Faith News Network

Roses and heart-shaped candy boxes are everywhere, just days before Valentine’s Day. Lovers and others are figuring out how to celebrate during this still-distanced winter.

Christians searching for an inspiring read may want to consider a trilogy of critically acclaimed historical novels by author Barry Connolly. All three novels follow the trials and triumphs of men and women of faith in the earliest days of Christianity. Profiles of the books can be found at www.TheGoodThief.Net.

AccessMore, the premier podcasting platform from Educational Media Foundation (EMF) – parent company of K-LOVE, Air1, and WTA Media – announces the launch of The Paula Faris Podcast, a celebrity interview format, debuting today, Feb. 2, 2021. Hosted by Emmy Award-winning journalist Paula Faris, The Paula Faris Podcast features weekly conversations with top-name guests whose untold or under-told stories will inspire and equip listeners to become their best selves.

So, how do parents have the honest “conversations” with your teenager to resolve and create healthy mental mindfulness, ease their fears, tensions, and uncertainties still amid COVID-19, while restoring justice to our “most” vulnerable — our precious children?

Mike Smith officially announced the release of his deeply moving memoir, “The Gutter Gospel” – a raw and personal account of one soldier’s deep-dive into the depths of mental illness and despair, addiction and avoidance, to navigate through the terrible purgatory of hopeless isolation.

With bright eyes and a mop of dark brown hair, pint-sized Natalie Yokeley carried wisdom, empathy, faith and earnestness beyond her years. Natalie was just 12-years-old when she was diagnosed with inoperable spinal cord cancer in 2008. Only nine months later, barely a teenager, her earthly journey came to an end.

As a young father, bestselling author and pastor, Mark Driscoll, remembers reading Bible stories and teaching his first-born daughter, Ashley, how to pray the way God’s children talk to their dad. Today, at a time when Americans may feel isolated, anxious, or disconnected, Driscoll and daughter, Real Faith Ministries Director, Ashley Chase, believe prayer can be a powerful, life-changing vehicle for help.

Award-winning and bestselling author Max Lucado, who has over 140 million products in print, is inviting people internationally to start 2021 afresh, abandoning fear, worry, and hopelessness from the crises of 2020 and looking forward to personal restoration and renewal in the new year.

The Begin Again Reading Club runs January 25–March 7, 2021, sponsored by Bible Gateway, the most visited Christian website in the world. Free registration for the event is at BibleGateway.com/Begin.

Participants in the Begin Again Reading Club will read and discuss Lucado’s just-released book Begin Again: Your Hope and Renewal Start Today (Thomas Nelson, 2021).

Over the course of the five-week interactive guided reading club, readers will learn how to B.E.G.I.N.:
• Believe in Your Trustworthy God
• Enjoy God’s Good Gifts
• Ground Yourself in His Promises
• Influence Your World
• Nurture an Eternal Perspective
They will also receive the following free downloads and online access to enhance their experience:
• Chapters 1–3 of Lucado’s book Begin Again.

• Instructions to Start Your Own Begin Again Reading Club.

• Scripture printable of Isaiah 40:31.

• Access to five devotional videos with Lucado. These videos will release week-by-week, no additional registration required.

• Access to Lucado’s online community.
“The oh-so-welcome news of Scripture is this: God is a God of fresh starts and the architect of a new design,” says Lucado. “Together, in this reading club, we’ll explore how God restores and renews every aspect of our lives.”

The devotional videos will be available online for free January 25–March 7, 2021.

Bible Gateway ranks number one on global search engines, and is home to more than 200 Bible versions in more than 70 languages.

(SOURCE: Bible Gateway via Christian Newswire)

Many repeat a sinner’s prayer and think that’s their guarantee to admittance to heaven. Author Denise Wilson says, “We aren’t saved by repeating a prayer. No one ever has been saved, or ever will be saved, apart from the conviction of sin, repentance, and true faith in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ.” In a new release, Seven Words You Never Want to Hear: How to Be Sure You Won’t (Redemption Press), Wilson takes a hard look at assumptions people make about becoming a Christian.