Short written for Coastal Magic 2017

    

    If you had asked me to describe the work I was doing that was important to God, I would have told you about my work in the lay leadership of my church, the adult Sunday school class that I taught, and the work I did with Christian non-profit groups. I secretly envied pastors, missionaries, and others who got to work 'full time' for God. I saw little to no connection between what I did as a businessman and God's Kingdom ..."Have you ever felt like what you do the majority of the week at work may not have any value to God? Many Christians struggle to find any meaning in their work. Many are taught it's just a place to share your faith or earn a paycheck to donate to missions. Businessman Hugh Whelchel was just that guy but knew there had to be more. His thorough biblical investigation reveals the eternal significance of work within the grand biblical story of God's mission throughout history.Discover:- The rich biblical meaning of work--from Genesis to Revelation- The difference between work, vocation, and calling as a Christian- The history of the Christian view on work- The call to "reweave shalom" through your job

    

    Written for lay men and women, it includes practical discussions on church leadership, male and female roles, worship, spiritual gifts, confrontation, unity, and prayer. Revised and expanded with study questions and new conclusions.

    In many churches, the primary objective of the church discipleship of people into mature followers of Jesus has been outsourced to programs and large-scale efforts to train and teach. But is that happening? Are people growing in spiritual depth and missional determination?Twenty-five years ago, the leaders of Randy Pope s rapidly growing church took serious stock of their own spiritual development and realized all of them had benefitted from a personal discipleship relationship that had helped them grow in their faith and discover where God was calling them to service. As a church, they decided to make personal discipleship their do-or-die aim: applying one person s real life to another s to accomplish something far bigger than that single life. Perimeter calls their approach life-on-life missional discipleship and Insourcing tells their story.Randy Pope writes for church leaders who recognize the value of discipleship and need practical ideas for reorienting church ministries around personal discipleship. Readers will be encouraged that a wide scale personal discipleship program is attainable for any church."

    This book will help you start missional-incarnational communities in a way that reflects the viral movement of the early New Testament church.JR Woodward (author of Creating a Missional Culture) and Dan White Jr. (author of Subterranean) have trained church planters all over North America to create movemental churches that are rooted in the neighborhood, based on eight necessary competencies:Movement Intelligence Polycentric Leadership Being Disciples Making Disciples Missional Theology Ecclesial Architecture Community Formation Incarnational Practices The book features an interactive format with tools, exercises, and reflection questions and activities. It's ideal for church planting teams or discipleship groups to use together.It's not enough to understand why the church needs more missional and incarnational congregations.The Church as Movement will also show you how to make disciples that make disciples. This is the engine that drives the church as movement, so that everyday Christians can be present in the world to join God's mission in the way of Jesus.

    Sacramental. Pentecostal. Christian communities tend to identify with one of these labels over the other two. Evangelical churches emphasize the importance of Scripture and preaching. Sacramental churches emphasize the importance of the eucharistic table. And pentecostal churches emphasize the immediate presence and power of the Holy Spirit. But must we choose between them? Could the church be all three? Drawing on his reading of the New Testament, the witness of Christian history, and years of experience in Christian ministry and leadership, Gordon T. Smith argues that the church not onlycan be all three, but in fact must be all three in order to truly be the church. As the church navigates the unique global challenges of pluralism, secularism, and fundamentalism, the need for an integrated vision of the community as evangelical, sacramental, and pentecostal becomes ever more pressing. If Jesus and the apostles saw no tension between these characteristics, why should we?

    The present is your gift. The future is your motivation. From USA Today bestselling author, W.J. May brings you a spin off from the Chronicles of Kerrigan. This is a stand alone series, or can be read with the Chronicles of Kerrigan series How can you build a future, when a part of you is trapped in the past? Gabriel Alden’s problems were supposed to be over. The man who had enslaved him had been destroyed. The girl he was supposed to kill, had become his saving grace. And the people he had been sent to infiltrate, had ended up as family. So why, when everyone else had found their happy-ever-after, was Gabriel still out in the cold? Dark memories, hidden shadows, and secrets too terrible to imagine haunt his every breath—chasing after him as he races around the globe, searching for the truth. Can he ever truly escape his past? Will he ever have a shot at a future? How far can you run before your ghosts finally catch up with you? One thing is certain, Gabriel’s problems are just getting started… The Chronicles of Kerrigan: Gabriel Living in the Past Present for Today Staring at the Future READ THE WHOLE SERIES: Prequel Series: Christmas Before the Magic Question the Darkness Into the Darkness Fight the Darkness Alone in the Darkness Lost in Darkness The Chronicles of Kerrigan Series Rae of Hope Dark Nebula House of Cards Royal Tea Under Fire End in Sight Hidden Darkness Twisted Together Mark of Fate Strength & Power Last One Standing Rae of Light The Chronicles of Kerrigan Sequel A Matter of Time Time Piece Second Chance Glitch in Time Our Time Precious Time

    Daniel's next book provides humorous yet intellectual commentary on the way religion gets talked about today. She explains Christian ideas and practices in non-academic, yet non-facile terms.In her signature style, popularized in widely debated articles for The Huffington Post and Christianity Today, she outlines four types of non-church-goers: no-longer, no-way, never-have, not-yet. And with experiential insight from more than a decade as a pastor, she explains how churches of all denominations and doctrines can provide them intellectual rigor, reasons for belief, and authentic religious community. No one should have to check their brain at the door of the church, she says, and churches must deal with present-day issues and be intellectually open, inviting people to bring questions, rather than dispensing old, easy answers.

    In The New Conspirators Tom surveys the landscape of creative Christianity, where streams of renewal are flowing freely from diverse sources:The emerging church Contemporary monastic movements The missional church The mosaic movement Individuals and communities of faith are coalescing in, and drawing energy from, these four streams to retrofit the church as it leads, serves and gives witness to the kingdom of God in the turbulent times facing us. Read the book and you'll want to-and be prepared to-join God's conspiracy to create a better future.

    Therapist Dione Kelly is his final hope—if he can bring himself to trust the woman whose past is shrouded in mystery. Dione wants only to help Blake recover, but as his strength returns, so does his desire to unearth her secrets. When they give in to the passion that flares between them, Dione just might find that her patient is the only one who can heal her private pain. Fatal Justice Standing over the body of a Supreme Court nominee, Lieutenant Sam Holland is hip-deep in another high-profile murder case. On the plus side, her relationship with Senator Nick Cappuano is heating up—but it's also attracting a lot of unwanted media attention. The pressure is on for Sam to find the killer, but when long-buried secrets threaten to derail her relationship with Nick, Sam realizes that while justice can be blind, mixing romance with politics has the potential to be fatal….

    Aliens. The occult. Zombies. Starships.This baroque collection of stories explores the darkness that waits ahead of us, from the monster lurking around the next corner to sweeping dystopian visions of the future. It includes multiple stories by J.L. Bryan, three drabbles by Michael Crane, two shorts by Amanda Hocking, the entire "Day of Sacrifice" novella by S.W. Benefiel, and additional contributions from paranormal/horror authors Joel Arnold, Robert J. Duperre, Vicki Keire, and Daniel Pyle.

    She specializes in seeing the best in people, but the cynical photojournalist Shade Colby is making her life a living hell. Bryan and Shade disagree about everything—everything, that is, except the fierce attraction they have for each other. But can they set their differences aside to give their love a shotLESSONS LEARNEDPublicist Juliet Trent never mixes business with pleasure, but her newest client, charming ladies’ man and chef Carlo Franconi, is determined to whet her appetite for love. Juliet has a plan—by the time the publicity tour is over, Carlo will be the world’s sexiest chef—she just needs to remain immune to his charms. ÂCandlelight, pasta and romance… Carlo is determined to send her heart simmering.Previously Published.

    It's as if God's gone missing, out in the universe somewhere--and we must pick up the hunt, following any trail of breadcrumbs he may have left to go out and find him. We speak of "searching for God," "exploring spirituality," and "finding faith."But what if we have it backward? What if God is the one pursuing us? What if our job is not to go out and find God, but simply to stop running and hiding? Not to earn God's love, but to receive it? Not to turn on the light, but to step out of the shadows?Jesus reveals a God on the prowl, pursuing us, hunting down his world for reconciliation. And the question we're left with is not whether we've pursued hard enough, searched long enough, or jumped high enough . . .The question is, "Do we want to be found?"