty-stricken world full of alcohol and violence, where getting out seemed impossible. She taught herself to drive a stick shift truck at twelve years old so she could get her drunk daddy home from the bar. She spent Saturdays at Brushy Mountain prison visiting her incarcerated cousin. She watched adults eat while her stomach gnawed.

Kelvin Cochran overcame poverty, prejudice, and pain to fulfill a childhood dream of helping others, rising to the top of firefighting’s professional ladder in Atlanta, Georgia. At one time nationally recognized as “America’s fire chief”, Kelvin unexpectedly found himself caught in a fireball of controversy over his orthodox Christian beliefs, for which he ultimately was fired by the city - making him a focal point in a national battle over religious freedom. Misrepresented by activists and the media, Kelvin relied on his faith to bring him through.