Relationships: A Mess Worth Making


Timothy S. Lane - 2006
    With penetrating insight and practical applications, Relationships: A Mess Worth Making identifies how to work through the most stubborn problems that plague any contemporary relationship - be it marriage, parent-child, or friendship.

The Book on Leadership


John F. MacArthur Jr. - 1939
    But much of today's discourse is advancing the same old misconceptions.In The Book on Leadership, best-selling author, pastor, and teacher John MacArthur sets the record straight: Leadership does not come from a job title. It isn't a matter of personality or charisma. And it isn't the same thing as iron-fisted authority. True leadership?the kind that refuses to bend to a shifting, fickle world?comes from a much deeper source.Based on the writings of one of the most effective spiritual leaders of all time?the apostle Paul?MacArthur presents the "26 Characteristics of a True Leader." Whether you are a business leader, civic leader, church leader, parent, teacher, or student, the life of Paul will empower you to unleash your own capacity for leadership.

Deep and Wide: Creating Churches Unchurched People Love to Attend


Andy Stanley - 2012
    Andy writes,            “Our goal is to create weekend experiences so compelling and helpful that     even the most skeptical individuals in our community would walk away with      every intention of returning the following week…with a friend!”Later he says,            “I want people to fall in love with the Author of Scripture. And while we can’t            make anyone fall in love, we can certainly arrange a date.”  For the first time, Andy explains his strategy for preaching and programming to “dual audiences”: mature believers and cynical unbelievers. He argues that preaching to dual audiences doesn’t require communicators to “dumb down” the content. According to Stanley, it’s all in the approach.You’ll be introduced to North Point's spiritual formation model: The Five Faith Catalysts. Leaders responsible for ministry programing and production will no doubt love Andy’s discussion of the three essential ingredients for creating irresistible environments.  For pastors willing to tackle the challenge of transitioning a local congregation, Andy includes a section entitled: Becoming Deep and Wide.If your team is more concerned with who you are reaching than who you are keeping, Deep & Wide will be more than a book you read; it will be a resource you come back to over and over!“Couldn't be prouder of my son, Andy. And I couldn't be more excited about the content of this book. I wish a resource like this existed when I was starting out in ministry.”-          Dr. Charles Stanley, Founder, In Touch Ministries“Deep and Wide pulls back the curtain for all of us to see what is required behind the scenes to build a prevailing church.  I was both challenged and inspired by this book.”-          Bill Hybels, author of Just Walk Across the Room“The most common question I get from pastors is, ‘How do I get the people in my church to be open to change?’ From now on my answer will be, ‘Read Deep and Wide by Andy Stanley’.  Thanks Andy.  Great book!”-          Craig Groeschel, Pastor, LifeChurch.TV, author, It: How Churches and Leaders Can Get It and Keep It“No one has given me more practical handles for establishing a focused vision than Andy Stanley. Deep and Wide is a rich resource to help all of us stay intentional about the main thing - building a church that reaches people who are far from God.”-          Steven Furtick, Lead Pastor, Elevation Church

Deep Discipleship: How the Church Can Make Whole Disciples of Jesus


J.T. English - 2020
    The question is: what is discipling us?    The majority of Christians today are being discipled by popular media, flashy events, and folk theology because churches have neglected their responsibility to make disciples. But the church is not a secondary platform in the mission of God; it is the primary platform God uses to grow people into the image of Jesus. Therefore, as church leaders, it is our primary responsibility to establish environments and relationships where people can be trained, grow, and be sent as disciples.    There are three indispensable elements of discipleship:Learning to participate in the biblical story (the Bible)Growing in our confession of who God is and who we are (theology)Regularly participating in private and corporate intentional action (spiritual disciplines)Deep Discipleship equips churches to reclaim the responsibility of discipling people at any point on their journey.

The Emotionally Healthy Church: A Strategy for Discipleship That Actually Changes Lives


Peter Scazzero - 2003
    The Emotionally Healthy Church offers a strategy for discipleship that accomplishes healthy living and actually changes lives.

Adorned: Living Out the Beauty of the Gospel Together


Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth - 2017
    Now she’s back with a legacy work on Titus 2 and its powerful vision for women.From Nancy:"Cross-generational community between women is the biblical antidote for being chronically, hopelessly overwhelmed, as so many of us are.When older women come out of their protective cocoons to invest themselves in the lives of younger women, whole families and churches feel the blessing. When young moms and singles widen their peer groups to include women who have already braved the same rapids and lived to tell about it, both sides of the relationship are strengthened and grow. We all, in different ways and in different seasons, need to be on both the giving and receiving end of this life-to-life process.So I invite you to join me as we look to God’s Word for His perspective on the character, commitments, and attitudes of godly women—and His prescribed process for helping us live out these virtues not only today, but from generation to generation."

A Praying Life: Connecting with God in a Distracting World


Paul E. Miller - 2009
    Miller’s down-to-earth approach and practical nature will help you see that your relationship with God can grow and your communication with Him can get better. Parents will find Miller’s family-life experiences especially helpful.

Vertical Church: What Every Heart Longs For. What Every Church Can Be.


James MacDonald - 2012
    Arriving in minutes, I find the family imploding with grief having just discovered their son hanging in the garage. In a moment of unshakable pain, he jumped off the ladder and into eternity. And I will never shake the look in their eyes when I asked why he hadn't called a church. "Why would he do that?" Across town, a pool of tears on my kitchen table as an out of town guest feels the weight of his infidelity, despairing that his famished soul finds no refuge and that he has to board a plane to feel fellowship. "Has your church tried to help you?" And the Christian leader confesses he hasn't been to church in years." Infighting, backbiting, heartbreaking, frustrating ... church. Though exceptions do exist, the reality is that church in America is failing one life at a time. Somewhere between pathetically predictable and shamefully entertaining, sadly sentimental and rarely authentic, church has become worst of all ... godless. "Vertical Church "points to a new day where God is the seeker, and we are the ones found. In "Vertical Church "God shows up, and that changes everything. If you want to experience God as you never have before and witness His hand at work, if you want to wake up to the first thought, "Thank God it's Sunday," if you're ready to feel your heart beat faster as you drive to your place of worship ... then devour and digest the lessons of "Vertical Church.

Peacemaking Women: Biblical Hope for Resolving Conflict


Tara Klena Barthel - 2005
    Relationships between women can be especially enriching, but when conflict arises, they also can be especially damaging. Too many women approach conflict as if they were unbelievers-with gossip, spiteful actions, bitterness, and even hatred. In Peacemaking Women, Tara Klena Barthel and Judy Dabler offer a meaningful, lasting message to lead women out of conflict to a state of peace where they can live as representatives of Christ to one another and well as unbelievers. With advice that is firmly rooted in Scripture, the authors bring sound, practical help for women who want to know what the Bible says about conflict resolution and how to achieve peace in their relationships with God, self, and others.

Brothers, We Are Not Professionals: A Plea to Pastors for Radical Ministry


John Piper - 2002
    A senior pastor pleads with his colleagues to abandon the secularization of the pastorate and return to the primitive call of the Bible for radical ministry.

No Little Women: Equipping All Women in the Household of God


Aimee Byrd - 2016
    Cultivating resolved, competent women equips them to fulfill their calling as Christ's disciples and men's essential allies. Writing to concerned women and church officers, Aimee Byrd pinpoints the problem, especially the commodification of women's ministry. Aimee answers the hot-button issues: How can women grow in discernment? How should pastors preach to women? What are our roles within the church?and points us in the direction of a multifaceted solution.

Why Small Groups? Together Toward Maturity


C.J. Mahaney - 1996
    Whether you attend a small group or lead one, this book will raise your vision and inspire you to excel in the areas of service to which God has called you. And if you don't attend a small group? All the more reason you may want to read Why Small Groups? and let it change your life. The authors are all pastors from various Sovereign Grace Ministries churches.

The Peacemaker: A Biblical Guide to Resolving Personal Conflict


Ken Sande - 1990
    Serious, divisive conflict is everywhere-within families, in the church, and out in the world. And it can seem impossible to overcome its negative force in our lives. In The Peacemaker, Ken Sande presents a comprehensive and practical theology for conflict resolution designed to bring about not only a cease-fire but also unity and harmony. Sande takes readers beyond resolving conflicts to true, life-changing reconciliation with family members, coworkers, and fellow believers.Biblically based, The Peacemaker is full of godly wisdom and useful suggestions that are easily applied to any relationship needing reconciliation. Sande's years of experience as an attorney and as president of Peacemaker Ministries will strengthen readers' confidence as they stand in the gap as peacemakers.

Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire: What Happens When God's Spirit Invades the Heart of His People


Jim Cymbala - 1997
    The Brooklyn Tabernacle pastor discusses how he built up a broken-down church to a membership of six thousand.

Understanding the Congregation's Authority


Jonathan Leeman - 2016
    But biblical congregationalism isn’t so much about the meetings. It’s about empowering the whole church to promote and protect the gospel. Pastors lead and equip. Members get to work strengthening one another and pursuing Christ’s mission in the world.