Jesus Untangled is a prophetic call for the Church to awaken from the “American Dream” and to return to Her first love. Because, as the author powerfully demonstrates in these pages, you can’t convert a culture that has already converted you.Learn more at www.JesusUntangled.com

    Some are true--but many are false. James Bryan Smith believes those thoughts determine not only who we are, but how we live. In fact, Smith declares, the most important thing about a person is what they think about God. The path to spiritual transformation begins here. Turning to the Gospels, Smith invites you to put your ideas to the test to see if they match up with what Jesus himself reveals about God. Once you've discovered the truth in Scripture, Smith leads you through a process of spiritual formation that includes specific activities aimed at making these new narratives real in your body and soul as well as your mind. At the end of each chapter you'll find an opportunity for soul training, engaging in spiritual practices that reinforce the biblical messages on your mind and heart. Because the best way to make a complete and lasting change is to go through the material in community, small group discussion questions also accompany each chapter. Those who are leading apprentice groups will also find additional help and opportunities to interact with other leaders at the Apprentice website, www.apprenticeofjesus.com. This deep, loving and transformative book will help you discover the narratives that Jesus lived by--to know the Lord he knew and the kingdom he proclaimed--and to practice spiritual exercises that will help you grow in the knowledge of our good and beautiful God.

    Challenging popular misconceptions about the biblical gospel, Matthew Bates shows that it is different, wider, and more beautiful than we have been led to believe.

    And more is better. This is the new equation for church development, a new equation with eternal results.Rejecting the “bigger is better” model of the complex, corporate megachurch, church innovator Dave Browning embraced deliberate simplicity. The result was Christ the King Community Church, International (CTK), an expanding multisite community church that Outreach magazine named among America’s Fastest Growing Churches and America’s Most Innovative Churches. Members of the CTK network in a number of cities, countries, and continents are empowered for maximum impact by Browning’s “less is more” approach. In Deliberate Simplicity, Browning discusses the six elements of this streamlined model:• Minimality: Keep it simple• Intentionality: Keep it missional• Reality: Keep it real• Multility: Keep it cellular• Velocity: Keep it moving• Scalability: Keep it expandingAs part of the Leadership Network Innovation Series, Deliberate Simplicity is a guide for church leaders seeking new strategies for more effective ministry.

    Charles RyrieDr. Charles Ryrie, author of the bestelling Ryrie Study Bible and one of America's greatest living theologians, offers an easy-to-understand overview of the various doctrines of the Bible. It is written especially for the layman who simply wants to understand what the Bible teaches. The topics covered include:The importance of doctrineWhat doctrine isWhat God is likeThe inspiration of the BibleThe person of ChristThe person of the Holy SpiritThe angelic worldThe nature and depravity of manSalvationThe churchWhat the future holds

    According to Webster, God's holiness is known not in his simple transcendence but in his gracious and free relationship to his people. Such holiness finds an echo in the holiness of the Christian community, especially in worship and witness, and in the life of the individual disciple.Profound yet readily accessible to a wide range of readers, Webster's Holiness offers an ideal entry into reflection on the Christian God.

    While Christians often struggle to find the right words to describe the union of Father, Son, and Spirit, the Bible gives clarity concerning the triune God's activity in nature (creation), grace (redemption), and glory (reward). In the second installment of the Short Studies in Systematic Theology series, theologian Scott Swain examines the Trinity, presenting its biblical foundations, systematic-theological structure, and practical relevance for the church today.

    Sure, many will hear about Jesus, and about being good and avoiding bad, but the gospel message simply isn't there--at least not in its specificity and its fullness. Inspired by the needs of both the overchurched and the unchurched, and bolstered by the common neglect of the explicit gospel within Christianity, Matt Chandler has written this punchy treatise. He begins with the specifics of the gospel--outlining what it is and what it is not--and then switches gears to focus on the fullness of the gospel and its massive implications on both personal and cosmic levels. Recognizing our tendency to fixate on either the micro or macro aspects of the gospel, Chandler also warns us of the dangers on either side--of becoming overly individualistic or syncretistic. Here is a call to true Christianity, to know the gospel explicitly, and to unite the church on the amazing grounds of the good news of Jesus!

    They're embarrassed at how the church is portrayed in the media and dismayed at what appears to be their options for participation. Is church really necessary anymore in our day? Is it even possible? Tim Soerens sees this unsettled state of affairs as an extraordinary opportunity: the church, he says, is on the edge of a new possibility at the very moment so much of it feels like it's falling apart. In his extensive travels in all kinds of neighborhoods, Soerens has seen the beginnings of this movement firsthand. In Everywhere You Look, he lays out practical, actionable steps for building collaborative communities in any neighborhood. Here is a vision of the church grounded in a grassroots movement of ordinary people living out what it means to be the church in their everyday lives. Read this book--and join the movement.

    Yet the trend these days is one of shunning the practice of organized religion and showing a distaste or fear of commitment, especially of institutions.Jonathan Leeman addresses these issues with a straightforward explanation of what church membership is and why it's important. Giving the local church its proper due, Leeman has built a compelling case for committing to the local body.

    A Baptist pastor born into slavery, Boothe brought the heights of academic theology to his congregants, so that they might be filled with good things. Walter R. Strickland II reintroduces this forgotten masterpiece

    This book is centered around a specific spiritual manifesto, simply called "the vision," that arose from a 3 a.m. prayer session during a 24-hour-a-day week of prayer four years ago. Today, these words have sparked a revolutionary movement of continuous prayer in 46 countries. This provocative book not only tells the story of how those words have spread around the world like a spiritual virusNreaching the underground church in China and The Call in WashingtonNit captures the heart of the 24-7 prayer.com movement by unpacking the manifesto line by line. It contains essays surrounding the words of The Vision that will challenge and and help readers discover afresh a faith that lives to follow Jesus. The book makes extensive use of metaphors from popular music and film, and quotes liberally the Bible, significant figures in church history, mainstream thinkers and contemporary Christian writers, such as Richard Foster, Billy Graham, Bonhoeffer, Jim Wallis, Brendan Manning, Dallas Willard and several others. It's unlike any other book. It will awake a generation.

    As a result, churches today are filled with people who believe they are Christians . . . but aren’t. We want to be disciples as long as doing so does not intrude on our lifestyles, our preferences, our comforts, and even our religion.Revealing a biblical picture of what it means to truly be a Christian, Follow Me explores the gravity of what we must forsake in this world, as well as the indescribable joy and deep satisfaction to be found when we live for Christ.The call to follow Jesus is not simply an invitation to pray a prayer; it’s a summons to lose your life—and to find new life in him. This book will show you what such life actually looks like.

    In Spiritual Gifts: What They Are and Why They Matter, Dr. Thomas R. Schreiner, one of the world's leading New Testament scholars, answers these questions.Schreiner shares his personal experience related to spiritual gifts, but more importantly, he unpacks what the Bible has to say about them. In doing so, he brings a spirit of humility and charity, reminding us that though spiritual gifts are important, we can have unity in Christ even where we disagree.

    But he is a God who is high and lifted up, the Creator rather than the creature, someone than whom none greater can be conceived. If God is the most perfect, supreme being, infinite and incomprehensible, then certain perfect-making attributes must be true of him. Perfections like aseity, simplicity, immutability, impassibility, and eternity shield God from being crippled by creaturely limitations. At the same time, this all-powerful, all-knowing, and all-wise God accommodates himself, exhibiting perfect holiness, mercy, and love as he makes known who he is and how he will save us.The attributes of God show us exactly why God is worthy of worship: there is none like him. Join Matthew Barrett as he rediscovers these divine perfections and finds himself surprised by the God he thought he knew.