In their own words, these men and women describe feeling the Lord's blessings as they have served in some of the most harsh and difficult circumstances imaginable. Their experiences range from leading armed combat and air rescue missions to saving lives in a makeshift hospital tent. Also included are stories of much-needed help and support received by families of those who are serving away from home. These life-changing stories, recorded in on-site personal interviews by bestselling author and artist Chad Hawkins, are reminders that the Lord does watch over and protect His children during troubling times. Featured black-and-white photographs throughout.

    Purpose Driven® Youth Ministry will do for youth ministry what Rick Warren's Gold Medallion award-winning, The Purpose Driven® Church is doing for pastoral ministry. It's an indispensable guide to creating and maintaining youth ministry for the long run. It will help you create a solid spiritual team that builds the foundations of the Christian faith into the hearts and lives of young people. Forged around the fundamental purposes of evangelism, discipleship, fellowship, ministry, and worship, Purpose Driven® Youth Ministry uses the experiences of Saddleback Church to illustrate what a healthy Youth ministry can be. Nine transferable principles help you - Connect with the power of God for passionate, committed leadership - Define the purpose of your ministry and communicate it effectively - Identify your potential audience - Create programs that reach your audience and fulfill God's purposes - Implement processes that move students to maturity - Enhance your ministry with clearly defined values - Team up with parents to involve the whole family - Find volunteers and develop them into participating leaders - Persevere through tough times and thrive in an ever-changing environment. Balancing both theory and practice, Purpose Driven® Youth Ministry can be applied to any church setting, regardless of size, denomination, facilities, resources, and existing leadership. Purpose-Driven Youth Ministry will help you develop a ministry that equips students rather than a ministry that coordinates events. Doug Fields says, "My goal for this book is to coach you through a plan to build a healthy youth ministry that isn't dependent on one great youth leader and won't be destroyed when the youth worker leaves the church. It's not a book on how to grow your youth ministry with six easy steps; it's about identifying, establishing, and building health into your church's youth ministry.

    Jesus-style! One ordinary life making a powerful difference—that's God's amazing "Plan A" on display. Using real-life, riveting stories and a contemporary scriptural lens, Dwight Robertson shows how God's exciting kingdom-building plan takes life—literally—in ordinary individuals. Robertson explains how God calls and equips average, everyday people—even those who don't think they have anything special to contribute—to creative ministries that are as distinct and unique as the individual. God's Plan A encourages average Christians everywhere to follow the model of Jesus: ministering up close, one life at a time, outside church walls in our everyday lives. God's Plan A involves all of us ... and there is no Plan B.

    And if we are our own, then it's up to us to forge our own identities and to make our lives significant. But while that may sound empowering, it turns out to be a crushing responsibility--one that never actually delivers on its promise of a free and fulfilled life, but instead leaves us burned out, depressed, anxious, and alone. This phenomenon is mapped out onto the very structures of our society, and helps explain our society's underlying disorder. But the Christian gospel offers a strikingly different vision. As the Heidelberg Catechism puts it, "I am not my own, but belong with body and soul, both in life and in death, to my faithful Savior Jesus Christ." In You Are Not Your Own, Alan Noble explores how this simple truth reframes the way we understand ourselves, our families, our society, and God. Contrasting these two visions of life, he invites us past the sickness of contemporary life into a better understanding of who we are and to whom we belong.

    

    Raised by a Jewish mother and abandoned by his professional poker-playing father, Antonucci found Jesus at age twenty after studying the New Testament. When he finally went to church, he was disappointed to discover a "boring, stale religion." Through provocative storytelling and raw honesty, Antonucci unearths the life Jesus lived and wants us to experience, challenging us to move past spiritual boredom into a faith that's exciting, beautiful, and powerful. Recommended for all Christians thirsty for a fresh perspective on Christianity.

    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?

    Pastor and founder of Church Leader Insights, Nelson Searcy, will provide practical, inventive guidelines for bringing first-time guests through the doors.This book sets forth a step-by-step, biblically grounded, proven plan for creating immediate church growth by utilizing a "Big Day" to mobilize the church for evangelism. This user-friendly guide will show church leaders what they need to do to reach the unchurched in their communities and break through the debilitating growth barriers that are holding them back.Through the inspiration of testimonies and stories, combined with the down-to-earth, applicable teaching that Searcy readers have come to expect and appreciate, Ignite will give church leaders the tools they desperately need to reach and keep modern-minded, unchurched people to create and sustain growth momentum.

    The author of Ecclesiastes had his doubts, too, and these have enabled him to speak to skeptics as well as believers down through the centuries.Ecclesiastes is a book rich in literary artistry and multi-layered depths of spiritual meaning. Philip G. Ryken explores this wonderful Old Testament book, and reminds us again of the need to trust God with the questions, even when we do not have all the answers.

    The church fulfills its mission today to the extent that it honors these essential elements, modelled perfectly in Jesus? missionary enterprise:white-hot faith commitment to the cause contagious relationships rapid mobilization adaptive methods Throughout the ages Jesus' followers have been called to continue his movement in the power of the Holy Spirit. Like many such movements, it changed the world. Unlike most movements, which have their historical moment and then fade away, Christianity is actively, continually changing the world for the better.

    And for all the ridiculous, twisted, Da Vinci Code-esque conspiracy theories and lies about Jesus that have permeated popular culture and even the academy over the years, the truth about his character, nature, and work has not changed. So what exactly is the truth about Jesus Christ? That&'s the question the authors of Vintage Jesus seek to answer by breaking it down into a number of sub-questions about Jesus, including Is Jesus the only God? Why did Jesus come to earth? Did Jesus rise from death? Why should we worship Jesus? and others. Nonbelievers and new Christians looking to sit down and delve into the topic of Jesus, asking the toughest, most confounding questions they can think of, will find solid, biblical answers presented in a relevant, accessible way.

    Perfect for new and longtime temple worshipers alike, this priceless volume is guaranteed to help you use the temple experience and its rich symbolism to find healing and hope that will let you see yourself more truthfully, then seek God more trustingly.

    The Bible contains wonderful promises of God for peace and harmony. You'll discover: -- Why strife destroys churches-- How to disagree agreeably-- The answer to strife between parents and children-- How strife affects the anointing-- How to forgive in difficult situations-- How spiritual power is released through unity and harmonyGet ready to embrace new peace in your life -- God's peace that is there for you, with each page you turn.

    It can refer to awe before unutterable holiness, but it can also refer to the coercion where some voices are silenced in the interest of control by the dominant voices. It is the latter silence that Walter Brueggemann explores, urging us to speak up in situations of injustice.  Interrupting Silence illustrates that the Bible is filled with stories where marginalized people break repressive silence and speak against it. Examining how maintaining silence allows the powerful to keep control, Brueggemann motivates readers to consider situations in their lives where they need to either interrupt silence or be part of the problem, convincing us that God is active and wanting us to act for justice.

    Dwight Edwards reminds us in his powerful book that the revolution, like the kingdom, is essentially within--that Jesus is still a King whose kingdom is the heart.”--Michael Card, recording artist and author of A Violent GraceWhat Actually Happened When You Came to Christ?Because of what God has done for every believer, you actually possess outlandish treasures you may never have dreamed existed. God has made "New Covenant" promises to each of us. And in fulfillment of those promises, He has placed within every believer four revolutionary provisions: a new purity, a new disposition, a new identity, and a new power.These lavish supernatural resources permanently reside within your soul right now--ready for release every day of your life on earth! Revolution Within shows what these four provisions really are and how to release them, so you can experience all the best God has for you. And when you do, you fulfill your God-given purpose in life. Because God doesn’t want us just to be spiritually whole but to be spiritually provocative. As you tap into this vibrant eternal reality, you’ll experience fresh intimacy with God, new liberty, a deepened sense of community with other believers, and a new capacity for ministry. And through it all you’ll grow in your passion for what God Himself is most passionate about: His glory.