Many people want to offer love and support to their LGBTQ friends and neighbors, but aren't sure how. Bird’s unique position as a gay Latter-day Saint has given him valuable insight. In this audiobook, he authentically details the blessings and challenges faced by gay members of the church, and provides listeners with the perspective, understanding, and tools they need to more effectively minister to those who identity as LGBTQ.

Many faithful children of our Heavenly Parents find it difficult to stay in the Church, not because of doctrine or a lack of desire to keep the commandments, but because of Latter-day Saint culture. The good news is that we need not wait to be more welcoming and inclusive. We can all be part of the solution.

"Mom, Dad, I'm gay." One Facebook message completely changed Becky Mackintosh's life in the blink of an eye. Though she had often wondered about her son Sean when he was young, she had never entertained the possibility that her suspicions could be true. And just like that, battle lines were drawn between siblings, parents, and friends with the church somewhere in the middle. A choice was before the Mackintosh family. Just not the one they were expecting.

With the advancement of the internet, changing worldviews, and the rising generation of millennials, Latter-day Saints today face unique challenges to faith on an unprecedented scale. Unlike most books written to help those struggling with their testimonies, Bridges: Ministering to Those Who Question is written to help local leaders and family members better understand the sources of these challenges and how to minister to those affected by them.

Meghan Decker is a woman who is attracted to women. She is also married to an amazing man, and together they are each committed to their faith, their covenants, and their testimony of Jesus Christ and his church. Growing up, Meghan could not see how her deep spiritual faith and her attraction to women could coexist. But after decades of shame, denial, and hiding, Meghan came to accept this part of herself. She realized that while she can't decide to change her sexual orientation, she can decide how to respond to the circumstances of her life.

Dennis Schleicher's life has been anything but easy. The growing realization that he was gay coupled with his parents' use of religion to justify abuse and neglect led Dennis to have a very complicated relationship with love, God, and organized religion. After suffering a violent hate crime, forced institutionalization, and heartbreak after heartbreak, Dennis was desperate for love and acceptance - he just didn't know where to find it. Walk a mile in Dennis's shoes and see from his eyes how the only love that can truly make you whole is that of the Savior.

Robert MacFarlane has written that language does not just register experience, it produces it. Our religious language in particular informs and shapes our understanding of God, our sense of self, and the way we make sense of our challenging path back to loving heavenly parents. Unfortunately, to an extent we may not realize, our religious vocabulary has been shaped by prior generations whose creeds, in Joseph Smith's words, have filled the world with confusion. I make all things new, proclaimed the Lord. Regrettably, many are still mired in the past, in ways we have not recognized.

Parent-child is the default relationship of church to member—the church as parent, the member as child. In this opening chapter, I propose that differentiation from the church is the most important developmental task we face while living on the inside of the edge.

Our unconscious thought patterns determine our relationships, our spiritual life, and our connection to God to a much greater extent than we know. That’s an alarming thought, because the subconscious mind is a mysterious realm that is really difficult to access and influence...right? No. It’s really not! And it’s the most urgent and impactful thing we can do. This book will show you how.

The Book of Mormon is a religious record of three groups of people who migrated from the Old World to the American continents. These groups were led by prophets who recorded their religious and secular histories on metal plates. The Book of Mormon records the visit of Jesus Christ to people in the Americas following his resurrection. A 200-year era of peace followed that visit of Christ.

Founder of the largest indigenous Christian church in American history, Joseph Smith published the 584-page Book of Mormon when he was 23 and went on to organize a church, found cities, and attract thousands of followers before his violent death at age 38. Richard Bushman, an esteemed cultural historian and a practicing Mormon, moves beyond the popular stereotype of Smith as a colorful fraud to explore his personality, his relationships with others, and how he received revelations.

In the first half of life, we are naturally preoccupied with establishing ourselves; climbing, achieving, and performing. But as we grow older and encounter challenges and mistakes, we need to see ourselves in a different and more life-giving way. This message of falling down - that is in fact moving upward - is the most resisted and counterintuitive of messages in the world's religions. Falling Upward offers a new paradigm for understanding one of the most profound of life's mysteries: how those who have fallen down are the only ones who understand "up".

In 1820, a young farm boy in search of truth has a vision of God the Father and Jesus Christ. Three years later, an angel guides him to an ancient record buried in a hill near his home. With God’s help, he translates the record and organizes the Savior’s church in the latter days. Soon others join him, accepting the invitation to become Saints through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. But opposition and violence follow those who defy old traditions to embrace restored truths.

Few subjects are as compelling-or as endlessly variable-as love and marriage. The Bible is filled with references to husbands and wives, from the story of Adam and Eve to advice in the New Testament, each open to interpretation. In The Meaning of Marriage, Timothy Keller, pastor of New York's Redeemer Presbyterian Church and bestselling author of The Reason for God, uses the scriptures as his guide to show readers what God's call to marriage is, and why this is such a powerful call.

In this recorded account of near-death experiences, we learn about the miracles of the millennium, the return of the Ten Tribes, the building of the New Jerusalem and temple, and many other astonishing events long prophesied in scripture but never before described in such vivid detail. Visions of Glory is a mesmerizing and fascinating read that you will not be able to put down.

How do we live out the message of Jesus in today’s ever-changing culture? The church is facing its greatest challenge - and its greatest opportunity - in our postmodern, post-Christian world. God is drawing thousands of spiritually curious “imperfect people” to become his church - but how are we doing at welcoming them? No Perfect People Allowed shows you how to deconstruct the five main barriers standing between emerging generations and your church by creating the right culture.

Is real friendship too risky? We live in a world where real friendship is hard to find. Suspicious of others and insecure about ourselves, we retreat into the safety of our small, self-made digital worlds. Tragically, even the church can become a place that reinforces this isolation. Jesus models a much richer vision of friendship. Scott Sauls, pastor and teacher, invites you to see the breadth of Christ's love in this audiobook, Befriend.

Sexual abuse, sex addiction, gender confusion, brokenness, and shame plague today's world, and people are seeking clarity and hope. By contesting long-held cultural paradigms, this book equips you to see how sexuality is rooted in the broader context of God's heart and his work for us on earth. Instead of arguing with the world about what's right and wrong about sexual choices, this practical resource equips you to share the love and grace of Jesus as you encounter the pain of sexual brokenness - your own or someone else's.

The love that the world tells us to pursue is all about self, about following your heart’s desires. But what is the Christian worldview on love? When we follow Jesus, we realize that he invites us to reorient the focus of our lives, so instead of chasing love primarily for our own happiness, we are first and foremost to give love - to God and to others.

In this revised best-selling book, Peter Scazzero outlines a road map for discipleship with Jesus that is powerfully transformative. He unveils what's wrong with our current definition of "spiritual growth" and offers not only a model of spirituality that actually works, but seven steps to change that will help you experience authentic faith and hunger for God.

In the best-selling Lies Women Believe, Nancy exposes these areas of deception most commonly believed by Christian women - lies about God, sin, priorities, marriage and family, emotions, and more. She then sheds light on how we can be delivered from bondage and set free to walk in God's grace, forgiveness, and abundant life. Nancy offers the most effective weapon to counter and overcome Satan's lies: God's truth!

Many young women have been lied to. Through a nationwide survey and in-depth discussion groups, Nancy and Dannah have listened carefully to the heart of the younger generation, and they felt compelled to write this book. In it, Nancy and Dannah expose the 25 lies young women most commonly believe.

What keeps you from loving someone God loves so much? How might your life change if you really believed God loves you - not just in your head but down where it counts, in your heart? Imagine how different things could be: The lies you've believed about yourself all these years dispelled. The wounds of abuse healed. Your future lit with hope, peace, and purpose. Your closeness with God and others deepened immeasurably.

For Christian parents, there is no greater joy than seeing their children learn to walk with the Lord. And there is no greater fear than that their children will walk away from God. After serving together in pastoral ministry for 40 years, Phil and Diane Comer know those hopes and fears well. Thirty-seven years ago, they became parents themselves. And like all new parents, they were intimidated and unsure about how to take on the task of spiritually training their young children.

In Emotionally Healthy Discipleship, best-selling author Pete Scazzero combines three decades of wisdom with hard lessons from his own ministry journey. He lays out what is required for church leaders to multiply deeply changed people who are growing in relationship with God, themselves, and others. Scazzero begins with four beneath-the-surface, systemic gaps that undermine serious discipleship. He provides a clear vision for a church culture that deeply changes lives and then practically unpacks the seven biblical marks of emotionally healthy discipleship.

Every day is full of struggles. We struggle with time; with truth; with authority; with finding peace, purity, and contentment; with our words, thoughts, and actions - and that's just the beginning! Does God speak to us about these daily tests? Is there hope in the struggle? The answer, of course, is yes - but where God speaks about them may surprise you.

Discipling your family can feel like an intimidating task, but it doesn’t need to be overwhelming or complicated. With a simple plan in place, discipleship is something every parent can do. Pastors Matt Chandler and Adam Griffin have made it their mission to help you develop a sustainable rhythm of gospel-centered discipleship focused in three key areas: time, moments, and milestones, as you raise your children in the love and fear of the Lord.

Caleb Kalenbach is the Lead Pastor at Discovery Church in Simi Valley, CA. Raised in the LGBT community, he was exposed to how some Christians treated the LGBT community, and grew to hate Christians. In high school, he joined a Bible study to disprove the Bible, but ended up following Jesus instead. Later, his parents followed Jesus, too. This is the subject of his first book, Messy Grace - holding on to the truth of God's Word while being filled with grace.

In this powerful and personal book, author Rachel Gilson describes her own unexpected journey of coming out and coming to faith... and what came next. As she does so, she addresses many of the questions that Christians living with same-sex attraction are wrestling with: Am I consigned to a life of loneliness? How do I navigate my friendships? Will my desires ever change? Is there some greater purpose to all this?

If you're tired of hearing the watered-down Christian teaching and hungry for a deeper spiritual life - one that gives real answers to your hardest questions - Stop Calling Me Beautiful teaches you how. Jesus doesn't offer a powerless salvation. He makes your brokenness part of his whole redemption story - if you allow him to. Don't settle for a feel-good faith. If you want victory over insecurity, fear, shame, and the circumstances you are facing, it's time to embrace Jesus. All of him.