AVAILABLE NOW IN PAPERBACK + KINDLE
Move beyond the stories that keep you stuck—and discover the life God intends.
The Re-Storied Life will help you recognize the false scripts shaping your life and embrace a deeper story of hope, healing, identity and flourishing.
By Rick Barger and Lorne Hlad - Foreword by Jacqueline Bussie
DOES SOMETHING FEEL OFF?
You can build a successful life, do everything expected of you, and still carry a quiet ache beneath the surface. But the ache is not only personal. We feel it in fractured relationships, divided communities, and a world longing for healing.
THE PRESSURE TO PERFORM
You strive, achieve, and keep it all together—yet it never feels like enough.
THE FEAR OF FALLING BEHIND
Comparison, insecurity, and a changing world leave you exhausted and anxious.
THE ACHE WE EXPERIENCE
You feel unseen and alone, longing for relationships and a life that feels whole in a fractured world.
YOU WERE MADE FOR MORE THAN SURVIVAL
There is a deeper story waiting for us—one rooted in truth, shaped by grace, and large enough to renew our lives, our relationships, our communities, and our world.
“The ache you feel is not the end of your story. It may be the beginning of a new one.”
BEGIN YOUR RE-STORIED LIFE
RECOGNIZE THE SCRIPTS
See the false scripts that have been shaping your life—and how they keep you stuck.
DISCOVER GOD’S STORY
Uncover the truth of your identity in Christ and the story God is writing.
LIVE WITH HOPE
Carry renewed hope into your relationships, your community, and a world longing for healing.
YOUR STORY IS STILL BEING WRITTEN
In The Re-Storied Life, pastors and longtime friends Rick Barger and Lorne Hlad invite readers to recognize the false scripts shaping their lives and discover a deeper story rooted in God’s grace.
Drawing from the Christian tradition and their experiences of ministry, loss, partnership in Haiti, and personal transformation, they offer a hopeful path toward healing, identity, and flourishing. Because the stories we live never remain private, this journey leads outward—toward restored relationships, renewed communities, a more faithful church, and a world longing to be made whole.
Written by Rick Barger and Lorne Hlad • Foreword by Jacqueline Bussie • Published by Wipf and Stock Publishers
PRAISE FOR THE RE-STORIED LIFE
“Some books inform you. Others transform you. The Re-Storied Life did both. ”
Rev. O.J. Flowers
Oakhurst Presbyterian Church, Decatur, GA“Do you want to truly flourish? Then this book is for you. Pastors Rick Barger and Lorne Hlad turn the world’s definition of flourishing—success, wealth, and power—on its head.”
Judy Leidy
Customer Experience and Marketing Executive“In a world full of broken plans and soul crushing agendas, Rick and Lorne lift up and inspire us all to get up off the mat and trust God’s only agenda - universal flourishing for all!.”
Rev. Dr. Chad Johnson
Grace Lutheran Church, Des Moines, WATWO FRIENDS. ONE SHARED HOPE
RICK BARGER
Rev. Dr. Rick Barger is a retired ELCA pastor, author, founder of The Haitian Timoun Foundation, and former president of Trinity Lutheran Seminary. His work has focused on spiritual formation, congregational vitality, leadership, and human flourishing. He is the co-author of The Re-Storied Life and the author of A New and Right Spirit.
LORNE HLAD
Rev. Dr. Lorne Hlad is Senior Pastor of Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Cincinnati, Ohio, an Iraq War combat veteran, and a leader committed to helping people discover hope, healing, and true abundance within the story of God.
TAKE THE JOURNEY TOGETHER
DISCUSSION GUIDE
Thoughtful questions and prompts to help individuals and groups explore the book more deeply.
COMING SOON
SPEAKING & EVENTS
Invite Rick and Lorne to speak with your church, or organization about flourishing and the stories that shape our lives.
CONTACT HERE
GROUP RESOURCES
Practical tools and ideas to help your church, small group, or team engage the themes together.
COMING SOON
YOU DON’T HAVE TO KEEP LIVING THE SAME OLD STORY.
Your Story is still being written.