Yet this book emanates with a special poignancy out of Peterson's own crisis experience as a pastor. Peterson tells about the "abyss," the "gaping crevasse," the "chasm" that he experienced, early in his ministry, between his Christian faith and his pastoral vocation. He was astonished and dismayed to find that his personal spirituality, his piety, was inadequate for his vocation -- and he argues that the same is true of pastors in general. In the book of Jonah -- a parable with a prayer at its center -- Peterson finds a subversive, captivating story that can help pastors recover their "vocational holiness." Using the Jonah story as a narrative structure, Peterson probes the spiritual dimensions of the pastoral calling and seeks to reclaim the ground taken over by those who are trying to enlist pastors in religious careers.

    So where should full-time ministry begin?In The Path to Being a Pastor, Bobby Jamieson explains why it's better to emphasize "aspiration" over "calling" as men pursue the office of elder and encourages readers to make sure they are pastorally gifted before considering the role. He shares from his own eleven-year experience preparing to be a pastor by walking potential leaders through different stages of ministry training, from practical steps--such as cultivating godly ambition and leadership, observing healthy churches, and mastering Scripture--to personal advice on building a strong family and succeeding in seminary. Emphasizing the importance of prayer, godly counsel, and immersion in the local church, Jamieson encourages men to ask Am I qualified? instead of Am I called? when considering a life in ministry.

    With this revision, the book's original formatting has been redesigned to complement the eight volumes in The Complete Guide to Godly Play series. Illustrations have also been updated, and the text now better reflects the playful spirit of Godly Play. Up-to-date research in childhood development and instruction has also been incorporated in this comprehensive update.

    For most evangelicals today, however, this very idea is an alien concept. Packer and Parrett, concerned for the state of the church, seek to inspire a much needed evangelical course correction. This new book makes the case for a recovery of significant catechesis as a nonnegotiable practice of churches, showing the practice to be complementary to, and of no less value than, Bible study, expository preaching, and other formational ministries, and urging evangelical churches to find room for this biblical ministry for the sake of their spiritual health and vitality.

    He spoke to Abram and his household and they became a family on mission. We see Jesus operating in the same way, gathering an extended-family-like group of disciples around himself before embarking on his mission. Jesus needed a family on mission. Within the Trinity, the unity of God is expressed in a diversity of persons, which means that at the very heart of God’s nature is family on mission. And thus God’s preferred mode of operation has always been family on mission. In fact, discipleship doesn’t really work apart from the context of a family on mission. Without that texture, discipleship becomes programmatic and mechanical, not really producing people with the character and competency of Jesus. The good news is that today, Jesus our Brother and King is wanting to empower us to live as covenant families caught up in kingdom mission. It seems that the Holy Spirit is moving us away from the destructive dichotomy of Family OR Mission, where we can only do one or the other, away from the band-aid fix of Family AND Mission, where we keep them separate and manage boundaries and margins, toward the integrated life of Family ON Mission, where we wholeheartedly embrace being part of a covenant community AND with those people play our part in God’s kingdom mission. This book is about our journey in leading a family on mission, as well as looking deeply at how Jesus built his family on mission in the Gospels, as well as practical strategies for growing as a family on mission, imitating Jesus as his disciples.

    Ginger's candid approach will help moms move beyond the frustrations of not knowing how to handle issues of disobedience and into a confident, well-balanced approach to raising their children.

    They are living, complex things that grow and change. Sometimes they fly so high we scrape the top of heaven. Sometimes they barely make it off the ground. Sometimes they feel buried under the ground. What hope do we have of understanding ourselves when we are so changeable? And what hope do we have for lasting change when our response to life is so different from one day to the next? But God designed our hearts to be both varied and varying, and he delights in his craftsmanship. He made our hearts to respond to life in a wide, beautiful spectrum of thought, desire, and choice. This spectrum bends, adapts, expands, and contracts as it dynamically responds to changing situations. The goal of change is not to flatten this variety, but to guide our responses so they reflect who we are in Christ. Jesus perfectly lived his humanity out as a dynamic being. Now as our risen Savior, he redeems all of human experience for his purposes. Without a holistic understanding of people, our approach to those in need of help will be lopsided, focusing on just one aspect of human experienceperhaps simply trying to correct faulty thinking, to stir different emotions, or to correct wrong actions. Focusing on one of these aspects of human experience to the exclusion of the others does not do justice to Gods design. Jeremy Pierre, in this ground-breaking book, lays out a holistic understanding of who we are and how we change through a dynamic relationship with Christ. Every day our dynamic hearts need help from our dynamic Savior. As Dr. Pierre connects the realities of our changing and complex thoughts, desires, emotions, and actions to who we are in Christ, readers will gain a more complete understanding of who we are, who God is, and how change happens in

    With clarity and precision, Christopher West unpacks John Paul II's Theology of the Body, translating it into a language everyone can understand.

    A practical guide to parenting that starts with the differences that the Gospel makes in the lives of those doing the parenting - most Christian books ignore this aspect.

    They always have and always will. Nothing can change that. Nothing will. It is not a question of whether men will be ruling, but which ones and how.” ~From It's Good to Be a ManOur modern society has called for us to “smash the patriarchy,” and the church has not done much better.Instead of telling men how they can hone and refine their aggressive traits, the church has told men that they should aspire to be meek servant-leaders, and when a man shows any signs of independence, he is shown the door. This leaves most young men lost. They don’t know what to do or how to improve, so they watch Jordan Peterson videos on YouTube to learn how to grow in their masculinity and sense of mission.In this book, Michael Foster and Bnonn Tennant remind men that their natural aggressive instincts are gifts from God that are meant to be used for the kingdom. Men are supposed to found households, join brotherhoods, and work towards a mission.It's Good to Be A Man offers men a quick guide to where they are and how they can improve.God made men to be strong and aggressive risk-takers. This is a feature, not a bug. Foster and Tennant remind us that it’s good to be a man.

    The solution is here with the revised and updated Isaiah Made Easier! Noted gospel scholar David J. Ridges brings Isaiah's symbolism and literary imagery to life in Isaiah Made Easier, turning this often misunderstood book of scripture into a gold mine of truth. As with his other books in the Gospel Studies series, this book includes the full-text of the scripture for quick reference, in-the-verse notes that provide effective and unique teaching tools, and extra explanations that give additional insights into valuable principles and doctrines. Join the tens of thousands of readers who have experienced spiritual growth from reading and pondering this book. Never before has Isaiah been so easy to understand!

    Over 750,000 people in 80 countries have been trained to make disciples through organizations he has led. Through studying the life of Christ and His disciple-making methods, Dann developed 4 Chair Discipling, a simple picture for others to follow. Jesus’ last words on earth had a few very specific instructions: Go, make disciples, baptize, and teach.But what does that mean for us today? Well, it’s not easy. But it is simple. Teacher and leader Dann Spader explains disciple-making as a process of moving people through four chairs, from someone seeking to know more about Christ to someone who makes disciples themselves.Chair 1: Come and See (John 1:39)Chair 2: Follow Me (John 1:43)Chair 3: Become a Fisher of Men (Matthew 4:19)Chair 4: Go and Bear Fruit (John 15:16)In the process of His four-year ministry, Jesus realized that different people are at different stages of growth and development, and He works to challenge each of them to the next level. In 4 Chair Discipling , you’ll get a clear and simple picture of how to follow in Jesus’ footsteps and do the same thing.

    He makes his case so well that his book, Doctrine that Dances, is our Preaching Book of the Year.” Michael Duduit, editor, Preaching magazine"Away with dull doctrinal sermons! Using the metaphor of music, the author shows us how to blend cogitation and celebration—mind and heart—in our preaching of Bible doctrine. You can benefit from his wide knowledge and experience in traditional western homiletics as well as African American preaching. We have much to learn from each other, and this book is a valuable contribution to the current conversation." Warren W. Wiersbe, former pastor of Moody Church, general director of Back to the Bible, and coauthor of Preaching in Black & White“A masterful preacher and teacher himself, Smith provides direction for students, young pastors and veteran preachers alike. Pulpits across the land will be strengthened as preachers implement the guidance offered in this volume. Doctrine That Dances will become mandatory reading for a new generation of preachers. It is a joy to recommend this marvelous work.”David Dockery, president, Union University“Dr. Robert Smith, Jr. is one of the most compelling voices in American preaching today . . . Doctrine That Dances describes the preacher’s task in a way that is at once personal, passionate, and provocative. This book describes the kind of preaching that is at the heart of the awakening that must come.”Timothy George, founding dean of Beeson Divinity School and a senior editor at Christianity Today

    Yet the trend these days is one of shunning the practice of organized religion and showing a distaste or fear of commitment, especially of institutions.Jonathan Leeman addresses these issues with a straightforward explanation of what church membership is and why it's important. Giving the local church its proper due, Leeman has built a compelling case for committing to the local body.

    This popular resource gently encourages married couples to make their sexual relationship the fulfilling experience it was meant to be. This is a complete sex manual, with basic facts, illustrations, and frank discussion of all facets of human sexuality. A perfect gift for newlyweds and a source book for pastors and marriage counselors, this book has helped more than a million people understand and enjoy the gift God intended for pleasure.