Books published by Cruciform Press

Great works by some of the world's best fiction writers have nevertheless gone largely unnoticed. Unfortunate timing in the marketplace, inadequate distribution, and changes in public taste are just a few of the reasons for this. Yet many of these works can be as enjoyable and meaningful as far more famous books. Cruciform Press is excited to begin publishing some forgotten classics of special interest to those who enjoy fiction that intelligently explores matters of faith.This edition of Haunted Man, by Charles Dickens, has been abridged significantly to make it more enjoyable for modern readers, while retaining every essential element of the story. It also includes an introduction with character descriptions and other helpful information, and a thought-provoking afterword discussing some of the spiritual issues addressed by the book.A college professor named Redlaw is a good man plagued by bad memories of a traumatic childhood, compounded by a terrible betrayal and loss during his young adulthood. When an ethereal demonic doppelganger of himself appears and offers to wipe away those memories, Redlaw eagerly accepts, and also receives the ability to spread this "gift" to others.Featuring the breathless suspense, colorful characters, and witty humor that has made Dickens such a beloved author, the story also tackles some of the deepest philosophical and theological questions ever raised in his writings. His answer to "the problem of evil" is of both literary and religious interest.

True happiness isn't found. It finds you.We think of our chase for joy as a fundamental right-and it's no surprise. By nature we are pleasure-seekers, though chronically unsuccessful at finding the type of joy that will endure for more than a passing moment.But what if long-lasting joy isn't found at all? What if the deepest and most durable happiness breaks into our lives, overcomes our boredom, and ultimately finds us? What if true joy is out of our reach, but reaches for us? What if joy goes deeper than the flimsy foundations of organized day planners, thinned-out closets, freshly painted walls, or a perfectly followed gym routine? What if joy is not found at the end of a to-do list? What if joy is not governed by the personality assigned to me by the lottery of my genetic heritage? What if Aristotle, when he said my happiness depends on me, was fundamentally wrong?To say it another way: What if I told you someone else was more concerned for your joy than you could ever be? What if this person has been planning your joy since before you were born? Would you believe me, or would you write me off as a well-meaning but ignorant religious optimist?If you'll hear me out, I want to share with you a true story of inescapable happiness.The Joy Project is a story that reminds us we are characters in God's unfolding cosmic story. God has written our joy into a script, and what he planned for us we can hardly imagine. The Joy Project is the heartbeat of Scripture. Neglect the Bible, and you neglect God's Joy Project, and you neglect your own joy. The Joy Project is the boldest story ever told. It will shock you, then it will bewilder you, and then it will plunge you into an ocean of divine love.

Plan to Run, Train to Run...Run to WinAnyone can start a race, but it takes planning and training to finish it.A good long-distance runner knows the importance of planning his race. As he passes the starting line he is already considering how he will cross the finish line. As he takes his first easy step, he has planned how he will take his last grueling step.As a Christian man, you are already running the race of life. You are not competing against other people, but against the deadly enemies of the world, the flesh, and the devil. How do you plan to maintain your pace throughout this race? To obtain the prize, you will need to run to the very end. You will need to cross that finish line. And to do that, you will need to plan your race. You will need to plan the ways you will run today so you can continue to run in the difficult days ahead. That is what this book is all about.

How can young adults make the best use of these years? Be like Jesus and advance!…in wisdom, stature, and favor with God and man.Your teens and 20s will be put to the best and highest use if you make them a time of sanctification. Even now you can make bold steps in overcoming sin and embracing righteousness.The Christian faith rises and falls upon this remarkable fact: God became man. Even Jesus had to grow from a baby to an adult, from immaturity to maturity. Even he had to submit to his parents and advance in wisdom, stature, and favor with both God and man.Advance! is my call to teens and young adults to learn from Jesus and make these years a time of deliberate preparation for the rest of life. I plead with you to use these years not first to focus on outward accomplishments that might shape the world, but inward achievements that will shape your character. In short, I call on you to be like Jesus.-Tim Challies

God wants your heart. The whole Bible teaches truth and awakens emotions, but the Psalms are in a category of their own. They do not just awaken heart; they put it in the foreground. They do not just invite our emotions to respond to God's truth; they put our emotions on display.The Psalms are not just commanding; they are contagious. We are not just listening to profound ideas and feelings. We are living among them in their overflow. We touch pillows wet with tears. We hear and feel the unabashed cries of affliction, shame, regret, grief, anger, discouragement, and turmoil. But what makes all this stunningly different from the sorrows of the world is that all of it-absolutely all of it-is experienced in relation to the totally sovereign God.This book is an invitation. God wants our hearts. He will take them as he finds them. And then, with the healing contagion of the Psalms, he will shape them. Accept his invitation to come.

How does the Bible instruct us as we grow older? Age gracefully, age wisely, age resolutely to the glory of God.There are few longings in my heart deeper than this: that God would let me live a godly, purposeful, dignified old age. I mean to encourage us both to age gracefully, to age wisely, to age resolutely to God's glory.We are all aging. We are passing through time until we reach the end of our time. We soon learn that greater age brings greater sorrow but also greater joy, especially to those who are in Christ.To age gracefully we must age in Christ and for Christ. What does it look like to age gracefully? What do we need to be doing now to ensure we finish this race strong?These are questions for all Christians, young and old. Thankfully the Bible speaks clearly about how to age and how to age well. Join me in exploring what the Bible has to say about age and aging and learn how we can all hear those beautiful words, "well done, good and faithful servant."-Tim Challies

A commandment from God. A commandment with a promise. A commandment we forgot.We are all children, we ought to pursue God's blessings, and we need to give prominence to God's prominent command: Honor your father and your mother. For these reasons, we can no longer ignore the forgotten Fifth Commandment.This commandment is not just for children. Rather, it pertains to the whole of life and to every person of every age. In the home, the church, and the workplace, it provides a stable foundation for all of society. Yet, we often neglect it and fail to appreciate its relevance to our lives. It is the commandment we forgot.This booklet is a brief exploration of the Fifth Commandment: Honor your father and your mother. It answers important questions relevant to every Christian: Does this commandment expire when we move out of our parents' home and gain our independence? Does it cease being relevant once we are married? Is obedience synonymous with honor? Do we need to be prepared to provide for them financially? What if our parents are especially difficult or unworthy of respect?My hope is that this booklet will restore the centrality of the fifth commandment, even and especially to adults. Let's look together to the Bible and, ultimately, to Jesus Christ as the perfect fulfillment of the commandment we forgot.-Tim Challies

Learn to be a model of Christian maturity.D.A. Carson has pointed out that the list of qualifications for elders is "remarkable for being unremarkable." Why? Because these traits are repeated elsewhere as qualities that ought to characterize all believers.Are you growing in godliness? How would you even know?A good place to begin is understanding and imitating the character qualifications the Bible lays out for elders. While elders are meant to exemplify these traits, all Christians are to display them. And, with just one exception, each of them is related to character.Join me as I explore the Bible to consider how we can better exemplify the highest Christian virtues. As we consider the character of the Christian, we will spur one another on to love, good works, and Christlikeness.-Tim Challies

Don''t try to do it all. Do more good. Better.I am no productivity guru. I am a writer, a church leader, a husband, and a father with many responsibilities and with new tasks coming at me all the time.I wrote this short, fast-paced, practical guide to productivity to share what I have learned about getting things done in today''s digital world. Whether you are a student or a professional, a work-from-home dad or a stay-at-home mom, it will help you learn to structure your life to do the most good to the glory of God.In Do More Better, you will learn:> Common obstacles to productivity> The great purpose behind productivity> 3 essential tools for getting things done> The power of daily and weekly routines> And much more, including bonus material on taming your email and 20 tips I have learned along the way.It really is possible to live a calm and orderly life, sure of your responsibilities and confident in your progress.You can do more better. And I would love to help you get there.-Tim Challies

At one time or another, most Christians struggle with depression, discouragement, or despondency. When this happens, spiritual joy is the great need. William Farley has written a practical book to help flawed human beings discover and implement the secret to spiritual joy.The author contends that the gospel is the key to a life overflowing with joy. That is because a right understanding of the gospel produces the humility that motivates a life of continual thanksgiving. A heart humbled by the gospel is the well from which stressed believer can draw the gratitude that generates spiritual joy.This book also examines common joy-killers like grumbling, complaining, boasting, and self-pity, and provides practical suggestions for conquering them. Such attitudes cannot co-exist in a heart saturated with gospel-gratitude. Ultimately, a clear grasp of the cross is the secret to spiritual joy.

Most Christians will agree that we ought to love our God. But what about fearing God? The Bible says that "the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom" (Proverbs 9:10), yet a broad survey of modern evangelicalism reveals that the fear of God is hardly regarded as such anymore. Many Christians seem to wrongly assume that the gospel of grace trumps the fear of the Lord. However, it is only the God of the gospel that is truly worthy of our reverential fear. The purpose of this book is to equip Christians with a healthy view of fearing God and to illustrate how it reconciles with the gospel of God''s grace to sinners.

Best-selling author Jerry Brides (The Pursuit of Holiness, The Discipline of Grace, The Bookends of the Christian Life, and many other books) asks perhaps the most fundamental question of existence: "Who am I?" He then turns to Scripture to unpack for the Christian eight clear, interlocking, illuminating answers: I Am a Creature / I Am in Christ / I Am Justified / I Am an Adopted Son of God / I Am a New Creation / I Am a Saint / I Am a Servant of Jesus Christ / I Am Not Yet Perfect. A direct, honest presentation of biblical truth, and all new material from Jerry Bridges, Who Am I? demonstrates for believers that they can and should rightfully claim for themselves an unshakeable, lifelong, personal foundation of confidence in one thing and one thing alone: the gospel of a victorious, resurrected Savior.

Neither a comprehensive marriage manual, nor a complete exploration of the theological significance of marriage, Friends and Lovers focuses on two key ingredients in a vital marriage: friendship and sexual intimacy. Drawing from the wisdom of the Bible, especially the Book of Proverbs, Joel Beeke shows you how to grow closer to your spouse both emotionally and physically.

The earthly ministry of Jesus was all about rightly interpreting and applying God''s Word.We can do the same. No special training required.In fact, right interpretation of Scripture, followed by right application, is the primary way that Christians are to be like God.This is not an issue of education. It''s an issue of imitation.The example of Jesus'' life shows us how.

As common as it is terrible. As easy to overlook as it is dangerous.Backsliding is the worst thing that can happen to anyone claiming faith in Jesus.Learn the diagnosis. Experience the cure.The Christian life is a race. Through the gospel,God summons us to sustained and persevering effort. He empowers his children by grace-free and undeserved blessing through Christ. But he does not carry them to heaven on flowery beds of ease. Faith is a living, athletic grace. God''s mercy motivates Christians and energizes them to press on and overcome great obstacles. Christ blazed the trail before us. He now calls us to follow Him to the end (Hebrews 12:1-2).Looking unto Jesus-that is how we persevere. In him is everything we need. But realistically speaking, Christians are not always pressing forward. Sometimes they wander off the narrow path, slip, and injure themselves. To the confused and injured runner, this book says, "God can help you. You can finish this race-and finish it well." Drawing from the wisdom of the Scriptures and aided by the insights of godly Bible teachers through the centuries, Getting Back in the Race addresses the age-old problem of backsliding.Backsliding is a season in the life of a professing Christian when his sin grows stronger and his obedience to God declines. The beginning of the book uncovers signs of sliding into a spiritual rut, for this is often more subtle than falling into scandalous sins. The rest of the book shows that there is hope for the backslider. God is so amazing! Even though our backsliding insults him, dishonors him, grieves him, and pushes away his love, still He calls us to return to him. When you grasp hold of God''s methods by faith, you discover that Christ has grasped hold of you. Our spiritual Physician has potent medicines to heal his people from their injuries and get them back on track to finish the race. This book is a wake-up call to careless Christians and an encouragement to all believers to keep running to the Lord.