Book picks similar to
Sacred Roots: Why the Church Still Matters by Jon Tyson


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Fervent: A Woman's Battle Plan to Serious, Specific and Strategic Prayer


Priscilla Shirer - 2015
    . . and he’s dead set on destroying all you hold dear and keeping you from experiencing abundant life in Christ. What’s more, his approach to disrupting your life and discrediting your faith isn’t general or generic, not a one-size-fits-all. It’s specific. Personalized. Targeted.   So this book is your chance to strike back. With prayer. With a weapon that really works. Each chapter will guide you in crafting prayer strategies that hit the enemy where it hurts, letting him know you’re on to him and that you won’t back down. Because with every new strategy you build, you’re turning the fiercest battles of life into precise strikes against him and his handiwork, each one infused with the power of God’s Spirit.  New York Times bestselling author Priscilla Shirer, widely known for her international speaking, teaching, and writing ministries, brings her new role from the 2015 film War Room into the real lives of today’s women, addressing the topics that affect them most: renewing their passion , refocusing their identity , negotiating family strife, dealing with relentless regrets , navigating impossible schedules , succeeding against temptation , weathering their worst fears , uprooting bitterness , and more. Each chapter exposes the enemy’s cruel, crafty intentions in all kinds of these areas, then equips and encourages you to write out your own personalized prayer strategies on tear-out sheets you can post and pray over yourself and your loved ones on a regular basis.  Fervent is a hands-on, knees-down, don’t-give-up action guide to practical, purposeful praying.

Untamed: How the Wild Side of Jesus Frees Us to Live and Love with Abandon


Lisa Harper - 2010
    Pretending Jesus is less than He is resulted in someone I wasn't compelled to worship. So I began a journey to discover the whole Jesus--including the seemingly rough and wild parts--revealed in the Bible. And I found Him to be bigger and better than I ever dreamed.--Lisa HarperThrough a powerful blend of storytelling and biblical insights, Lisa Harper invites you to engage with the Jesus of the gospels, a person so provocative that no one left an encounter with Him unchanged. Pharisees fumed, paralytics turned cartwheels, and pariahs found love and acceptance.Come meet the Jesus who is both safe and strong--and learn how this radical Redeemer can liberate you to live and love with abandon.Includes questions for group discussion or personal reflection.

After 50 Years of Ministry: 7 Things I'd Do Differently and 7 Things I'd Do the Same


Bob Russell - 2016
    When he retired forty years later, it was nearing 20,000.Though Bob's ministry was a clear success, he'd be the first to say it wasn’t perfect. In After 50 Years of Ministry he shares why. He reflects on the best of what he’s learned—sometimes the hard way—about ministry and leadership, like how to:Respond to criticismProtect your marriageStop comparing yourself to other pastorsHandle a staff moral failurePrioritize preaching in your scheduleBuild trust with your eldersMake the best use of downtimeHilarious, warm, and full of great stories and illustrations, After 50 Years of Ministry is sage advice from a faithful servant of God. If you are in leadership of any kind, don’t miss this chance to learn from one of the best.

Before Amen: The Power of a Simple Prayer


Max Lucado - 2014
    . . some.We pray to stay sober, centered, or solvent. When the lump is deemed malignant. When the money runs out before the month does. When the marriage is falling apart. We pray.But wouldn’t we like to pray more? Better? Stronger? With more fire, faith, and fervency?Yet we have kids to feed, bills to pay, deadlines to meet. The calendar pounces on our good intentions like a tiger on a rabbit. And what about our checkered history with prayer? Uncertain words. Unmet expectations. Unanswered requests.We aren’t the first to struggle with prayer. The first followers of Jesus needed prayer guidance too. In fact, prayer is the only tutorial they ever requested.And Jesus gave them a prayer. Not a lecture on prayer. Not the doctrine of prayer. He gave them a quotable, repeatable, portable prayer. Couldn’t we use the same?In Before Amen best-selling author Max Lucado joins readers on a journey to the very heart of biblical prayer, offering hope for doubts and confidence even for prayer wimps. Distilling prayers in the Bible down to one pocket-sized prayer, Max reminds readers that prayer is not a privilege for the pious nor the art of a chosen few. Prayer is simply a heartfelt conversation between God and his child. Let the conversation begin.

Ministry Is . . .: How to Serve Jesus with Passion and Confidence


Dave Earley - 2010
    It is the overflow of your relationship with Jesus. It is washing feet, loving people, making disciples, and more.In dozens of brief yet powerful chapters, Ministry Is . . . presents an actionable Bible-based guide to serving God in the local church. The insights here from authors Dave Earley and Ben Gutierrez are perfect for those considering church ministry as a vocation and applicable to anyone desiring to serve intentionally through the church.With every entry, they stay laser focused on making the reader "a spiritual change agent, a difference maker, and impact player for Jesus Christ."Endorsements"This book is like a pastoral pep talk. It'll challenge the way you think and lead."Mark Batterson, author, In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day"I can't think of two young men more qualified to write a best-selling book on the topic How to Serve Jesus with Passion and Confidence."Elmer L. Towns, vice president, Liberty University"The authors are in 'Game On!' mode in every chapter. They know that a great church isnÕt about having great big talent, but leaders whom have great big servant hearts."John Hull, president/CEO, EQUIP

The Monkey and the Fish: Liquid Leadership for a Third-Culture Church


Dave Gibbons - 2009
    The changes are profound, especially when you consider the unchecked decline in the influence, size, and social standing of the church. There is an undercurrent of anxiety in the evangelical world, and a hunger for something new. And we’re sensing the urgency of it.We need fresh, creative counterintuitive ways of doing ministry and church and leading it in the 21st century. We need to adapt. Fast. Both in our practices and our thinking. The aim of this book is simple: When we understand the powerful forces at work in the world today, we’ll learn how something called The Third Culture can yield perhaps the most critical missing ingredient in the church today—adaptability—and help the church remain on the best side of history. A Third Culture Church and a Third Culture Leader looks at our new global village and the church’s role in that village in a revolutionary way. It’s a way to reconnect with the historical roots of what Jesus envisioned the church could be—a people known for a brand of love, unity, goodness, and extravagant spirit that defies all conventions. This book is part of the successful Leadership Innovation Series.

The Faith of Leap: Embracing a Theology of Risk, Adventure & Courage


Michael Frost - 2011
    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.

Grace for the Good Girl: Letting Go of the Try-Hard Life


Emily P. Freeman - 2011
    Instead of clinging to grace, we strive for good and believe that the Christian life means hard work and a sweet disposition. As good girls, we focus on the things we can handle, our disciplined lives, and our unshakable good moods. When we fail to measure up to our own impossible standards, we hide behind our good girl masks, determined to keep our weakness a secret.In Grace for the Good Girl, Emily Freeman invites women to let go of the try-hard life and realize that in Christ we are free to receive from him rather than constantly try to achieve for him. With an open hand and a whimsical style, Emily uncovers the truth about the hiding, encouraging women to move from hiding behind girl-made masks and do-good performances to a life hidden with Christ in God.

The Incredible Power of Prayer


Roger J. Morneau - 1997
    As he shares God's answers, he shows readers how they too can take hold of the incredible power of prayer.

When the Church Was a Family: Recapturing Jesus' Vision for Authentic Christian Community


Joseph H. Hellerman - 2009
    But as the modern cultural norm of what social scientists call “radical American individualism” extends itself, many Christians grow lax in their relational accountability to the church. Faith threatens to become an “I” not “us,” a “my God” not “our God” concern.When the Church Was a Family calls believers back to the wisdom of the first century, examining the early Christian church from a sociohistorical perspective and applying the findings to the evangelical church in America today. With confidence, author Joseph Hellerman writes intentionally to traditional church leaders and emerging church visionaries alike, believing what is detailed here about Jesus’ original vision for authentic Christian community will deeply satisfy the relational longings of both audiences.

The Imperfect Pastor: Discovering Joy in Our Limitations through a Daily Apprenticeship with Jesus


Zack Eswine - 2015
    You've trained and dreamt of doing large things in famous ways as fast as you can for God's glory. But pastoral work keeps requiring your surrender to small, mostly overlooked things over long periods of time.You stand at a crossroads. Jesus stands with you. You were never meant to know everything, fix everything, and be everywhere at once. That's his job, not yours.So what now? Let the apprenticeship begin.

Theology for a Troubled Believer: An Introduction to the Christian Faith


Diogenes Allen - 2010
    In this book, Allen hopes to supply more of the information (pieces of the puzzle) that are needed if a person is to make sense of the Christian understanding of God and our life in the universe. More philosopher than theologian, Allen writes for a troubled believer, dealing with issues and questions that emerge during Christians' daily lives and in the course of contemplating Christian faith.

A Praying Life: Connecting with God in a Distracting World


Paul E. Miller - 2009
    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.

Simply Good News: Why the Gospel Is News and What Makes It Good


N.T. Wright - 2015
    S. Lewis, and revered author of Simply Christian and Simply Jesus offers a fresh look at the Gospel, explaining why Jesus’ message is “good news” and why it is more timely and transforming today than we know.The Gospel means good news. But if the message has been around for 2,000 years, what makes it significant today? What’s so “good” about stories involving damnation, violence, and a God who sacrifices his only son?Noted Bible scholar N.T. Wright shows us how Christians today have lost sight of what the “good news” of the gospel really is. In Simply Good News, he takes us back in time to reveal how the people of the first-century—the gospel’s original audience—would have received Jesus’ message. He offer a clear and thoughtful analysis of what the “good news” really is, and applies it to our lives today, revealing its power to transform us.

Through the Eyes of a Lion: Facing Impossible Pain, Finding Incredible Power


Levi Lusko - 2015
    But they never expected that, five days before Christmas, their five-year-old daughter would suddenly go to heaven after an asthma attack. How do you walk out of the ER without your daughter?Through the Eyes of a Lion will help you turn your journey into a “roar story” by guiding you to look past what you can see with the naked eye. Whether you’re currently facing adversity or want to prepare yourself for inevitable hardship, it’s time to look at the adventure of your life through Jesus’ eyes—the eyes of a Lion.