What does it look like to help others become more like Christ?In this concise guide, pastor Mark Dever outlines the who, what, where, when, why, and how of discipling--helping others follow Jesus.Following the pattern found in Scripture, this book explains how disciple-making relationships should function in the context of the local church, teaching us how to cultivate a culture of discipling as a normal part of our everyday lives.Part of the 9Marks: Building Healthy Churches series.

    Your life began with a brilliant thought in God's mind. Your purpose, therefore, is the awakening to that thought. In this groundbreaking book, Touré introduces a new way to perceive the meaning of purpose. As he says: "You don't find purpose; purpose finds you." In fact, purpose conceived you; it was the catalyst for your birth. This thought-provoking book opens with the revolutionary concept that "Every life began as an epic idea." This new way of finding your purpose will empower you and change your life forever. You haven't even begun to live until you find out why you are here. Touré uses personal stories, humor, and eye-opening analogies to take you on a transformational journey. You will learn how to discover your unique purpose, know God's voice, identify and choose purpose mates, end wrong relationships, put an end to fear, grow your faith, and so much more.Purpose Awakening will also give you a relatable and practical guide that will instill confidence, peace, and fulfillment by demystifying the journey to purpose, and enabling you to discover your own unique awakening. Being more than just a "feel good book," Purpose Awakening provides true direction and gives parameters that guide the purpose-seeker. It will set you on a life-changing course to discovering the good idea concerning your life and the joys of seeing it fulfilled.

    I had tried.” —Roger BenimoffAs he left for his second tour of duty as an Army chaplain in Iraq, Roger Benimoff noted in his journal: I am excited and I am scared. I am on fire for God...He is my hope, strength, and focus. But not long after returning to Iraq, the burdens of his job–the memorial services for soldiers killed in action, the therapy sessions after contact with the enemy, the perilous excursions “outside the wire” while under enemy fire–began to overwhelm him. Amid the dust, heat, and blood of Iraq, Benimoff felt the pillar of strength he’d always relied on to hold him up–his faith in God–begin to crumble. Unable to make sense of the senseless, Benimoff turned to his journal. What did it mean to believe in a God who would allow the utter horror and injustice of war? Did He want these brave young men and women to die? In his darkest moment, Benimoff wrote: Why am I so angry? I do not want anything to do with God. I am sick of religion. It is a crutch for the weak.Benimoff’s spiritual crisis heightened upon his return home to Fort Carson, Colorado. He withdrew emotionally from wife and sons, creating tensions that threatened to shatter the family. He was assigned to work at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, where he counseled returning soldiers suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder–until he was diagnosed himself with PTSD.Finding himself in the role of patient rather than caregiver, connecting as an equal with his fellow sufferers, and revisiting scriptural readings that once again rang with meaning and truth, he began his most decisive battle: for the love of his family and for the chance to once again open his heart to the healing grace of God. Intimate and powerful, drawing on Benimoff’s and his wife’s journals, Faith Under Fire chronicles a spiritual struggle through war, loss, and the hard process of learning to believe again.From the Hardcover edition.

    The world is experiencing the Blues, and pulpiteers are dispensing excessive doses of non-prescribed prosaic sermons with severe ecclesiastical and theological side effects.� from chapter 1Uniquely gifted preacher Otis Moss III helps preachers effectively communicate hope in a desperate and difficult world in this new work based on his 2014 Yale Lyman Beecher Lectures. Moss challenges preachers to preach with a Blue Note sensibility, which speaks directly to the tragedies faced by their congregants without falling into despair. He then offers four powerful sermons that illustrate his Blue Note preaching style. In them, Moss beautifully and passionately brings to life biblical characters that speak to today's pressing issues, including race discrimination and police brutality, while maintaining a strong message of hope. Moss shows how preachers can teach their congregations to resist letting the darkness find its way into them and, instead, learn to dance in the dark.

    These questions open the door to spiritual transformation. They help us unpack where we are stuck, where we are in pain, where we are afraid, and much more. They also reveal the path to joy and to the heart of God. Spiritual inventories and exercises will guide you, along with stories from Gem and Alan's lives and their ministry together through Unhurried Living. Embarking on a journey of transformation involves remaining awake to a deeper level of reality that is always present, write the Fadlings. Remaining on this journey requires a simpler, God focus. These eight questions about transformation can help us cultivate this kind of deeper awareness and soul focus. These paths help keep us on the journey of transformation. They keep us in the presence of the transforming One. This practical, personal book offers a path to understanding what God wants to reveal in your soul.

    You've heard about binding Satan and breaking strongholds and calling demons by name. You've heard you should claim your victory in Christ...but you're not really sure how to do that.This isn't a book about evil.With passion and strength, Mary DeMuth brings balance and insight to the often murky realm of spiritual warfare. As you embrace the abundant life to which God calls his daughters, she'll tell you why your voice matters for eternity. And on the darkest days, you'll know that spiritual warfare is about bowing before the Creator, not cowering before the devil. It's about finding freedom and beauty in the midst of devastation. It's about the power of God to heal our hearts, to move mountains, to intercede when we're weary. It's about crucifixion and a defiant, glorious resurrection.It's about truth.It's about power.Join Mary in the beautiful battle, and be renewed on the journey.

    His guitarist is trying to get them all killed. Fans are stealing his things. Mechanics are rebuking his lifestyle. Even his own fragile, uptight psyche is antagonizing him. But despite having every odd stacked against him, Project 86's frontman is living the dream and loving it. In It's All Downhill From Here, Andrew Schwab chronicles the highs and lows, the struggles and triumphs of this underground, independent rock band's rocky road to stardom. From a hostage situation on their first day on the road, to a drummer's crushed hand, a haunting female fan and an '80s rocker's halitosis problem, Schwab tells it like it is, with biting wit and rock star charm. This insider's look at the real life of a rock band not only reaffirms that everyone's human, but makes you hungry for a dream of your own to chase after.

    Elaine Heath urges the church to boldly follow the Holy Spirit's leadership beyond buildings and programs to join what Jesus is doing in the world.KEY FEATURES--Each chapter has reflection questions for small-group discussion.--The book could be used for leadership development over several weeks or months.

    Jennifer wondered who God was and why he continued to allow her to struggle and doubt.Where, Jennifer pleaded,is his hand of healing and hope in my life now?This is a book about finding more than just answers. It's for anyone who needs hope when life doesn't make sense---for all who reach for a God who feels distant.As Jennifer tackles the six big questions of faith, she will help you:Trust God more than your feelings.Strengthen your faith when you feel beat up by life.Embrace your obstacles and start experiencing their purpose.Face your disappointment and grow stronger from your loss.

    Bittersweet is the idea that in all things there is both something broken and something beautiful, that there is a moment of lightness on even the darkest of nights, a shadow of hope in every heartbreak, and that rejoicing is no less rich even when it contains a splinter of sadness. It’s the practice of believing that we really do need both the bitter and the sweet, and that a life of nothing but sweetness rots both your teeth and your soul. Bitter is what makes us strong, what forces us to push through, what helps us earn the lines on our faces and the calluses on our hands. Sweet is nice enough, but bittersweet is beautiful, nuanced, full of depth and complexity. Bittersweet is courageous, gutsy, audacious, earthy. This is what I’ve come to believe about change: it’s good, in the way that childbirth is good, and heartbreak is good, and failure is good. By that I mean that it’s incredibly painful, exponentially more so if you fight it, and also that it has the potential to open you up, to open life up, to deliver you right into the palm of God’s hand, which is where you wanted to be all long, except that you were too busy pushing and pulling your life into exactly what you thought it should be. I’ve learned the hard way that change is one of God’s greatest gifts, and most useful tools. Change can push us, pull us, rebuke and remake us. It can show us who we’ve become, in the worst ways, and also in the best ways. I’ve learned that it’s not something to run away from, as though we could, and that in many cases, change is a function of God’s graciousness, not life’s cruelty.” Niequist, a keen observer of life with a lyrical voice, writes with the characteristic warmth and honesty of a dear friend: always engaging, sometimes challenging, but always with a kind heart. You will find Bittersweet savory reading, indeed. “This is the work I’m doing now, and the work I invite you into: when life is sweet, say thank you, and celebrate. And when life is bitter, say thank you, and grow.”

    But instead of easing our emotional burden, the pressure to love ourselves more actually makes it worse. Even so, the idea that unconditional self-love can cure all that ails us is tempting and easy to rationalize.It's time to admit to ourselves what we already know: we are not smart enough; we are not beautiful enough; we are not tough enough; we are not good enough. And that's okay, because God is.Allie Beth Stuckey, a young mother, Christian, and conservative thought leader, was once herself sucked into the Cult of Self-Love--and knows that you probably have been too. In this book, she shows you how to identify and combat the toxic, exhausting myths our culture encourages with Scripture and traditional values like personal responsibility, self-sacrifice, and grit. For instance:Myth: There is no objective truth.Truth: We'll never feel personally fulfilled if we have no moral benchmark at which to aim.Myth: Life is all about me.Truth: When our highest priority is our own comfort and success, we end up alienating family and friends.Myth: Happiness is the goal.Truth: Since good vibes don't last forever, they're not sufficient criteria for personal purpose and meaning.Blending timeless wisdom and biblical truths, Stuckey shows how these sneaky, pervasive myths threaten women and fuel victimhood culture--from social justice warriors to radical feminism and the new wave of socialism. Stuckey dismantles these myths step-by-step and offers strategies that can help you move past them--and undo the damage they've done.

    "Chasing God," Roger Huang's gritty, heartfelt story of ministering in San Francisco's Tenderloin District, inspires you to seek God's presence--and His miracles--in your own life.

    Simple, powerful and applicable insights show you how to be on mission and recognize where Jesus is already at work in your neighborhoods, workplaces and schools. You will feel both relief and hope. You may even hear yourself say, "I can do this!" as you start responding to the everyday opportunities Jesus is placing in your path.

    Now, in this long-awaited release, Emerson has created an experience for couples that is effective, flexible and life-changing.To build this couples devotional, Eggerichs has taken the top concerns that surfaced in a survey of thousands of couples and has developed 52 devotionals around the three cycles that are at the heart of Love and Respect. On one occasion the couple will be talking about how to stop the "Crazy Cycle" or keep it at bay. The very next devotional will talk about a concept built upon the "Rewarded Cycle," which stresses the ultimate purpose for marriage. And the next may have both people talking about ways to use the "Energizing Cycle" in their efforts to love and respect each other.Some may ask, "Why 52 and not 365, like other couples devotionals I have seen?" The author's research shows that married couples don't want to deal with that much material, that often. Therefore, the specific devotionals, which can be done weekly or at any chosen pace, are specifically guided to what couples say they most need. And this is a husband-friendly devotional, having been written and designed in such a way that the husband can feel comfortable in the entire process.With this wealth of new material and video devotionals available online to support the product, "The Love & Respect Experience "will be indispensable to anyone wishing to better their marital relationship.

    Rick Warren will guide you through a personal forty-day spiritual journey that will transform your answer to life's most important question: What on earth am I here for? Knowing God's purpose for creating you will reduce your stress, focus your energy, simplify your decisions, give meaning to your life, and most important, prepare you for eternity. Movie stars and political leaders aren't the only ones turning to Rick Warren for spiritual guidance. Millions of people from NBA and LPGA players to corporate executives to high school students to prison inmates meet regularly to discuss The Purpose Driven Life.