A dramatic legend about an ancient Jew named Honi, who saw God miraculously move to save a generation, is the backdrop of Mark Batterson’s new book, The Circle Maker. Batterson explains how God showed up when Honi drew a prayer circle around himself, refusing to move until he saw God change his circumstances. Batterson builds on three tenets of prayer-circle drawing: dreaming big, praying and thinking long. “Despite what skeptics may say, God is not offended by your big dreams or bold prayers. He is offended by anything less,” Batterson writes. 

When it comes to warring in the spirit realm, who said anything about women being the fairer sex? Certainly not Robin Kirby-Gatto, who releases her second book of the Glory to Glory Sisterhood series, Princess Warriors: Engaging in Spiritual Warfare. Kirby-Gatto teaches key principles for winning the spiritual battles for your family, church and community. Through in-depth studies on fearing the Lord and engaging in warfare, she shares how to master sin and simultaneously walk in the spirit.

What would prompt more than 30,000 young adults to pass up the usual year-end festivities and head to Kansas City, Mo., 

for a conference? Nothing less than an encounter with God. And at the International House of Prayer’s annual onething conference (Dec. 28-31), that’s exactly the focus. Onething leaders say they’ve stripped away the extras from their gathering to allow for extended times of worship, Bible teachings and, of course, the presence of God.

Seattle pastor Mark Driscoll and his wife, Grace, aren’t afraid to talk about sex and marriage in down-to-earth terms, hitting issues most Christian couples rarely address in public—much less in a book and interactive, DVD-based study kit. Real Marriage challenges spouses
 to judge their marriage not by their wedding day but by what their last day together will be like. Will it come prematurely through divorce or will it be filled with regrets at the funeral of a spouse? Or, by God’s grace, will the last day be one for rejoicing in a life lived together? In this study, couples will reflect on Scripture while using the Real Marriage book and video conversation-starters. Homework and group sessions will help couples tackle the tough issues.