Now The Forgotten Ways Handbook moves beyond theory to practice, offering ways for any missionally minded person to apply the ideas contained in The Forgotten Ways to their life and ministry.This intensely practical handbook includes many helpful tools: summary sections encapsulating the ideas contained in each chapter in a popular way; suggested practices to help readers embed missional paradigms concretely; and adult learning-based techniques and examples from other churches and organizations that enable readers to process and assimilate the ideas in a group context. EXCERPTMake no mistake about it; the scope of the change that is required to shift to the kind of movement described in The Forgotten Ways is nothing less than paradigmatic. Every element of mDNA poses a direct challenge to the prevailing ways of doing church and mission. When taken together, all six elements of Apostolic Genius make the task seem enormous. But we don't think it is actually as difficult as it seems. And it is certainly not impossible. The Chinese church proves that a highly institutionalized form of Christianity can become a remarkable movement given the right circumstances. And we don't believe that we have to have persecution to activate Apostolic Genius. Less intense forms of adaptive challenges can, and do, force the church to respond. What we are witnessing in our own day indicates that. Because the church carries the gospel as well as the full coding of Apostolic Genius in her, the potential for world transformation is always present in us. We can always draw upon latent resources and instincts. God is able and very willing to stir his church up. In fact we see this as one of the very special works of the Holy Spirit--to awaken God's people to their calling and destiny as a movement that can and will change the world.

    D. Wilson reminds each of us that to truly live we must recognize that we are dying. Every second we create more of our past—more decisions, more breathing, more love and more loathing, all of it slides by into the gone as we race to grab at more moments, at more memories made and already fading.We are all authors, creators of our own pasts, of the books that will be our lives. We stare at the future or obsess about the present, but only the past has been set in stone, and we are the ones setting it. When we race across the wet concrete of time without purpose, without goals, without laughter and love and sacrifice, then we fail in our mortal moment. We race toward our inevitable ends without artistry and without beauty.All of us must pause and breathe. See the past, see your life as the fruit of providence and thousands of personal narratives. What led to you? You did not choose where to set your feet in time. You choose where to set them next.Then, we must see the future, not just to stare into the fog of distant years but to see the crystal choices as they race toward us in this sharp foreground we call the present. We stand in the now. God says create. Live. Choose. Shape the past. Etch your life in stone, and what you make will be forever.

    This book helps readers match who they are--their unique spiritual gifts, passions, temperament, talents, and leadership style--with the ministry area for which God designed them. A practical guide, it takes dedicated Christians step by step through the process of reaching their full potential for Christ's kingdom. This new edition of Maximizing Your Effectiveness puts multiple tools, inventories, and worksheets in the hands of readers to empower them to minister according to God's unique design and purpose for their lives.

    I don't much like going. So, what now?"What's happening to the Church? Why are so many people who for decades have been faithful, steady churchgoers (and others who want to start going to church but can't seem to find one that meets their needs) losing interest in even attending church, let alone getting involved? What is fundamentally wrong with the "types" of churches (Seeker, Bible, Emergent, Liberal, Evangelical) that dot the religious landscape? Larry Crabb believes it is time to rethink the entire foundation and focus of what we know today as church -- everything we're doing and are wanting to see happen. In his most honest and vulnerable book to date, the author reveals his own struggles in this area and then offers a compelling vision of why God designed us to live in community with Him and others, and what the church he wants to be a part of looks like."

    We are creatures of intense desire.  We emerge from the womb longing for touch and affection.  Desire pulsates within us every waking moment of our lives.  Our hearts are fueled by hungry yearnings for connection, for relationship, for a sense of belonging.  We plunge into life, giving ourselves away to him or her, to this or that, drinking in every promise of fulfillment.  And yet, we always emerge from the quest for love still feeling a persistent and insatiable desire for something more.  A God Named Desire is about that something more.  There are some books that speak with an unusual level of clarity to the deepest issues that press the human heart.  This is one of those rare books.  You will never see god, or yourself, the same after the insights of A God Named Desire are introduced into your mind.

    Focusing on the life of the mind helps us to know God better, love him more, and care for the world. Along with an emphasis on emotions and the experience of God, we also need to practice careful thinking about God. Piper contends that "thinking is indispensable on the path to passion for God." So how are we to maintain a healthy balance of mind and heart, thinking and feeling?Piper urges us to think for the glory of God. He demonstrates from Scripture that glorifying God with our minds and hearts is not either-or, but both-and. Thinking carefully about God fuels passion and affections for God. Likewise, Christ-exalting emotion leads to disciplined thinking.Readers will be reminded that "the mind serves to know the truth that fuels the fires of the heart."

    The Christian faith has become its own gravedigger. In the 25 years since philosopher and social critic Os Guinness first published The Gravedigger Files, much has happened: the fall of the Soviet Union, the rise of the computer age, the re emergence of China and India, the rise of Islamic terrorism, and the worldwide revitalization and politicization of religion. But the central mystery of Dr. Guinness’s “spy novel”—inspired by his affection for John le Carré thrillers—remains unsolved: Can Christians regain the full integrity of faith in Christ while fully and properly engaged in the advanced modern world? This new edition of The Last Christian on Earth, which includes previously unpublished “top-secret memos,” is Dr. Guinness’s parable about the future of the Christian church in the West. Written in the grand tradition of le Carré, Fleming and Clancy, this thriller pays homage to the genre while transcending it—because the real-life ending has yet to be written!

    The idea of our own “righteous anger” is a myth. It is the number one problem in our societies today and, as Dallas Willard says, Christians have not been taught out of it. But what if Christians were the most unoffendable people on the planet?In Unoffendable you will find concrete, practical ways to live life with less stress, including: Adjusting your expectations to fit human natureReplacing perpetual anger with refreshing humility and gratitudeEmbracing forgiveness and beginning to love others in unexpected waysIn a humorous and conversational style, Unoffendable seeks to lift religious burdens from our backs and allow us to experience the joy of gratitude, perhaps for the first time, every single day of our lives—flourishing the way God intended.

    We want to dwell in lush valleys, not wander in trackless deserts. And yet, during the first three centuries of the church, many men and women purposefully moved into deserts to seek God. They understood something that we have missed: a desert is not a place of vast nothingness, but a place where we can truly experience God's provision, restoration, and intimacy.Through Scripture and personal stories of her own times of waiting and struggle, Allison Allen offers a fresh perspective for women who dare to believe that God is doing something of eternal value in their dry seasons. She shows how God can use these times in our lives to reveal himself to us, to give us rest, to get our attention, to show us our strength, to experience his blessings, and more. Any woman who has been feeling spiritually sapped will welcome this refreshing message of hope.

    He was arrogant and stubborn. He called his opponents derogatory, racist names. He legitimized slavery and silenced women. He was a moralistic, homophobic killjoy who imposed his narrow religious views on others. Or was he? Randolph Richards and Brandon O'Brien explore the complicated persona and teachings of the apostle Paul. Unpacking his personal history and cultural context, they show how Paul both offended Roman perspectives and scandalized Jewish sensibilities. His vision of Christian faith was deeply disturbing to those in his day and remains so in ours. Paul behaved badly, but not just in the ways we might think. Take another look at Paul and see why this "worst of sinners" dares to say, "Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ."

      Todd Wagner invites readers to experience the adventure, goodness, and fullness of life that God has intended for humankind from the beginning of time and especially today through His provision through His people. Weekly meetings of mostly bored adults who regularly attend services have nothing to do with God’s vision for His people. Wagner paints the picture of a perfect Father’s intention to bring His people into an adventurous life full of authentic relationships, powerful transformation, and seemingly impossible significance and meaning.

    Situating the reader within his own striking narrative, Potter presents himself simply enough as a young boy with questions. Throughout the book, Potter’s thoughts on these theories are punctuated by personal experiences — an honest approach that moves from one page to the next not un-like a conversation with a friend.And in this conversation, Potter articulates several characteristics of these world-views and the consequences they engender for our perspectives of everyday reality and for the ultimate purpose of our lives. Through the lens of these major views from the East and the West, 3 Theories of Everything effectively wrestles with questions of desire and suffering, examining their implications within each perspective.Potter asks readers to consider which view they would naturally identify themselves with and to think responsibly about why that is. In so doing, Potter both engages the reader with helpful big-picture information and also trusts them to relate it to their own contexts and experience. Based on lectures by the author, 3 Theories of Everything concludes with a large section of questions and answers drawn from live audience discussions that will no doubt leave the reader with a sense of recognition and plenty to think about.

    Yet so often, we too easily settle for someone else's descriptions, the Cliff notes from another's spiritual journey. We are content for "God-experts" to do the heavy lifting and then give us the bottom line. And like any secondhand information, after enough times through the grapevine, the truth about God deteriorates and crumbs of rumor are all that remain.But when life derails, and things don't go as we had planned, our thin view of God is challenged. In those critical moments, we can choose to walk away from God, or to let our questions lead us home. When we choose to wrestle with God, to engage Him for ourselves, we-like Jacob and Job and David-will see rumors die and revelation come alive.It's time to hear the magnificent, Divine Invitation. It's time to take God up on His offer and embrace the mystery and majesty of knowing Him for ourselves.

    And this joy and peace is not just for Christmas, it lasts all year round and into eternity.-----------------------------------Contents 1. Something Better 2. God Gets Involved 3. God Gives Joy 4. God is Worth It 5. The Beginning, Not the End

    These two trends define life in Western society today. We are increasingly addicted to habits―and devices―that distract and "buffer" us from substantive reflection and deep engagement with the world. And we live in what Canadian philosopher Charles Taylor calls "a secular age"―an age in which all beliefs are equally viable and real transcendence is less and less plausible. Drawing on Taylor's work, Alan Noble describes how these realities shape our thinking and affect our daily lives. Too often Christians have acquiesced to these trends, and the result has been a church that struggles to disrupt the ingrained patterns of people's lives. But the gospel of Jesus is inherently disruptive: like a plow, it breaks up the hardened surface to expose the fertile earth below. In this book Noble lays out individual, ecclesial, and cultural practices that disrupt our society's deep-rooted assumptions and point beyond them to the transcendent grace and beauty of Jesus. Disruptive Witness casts a new vision for the evangelical imagination, calling us away from abstraction and cliché to a more faithful embodiment of the gospel for our day.