It's a strategy that enabled Osborne's congregation to grow from a handful of people to one of the larger churches in the nation—without any marketing or special programming. Sticky Church tells the inspiring story of North Coast Church's phenomenal growth and offers practical tips for launching your own sermon-based small group ministry.Topics include:Why stickiness is so importantWhy most of our discipleship models don’t work very wellWhy small groups always make a church more honest and transparentWhat makes groups grow deeper and sticker over timeSticky Church is an ideal book for church leaders who want to start or retool their small group ministry—and velcro their congregation to the Bible and each other.

    While serving as mentors, counselors, advisors, and even cheerleaders, women carry numerous responsibilities. Lori Wilhite and Brandi Wilson know about this first-hand as the wives of two well-known pastors in America. Everyone has an image in their mind of what they think a pastor's wife should be. The trouble with this picture is that it has never been and never will be accurate. Ministry wives and female ministry leaders face the same real-life struggles as their church members, but have the added stress of sharing in everyone's burdens as well. They are held to impossible standards by those they serve, and the more this ideal of women in leadership is expected, the more we turn up the intensity in the pressure cooker that is life in ministry. In Leading and Loving It, Lori Wilhite and Brandi Wilson offer a support system to help women make connections to get the encouragement that sustains them and become equipped for the ministry God has called them to pursue. They give readers tools for understanding that external pressures and expectations are only important if they fall in line with what God intends for your life and ministry and they give answers for how to deal with criticism, isolation, finding your personal calling, and what happens when you reach a place of burn-out, and more.

    Long has updated the language, expanded the key chapter on biblical exegesis, and included more examples of sermon forms, illustrations, and conclusions. He continues to critically engage the best thinkers in the field of homiletics, bringing into the conversation both important new voices and the latest works of those who appeared in the first edition. In addition, he addresses some of the new forces at work, such as the use of video clips and PowerPoint presentations in sermons.

    His application of family systems theory to congregational life has enormously clarified its operative systems and especially its emotional system. In this sequel, Richardson employs the same methodology to address the roots of personal issues that may hinder pastors' ability to function effectively as leaders within their congregations, and may in fact cause them deep difficulties. He especially addresses pastors' own families of origin, a major but often hidden component in how they function emotionally in their congregations. When anxiety arises, unresolved familial issues and old family patterns return, often unhelpfully. Richardson explores these patterns, how they operate in church situations, and how pastors can do their own family-of-origin assessment. His volume will become a standard tool for analysis of patterns in ministerial behavior and developing strong personal effectiveness.

    The first is taking up a calling that isn’t yours. The second is neglecting one that is. Discerning Your Call to Ministry will help you know the difference. A tool for seminary students, pastors-in-training, and even current pastors, it serves to confirm or prompt deep thought about the calling to ministry through 10 probing questions, including:Do you desire the ministry?Does your church affirm your calling?Do you love the people of God?Are you willing to surrender?Pastoral dropout rates are high, and seminary admission rates are declining—signs that many of us don’t quite know what we’re signing ourselves up for. Author Jason Allen, a former pastor and the president of North America’s fastest growing seminary, gives readers a better picture of the calling. Presenting a series of diagnostic questions informed by Scripture, church history, and his own experience, he helps those seeking ordination or ministry positions make confident decisions about their service to God, one way or the other.

    A church's philosophy of ministry is locked into its budget, and so the budget will either stifle or accelerate any attempts to move a congregation toward a biblical model of church health. As such, the church budget is a far more potent pastoral tool than many church leaders realize. Budgeting for a Healthy Church examines each section of the budget in light of Biblical principles to show how a church budget can lock in healthy approaches to ministry. Whereas most books on church budgeting are "how" books, explaining how the budgeting process should work, this is a "what" book, helping church leaders determine the pastoral implications of what they choose to fund in their budgets.

    We’re told we should do it, we might know that we should be doing it, but the reality is often too scary. Paul Williams is realistic about our fear and guilt, but with gentleness he shows us that the key to banishing our fear isn’t complex and clever answers, but rather to take our friends to the person of Jesus. He gives practical examples of how we can naturally and thoughtfully share how Jesus answers, and is the answer to commonly asked questions. Paul also shares how this simple model has led to greater confidence and joy in his own evangelism. This can be our joy too!

    What should a disciple of Jesus look and act like today? What is the relationship between discipleship and salvation, between discipleship and sanctification, between discipleship and ministry? How were disciples of Jesus different from other disciples in the ancient world? How did the early church carry out Jesus' agenda in "making disciples of all the nations"? In Following the Master, Michael J. Wilkins addresses these and many other questions that perplex the church today- not by offering another discipleship program or manual but by presenting a comprehensive biblical theology of discipleship. Following the Master compares other forms of master-disciple relationships in existence in the ancient Judaism and Greco-Roman world, traces Jesus' steps as he called and developed disciples, and Mediterranean world as it followed Jesus' command to make disciples. Following the Master lays the groundwork necessary for developing biblical discipleship ministries in the church, on the mission field, and in parachurch ministries. It is essential reading for all pastors, students, and Christian workers.

    This complete follow-up to Competent Christian Counseling melds together biblical foundations and teachings, the very latest research, theory, and practice in Christian counseling, and a model that's biblically eclectic, strength-based, and Spirit-directed.

    This little tome can hardly reverse that, but it is meant as an exercise in reading the Old Testament for fun and profit. As my mother-in-law used to say, 'It's different anyway.' And maybe it will help. Most of what I do in the following pages involves discussing examples of Old Testament narratives. I have tried to select examples from a broad range of possibilities. By the way, I assume that you have the biblical text handy in order to carry on your 'Berean' work." Dale Ralph Davis

    In one of his most famous parables, he sets up as a model of Christian behavior a man who, unlike some religious folks, actually gets down off his donkey and helps a person in dire need.With energy and enthusiasm, Reggie McNeal calls believers to dismount, get down and dirty, and live a life that makes a difference. He shows readers how to recalibrate their spiritual efforts to move from church-centric service to greater community engagement in order to do their essential part in creating a world worth living in. McNeal also shows readers that helping others actually helps the one doing the service just as much as the one being served. In fact, serving is the very best way to learn about yourself and grow spiritually. Anyone who longs to have the impact on the world that Jesus did will love this provocative and inspirational message.

    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.

    Tango. See the Eiffel Tower. Swim with sharks.Bucket lists can get pretty crazy! But what if God wanted you to think even further outside the box? To pattern your life after the one who said some pretty crazy things himself: "Love your enemies." "Store up treasures in heaven." "Seek first his kingdom and righteousness."If you checked every item off your bucket list, would your life be complete? In these pages you'll find 52 items to help you revamp your must-do list...Run with scissors. Bounce off brick walls. Celebrate quirks.Banish grudges. Dodge counterfeit happiness. Peek into dark corners.Get fired. Enlist invisible reinforcements. Get nose-to-nose with an alligator.As you check off God's bucket list, you may find yourself doing things you never thought possible. Jay Payleitner helps you get your priorities straight with the most important relationship in your life—you and God.

    Edwin H. Friedman shows how the same understanding of family process that can aid clergy in their pastoral role also has important ramifications for negotiating congregational dynamics and functioning as an effective leader. Clergy from diverse denominations, as well as family therapists and counselors, have found that this book directly addresses the dilemmas and crises they encounter daily. It is widely used as a text in courses on pastoral care, leadership, and family systems.

    It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure or nothing."To Michael Frost and Alan Hirsch, so much of how we have learned to experience and understand the faith has been divorced from the overarching adventure inherent in our God and in our calling. This book is a corrective to the dull, adventureless, risk-free phenomenon that describes so much of contemporary Christianity. It explores the nature of adventure, risk, and courage and the implications for church, discipleship, spirituality, and leadership.