Bøger af M Blaine Smith

SOLUTIONS TO YOUR NEEDS MAY BE MORE WITHIN YOUR REACH THAN YOU REALIZE! In this short book (71 pages), Blaine Smith stresses that we Christians too often fail to take needed initiative toward meeting needs we have, solving problems, and pursuing goals and dreams. We assume faith requires us to wait passively for the Lord to provide. Yet so often we would show greater faith and trust in Christ by taking initiative. We would find ourselves happier and more successful by being active, and would contribute more to the mission of Christ. Smith explains why, and he offers a simple principle for deciding when to wait or initiate, based on how people resolved this question in Scripture. Smith also looks at other liberating principles related to taking initiative, including- We are more capable of finding good answers to our problems and needs than we imagine, because of how God has fashioned our mind and influences it. By continuing to strive for solutions, we're sometimes surprised by sudden, welcome insight. Doing something toward a need, no matter how mundane, usually beats doing nothing, and opens us to God's greatest blessings. During our lifetime most of us experience a number of blatant opportunities which God doesn't wish us to accept. This is an especially encouraging principle to understand, for we're not obliged to go through the wide open door if it doesn't align with our long-term priorities. Our prayers are often more effective than we think, and we honor God by being bold and persistent with our requests. While we're called to "turn the other cheek," we're not to be a doormat to anyone's abuse. We're expected to stand up for ourselves when others treat us unfairly. And turning the other cheek, rightly understood, is a high form of assertiveness. You'll find Should I Wait in Faith or Step Out in Faith? filled with practical advice and encouragement, to help you find answers to your needs and to realize your highest potential for Christ! Note: Chapter 6 of this book, "Faith and Assertiveness," and part of chapter one are adapted from Blaine Smith's "Overcoming Shyness." The other five chapters are published here for the first time in book form.

WHAT A RADICAL DIFFERENCE EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE MAKES! With this extraordinary benefit, we're happier, more productive and successful. We love and help others more effectively. Our health likely improves as well. Without it, our emotions so often defeat us. We worry incessantly about catastrophes that never occur. We lose our temper easily. We cave in to despair over a setback, missing any silver lining. We give in to the urge to rescue someone, when we're already overextended. We tire unnecessarily. The emotionally intelligent person is far less susceptible. She understands her feelings well, and handles them adeptly. He also knows how to draw many benefits-even from his negative emotions. In this warm and insightful book, Blaine Smith looks carefully at what emotional intelligence is, and why it's vital for the Christian. He explains how you can achieve it, offering much practical counsel, and drawing on many fascinating biblical and personal examples. He looks at issues common to everyone, and at many unique to us as believers. Emotional Intelligence for the Christian will help you to: Avoid emotional freefalls into anger, despair, anxiety Understand anger's pitfalls as well as its positive role Grow more optimistic about your future, and gain greater motivation for steps of faith Better prepare yourself emotionally for solving problems and recognizing God's guidance Understand when your desires signal God's will for you Appreciate your unique temperament and its benefits More effectively love and serve others for Christ The goal of growing wiser emotionally is highly achievable for any of us who take it seriously. This book will give you both the inspiration and practical guidance to make it happen! M. Blaine Smith is director of Nehemiah Ministries, in the Washington, D.C. area, and author of many books, including Overcoming Shyness and The Yes Anxiety.

WHAT ARE YOUR STRONGEST DESIRES FOR THE FUTURE? A new job or career? Marriage? A lifestyle change? Mastering a skill? A creative accomplishment? An athletic triumph? Your dreams are often far more within your reach than you realize. God has ordained each of our lives to certain accomplishment, Blaine Smith stresses. He has given us the capacity to dream big -- and those dreams that stand the test of time are often a vital indication of what he wants us to do with our lives. We must not be too inclined to "play it safe," but need to stay open to new steps of faith. In this new book (April 2012), Blaine provides a strong mix of encouragement and practical help for taking these steps and putting your dreams in motion. He examines the positive role of desire in the Christian life, which so often is neglected in Christian teaching. He looks carefully at problems we face in finding permission to embrace our heart's desires. And he encourages us to continue to think big and pursue fresh dreams for as long as God gives us the ability. Reach Beyond Your Grasp will help you to: Identify which of your dreams are most important to pursue Successfully set goals to achieve your dreams Understand how faith and hope relate to your achievements Draw on others' help successfully Pray effectively about your dreams Deal with setbacks and move beyond them Deal with fears of failure and success Joyfully succeed! This book will give you the heart to reach that new horizon, and the know-how to do it. It's time to expand your sights and embrace God's bigger picture for your life! M. Blaine Smith, a Presbyterian pastor, is author of ten books, including Knowing God's Will, The Yes Anxiety, and Should I Get Married?. He is director of Nehemiah Ministries in the Washington, D.C. area.

The world needs what makes you unique! In this classic on Christian self-image, Blaine Smith stresses the importance of cherishing your personal distinctiveness - as a gift of God, and a vital indication of what he wants you to do with your life. And he looks carefully at what this means. He considers how self-esteem and humility should fit together for the Christian. And he gives you solid biblical reasons to view your personality, talents and gifts, physical features, and special circumstances positively and appreciatively. His accent is on encouragement and re-inventing the way you see yourself as a child of God. This book will help you to: Appreciate your personality, talents and physical features as God's handiwork Be more alert to golden opportunities to invest your life Understand how self-esteem and humility fit together in the Christian life Break through "self-consistency" to achieve a genuinely more positive, healthy self-concept Base your identity not just on one talent or characteristic, but on your unique combination of features Break the habit of comparing yourself unfavorably to others Ralph T. Mattson comments: "More people are likely to be blunted in their growth by poor perceptions of their individual worth than by inflated egos. Innumerable Christians have embarked on their life's calling with profound misunderstanding of their uniqueness and self-worth, thereby missing many of the delights of full-orbed Christian living. "One of a Kind is a welcome corrective. It encourages us to abandon self-depreciation for a realistic biblical view of ourselves without false positivism. In dealing with the subjects of humility, self-esteem, ideals, body image, and personality, Blaine Smith covers the most commonly expressed concerns people are likely to have about themselves." Ralph T. Mattson, author of Finding a Job That You Can Love Blaine Smith's One of a Kind (originally published in 1984 by InterVarsity Press) is re-issued by SilverCrest Books.

(Originally The Optimism Factor: Outrageous Faith Against the Odds) There's a strange connection between the exercise of our faith (wobbly though it may be) and the growth of optimistic hope in our hearts. Outrageous faith, Blaine Smith calls it. And he explains why, as he examines the role of positive expectation in the Christian life. Blaine believes that faith is the most underappreciated benefit in the Christian life today. Christians who do emphasize faith often take it to an unhealthy extreme--just believe anything can happen and God will accomplish it for you. Yet most Christians don't emphasize faith enough, even though it is upheld constantly in Scripture as the means by which we receive the grace of God and every benefit he provides. In this book Blaine looks closely at what the biblical attitude of faith involves. He concludes that it means an overwhelmingly optimistic view of God and of his willingness to provide the best for each of us. He considers how we can exercise faith in the most authentic sense, by taking challenging steps to realize our personal potential. And he offers practical wisdom on how to: rekindle our optimism when it's lost rebound from disappointment distinguish healthy faith from unreasonable expectations find the heart to make new beginnings overcome our fears of change handle our shifting view of God let go of problems that aren't ours Blaine Smith's The Optimism Factor, first published by InterVarsity Press, is republished by SilverCrest Books! Praise for The Optimism Factor "A profound, practical and positive exposition of the importance of living our faith, and in the process, seeing our lives both realistically and with the optimism that comes only from surrender to Christ." - JACK KEMP, former New York congressman and secretary of HUD "Smith helps readers move from discouragement to hope, learning to win through failure." - Bookstore Journal "Read this book and you will find your misconceptions of faith trashed . . . . The twenty-six chapters make this book an ideal daily devotional." - Moody Monthly Editors' Choice - Family Bookshelf, 1995

"It was the most terrifying experience of my life. It took most of the year to get up my resolve. Finally I sat down by the phone, a friend at my side coaxing me on. I began to dial the number . . . but then my finger pressed the receiver button and the call was canceled. "This went on for several evenings. Wednesday night had a sense of now or never. If I waited any longer, it would be too late in the week. Finally, I completed dialing the number. Her father answered, and I asked if she was home. Now I was fully committed. I wondered if I would faint." Blaine Smith did get that date. Gradually he learned a lot about how to handle his shyness. Now he shares his insights and counsel with others show struggle with the pain of shyness and who see it holding them back socially, in the workplace-and even spiritually. Indispensable advice for: Sharpening your people skills Breaking the panic cycle Balancing faith and assertiveness Making shyness work for you Taking control (one half-step at a time) Tips for facing an audience "As a shy person myself, I found countless reasons for hope in Overcoming Shyness. Blaine offers detailed, practical helps-always authentic, never gimmicky or artificial. All the shy people in the world owe Blaine Smith a tremendous debt of gratitude for writing this book." STEPHEN A. HAYNER, Ph.D., President, Columbia Theological Seminary, former president InterVarsity Christian Fellowship "I didn't buy this book. Somebody gave it to me. I'd rather not say who. I read it sitting at home on Friday nights and thought it was pretty good, considering I had nothing better to do. I don't go along with all he says about being more assertive, but what do I know? Maybe a person should be. Scripture says that the meek shall inherit the earth. Do we want to? I don't know. But we are going to, then this book would probably help us run things, assuming we accept the deal. We'll see." GARRISON KEILLOR, humorist, creator, "A Prairie Home Companion" Author, Lake Wobegon Days This edition of Overcoming Shyness is a reprint of the original by M. Blaine Smith, first published in 1993 by InterVaristy Press. Smith, a Presbyterian pastor, is author of nine books, including Marry a Friend, Knowing God's Will, and Should I Get Married?. He is director of Nehemiah Ministries in the Washington, D.C. area.

IS IT TIME FOR YOU TO MAKE A NEW BEGINNING? To find a new job? To launch a new career? To seek a serious relationship? To go ahead and marry, in spite of your fears? To move to a new home or a different city? To find a new church? To take on a challenging ministry in the church you attend? To embrace a major educational goal and see it through? To take up tennis and stick with it? To learn guitar and become a competent player? IS IT TIME FOR YOU TO REINVENT YOURSELF? If so, you'll find abundant help for doing so in this book. God has so designed human life, M. Blaine Smith explains, that we need a major change from time to time, to keep adventure alive and to realize our highest potential. Smith looks carefully at how we can grow more alert to the new directions God wants us to take and then find the courage to follow them, in the face of a host of fears that can hold us back. He takes a keen look at certain issues that often keep us as Christians from pursuing God's best options for us. Smith writes compassionately and with great enthusiasm for life's new beginnings, explaining how they can bring unspeakable benefits to you and to those your life touches. This book will help you to: Grow more alert to God's guidance Recognize when God is prompting you to take a major new direction with your life Find the courage to reinvent yourself Conquer fears of failure, success, and commitment Let go of a comfortable situation that's holding you back from God's best Deal with impostor feelings that often accompany a major life change Understand when you're locked in to past expectations or promises and when you're not Overcome regret over past decisions that now seem misguided View your limitations as strengths Most of all, this book will fire your passion to reinvent yourself when the time is right. Blaine Smith's counsel will help you identify that new adventure God has for you, move beyond your fears and pursue it successfully! RELATION TO OTHER M. BLAINE SMITH BOOKS: Some material from other books Blaine Smith has written is included or reworked in this one. Much of this book's content is fresh, though, and anything included from a past book is woven carefully into this book's discussion. M. Blaine Smith is author of fifteen books, including the InterVarsity Press classics Knowing God's Will and Should I Get Married?

The hope of finding someone wonderful to marry is the most intense dream most of us ever experience. Yet the challenge seems impossibly great for so many of us. In this compassionate and deeply practical book, Blaine Smith offers a mountain of advice and encouragement to those at their wits end searching for a spouse. Drawing on decades of experience teaching and counseling singles, he provides multiple strategies for finding a marriage partner, including many you haven't likely thought of before. Smith writes with a heart for the special issues Christians face in looking for marriage. Yet anyone will find benefit in his insights and practical advice. Smith also looks closely at expectations, and how they can help or quickly defeat us in our search for a mate. Friendship, he stresses, much more than romance, is at the heart of a blissful, healthy, enduring marriage. Grasping this time-honored principle can simplify our marriage quest, sometimes greatly, for we recognize possibilities we haven't considered. Smith looks carefully at what sort of friendship works best for marriage, and at what role romance and sexual attraction should, in fact, play. Other topics include - Embracing the desire for marriage Why your prospects of finding someone are good - regardless of age Rebounding from rejection Why you probably don't have "the gift of singleness" God's guidance in your marriage quest Recognizing opportunities you already have Getting others' help in finding someone to marry Changes - major and minor - that can help you The best places for meeting someone Dating and launching a serious relationship Using Internet matching services effectively Taking initiative effectively as woman Making every day count M. Blaine Smith, a Presbyterian pastor, is author of nine books, including The Yes Anxiety, Overcoming Shyness, and the best-selling Should I Get Married?. He is director of Nehemiah Ministries in Washington, D.C.