Danielle Strickland

Overcome the twin giants of cynicism and despair that threaten to derail your emotional and physical health and find hope for life by witnessing the power of God's redemptive healing.

Part guidebook and part storytelling, The Other Side of Hope is a uniquely designed flip-book with two entry points to the message of finding hope in a desperately harsh world.

One part of the book focuses on theory and biblical philosophy, including insights into

• fighting cynicism, the architect of despair;
• embracing true humility and love; and
• shifting to a new mindset together as a community.

Flip the book over to the other part and read a collection of stories about people from around the world who overcame impossible situations, showing that nothing is impossible through Christ.

In this start-where-you-want flip-book, you not only learn what the Bible says about hope but also witness God's redemptive power at work in the lives of people in the real world.

An impassioned plea and workable solution for women and men to imagine a better world, embrace their differences, find ways to end oppression, and learn how to work better together.

We are currently at a strategic cultural intersection with relationships between women and men eroding. And it seems no one knows what to do. While it is good for women to expose their pain, what often happens is that they immediately blame the person at the other end of it, which sets up a never-ending cycle of accusations, denial, avoidance, and ultimately devastation for everyone involved.

This moment of discovery should not signal the end but instead become an opportunity to create a different world where men and women are better together.

Better Together is a beacon of hope in a challenging storm. It's where thoughts can be rechanneled and hope rekindled as author Danielle Strickland offers steps toward a real and workable solution. Her premise is that two things are needed for change:

1) imagine a better world, and

2) understand oppression.

Understanding how oppression works is an important part of undoing it.

Danielle says, "I refuse to believe that all men are bad. I also refuse to believe that all women are victims. I don't want to be just hopeful, I want to be strategically hopeful. I want to work toward a better world with a shared view of the future that looks like equality, freedom, and flourishing."

God didn't just say to Pharaoh, "Let my people go!" He also said to the Israelites--and He says to us--"Let go of what enslaves you, and follow me to freedom."

The Ultimate Exodus opens our eyes to the things that enslave us, and it sets us on the path of our own exodus. Danielle Strickland revisits the story of the Exodus to see what we can learn from a people who were slaves and who learned from God what it means to be free. We discover as we go that deliverance goes much deeper than our circumstances. God uproots us from the things we have become slaves to, and He takes us on a long walk to the freedom He created us to enjoy.

In short chapters full of memorable personal stories Danielle Strickland challenges us to take seriously our reading of the Gospels and the consequences of that reading. Strickland exposes the lie that debates regarding women's positions in the church and in life are academic exercises conducted by theologians with no impact on the day-to-day lives of women and the lie that the debate is even about gender.

Strickland starts with stories of women in subjugation--women who are considered property, or have been told to remain in abusive relationships, or face extensive cultural restrictions.These are women she has met as she serves around the world for the Salvation Amy. She calls us to know each woman as she meets Jesus and by her spiritual gifts--not by a culturally defined category.

After tackling overt cases of oppression of women, Strickland confronts the subtleties of gender inequality in the Western world. Laying open the Bible and inviting all to come, she thoughtfully outlines the positions regarding gender equality and reviews related passages of Scripture. Using her gift as an evangelist along with the guiding of Scripture, reason, tradition, and experience, she makes her case that the more women are empowered to be true equals to men, the closer we bring the Kingdom of God.

- What if there were ways to live that filled you, rather than depleting you? - What if there were an ocean of joy, freedom and wholeness within reach? - What if you could tap into an inexhaustible resource of power and love? - What would your life loo