HCI Products

An expanded edition of this classic book on grief and loss―with a new preface and epilogue Loss came suddenly for Jerry Sittser. In an instant, a tragic car accident claimed three generations of his family: his mother, his wife, and his young daughter. While most of us will not experience such a catastrophic loss in our lifetime, all of us will taste it. And we can, if we choose, know as well the grace that transforms it. A Grace Disguised plumbs the depths of sorrow, whether due to illness, divorce, or the loss of someone we love. The circumstances are not important; what we do with those circumstances is. In coming to the end of ourselves, we can come to the beginning of a new life―one marked by spiritual depth, joy, compassion, and a deeper appreciation of simple blessings.

2022 HCI Annual Leadership Retreat Workbook

The 2022 Becoming Like Him Workbook contains outlines of the sessions, exercises referenced in the sessions, and other material. Although the recorded session videos are available for free on our YouTube channel, Healing Center International, we recommend you purchase the digital copy of the workbook to get the most out of them.

About the retreat:

“. . . I am learning from Jesus to live my life as he would live my life if he were I. I am not necessarily learning to do everything he did, but I am learning how to do everything I do in the manner that he did all that he did.”— Dallas Willard

Becoming Like Him

What does that mean?

Wearing sandals and growing my hair long? Not my style.
Adding more rules and things to do? Uh, no thanks.
Never making mistakes? Scratch that.
So . . . I've tried to become like Jesus, and I'm, well . . . still me.

Trying harder hasn’t worked for us either. Instead, we would like to invite you to discover a more transformative way of becoming like him. For just a moment, consider that becoming like Jesus is less about "religious tasking" and more about joyful relationship. That it's about him being interested in your life and you hearing that, "You, in the midst of your actual life there, are exactly the person God wanted." (Dallas Willard). That’s not to say we don’t put forth effort. We do. This is about a partnership. Accepting an invitation and showing up.

So, be encouraged and find fresh hope as you explore what it means to live your life as he would live your life if he was you. In short, “Becoming Like Him.”

The downloadable 2022 Becoming Like Him Workbook includes outlines and exercises for the following:

• I Just Wanna Grow Up! by David Takle

• Engaging Our Bodies in Spiritual Formation Practices by Jim and Lindsay Long

• Welcoming Uninvited Guests: What Parkinson’s Disease Has Taught Me about Being Like Jesus by Dan Van Ness

• Regulation Road: Jesus, Three Circles, and Us by Jeannie Herbert, Anne Doggett, and Susan Price

• Why You Want to Fall in Love with Jesus by Betsy Stalcup

Achingly insecure Elizabeth wants to follow Jesus but can't muster the willpower to yield to him. Weary of living a life punctuated by heartache and guilt, she stops trying, takes a lover and begins to chart her own course. Her life seems to be righting itself when she is accepted into a prestigious graduate program, until, that is, she discovers that she is pregnant. If anyone had valid reasons for terminating her pregnancy, it would be Elizabeth, but Crossroads Before Me tells a different story about the power of choices and a God who never gives up on us. Open and transparent, Elizabeth invites us to join her as she learns how to open herself to God and let him heal her heart. Her inspiring journey will help you connect to the God who loves you and is committed to setting you free.

In these uncertain times, we need to be together. With God and each other. We have crafted a Leadership Retreat that will provide a life giving time together while keeping us safe. Our goal is to help you grow your secure attachment to God. Why is that so important? A secure attachment with God will get you through anything! Because at a deep subconscious level you will trust that your needs will be met because you have experienced his goodness, kindness and wise guidance—no matter what lies ahead. We will be taking time to engage with God and our community to grow resilient, to become more secure, and less anxious. This season is an opportunity to grow trust in the one who sees you, hears you, understand you, and loves you. God is crazy about you. Can you feel it?

Includes:

• Downloadable PDF Workbook

• What a Journey! by Betsy Stalcup

• Securely Attaching to God by David & Jan Takle

• Kingdoms at War by David Takle

• The Only Way Out is Through by Betsy Stalcup

• Immanuel Approach Session by Betsy Stalcup

• Beloved Child by Betsy Stalcup

• Where Are We Now? by David Takle

Everyone experiences loss, but few of us knows how to process losses fully, in a way that leaves us more resilient and joyful than before. Welcome to Facing Life’s Losses,the first workbook that teaches you to engage with God as you courageously face the losses in your life. This method has been tried and tested with groups large and small over the last decade and is finally available in a form you can use with your family or friends. Before now, we did not know what to do with the pain. Best shove it down—way downwhere it slowly accumulates. Learn to let God lift this burden of sorrow off your back. In this workbook, you will learn:

• How to identify grief as well as how grief feels

• What our culture teaches us about grief

• How to surrender your sadness to Jesus

• How to face (and process) your regrets, unforgiveness and anger

• Don’t slog through life. Take courage. Here is help that will enlarge your soul.

HCI ships to the U.S. only. International buyers check us out on Amazon!

Participant Workbooks: CA | DE | ES | FR | IT | JP | UK // Facilitator Workbooks: CA | DE | ES | FR | IT | JP | UK

Forming is an interactive, experiential course that shows us how to engage with God in ways that change us from the inside out!

To use a metaphor, instead of trying to row against the current of our inner life in an effort to do what we think is right, Forming shows us how to align our sails with the wind, engaging with the Spirit of God to change the direction of our heart, so we can go places we could never get to by rowing alone.

Most Christians experience a significant period of growth immediately following their conversion that includes new insights, making new friends, perhaps changing some behaviors, and learning about the Christian lifestyle. After a few years, however, most find themselves in a place where their growth is slowing down and a level of discontent is setting in.

Forming will show you why this happens, and why we need to change our mind about how to engage with God in order to put real life back into our spiritual growth.

People everywhere report that Forming has been one of the most important experiences of their entire Christian life!

Shame is one of the most devastating feelings you can have. Yet it often operates under the radar so people don’t even know it’s what they are dealing with. Shame magnifies our problems and minimizes our potential. Who needs that?! People who have attended Grace for Shame live seminars were literally jumping for joy in excitement over how God enlarged their horizons and set them free. Robert Walter, shame expert and friend of HCI, wanted to be able to give others this same opportunity so he developed an online version that’s available for the first time. Through scriptures, stories, songs, and small group interaction this seminar will enable you (or someone you care about) to:​ discover what’s been undermining your confidence; recognize unhealthy responses to shame; explore a new dimension of God’s grace; stifle the voice of shame; recover the joy of living; experience the love of God. That’s right, you can experience a New You in the New Year with the help of Grace for Shame. You will get one year of full access to:

• 12 modules of material including teaching and exercises

• Almost 6 hours of video teaching

• Movie and music clips

• Freedom to use with groups at no extra charge

You can run this course in your home with your family or group of friends. There is an additional study guide for groups available for $27.

God's grace for our shame...

The workbook that accompanies the Grace for Shame audio recording of a seminar with the Rev. Robert Walter offered in Fairfax, VA on Oct. 2-3, 2015. In this seminar, we explored the powerful effects of both shame and grace and how discoveries in brain science confirm what the Bible has been saying all along about the source of our strength. The seminar included stories, scriptures, small group sharing and Immanuel Prayer engagements. We hope to help you take a giant step forward on the journey of faith

Experience five hours of intense teaching!

Live the Joyful Life!

Learn how to create healthy maturing community from leaders in the Connexus community. Make the Joy Starts Here book more accessible for your group with this easy-to-use curriculum. Learn how to grow in maturity, connect with healthy people and experience a joyful relationship with God.

In Lamb of God you will find a portrait of atonement that is far more beautiful and far more compelling than most popular renditions of the gospel today – one that not only demonstrates the amazing depth of God’s love for us, but also provides the very power we need in order to be set free from sin.

Separating our understanding of atonement from its original Jewish roots in the sin offering may well be one of the greatest theological errors in the history of the Christian Church.

Rediscover what the New Testament authors knew about the death of Christ and how it transformed the ancient world! In fact, they had a very robust Exchanged Life theology of atonement that is clearly evident all across the pages of Scripture.

You will never look at the cross of Christ the same way again.

TRUSTING GOD TO INTERVENE IN OUR LIVES 

Psalm 78:3-4. We will continue to tell our children and not hide from the rising generation the great marvels of our God—his miracles and power that have brought us all this far.

In tumultuous time, we can question if God sees, hears, and understands our plight. Miracles shares one woman’s interactions with God, and how he intervened in her family’s life. Her stories will build your faith and inspire you to trust God, no matter what challenges you may be facing. Take its message deep into your heart: God is with you. He loves you. He knows the way.

Catching your past invading the present and what to do about it!

Outsmarting Yourself is about uncovering your brain's strategies for navigating the world - strategies which sometimes help...and sometimes don't! Dr. Lehman presents evidence from scientific research, case studies, and personal experience that will convince you of the reality of "invisible" memory and your Verbal Logical Explainer (VLE), and then help you maximize their strengths while minimizing the havoc they can cause. Dr. Lehman teaches you how to leverage the things you can choose to do something about in order to overcome the problems you can't choose to change directly. Outsmarting Yourself will enable you to understand the people in your world, including yourself, and give you realistic, psychologically sound, and Christ-centered tools for becoming a joyful, life-giving person with thriving relationships.

Healthy teams begin with healthy leaders, and at the heart of this dynamic is emotional maturity—the quality the greatest leaders possess.

Combining solid theology, cutting-edge brain science, and decades of counseling and consulting experience, Rare Leadership shows you how to take your leadership and team to the next level. It will equip you to:

• Cultivate emotional maturity in yourself and others

• Develop the four habits of R.A.R.E. leaders

• Promote a strong group identity

• Keep relationships bigger than problems

• Increase productivity through trust, joy, and engagement

Whether you are burnt out or just looking to improve, when you prioritize people and lead from a secure identity, you’ll be amazed at the freedom you feel and the results you see. You can lead from a healthy place, respond rather than react, and build the team of your dreams.

God never intended for us to act more like Jesus. His desire is to transform us from the inside out to become more like Jesus!

Sadly, much of the Christian world has lost sight of transformation as an on-going reality in the lives of believers. Instead, we are admonished over and over to try harder to live up to the standards we see in the New Testament. But anyone who has tried this for very long has probably watched their growth grind down to a halt. They may even dismiss transformation as purely visionary.The truth is …

• Transformation is highly accessible.

• Transformation can be fostered intentionally.

• God has given us multiple points of intervention.

• Life-long growth and change are really possible.

We need to learn how to engage with God so He can do in us what we cannot do for ourselves. In Transformation by Design you will learn about:

• Six Primary Causes of transformation.

• Four Primary Aspects of our participation.

• Four Major Contexts needed to foster transformation.

This book is truly an up-lifting vision of what God has made possible! Yet it is only 130 pages!

As we celebrated 20 years of Healing Center International, we turned our focus onto asking What Comes Next? Reaching Beyond Ourselves to Build His Kingdom. A timely topic, not just for HCI, but for the church as the age we are in is changing.

In addition to Betsy Stalcup's and David Takle's great talks, this year's retreat featured several journaling exercises, including soaking prayer and an identity exercise. Many of those who attended reported back that this was the best retreat yet—because of the talks and the exercises.

You will:

• tarry in his presence.

• deepen your understanding of God's Kingdom--and how you are part of something much greater and more eternal than you can imagine.

• engage in exercises meant to sharpen your perception of why you matter.

• listen to inspiring testimonies.

• invite the Lord to give you a vision of what he is empowering you to do.

 Access includes the following sessions and the workbook for the retreat.

• Session One: Why We Should Care about What Comes Next by Betsy Stalcup
  Betsy Stalcup, Executive Director of Healing Center International, issues words of celebration, encouragement, and growth in her opening talk for the annual HCI leadership retreat. She invites us to consider "Why We Should Care about What Comes Next". This session also includes a Lectio Divina exercise and community comments following the exercise.

• Session Two: A Soaking Prayer Experience
  The second session of our retreat included a Soaking Prayer time. Participants connected with God as they quieted their bodies and minds and focused on the Lord. They also prayed for others as they soaked in prayer, giving and receiving words of encouragement. This session includes time to soak as an individual or as a group.

• Session Three: How Do We Move Ahead . . . When We Don’t Know Where We Are Going? by David Takle
  Author of several books, including Forming: Change by Grace, David Takle addresses us in his session asking, "How Do We Move Ahead . . . When We Don't Know Where We Are Going?" Insightful and timely, David moves us from stagnation to action. This talk features a journaling exercise.

• Session Four: I Am Who You Say I Am
  During the fourth session of the retreat, we stopped to ask God about our true identity. This session is primarily a journaling exercise using questions from Jamie Winship's book, Living Fearless.

• Session Five: Letting Our Light Shine
  The fifth session of our 2023 retreat features testimonies from several members of our community. Showcasing a variety of ways our members took a step to follow God's call, these reflections encourage us all to let our light shine.

• Session Six: What God Is Saying to Me
  The final session of our 2023 HCI retreat provided time to reflect. Focusing on three specific questions from Jamie Winship's book, Living Fearless: 1) Should I go? 2) Will I win? 3) How should I go? participants were provided with time to journal and reflect as well as share in small groups. You are invited to engage with these questions as well.

When storms gather in one man’s body and he goes from being healthy and strong to close to death, chaos and destruction can quickly ensue. Not so with the Stalcup family, friends, and the medical community as they marshal their efforts to fight for Sam’s healing and restoration.

At the center of it all is God, who consistently reveals that he is there with them in every moment. He proves to be their faithful provider--pouring out grace, comfort, and much-needed healing for many at every turn. God’s power and perfect timing are evident as the Stalcups go from the brink of despair to the heights of joy and hope.

Your faith will be enriched as you walk through their experience in the pages of this book.

Have you ever wished you could have a conversation with God about your life? Have you ever wanted Him to open the Scriptures to you and make the words come alive? The truth is God would love to talk with you and mentor you in the ways of the Kingdom. He would love for you to get to know Him and develop an interactive relationship with Him that has enough substance to change you from the inside out.

In Whispers of my Abba, you will learn how to listen to the Spirit of God and develop a converational prayer life that will change forever your relationship to God and your approach to the Christian life.

Learning how to have conversations with God may be the single most important step you ever take in your Christian walk.