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Is something from your past impacting your future? No one wakes up and says, “I think I'll make a mess of my life.” But many people find themselves in places that feel beyond repair. If you've made decisions that have left you and others hurt—that have brought you to a place that feels dark or desperate—you're not alone. Professor and pastor Chris Rappazini looks to real life biblical characters who've made messes of their lives and shows how God delights in forgiveness and redemption.Do you need God to do something that feels impossible? Freedom from an addiction or the haunting consequences of bad choices? A second chance at marriage, family, or a career? Maybe you love someone whose devastating path of poor decisions is inflicting heartache upon heartache.Through sharing the personal journey he's been on with his brother—who is in the process of moving forward after messing up—Rappazini uncovers the true heart of the Father and the dramatic ends He goes to bring restoration.What happens when we honestly face our mess and seek God? Can beauty, love, or hope follow? Failure and regret can create humility and deepen our character. Those who seem permanently wrecked can experience joy, freedom, and a newfound dream. In Moving Forward After Messing Up, Rappazini takes us beyond despair to biblically based forgiveness and a faithful future.

Gain the practical tools, relatable stories, and biblical mindsets to overcome failure, strengthen your resolve, and live anchored in God's foolproof definition of success. This handbook features:Real biblical and contemporary stories to inspire you6 practical ways to build your self confidence8 tips for rebounding when life knocks you downAnd much more!Failure: unemployment, a failed relationship, an unfulfilled dream or goal. Then come the emotions of shame, guilt, and lack of self-worth. Over time, we might stop thinking we've failed and start believing that we are failures. The truth is, if we're willing to venture anything at all, we are going to fail. Throughout the book, Dr. Gregory Jantz, bestselling author and mental health expert, emphasizes that:failure is part of being humanthe key to success lies in learning from our mistakesSo, the question is, “How will we view our failures?”—and “What will we do with them?” Unpack how misinterpreting our failures can keep us stuck, then gain powerful strategies for reframing our mistakes for growth and success. Ultimately, we can rest in the assurance that failure is never final... because God's love for us is forever.How to Overcome Roadblocks, Get Unstuck, and Become ResilientWhy Failure Is Never Final explores the path of putting our failures in perspective—and becoming better because of them. Dr. Gregory Jantz reminds us that God's definition of success has more to do with who we are than what we do. Misinterpreting failures can impose obstacles to our dreams, but the good news is that we can take preemptive action. Dr. Jantz discusses several strategies for reframing our blunders, including:resolving to move forward, not backwardscoming clean about our mistakesforgiving ourselvesavoiding self-sabotaging behaviorThe ultimate antidote to failure, Jantz concludes, is the rich gift of God's grace. Failure is never final because God's love for us is forever.Key Features of Why Failure is Never Final by Dr. Gregory JantzPractical: Don't just read about overcoming failure—get practical tips and tools to bounce back from shame, build resilience, and become your best self.Easy-to-Read: With clear headers, bullet points, and simple summaries, you can easily absorb key information at a glance.Bible-based: Enjoy having inspirational scriptures and biblical examples to build a strong foundation and encourage you along the way.Why Failure is Never Final is perfect for individual and group use. Great for counseling, discipleship, singles groups, small groups, church giveaways, and more!About the Author Dr. Gregory JantzDr. Jantz's center,'A Place of HOPE,'is recognized as a top ten facility in the U.S. for the treatment of depression. Dr. Jantz is a best-selling author of 30 books. He is a go-to media source expert for a range of behavioral-based afflictions, as well as drug and alcohol addictions. Dr. Jantz has appeared on CNN, FOX, ABC, CBS, and has been interviewed for the New York Post, Associated Press, Family Circle, and Women's Day. He is also a regular contributor to The Huffington Post and Psychology Today blogs.

As the western church faces challenges in declining membership and effectiveness due to religious disaffiliation and general discontent with organized religion, innovation must be a central focus within all aspects of ministry in the Christian church. With the focus that the local church must put on innovation, one aspect that will continually be an important factor is how the church understands, interprets, and utilizes failure. Yes, the church must fail! However, the church must not simply fail for the sake of failure. The challenge for the local church is to rethink its notion of failure, which will allow for creativity, new life, and ultimately, transformational innovation. By establishing a proper framework and definition of failure, the church will be able to embrace good failure and the benefits it can offer.

'A superb book on failure... humorous, realistic and absolutely not judgemental.'JUSTIN WELBY In 2019, Emma Ineson wrote about ambition and what it means for Christians to be successful. And then there was a global pandemic... Suddenly failure began to feel very much more familiar than success. But what is failure? What did Jesus think of it? What did he say about sin, mistakes and generally mucking things up? At the start of this wonderfully humorous and encouraging book - which will end at the cross - it's suggested that our tendency to lump all kinds of failure together could be a bit unhelpful. A more nuanced understanding of what sort of failure we're dealing with might just allow us to make friends with it and respond more appropriately. This idea leads us'Towards an (Imperfect) Theology of Failure', based on key Christian thinking, and Emma poses the question of whether sin is an individual or corporate thing. Looking at the church, we consider, what is God's purpose for it? And in the light of key concerns such as safeguarding and racial justice, how might we re-examine concepts of success and recognize and measure failure? As the book draws to an end, we are reminded of our calling to live life to the full, to take risks despite our fears. We are bound sometimes to fail! Yet gazing at Jesus - who looked like the greatest failure of all - we may discern in the heartache, vulnerability and humility of failure, the glory of the cross.Failure was the 2023 Archbishop of Canterbury's Lent Book and Big Church Read for Lent.

Bestselling author Frank Viola writes a time-tested field guide to weathering the storms of life.Whether it's the loss of a job, a child who has gotten into serious trouble, a relationship that's in peril, or a loved one with a debilitating illness, at some point, something in our lives will strip us of all control. Life comes apart at the seams, and hope begins to evaporate.Hang On, Let Go was written from the pit of numerous soul-piercing adversities in Frank's own life. In this volume, he draws from the insights he gleaned from the Lord, friends, and writers during his darkest days. The wisdom contained in this volume became the bread and butter Frank relied on, helping him to be developed by his trials rather than destroyed by them.Each short chapter explores a different aspect of the storm: When You Need to Regrip, Walking in the Darkness, Abandoning Fix-It Mode, The Story in Our Head, Just Breathe, and much more. This book is about how to react to intense trials in your life with two seemingly contradictory impulses: hang on, let go.How is that possible?... Read on. Frank explores the how and the why in this highly practical, incisive, no-nonsense guidebook on how to thrive during the inevitable pitfalls of life.

Unsere Kultur sagt uns: Die Antwort auf unsere Misserfolge lautet: beheben! Die Lösung für unsere Schwächen: kaschieren und verbergen. Unser Dasein soll so makellos wie möglich erscheinen. Aber Gottes Qualifizierungssystem ist anders als das der Welt. Eingebettet in die biblische Geschichte von Jakob lädt uns US-Bestsellerautor Steven Furtick ein, uns unsere Schwächen nicht nur einzugestehen, sondern sie anzunehmen und Gott hinzuhalten. Um zu erleben: statt Verdammung wartet jemand auf uns, der uns nicht nur trotz unserer Makel, sondern sogar durch sie gebrauchen – und verändern – möchte. Starke Ermutigung für Christen, die sich nicht heilig genug vorkommen.

This book is a must-read for anyone who has ever tried to energize or grow a ministry. Christian Coon takes us through his own missteps and mistakes as the co-founder of the Urban Village Church--as well as those of others working to do the same--and shows how failure can serve as a springboard to new possibilities and even a closer connection to God and what leadership means. Woven together with honesty, humility, and humor, we learn to look on failure as an actual gift that can be the gateway to a deeper journey.

Das eBook Pfarrer Helmut Ludwigs zeigt Menschen in Grenzsituationen. Alle Erzählungen sind der Wirklichkeit entnommen. Es sind harte Geschichten darunter. Sie wollen und sollen nachdenklich machen, erschüttern, auf rütteln und Fragen aufwerfen. Nicht jede Geschichte hat ein Happy-End. Manche bleibt offen, weil das Leben so oder so weitergeht. Viel Schuld und Versagen kommt in diesem Buch zur Sprache. Einige der Schicksalsberichte ähneln sich. Andere zeigen einmalige Lebensschicksale auf. Aber weil das Leben diese Berichte geschrieben hat, ist darauf verzichtet worden, sie zu harmonisieren oder künstliche Differenzierungen einzubauen. Man kann das eBook lesen und über die einzelnen Begebenheiten nachdenken. Man kann es aber auch als Arbeits- und Vorlesebuch für Jugendgruppen, in Gemeindekreisen, bei Heimabenden, kirchlichen Veranstaltungen oder – in Auswahl – als Beispielsammlung benutzen. Zur praktischen Arbeit mit diesem eBook dienen die kurzen Inhaltsangaben (mit Vorlesedauer), die Vorschläge für Diskussionen sowie ein Stichwortverzeichnis am Schluss des eBooks.

Learn to persevere and trust in God during life's most trying times.

Best Books About the Church from Byron Borger, Hearts and Minds Bookstore'I thought God had called me to plant this church. Why did we have to shut our doors after only three years?''I was at my breaking point. Then I got the news that our nine-year-old daughter had leukemia. I would have quit ministry forever, but I had no other employable skills.''False accusations were made against me and my family, wrecking our reputation permanently and forcing us to leave not only the church, but move out of the area.''I've served my church for the past 27 years and I've grown that church from 150 to 24 people.'What do we do when we've failed? Some ministries are shipwrecked by moral failures like affairs or embezzlement. But for most of us, the sense of failure is more ordinary: disillusionment, inadequacy, declining budgets, poor decisions, opposition, depression, burnout. Many pastors are deeply broken and wounded, and we come to doubt that God has any use for us.J.R. Briggs, founder of the Epic Fail Pastors Conference, knows what failure feels like. He has listened to pastors who were busted in a prostitution sting or found themselves homeless when ejected from ministry. With candid vulnerability, Briggs explores the landscape of failure, how it devastates us and how it transforms us. Without offering pat answers or quick fixes, he challenges our cultural expectations of success and gives us permission to grieve our losses. Somehow, in the midst of our pain, we are better positioned to receive the grace of healing and restoration.

Barbara Duguid uses the writings of John Newton to help us understand why even mature Christians can't seem to shake off sin—and to make us joyous once again at God's extravagant grace.

What does God think of us when we fail?Does he thinkYou're a loser.There's no hope for you.What a wimp!You're good for nothing!Or does he think something very different?If you've ever lost a job or a relationship, let your friends down, seen your finances collapse, found your ministry crumbling or failed to meet your own ethical standards, you might wonder if recovery is possible. Perhaps you've wondered if you can ever repair the damage done to others, to yourself and to your relationship with God.Steve Roy has good news for you. He had to face his own failures, but his failures also drove him deep into what God thinks about us and success, especially in Christian ministry. He searched deeply in Scripture and listened carefully to the stories of others. He found that God's view of success is very different from ours. And that a biblically grounded view of success and failure challenges our preconceived notions but leads to hopeful renewal that goes beyond what we often ask or think.

Put your flawed foot forward.Pick up most leadership books and you'll find strategies for leveraging your power and minimizing your areas of weakness. But think about the leaders whose names have gone down in history. Most of them were so messed up that, if they were looking for work today, no executive placement service would give them the time of day. God's criteria for choosing leaders runs counter to the conventional wisdom. Our culture equates strength with effectiveness, but God favors leaders who know the value of brokenness. In Leading With a Limp, you'll discover what makes flawed leaders so successful. They're not preoccupied with protecting their image, they are undaunted by chaos and complexity, they are ready to risk failure in moving an organization from what is to what should be. God chooses leaders who aren't deceived by the myths of power and control, but who realize that God's power is found in brokenness. If you are a leader–or if you have been making excuses to avoid leading–find out how you can take full advantage of your weakness. A limping leader is the person God uses to accomplish amazing things. To go deeper, check out the Leading With a Limp Workbook.

Everybody makes mistakes. Yours can be a new beginning.Sometimes your mistake in a relationship, with finances or work, is minor. Other times it can be life-changing. Either way, failure doesn't have to be fatal. Second Chance, Second Act shows you how God can transform your biggest mistake into a new beginning. With solid biblical insights, trustworthy wisdom, and practical strategies, pastor and best-selling author Robert Jeffress helps you work through the guilt, suffering, and fear of your mess up. He shares numerous examples, from the Bible and recent history, to show you how God is in the business of redemption, and then he gives you five biblical strategies to turn your biggest mess into an incredible success.Second Chance, Second Act will show you how to use your mistakes as a prelude to a fresh start in life.