The Heaven Study Guide is designed to facilitate group discussion, but can also be used for individual study. The study guide is divided up into chapters that correlate with the chapters in Heaven. The Heaven Study Guide features more than 200 thought-provoking questions. You'll find helpful excerpts and Scripture references. The guide provides an easy-to-use workbook format that allows you to write directly in the book, plus additional space for study notes.

    The foundational truths in this book will show the way. In this book Larry Stockstill challenges readers with principles for turning our nation around to integrity and commitment and precluding the judgment of God. There is a new breed of pastors and laypeople who are asking the tough questions: * Where has the glory of God gone in the American church? * When did the simple, pure gospel of the Savior become about "me," "my," and "mine"? * What happened to the transparency and integrity that marked the church for centuries? To each reader God is saying, "I want to start with you." Allow this book to shake you to the core and reorganize your family, your ministry, and your future.

    Especially when we are going through difficult times, it may seem as though other people have been richly blessed-while our own lives are completely empty. But Ron Mehl assures readers that despite the way things sometimes appear, God is continually at work in their lives, reminding them that God often does his best works in the darkness. As men and women take a closer look at the God who works the night shift, they will learn about the unceasing acts of love he performs for them, every moment of their lives...even while they sleep.

    Unafraid to ask some tough questions, K.P. Yohannan will challenge you to look beyond temporary concerns of life to what will last forever. Through the material of this book, you will build a solid foundation for genuine spiritual growth as you learn how to organize your priorities in the light of eternity.

    It’s the hinge on which the rest of your life hangs. It’s the difference between deep, satisfied spirituality and a restless, dispassionate faith.In an age of materialism and consumerism that tries to buy its way to happiness, many souls are starved and unhealthy, unsatisfied by false promises of status and wealth. We’ve neglected this eternal part of ourselves, focusing instead on the temporal concerns of the world—and not without consequence.Bestselling author John Ortberg presents another classic that will help you discover your soul—the most important connection to God there is—and find your way out of the spiritual shallow-lands to true divine depth. With characteristic insight and an accessible story-filled approach, Ortberg brings practicality and relevance to one of Christianity’s most mysterious and neglected topics.

    Our pace is too frenetic to be in union with God, and we don't know how to quiet our hearts and minds to be present. Our emotions are unhealthy and compartmentalized. We feel unable to love well or live differently from the rest of the world--to live as people of the good news.New York pastor Rich Villodas says we must restore balance, focus, and meaning for our souls. The Deeply Formed Life lays out a fresh vision for spiritual breakthrough following five key values:- Monastic Value: unplug from this noisy world to care for your soul- Emotional Health Value: why deep love can't come from shallow wells- Healthy Sexuality Value: how our bodies connect with our spirituality- Multiracial Value: a spiritual, internal approach to pursuing racial justice- Missional Value: how to be the hands and feet of Jesus in a consumerist worldThe Deeply Formed Life is a roadmap to live in the richly rooted place we all yearn for: a place of communion with God, a place where we find our purpose.

    Miller’s down-to-earth approach and practical nature will help you see that your relationship with God can grow and your communication with Him can get better. Parents will find Miller’s family-life experiences especially helpful.

    Instead, they spend their lives essentially disconnected from others, rushing through life content with brief visits and casual conversations. But what if one were to develop a community, a spiritual community, of people who walked with and supported each other through life's journey? A community of real friends who listened to each other's personal tragedies without merely trying to fix the problems, who encouraged and nurtured each other's strengths, and who accepted people for who they really are, instead of the image they try to portray. In Becoming a True Spiritual Community (formerly titled The Safest Place on Earth), Larry Crabb explores such a place, where God can heal disconnected people and allow them to reconnect with each other and, ultimately, with Him.

    Some church music is dull. But here’s the thing: If Jesus had been boring, the disciples wouldn’t have followed him and the Pharisees wouldn’t have killed him. So if you’re bored, don’t waste another minute. If your church service feels like a failed pep rally that never leads to the actual game, then it’s time for you to follow Jesus onto the field where the opposition is real and the stakes are extraordinary. It will get messy. It won’t always be comfortable. But you’ll make a difference. And you’ll discover that nobody’s bored out there. Nobody.

    Instead of feeling good about themselves, most of them just feel like tired supergirls, living in the gap between who they are and who they long to be.Susanna Foth Aughtmon honestly confesses her battles with pride, worry, fatigue, beauty, jealousy, and chocolate. In every chapter she faces a nemesis--like Worry Man or Mrs. Prideful--who implies that she is not living up to her potential. She meets each enemy with the secret weapon of God's Truth. Readers will identify with her humorous examples from daily life and will gain insight from this tired supergirl on her journey of grace.

    Even our vacations have a panicky, task-like edge to them. "If I only had more time," is the mantra of our age. But is this the real problem?Widely acclaimed author Mark Buchanan states that what we've really lost is "the rest of God-the rest God bestows and, with it, that part of himself we can know only through stillness." Stillness as a virtue is a foreign concept in our society, but there is wisdom in God's own rhythm of work and rest. Sabbath is elixir and antidote. It is a gift for our sanity and wholeness--to prolong our lives, to enrich our relationships, to increase our fruitfulness, to make our joy complete. Jesus practiced Sabbath among those who had turned it into a dismal thing, a day for murmuring and finger-wagging, and he reminded them of the day's true purpose: liberation-to heal, to feed, to rescue, to celebrate, to lavish and relish life abundant.The gift of Sabbath is essential to our full humanity and faith, says Buchanan. Far from being some starched and dour day only to be endured, Sabbath is a day wide and bright, brimming with laughter, enough to lend beauty to all our other days. Readers will be changed forever by this pivotal book."It seems very unsabbath-like to describe a book about Sabbath with the adverb 'urgently'--but we urgently need this book. Mark Buchanan shows us that our busyness is killing us--killin us--and that Sabbath is our best cure, our best path for rest and reverence and discipleship."--LAUREN WINNER, Best-selling author of Girl Meets God and Mudhouse Sabbath"With the easiness of long intimacy and a very deft hand, Buchanan here braids together into one gracious and sustaining strand the beauty of Sabbath, the wisdom of its keeping, and the generosity of God in gifting us with it. These pages are not just a blessing, they are a psalm that cries out to be joyfully engaged."--PHYLLIS TICKLE, Religion editor (ret.) Publishers Weekly and compiler of The Divine Hours

    Quietly He shares His heart with you throughout the day. But are you listening?This book is an invitation to a deeper intimacy with your loving Savior. As a devotion each day is written as if from Jesus to you. Listen to His voice each day, as you are challenged to increase your faith and change your life.

    In the culture of today’s church, successful leadership is often judged by what works, while persistent faithfulness takes a back seat. If a ministry doesn’t produce results, it is dropped. If people don’t respond, we move on. This pursuit of “greatness” exerts a crushing pressure on the local church and creates a consuming anxiety in its leaders. In their pursuit of this warped vision of greatness, church leaders end up embracing a leadership narrative that runs counter to the sacrificial call of the gospel story.When church leaders focus on faithfulness to God and the gospel, however, it’s always a kingdom-win—regardless of the visible results of their ministry. John the Baptist modeled this kind of leadership. As John’s disciples crossed the Jordan River to follow after Jesus, John freely released them to a greater calling than following him. Speaking of Jesus, John said: “He must increase, but I must decrease.” Joyfully satisfied to have been faithful to his calling, John knew that the size and scope of his ministry would be determined by the will of the Father, not his own will. Following the example of John the Baptist and with a careful look at the teaching of Scripture, Tim Suttle dares church leaders to risk failure by chasing the vision God has given them—no matter how small it might seem—instead of pursuing the broad path of pragmatism that leads to fame and numerical success.

    Conference Theme: No Greater Love. Dr. Willard explains the importance of the Apostle Paul's teaching on love: "It is Paul who really helps us to understand the love of which Jesus and the New Testament speak. There is, needless to say, much confusion about love, and what Paul says about it, as well as his practice, can help us to get agape love—and therewith all the other 'loves' of the Greek and other languages—right." This paper is being sold on Kindle in order to fund ongoing work of the Dallas Willard family to continue his legacy through publishing his unpublished works and making his ideas accessible to the broadest possible audience.