Western Civilization is wealthier, but it isn't happier.

We are the richest people ever to walk the face of the earth, but according to research, we aren't becoming happier. Families and communities are increasingly fragmented, loneliness is skyrocketing, and physical and mental health are on the decline. Our unprecedented wealth doesn't seem to be doing us much good.

Yet, when we try to help poor people at home or abroad, our implicit assumption is that the goal is to help them to become like us. "If they would just do things our way, they'd be fine!"

But even when they seem to pursue our path, they too find that the American Dream doesn't work for them. What if we have the wrong idea altogether? What if the molds we are using to help poor people don't actually fit any of us? What if the goal isn't to turn other countries into the United States or to turn America's impoverished communities into its affluent suburbs?

In Becoming Whole (building on the best-selling When Helping Hurts), Brian Fikkert and Kelly M. Kapic look at the true sources of brokenness and poverty and uncover the surprising pathways to human flourishing, for poor and non-poor alike. Exposing the misconceptions of both Western Civilization and the Western church about the nature of God, human beings, and the world, they redefine success and offer new ways of achieving that success. Through biblical insights, scientific research, and practical experience, they show you how the good news of the kingdom of God reshapes our lives and our poverty alleviation ministries, moving everybody involved towards wholeness.

Ted Foote and Alex Thornburg, authors of the acclaimed Being Presbyterian in the Bible Belt, return with a book that engagingly and wittily examines Christian discipleship in the midst of the postmodern world. With chapter titles such as Is God Eccentric or Comfortably Middle Class? How Much is Grace, or is it Just Cheap? What Would Jesus Drive? and Am I My Siblings' Keeper, or Are They the Weakest Links? Foote and Thornburg once again make a fun and enlightening read out of weighty theological topics. Includes study questions, journaling opportunities, and leaders' helps.

Sethe, its protagonist, was born a slave and escaped to Ohio, but eighteen years later she is still not free. She has too many memories of Sweet Home, the beautiful farm where so many hideous things happened. And Sethe's new home is haunted by the ghost of her baby, who died nameless and whose tombstone is engraved with a single word: Beloved. Filled with bitter poetry and suspense as taut as a rope, Beloved is a towering achievement.