Book picks similar to
Counseling One Another by Paul Tautges


counseling
biblical-counseling
discipleship
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God, Marriage, and Family: Rebuilding the Biblical Foundation


Andreas J. Köstenberger - 2004
    Ideal for personal and group study or as a textbook for Christian marriage and family courses.

Small Church Essentials: Field-Tested Principles for Leading a Healthy Congregation of under 250


Karl Vaters - 2018
    Articles, books, conferences—they mostly feature leaders of large congregations. Yet big churches are a small part of the ecclesial landscape. In fact, more than 90 percent of churches have fewer than 200 people. That means small churches play a big part in what God is doing.Small Church Essentials is for leaders of these smaller congregations. It encourages them to steward their role well, debunking myths about small churches while offering principles for leading a dynamic, healthy small church.Based on the popular six-hour lecture that Karl Vaters delivers to church leaders across the country, Small Church Essentials will affirm small church leaders and show them how to identify what they do well, and how to do it even better. Readers will:Be assured that leading a small congregation does not make them ministry failuresCome away inspired to lead with passion, regardless the size of their churchHave field-tested principles for leading a church in their contextPossess new metrics for biblically measuring vitality in small churchesHave a toolkit of resources to use in their everyday ministryKarl Vaters has been a small church pastor for 30 years, is the author of The Grasshopper Myth: Big Churches, Small Churches, and the Small Thinking that Divides Us (2013), and travels extensively to churches and conferences to speak about leading a small church well.If you are pastoring a small church, this book will be a breath of fresh air. It will affirm your calling while giving you fresh tools to help you lead. It will help you:Stop believing lies about small churchesLead your church to fulfill the role only small churches canUnderstand your congregation’s strengths and weaknessesTurn around a dying or unhealthy churchIdentify good trends and bad in church and culture

The Rest of God: Restoring Your Soul by Restoring Sabbath


Mark Buchanan - 2006
    Even our vacations have a panicky, task-like edge to them. "If I only had more time," is the mantra of our age. But is this the real problem?Widely acclaimed author Mark Buchanan states that what we've really lost is "the rest of God-the rest God bestows and, with it, that part of himself we can know only through stillness." Stillness as a virtue is a foreign concept in our society, but there is wisdom in God's own rhythm of work and rest. Sabbath is elixir and antidote. It is a gift for our sanity and wholeness--to prolong our lives, to enrich our relationships, to increase our fruitfulness, to make our joy complete. Jesus practiced Sabbath among those who had turned it into a dismal thing, a day for murmuring and finger-wagging, and he reminded them of the day's true purpose: liberation-to heal, to feed, to rescue, to celebrate, to lavish and relish life abundant.The gift of Sabbath is essential to our full humanity and faith, says Buchanan. Far from being some starched and dour day only to be endured, Sabbath is a day wide and bright, brimming with laughter, enough to lend beauty to all our other days. Readers will be changed forever by this pivotal book."It seems very unsabbath-like to describe a book about Sabbath with the adverb 'urgently'--but we urgently need this book. Mark Buchanan shows us that our busyness is killing us--killin us--and that Sabbath is our best cure, our best path for rest and reverence and discipleship."--LAUREN WINNER, Best-selling author of Girl Meets God and Mudhouse Sabbath"With the easiness of long intimacy and a very deft hand, Buchanan here braids together into one gracious and sustaining strand the beauty of Sabbath, the wisdom of its keeping, and the generosity of God in gifting us with it. These pages are not just a blessing, they are a psalm that cries out to be joyfully engaged."--PHYLLIS TICKLE, Religion editor (ret.) Publishers Weekly and compiler of The Divine Hours

Resisting Gossip: Winning the War of the Wagging Tongue


Matthew C. Mitchell - 2013
    It's on Facebook, on the television, in the break room, and even in our churches. With gossip being so prevalent in our culture, it can be hard to resist listening to and sharing stories about other people's business. But what does God say about gossip? And is it possible to follow his instructions? In Resisting Gossip, Pastor Matt Mitchell not only outlines the scriptural warnings against gossip, but also demonstrates how the truth of the gospel can deliver believers from this temptation.

Mad Church Disease: Overcoming the Burnout Epidemic


Anne Jackson - 2009
    She vowed her life in ministry would be different.Yet, years later, as a church leader, she was hospitalized because stress began wreaking havoc on her body. After being released from the hospital, an associate pastor asked her, 'Does working at this church interfere with your communion with Christ?' The question was paramount in turning her life around.Thinking she wasn't alone, Anne developed a website that allowed church leaders to share their struggles. Within a few days, she was flooded with over a thousand responses from people pouring out their stories of burnout. Using anecdotal parallels between Mad Cow Disease and leadership trends in the church, she writes not only to help us realize what church leaders are facing, but also to provide practical and positive treatment plans.Mad Church Disease is a lively, informative, and potentially life-saving resource for anyone in ministry---vocational or volunteer---who would like to understand, prevent, or treat the epidemic of burnout in church culture.

Tough Topics: Biblical Answers to 25 Challenging Questions


Sam Storms - 2013
    Drawing on nearly 40 years of teaching and ministry experience, pastor-scholar Sam Storms answers 25 challenging questions Christians are often too afraid to ask, addressing thorny issues ranging from the eternal destiny of infants to the roles of demons and angels.The robust, thoughtful answers provided in this book offer a helpful alternative to relying on simplistic explanations, and will encourage you in the search for truth and clarity on such tough topics.

The Church of Facebook: How the Hyperconnected Are Redefining Community


Jesse Rice - 2009
    Yet at its core, this movement reflects our need for community. Our longing for intimacy, connection, and a place to belong has never been a secret, but social networking offers us a new perspective on the way we engage our community. How do these networks impact our relationships? In what ways are they shaping the way we think of ourselves? And how might this phenomenon subtly reflect a God who longs to connect with each one of us? The Church of Facebook explores these ideas and much more, offering a revealing look at the wildly popular world of online social networking.

Messy Spirituality: God's Annoying Love for Imperfect People


Michael Yaconelli - 2001
    . .'Do you feel like: I don't pray enoughI don't read my Bible enoughI don't share my faith enoughI don't love God enoughI'm not committed enoughI'm not spiritual enoughThen this book is for you. Messy Spiritualtiy was written for the silent majority of us who have been convinced that we just don't do Christianity right. We spend most of our lives worried about what we don't do instead of what we have done, focused on our imperfections instead of God's fondness for the imperfect. Why? Because we've been bombarded with books, tapes, talks, seminars, and movies convincing us that real Christianity is all about perfection.Michael Yaconelli dares to suggest that imperfection, unfinishedness, and messiness are, in fact, the earmarks of true Christianity; that real Christianity is messy, erratic, lopsided . . . and gloriously liberating. What if genuine faith begins with admitting we will never have our act completely together? Maybe messy disciples are exactly the kind of imperfect people Jesus came to earth for and whose company he actually enjoyed--and still enjoys. If you want to find Jesus today, look for him in the midst of burned-out believers, moral misfits, religious incompetents . . . men and women whose lives are, well, messy. Messy Spirituality is a strong antidote for the spiritual perfectionism in us all. Here are truths that can cut you loose from the tyranny of ought-to's and open your eyes to the deep spirituality of being loved, shortcomings and all, by the God who meets you and transforms you in the midst of a messy and unpredictable life.

The Cure


John S. Lynch - 2011
    We thought so, but most of us unwittingly carried an old, dead outlook into our new life. We couldn't measure up to the standard we created, so we convinced ourselves it was God's. We read his words through our grid of shame and felt ourselves fall farther and farther behind. We took it out on each other; judging, comparing, faking, splintering. Some of us retreated from the whole charade, becoming cynical, mistrusting, jaded from hope. Our marriages, churches, families, friendships, our marketplaces, our culture... they all need the cure. But God's cures rarely come in the form we expect. What if, indeed, God is not who we think he is... and neither are we?

Speaking of Jesus: The Art of Not-Evangelism


Carl Medearis - 2011
    Some of us seek them out. But we are seldom ready the way Jesus seemed to be ready. So how do we draw others to God in the midst of these ordinary conversations the way Jesus did? In Speaking of Jesus, Carl Medearis draws on his experience of international reconciliation between Muslims and Christians to remind us of the heart of the matter: Jesus. Here he gives us tools, stories, and the foundation we need to move beyond “us” and “them” and simply talk about the One who changes it all. As Carl writes, “While others are explaining and defending various isms and ologies we’re simply pointing people to our friend. The one who uncovers and disarms. Who leads people right to himself. The beginning and the end of the story. A good story indeed.”

Money: God or Gift


Jamie Munson - 2010
    

The Greener Grass Conspiracy: Finding Contentment on Your Side of the Fence


Stephen Altrogge - 2011
    He addresses issues such as complaining and idolatry, reminding us of all that we have, and will have, in Christ.

Falling Upward: A Spirituality for the Two Halves of Life


Richard Rohr - 2004
    Richard Rohr seeks to help readers understand the tasks of the two halves of life and to show them that those who have fallen, failed, or gone down are the only ones who understand up. Most of us tend to think of the second half of life as largely about getting old, dealing with health issues, and letting go of life, but the whole thesis of this book is exactly the opposite. What looks like falling down can largely be experienced as falling upward. In fact, it is not a loss but somehow actually a gain, as we have all seen with elders who have come to their fullness.Explains why the second half of life can and should be full of spiritual richness Offers a new view of how spiritual growth happens?loss is gain Richard. Rohr is a regular contributing writer for Sojourners and Tikkun magazines This important book explores the counterintuitive message that we grow spiritually much more by doing wrong than by doing right.

Invitation to a Journey: A Road Map for Spiritual Formation


M. Robert Mulholland Jr. - 1993
    Robert Mulholland Jr. defines spiritual formation. Compact and solid, this definition encompasses the dynamics of a vital Christian life and counters our culture's tendency to make spirituality a trivial matter or reduce it to a private affair between "me and Jesus." In Invitation to a Journey, Mulholland helps Christians new and old to understand that we become like Christ gradually, not instantly. Not every personality is suited to an early morning quiet time, so Mulholland frees different personality types to express their piety differently. He reviews the classical spiritual disciplines and demonstrates the importance of undertaking our spiritual journey with (and for the sake of) others. This road map for spiritual formation is profoundly biblical and down to earth. In the finest tradition of spiritual literature, it is a vital help to Christians at any stage of their journey.

Gospel-Driven Ministry: An Introduction to the Calling and Work of a Pastor


Jared C. Wilson - 2021
    These "shepherds" are called to preach, pray, and care for the needs of God's people. But what does it mean to be a pastor? And what is the nature of this ministry, according to the Bible?In Gospel-Driven Ministry, Jared Wilson begins by looking at the qualifications for the pastorate, addressing the notion of a call to ministry and how an individual--and a church community--can best identify the marks of maturity and affirm a call. In each chapter, Wilson looks at one of the core practices of pastoral ministry, including: Preaching SermonsDeveloping a Vibrant Prayer LifeCaring and CounselingPastoring Married and SingleGospel-Centered LeadershipFighting Sin and Spiritual WarfareResolving ConflictPassing on the Ministry to OthersIn addition, Wilson provides practical resources including theological insights on baptism and the Lord's Supper, guidance for wedding and funeral sermons, outlines for leading elder and deacon meetings, tips for interviewing new pastors, questions to ask at ordination, and advice on knowing when and how to leave a pastor role. This is a comprehensive, practical guide to pastoral ministry that prepares new pastors and equips those currently serving for long-term, healthy ministry.