The Women's Devotional Guide to Bible: A One-Year Plan for Studying, Praying, and Responding to God's Word


Jean E. Syswerda - 2000
    Syswerda provides you with a comprehensive overview of Scripture in this fifty-two week devotional. The Women's Devotional Guide to the Bible gives you tools for in-depth study, reflection, and prayer. It also offers you a practical approach to the complexities of the Bible, by employing a method you can effectively and easily use as part of your busy daily schedule.

Slaying Your Giants: How to Have Massive Faith


Adam Houge - 2014
     Slaying Your Giants is a book that will change your life. It will teach you everything you need to know to have that mountain moving, giant tackling faith that God has always wanted from you. But prepare yourself for a total life makeover. Because radical faith creates radical changes.

Future Church: Seven Laws of Real Church Growth


Will Mancini - 2020
    We continue to watch consistent church attendance shrink, and our desire to reach the lost is infected with a need for self-validation by growing our numbers at any cost. If we believe that God wants his church to grow, where do we go from here? What is the future of the church?Drawing from his 20 years and 15,000 hours of consulting, author Will Mancini shares with pastors and ministry leaders the single most important insight he has learned about church growth. With plenty of salient stories and based solidly on the disciple-making methods found in Scripture, Future Church exposes the church's greatest challenge today, and offers 7 transforming laws of real church growth so that we can faithfully and joyfully fulfill Jesus's Great Commission.

The Call: Finding and Fulfilling the Central Purpose of Your Life


Os Guinness - 1998
    Best-selling author Os Guinness goes beyond our surface understanding of God's call and addresses the fact that God has a specific calling for our individual lives.Why am I here? What is God's call in my life? How do I fit God's call with my own individuality? How should God's calling affect my career, my plans for the future, my concepts of success? Guinness now helps the reader discover answers to these questions, and more, through a corresponding workbook - perfect for individual or group study.According to Guinness, "No idea short of God's call can ground and fulfill the truest human desire for purpose and fulfillment." With tens of thousands of readers to date, The Call is for all who desire a purposeful, intentional life of faith.Also availbale in audio format, narrated by Os Guinness.

Listening to God in Times of Choice: Living Between How It Is & How It Ought to Be


Gordon T. Smith - 1997
    But how to discern his will is an art that eludes many of us. And the advice we get often conflicts. Some tell us to look for a divine "blueprint"-the one perfect plan for our lives that we need to find. We are encouraged to search the Scriptures and hunt for signs, trying to uncover the map of our lives that God has drawn. Others have rejected the blueprint school of guidance for the "wisdom school." With minds renewed by the teaching of Scripture, we are to develop the wisdom necessary to make wise choices. We are told not to expect that there is just one answer to God's will for every decision we face. Several may be possible. The difficulty with both approaches, writes Gordon Smith, is that they minimize the presence and voice of God in times of choice. Instead, he argues for a third way. He suggests that we develop discernment as a spiritual discipline. By stressing the personal aspects of growing in our relationship with God, we can understand his will, not just in times of crisis but throughout our daily lives. This book provides no magic formulas, no recipes for guaranteed success-just a lot of insight, gleaned from centuries of lived Christian experience, that will guide and encourage you in the art of discerning God's will.

Introverts in the Church: Finding Our Place in an Extroverted Culture


Adam S. McHugh - 2009
    But many churches tend to be extroverted places where introverts are marginalized. Some Christians end up feeling like it's not as faithful to be an introvert. Adam McHugh shows how introverts can live and minister in ways consistent with their personalities. He explains how introverts and extroverts process information and approach relationships differently and how introverts can practice Christian spirituality in ways that fit who they are. With practical illustrations from church and parachurch contexts, McHugh offers ways for introverts to serve, lead, worship and even evangelize effectively. Introverts in the Church is essential reading for any introvert who has ever felt out of place, as well as for church leaders who want to make their churches more welcoming to introverts. Discover God's call and empowering to thrive as an introvert, for the sake of the church and kingdom.

Generation Ex-Christian: Why Young Adults Are Leaving the Faith. . . and How to Bring Them Back


Drew Dyck - 2010
    According to a recent study by Ranier Research, 70 percent of youth leave church by the time they are 22 years old. Barna Group estimates that 80 percent of those reared in the church will be “disengaged” by the time they are 29 years old. Unlike earlier generations of church dropouts, these “leavers” are unlikely to seek out alternative forms of Christian community such as home churches and small groups. When they leave church, many leave the faith as well.Drawing on recent research and in-depth interviews with young leavers, Generation Ex-Christian will shine a light on this crisis and propose effective responses that go beyond slick services or edgy outreach. But it won’t be easy. Christianity is regarded with suspicion by the younger generation. Those who leave the faith are often downright cynical. To make matters worse, parents generally react poorly when their children go astray. Many sink into a defensive crouch or go on the attack, delivering homespun fire-and-brimstone sermons that further distance their grown children. Others give up completely or take up the spiritual-sounding “all we can do is pray” mantra without truly exploring creative ways to engage their children on matters of faith. Some turn to their churches for help, only to find that they frequently lack adequate resources to guide them. This is where Generation Ex-Christian will lend a hand. It will equip and inspire parents, church leaders, and everyday Christians to reawaken the prodigal's desire for God and set him or her back on the road to a dynamic faith. The heart of the book will be the raw profiles of real-world, young ex-Christians. No two leavers are identical, but upon close observation some categories emerge. The book will identify seven different kinds of leavers (the postmodern skeptic, the drifter, the neopagan, etc.) and offer practical advice for how to connect with each type. Shrewd tips will also intersperse the chapters alerting readers to opportunities for engagement, and to hidden landmines they must sidestep to effectively reach leavers.

Home Run: Learn God's Game Plan for Life and Leadership


Kevin A. Myers - 2014
    For five hard years Christian leader Kevin Myers struggled personally and professionally. But it was during that time that God pointed out where he was going wrong and showed him the biblical pattern for living. It proceeded to transform his life, leadership, ministry, and relationships. During that time John Maxwell also became his mentor. Together, using a baseball diamond as an analogy for following God's plan for life, Myers and Maxwell provide a clear path forward while helping you keep your priorities in order and your eyes on the prize. What is that pattern?Connection with God: Winning DependenceCharacter: Winning WithinCommunity: Winning with OthersCompetence: Winning ResultsChallenging, heart-felt, and insightful, Myers' story will connect with anyone who feels their life is falling short of God's promises. The hard-won lessons Myers learned, along with insightful comments and on-point application from Maxwell, will make it possible for you to win in this performance-based culture without losing your soul. There are no shortcuts or steals in the spiritual journey of life. HOME RUN is a guidebook for living life and learning how to succeed God's way.

Foolproofing Your Life: Wisdom for Untangling Your Most Difficult Relationships


Jan Silvious - 1998
    It is impossible to avoid them. (You may have one, in particular, in your life right now.) In dealing with such people, we often try a number of coping strategies. Unfortunately, our best attempts at making peace often fail. This is because the difficult people in our lives are often what the Bible calls "fools." And dealing with fools requires a special kind of biblical wisdom. You've tried everything–from confrontation to passivity. You've found out what doesn't work; now discover what does. Gain the tools you need to get along with others and conduct your relationships in a manner that honors God–and preserves your sanity!–in Foolproofing Your Life: Wisdom for Untangling Your Most Difficult Relationships. Learn how new insights from the book of Proverbs can help you respond to those relationships that seem hard to untangle.

I Think You're Wrong (But I'm Listening): A Guide to Grace-Filled Political Conversations


Sarah Stewart Holland - 2019
    People sitting together in pews every Sunday have started to feel like strangers, loved ones at the dinner table like enemies. Toxic political dialogue, hate-filled rants on social media, and agenda-driven news stories have become the new norm. It’s exhausting, and it’s too much.In I Think You’re Wrong (But I’m Listening), two working moms from opposite ends of the political spectrum contend that there is a better way. They believe that we can choose to respect the dignity of every person, choose to recognize that issues are nuanced and can’t be reduced to political talking points, choose to listen in order to understand, choose gentleness and patience. Sarah from the left and Beth from the right invite those looking for something better than the status quo to pull up a chair and listen to the principles, insights, and practical tools they have learned hosting their fast-growing podcast Pantsuit Politics. As impossible as it might seem, people from opposing political perspectives truly can have calm, grace-­filled conversations with one another—by putting relationship before policy and understanding before argument.

On Earth as It Is in Heaven: How the Lord's Prayer Teaches Us to Pray More Effectively


Warren W. Wiersbe - 2010
    The basic elements of prayer found in the Lord's Prayer are a helpful guide to Christians hoping to enrich their prayers. In On Earth as It Is in Heaven, beloved teacher and writer Warren W. Wiersbe explains and applies the elements of the Lord's Prayer to everyday prayer so readers get excited about maturing in their personal prayer ministries. Any reader wanting to experience a more satisfying and effective prayer life will cherish this thoughtful book.

Operation World: When We Pray God Works


Patrick Johnstone - 1974
    It features major prayer challenges, geographical, cultural and political statistics together with maps addresses and indexes. It also gives insight into practical Christian faith across each background and denomination.

Soul Talk: The Language God Longs for Us to Speak


Larry Crabb - 2003
    Larry Crabb introduces a revolutionary way for Christians to experience God. "Soul talk" happens when two Christians talk to each other in a way that results in their passion for God being stirred, ignited, and released.

Present Perfect: Finding God in the Now


Gregory A. Boyd - 2010
    Discover:How to pray continuallyWhat it means to "take every thought captive"How to wake up to God’s ever-present love God is closer to you than the air you breathe.He is present in every given moment. Wake up to his presence! Turn off the mental chatter that keeps you from seeing his glory. Embrace the holy habit of inviting God's presence into your life, and be transformed!We long to be transformed. Yet our minds are filled with endless trivia and self-centered chatter. To-do lists. Worries about the past. Speculation about the future. We forget to live in the present moment . . . and to invite God to be with us there.After reading classic contemplative authors Brother Lawrence, Jean-Pierre de Caussade, and Frank Laubach, theologian and pastor Gregory Boyd longed to experience the presence of God for himself. For two decades, he's attempted to implement the "practice of the presence of God" in his own life . . . sometimes succeeding, sometimes failing. What he's learned as a fellow pilgrim on his spiritual journey can help you find true spiritual transformation as you begin to practice the discipline of inviting God into every moment."I've become absolutely convinced that remaining aware of God's presence moment-by-moment is the single most important task in the life of every follower of Jesus," Boyd writes. "I'm convinced this challenge is implied in our commitment to surrender our life to Christ, for the only real life we have to surrender to him is the one we live moment-by-moment." Join Boyd on this transformational journey of a lifetime!

The Practice of the Presence of God


Brother Lawrence - 1692
    It is the art of “practicing the presence of God in one single act that does not end.” He often stated that it is God who paints Himself in the depths of our souls. We must merely open our hearts to receive Him and His loving presence. As a humble cook, Brother Lawrence learned an important lesson through each daily chore: The time he spent in communion with the Lord should be the same, whether he was bustling around in the kitchen—with several people asking questions at the same time—or on his knees in prayer. He learned to cultivate the deep presence of God so thoroughly in his own heart that he was able to joyfully exclaim, “I am doing now what I will do for all eternity. I am blessing God, praising Him, adoring Him, and loving Him with all my heart.” This unparalleled classic has given both blessing and instruction to those who can be content with nothing less than knowing God in all His majesty and feeling His loving presence throughout each simple day.