Self The Hidden Idol

Are you stumbling through Life? Have you lost your direction? Do you have a clear path for your life and a way to achieve your goals? Many people struggle when it comes to their life’s journey. They often make bad decisions with the best intentions only to feel hopeless and helpless in their path when things didn’t go as planned. Dolly Parton, a famous award-winning country singer, said, “If you don’t like the road you’re walking, start paving another one.” You can’t rely on your family, friends, or colleagues to change your direction. The focus of creating your path is your responsibility. Where do you start? How do you pave another path when it’s God’s path you must travel? With numerous distractions prevalent in our lives, the challenge to create a path without God in control and seek the advancement of self becomes enticing. We are taught as children to focus on becoming the best we can be and at all costs. The saying, “I think I can” becomes, “I know I can,” and as a result, we become entrapped in achieving our success without God’s direction. What do you do when your path does not lead to success? What happens when you start creating a path that isn’t God-centered and driven? Is there only one path? Self the Hidden Idol by Willie R. Smith, a full-time missionary, examines how we deceive ourselves into thinking we can do all things possible without God in our lives, and self-idolization erupts deep within. The effect is devastating in our lives resulting in despair, depression, and hopelessness. The desired outcome for readers is to become aware of their hidden idol, they maintain within, and address it head-on with no excuses. Smith discusses the many facets of self-awareness of the idol within and how we became self-centered. A reader will learn to recognize their hidden idol, and how to live a selfless life of victory through Christ Jesus, even when the path chosen seems to lead to nowhere. A directionless path is a destructive path. There is victory ahead in your path when you address the idol within and allow God to lead the way. Start your journey to victory today; form your path in the direction He designed for you. Self the Hidden Idol will guide you on your journey. Be victorious!

Who is Babylon the Great in the book of Revelation? Perhaps you’ve read God’s warning to “Come out of her, my people” and asked yourself if that warning applied to you. Mark Davidson approaches this question from a unique angle. He makes the scriptural case that Babylon the Great is the exact opposite of the Bride. Just as those who make up the Bride follow Christ, those who make up Babylon the Great follow their own idols and desires. The implication is that Babylon the Great comprises the entire world of people who do not follow Christ, nor make Christ the highest love of their lives. Babylon the Great encompassing the whole world is why Revelation 18:24 says all the blood of those slain on the earth is found in her. Therefore, God’s call in Revelation 18:4 to “Come out of her” has ominous implications for every person, whether Christian or not. Churches call for people to repent of their sins. However, sin is the result of idolatrous desires. Idolatry is subtle in everyone’s hearts—whether atheist or churchgoer—and its manifestations are everywhere. Everyone is susceptible. God’s last warning in the Bible to “Come out of her, my people” comes with consequences. Ignore this exhortation at your own peril! Praise for Hidden Babylon and God’s Last Warning “Mark’s unique gift of looking at the Scriptures with a fresh and dynamic perspective, will open the eyes of all of us as we look at the challenges of living in the last days, and help us not succumb to fear and bondage.” —Carl Sutter, senior pastor, Foundations Church, Loveland, Colorado “This book will force believers to take a much deeper look at culture as it unfolds right before our eyes. Mark Davidson brilliantly brings together a fresh biblical perspective ... this book confronts the major cultural issues of our time by spotlighting them with sound biblical proofs.” —Al Fadi, pastor, preacher, and teacher, founder of CIRA International “I encourage you to spend time in personal reflection reading through Mark’s book ... Take advantage of Mark’s study bringing insight to the idols that bind us, and it will move you to a deeper experience with God, as it did for me.” —Jon Voget, development director, Multiplication Network

A candid memoir by the multiplatinum recording artist chronicles his life from his childhood in England and rise to fame at the height of the punk-pop revolution to his popular hits and his collaborations with fellow artists.

Joni Eareckson Tada wants to help you become rich in faith and wealthy in hope. Some people focus on material treasures, but Joni reminds you that life’s true gems come from God—priceless pearls that are worth everything to purchase ... and own.In the tradition of Diamonds in the Dust and More Precious Than Silver comes this book, Pearls of Great Price. Written by a remarkable woman who has known firsthand God’s faithfulness in the midst of indescribable difficulties, these 366 inspiring new devotions, each filled with Joni’s signature storytelling, will touch your soul like a genuine pearl—rare, beautiful, and precious.To wake up each morning is, for Joni, to need the Lord Jesus desperately and to feel his blessing. And she yearns to help you grasp this blessing for yourself. Not a day breaks when she doesn’t cling to God, asking for a fresh touch from heaven as well as a fresh view on his Word. It’s the reason for her life. It’s the reason why she writes. Pearls of Great Price so clearly depicts Joni’s passion.Allow these 366 meditations to uncover a wealth of promise, of eternal truths waiting to transform the events of your life into opportunities to catch and reflect God’s glory. Featuring Joni’s own beautiful line drawings, Pearls of Great Price will open your eyes and your heart to an abundance of blessings.

Fifty years of preaching excellence in one volume. The Living Pulpit collects sermons from representative preachers in the Stone-Campbell Movement--pastors affiliated with the Churches of Christ, the Christian Churches/Churches of Christ, and the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)--over the past 50 years. The fourth volume in a series that began in 1868, this collection of sermons from 40 ministers, reviewed by a diverse team of scholars, captures the theological themes and changing approaches to preaching across the Movement’s three streams. Emerging from an era of mutual suspicion, the three streams have developed a better understanding, shared mutuality and respect for each stream’s unique qualities, and cooperated in many venues, qualities reflected in this collection. The Living Pulpit 2018 helps preachers and scholars recognize where preaching has been--and why it has been there--in each stream, and where preaching appears to be going in a new mission field for Christianity and the Unity Movement. General Editor: Mary Alice Mulligan Contributing Editors: Ronald Allen, Dave Bland, David Fleer, Joseph Grana II, Tim Sensing, Bruce Shields, Casey Sigmon, Richard Voelz Contributors: Jimmy Allen, Lynn Anderson, Gene Appel, Dean Barham, Batsell Barrett Baxter, Russell Blowers, Laura Buffington, Delores Carpenter, Janet Casey-Allen, Mike Cope, Fred Craddock, Lisa Davison, Glenn Elliott, Mark Frost, Joseph Grana II, Andrew Hairston, Cynthia Hale, Allen Harris, Jodi Hickerson, Cal Jernigan, Sandhya Jha, David Kagiwada, Michael Kinnamon, Roy Lawson, Marshall Leggett, Jim McGuiggan, Bob Mink, José Morales, Ronald Osborn, Derek Penwell, Norman Reed, Mary Louise Rowand, Rob Russell, Landon B. Saunders, Mark Scott, Tim Sensing, Bob Shannon, Rubel Shelly, Bruce Shields, Casey Sigmon, Myron Taylor, Samuel Twumasi-Ankrah, Richard Voelz, Paul Watson, J.S. Winston

“There are five Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke, John...and the Christian. But most people never read the first four.” There are any number of books on how to do evangelism. This book is different—it’s an invitation to actually live out the message of the gospel. Jesus’s original intention was for ordinary people like you and me to live lives that point others to the only Person who can give them hope for this life as well as the next—to visibly display the Good News of salvation through the Messiah and Redeemer of humankind. But many Christ followers today are either ridden with guilt for not telling others about Jesus or so silent that no one really knows they’re a Christian. The Fifth Gospel will help you wrestle with the critical issues involved in living out your faith in front of a watching and sometimes not-so-friendly world. Isn’t it time to become a witness for the One you profess to love? Prepare yourself to represent your Savior well and to discover a new way to do evangelism. Get ready for God to unleash the gospel through you!