Think Like Jesus: Make the Right Decision Every Time


George Barna - 2003
    In this book, Barna identifies seven core questions that Christians must be able to answer biblically in order to live a transformed life.

The Big Story: How the Bible Makes Sense out of Life


Justin Buzzard - 2013
    We want our lives to fit within a larger plot—a plot full of history, forward movement, and future.So, the better question to ask is, "What sort of story are you in?"Most people believe false stories that leave them disillusioned, enslaved, and hopeless. Secular stories of chasing success and religious stories of doing good works leave us feeling exhausted and empty. Only Christianity offers a story that's big enough to make sense of both the beauty and brokenness in our lives and in our world.

Culture Making: Recovering Our Creative Calling


Andy Crouch - 2008
    Nor is it sufficient merely to critique culture or to copy culture. Most of the time, we just consume culture. But the only way to change culture is to create culture. Andy Crouch unleashes a stirring manifesto calling Christians to be culture makers. For too long, Christians have had an insufficient view of culture and have waged misguided "culture wars." But we must reclaim the cultural mandate to be the creative cultivators that God designed us to be. Culture is what we make of the world, both in creating cultural artifacts as well as in making sense of the world around us. By making chairs and omelets, languages and laws, we participate in the good work of culture making. Crouch unpacks the complexities of how culture works and gives us tools for cultivating and creating culture. He navigates the dynamics of cultural change and probes the role and efficacy of our various cultural gestures and postures. Keen biblical exposition demonstrates that creating culture is central to the whole scriptural narrative, the ministry of Jesus and the call to the church. He guards against naive assumptions about "changing the world," but points us to hopeful examples from church history and contemporary society of how culture is made and shaped. Ultimately, our culture making is done in partnership with God's own making and transforming of culture. A model of his premise, this landmark book is sure to be a rallying cry for a new generation of culturally creative Christians. Discover your calling and join the culture makers.

Eyes Wide Open: Enjoying God in Everything


Steve DeWitt - 2012
    Eyes Wide Open will help you understand God's purposes for our joy and wonder. In this book, pastor and author Steve DeWitt guides you on your personal journey toward enjoying God in everything.If you love the outdoors, art, food, sports, sunsets, coffee, mountains, or anything else, Eyes Wide Open enriches these experiences by turning them toward their created purpose. This is a book about our beautiful God who designed our craving for beauty to lead us back to Him.

The Benedict Option: A Strategy for Christians in a Post-Christian Nation


Rod Dreher - 2017
    The light of the Christian faith is flickering out all over the West, and only the willfully blind refuse to see it. From the outside, American churches are beset by challenges to religious liberty in a rapidly secularizing culture. From the inside, they are being hollowed out by the departure of young people and a watered-down pseudo-spirituality. Political solutions have failed, as the triumph of gay marriage and the self-destruction of the Republican Party indicate, and the future of religious freedom has never been in greater doubt. The center is not holding. The West, cut off from its Christian roots, is falling into a new Dark Age. The bad news is that the roots of religious decline run deeper than most Americans realize. The good news is that the blueprint for a time-tested Christian response to this decline is older still. In The Benedict Option, Dreher calls on traditional Christians to learn from the example of St. Benedict of Nursia, a sixth-century monk who turned from the chaos and decadence of the collapsing Roman Empire, and found a new way to live out the faith in community. For five difficult centuries, Benedict's monks kept the faith alive through the Dark Ages, and prepared the way for the rebirth of civilization. What do ordinary 21st century Christians -- Catholic, Protestant, and Orthodox -- have to learn from the teaching and example of this great spiritual father? That they must read the signs of the times, abandon hope for a political solution to our civilization's problems, and turn their attention to creating resilient spiritual centers that can survive the coming storm. Whatever their Christian tradition, they must draw on the secrets of Benedictine wisdom to build up the local church, create countercultural schools based on the classical tradition, rebuild family life, thicken communal bonds, and develop survival strategies for doctors, teachers, and others on the front lines of persecution. Now is a time of testing, when believers will learn the difference between shallow optimism and Christian hope. However dark the shadow falling over the West, the light of Christianity need not flicker out. It will not be easy, but Christians who are brave enough to face the religious decline, reject trendy solutions, and return to ancient traditions will find the strength not only to survive, but to thrive joyfully in the post-Christian West. The Benedict Option shows believers how to build the resistance and resilience to face a hostile modern world with the confidence and fervor of the early church. Christians face a time of choosing, with the fate of Christianity in Western civilization hanging in the balance. In this powerful challenge to the complacency of contemporary Christianity, Dreher shows why those in all churches who fail to take the Benedict Option aren't going to make it.

The Lord's Prayer: A Guide to Praying to Our Father


Wesley Hill - 2019
    But do you understand it?The Lord's Prayer has become so familiar to us that we don't think about what we're praying. It's a portrait of Jesus' heart. And in it Christians from different times, places, and traditions have been united. We pray it, but do we actually believe it?When Jesus taught his followers how to pray, he emphasized how uncomplicated it should be. There's no need for pretense or theatrics. Instead, simply ask for what you need as though you were speaking with your earthly father. This opens a window into Jesus' prayer life and presents us with a portrait of his heart for his followers.Wesley Hill re-introduces the Lord's Prayer. He shows us a God who is delighted to hear prayer. Petition by petition, in conversation with the Christian tradition, he draws out the significance of Jesus' words for prayer today.

Pre-Engagement: 5 Questions to Ask Yourselves


David A. Powlison - 2000
    The authors examine five questions that will help couples decide whether or not to commit themselves to each other for life.

He Shall Have Dominion: A Postmillennial Eschatology


Kenneth L. Gentry Jr. - 2008
    Gentry's classic study of postmillennialism, you will sense anew the powerful message of Psalm 72 that Christ "shall have dominion from sea to sea" (Psa 72:8). You will learn that God's word promises that "the whole earth will be filled with his glory" (72:19) so that "all nations will call him blessed" (72:17) before Christ returns.Many evangelicals today are concerned about those being Left Behind on this Late Great Planet Earth as it collapses into absolute chaos. But the postmillennialist optimistically believes that He Shall Have Dominion throughout the earth. In this book you will find the whole biblical rationale for the postmillennial hope, from its incipient beginning in Genesis to its glorious conclusion in Revelation. Your faith will be re-invigorated as you begin to recognize that "the gospel is the power of God unto salvation" (Rom 1:16) and that our Lord Jesus really meant it when he commanded us to "go and make disciples of all the nations" (Matt 28:19).The Third edition includes an enlarged appendix on the Errors of Hyper-preterism; both theological and exegetical.

The Gospel in Ten Words


Paul Ellis - 2012
    They are lavished upon you according to the riches of his grace. At a time when many are hearing mixed messages about the love of God, The Gospel in Ten Words is a welcome reminder of the good news revealed by Jesus. It is an invitation to return to the unmixed and liberating gospel of the apostles. This book will take you to the heavenly treasure rooms of grace and leave you awestruck at the stunning goodness of God. You will discover the secret to walking in divine favor and experiencing freedom in every aspect of your life. You will learn who you really are and why you were born. Best of all, you will come face to face with the One who has called you to the thrilling adventure of living loved.

Between Life and Death: A Gospel-Centered Guide to End-Of-Life Medical Care


Kathryn L. Butler - 2019
    Today, 80 percent of Americans die in institutions such as hospitals or nursing homes. The dying process--once a visible reality of life--now hides behind a complex web of medical technology, and few Americans discuss end-of-life care before it becomes urgent. Faced with crucial decisions, Christian patients and loved ones struggle to understand how their faith should inform their treatment. Covering topics such as ventilators, dialysis, artificially administered nutrition, physician-assisted suicide, hospice, and more, this book offers a distinctly Christian guide to end-of-life care, simplifying common medical jargon and exploring biblical principles that individuals and families need in order to navigate the transition from this life to the next.

The Pursuing God: A Reckless, Irrational, Obsessed Love That's Dying to Bring Us Home


Joshua Ryan Butler - 2016
    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?"

Why Isn't a Pretty Girl Like You Married? and Other Useful Comments


Nancy Wilson - 2010
    . . feel free to comment. Single women can sometimes be magnets for awkward questions . . . especially within the church community. With an emphasis on strong marriages and biblical childrearing, unmarried women in the church can begin to think that they are somehow on the sidelines. But this is not the case. In this helpful volume, Nancy Wilson provides straightforward counsel and encouragement for those struggling with "the wait." She addresses practical concerns like building a career but focuses more specifically on important relational issues such as interacting with competitive women, respecting your parents even after you ve left their home, establishing standards for male friends, and keeping the right outlook on your life. Whether a woman is called to singleness for a short time or for her whole life, she is called to be fruitful in God's kingdom.

Holy Spirit Are We Flammable or Fireproof?


Reinhard Bonnke - 2017
    Bonnke has compiled some of the greatest uncompromising truths about the Holy Spirit that have been at the cornerstone of his ministry for over 50 years.

Be Available (Judges): Accepting the Challenge to Confront the Enemy


Warren W. Wiersbe - 1994
    Sound familiar? While this list hits close to home, these issues are found in the book of Judges. And it’s during times like these where God is searching for those who are ready, willing, and available to confront the enemy.Part of Dr. Warren W. Wiersbe’s best-selling “BE” commentary series, BE Available has now been updated with study questions and a new introduction by Ken Baugh. A respected pastor and Bible teacher, Dr. Wiersbe shares that God’s kingdom advances through those who are available to Him. Based on the book of Judges, this study encourages us to stand for what’s right, and step into what God is doing in our world.

Reimagining Church: Pursuing the Dream of Organic Christianity


Frank Viola - 1997
    Official website with supplements http://www.ReimaginingChurch.org