Some of the best news you’ll ever get. 

It’s true, and you’re going to love what you find through the pages of this book.  Its message will transform you and reveal the most natural and satisfying way for you to live.  You’ve been made for this kind of life—it’s time you had it.

If you want to ship a book outside of the U.S., please contact us for that arrangement.  We’re delighted to help.

And here’s the deal:  this amount is a recommendation only. Some will not be able to spend $18.99, and our desire is that everybody who wants a book, gets a book.  So, if you want to give a lesser amount, please click here, which will generate an email note to us.  Simply tell us what you would like to do concerning your order, and send your note.  We will respond with an email through which you may make your nonstandard contribution by credit card.  And if you would like to add more than the recommended amount (perhaps covering the deficit of others), we would appreciate you clicking here.  (Or, you may simply make a tax deductible donation through our Giving page.)

To make your purchase, click on the Buy Now button, which will add the book to your shopping cart.  You may click on View Cart at any time in order to make changes to your order.  When you’re ready, conclude your purchase by using any major credit card.  (We use PayPal as our secure online system.)

And please be encouraged to share LifeCourse Ministries resources with others.  If you would like to send your selections to someone else, simply include their name and address with your order, and we’ll do the rest.

Can you get Ralph’s book from somewhere else online and maybe save a dollar or two?  Yes.  If you do not find the above arrangements favorable, you might find another retailer to your liking.   However, purchasing Better Off Than You Think from any other book seller than us will result in less than $1 from that sale going to support the work of LifeCourse Ministries. 

If we can answer any further questions, please contact us—and thank you.  Happy reading!

1-5 books                             6-10 books                                11-20 books                                21-? books

                      

                      

Just below is the introduction of Better Off Than You Think - God’s Astounding Opinion of You:

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. (Matthew 11:28-30)

You’re in for the greatest of delights if you are familiar with the above passage but not so familiar with the experience.

The single purpose of this book is that you find Jesus and life in Christ—Christianity—deeply satisfying, beyond anything you’ve ever known.  Many of us long haunted by the above passage know Jesus said it, but our desire to know it in experience has been relatively frustrated.

   

It begins with knowing what God thinks of you.  At a seemingly record pace, God is making new and fantastic sons and daughters, tremendous children of His glory through the new birth in Christ.  How thrilling is the church—and how thrilling are you!  One moment we’re in serious trouble with God, and the next we’re spot-on perfect, indwelt by God Himself, residents of heaven already, the people of God’s delight.  What a change!  Yet most days that change makes little difference to us.  We’ve lost, or never known, the wonder of the miracle that began with Jesus, “the firstborn among many brothers”(Romans 8:29). 

Why?  Because we’ve been deluded into making a lunatic argument with God not so much about who He is and what He is capable of doing, but about who we are and our role in His plan. While He thinks we’re one thing—holy, righteous, blameless, and majestic sons and daughters walking the planet—we think we’re something else—something way less.  God’s opinion of us and our opinion of ourselves don’t agree.  Based on what He did for us through the death and resurrection of Christ centuries ago, He has been making fabulous new creations, actual brothers and sisters of Jesus, for centuries since.  But what do we think?  “If I’m a brother of Jesus, as bad as I am, I must be the black sheep of God’s family!”  And Satan, the chief lunatic, alone enjoys the joke.

With that disagreement as our starting point, it’s not hard to imagine why our experience with God falls sadly short of our inheritance.  Fortunately, God is fed-up with it!  He is happily working to awaken us to what He knows is true concerning us so we may live as we are in Christ—the astounding children of God!

So prepare yourself—God is working to impress and convince you with what he has done for you and in you.  It’s a labor He really enjoys!  As He increasingly wins you over to His way of thinking about you, you’ll increasingly live as you really are because you’ll know who you really are.  When your opinion of yourself matches up with God’s opinion of you, and when who you are lines up with how you live, the glory of God will be stunningly evident!  And you’ll be living by faith.

You’re going to love what you find through the pages of this book.  Its message will transform you and become the most natural and satisfying way for you to live.  You’ve been made for this kind of life, and it’s time you had it.

Chapter One – Salieri’s Game

        The enemy’s strategy to keep you from you

Chapter Two – The Pursuit of Trivial Nobility

        Jumping the treadmill of dissatisfying delusion

Chapter Three – You Stink!

        What does death have to do with your life?

Chapter Four – Who Is I?

        Are you a modification or a new creation?

Chapter Five – The Demolition Derby Drama

        Why do you sometimes feel like you’re a crash test dummy?

Chapter Six – He Ain’t Heavy

        Holy Spirit – life of the party

Chapter Seven – Hitting My Pause Button

        How to find God by an intentional delay

Chapter Eight – Doin’ The Monster Mash

        Slaying the sin-loving beast in you

Chapter Nine – Cleaning Up Toxic Relationships

        Getting free from the prison of devotion

Chapter Ten - Friendship With Our Friend

        Does God bother with you because He’s bothered, or because He likes you?

Chapter Eleven – The Eyes Have It

        If you don’t like what you see, you’re missing something terrific!

Chapter Twelve – Aliens Have Landed

        The proper care and feeding of the everyday foreigners in your family

Chapter Thirteen – The End Of Pretending

        Receiving frustrations’ gift to you

Chapter Fourteen – Taking Heaven With You 

If all of heaven is your audience, then what are they thinking?

Here’s what people who have read it are saying:

“I just finished reading Better Off Than You Think today and wanted to drop you a line to say how much I enjoyed the book. You have a real gift for communicating the truth of who we are in Christ and of our Father's ridiculously over-the-top love in a way that really communicates. I found it hard to put down the book every time I started reading it. I especially appreciated your personal transparency and your non-religious approach in sharing the message.

Blessings to you as you keep sharing the truth! You da' man!”

- Steve McVey - Author/Speaker, President of Grace Walk Ministries

Author of Grace Walk, Grace Rules, A Divine Invitation, and more books that on our Recommends page.

“This book will seriously spoil you for the religion of rules and the futile attempt to keep them! It will also lead you to the heart of the real Gospel - relationship with the God who passionately loves you. This is a must read for those weary of aimless wandering in religious systems while knowing that there must be more to knowing God than what they presently experience. There is and this book will show you the way.”  May the blessing of God rest on the book that it be used to bring life and hope to all who read it.

- Malcolm Smith - Author/Speaker, President of Unconditional Love International

Author of The Lost Secret Of The New Covenant, which is on our Recommends page.

“Ralph reminds us in a refreshing way that we are not on our own when it comes to pleasing God.  It is Christ in us who shines forth His glory.  And we can rest in the knowledge that He is able to accomplish in us and through us all that we are called to be.”

- Twila Paris - Singer/Songwriter, Author

19 albums, 32 No. 1 songs, 10 Dove Awards, three American Songwriter Awards, and three books.

- Sue Thompson - Author/Speaker

Author of The Prodigal Brother, which is on our Recommends page.

“I love what Ralph has done with Better Off Than You Think!  Ralph has captured--and effectively communicated--what God thinks of us. By claiming God's opinion, rather than that of the various negative forces that surround on a daily basis, we can change our lives so that they really work (more and better than we ever dreamed of). Once this concept is a constant in our lives, the climax of this collection of wonderful stories and biblical truths is an increased attraction to God and a desire for more and more of Him!”

- Marita Littauer - Author/Speaker, President of CLASServices Inc.

Author of Wired That Way and Your Spiritual Personality.

“Through the years, Ralph has always shown an unyielding passion for pursuing Christ and a desire to share this passion with others.  In ‘Better Off Than You Think’ Ralph tackles a critical question that virtually all Christians ask themselves at some point in their walks:  “What does God really think of me?”  Ralph points out that the well-intended, but self-deprecating, response many give to this question provides the Enemy with much needed ammunition to attack Believers at the very core of their faith.  Through an examination of scripture, key individuals in the Bible, and personal testimony, Ralph argues persuasively for the case that God’s opinion of us often exceeds our own opinion of ourselves, and that we should be empowered by this understanding to pursue even more fervently - and with more confidence - the things of God.  Our church has been blessed with many Sunday morning teachings by Ralph, and he has never left our sanctuary without reminding us of ‘whose’ we are in Jesus Christ.  This book represents a continuation of that theme, taking it to a new level of understanding and practical application to all Christians.  ‘Better Off Than You Think’ will be an inspiration to all who value their walk with God and yearn to better understand God’s calling on their lives.”

- Lynn Fortner - Senior Pastor, Culver Community Church

What’s it about? “Better Off Than You Think” (God’s Astounding Opinion Of You) removes the confusion now hiding the majesty of the church and diminishing what Christ accomplished, so that believers may have the life-giving and motivating love affair with God already due them.  In that way can they go forward with Him in agreement with Him, the evidence of His affection and life being revealed through them.  This book exposes the ongoing effort of the devil to seduce the believer into thinking he is second rate, low-level, foul and unacceptable.  It reveals how incredibly well off Christians have become in order that they may live day to day as confident, not-of-this-world sons of God.  It provides the reader with the motivating truth and grace of God that makes Him evident to a watching world.  (From a recent Publisher’s promotional piece.)