Yet there is hardly a more neglected topic among Christians. In this much-needed book, a New Testament scholar and a cross-cultural missionary explore all thirty passages in the New Testament that deal with the conscience, showing how your conscience impacts virtually every aspect of life, ministry, and missions. As you come to see your conscience as a gift from God and learn how to calibrate it under the lordship of Jesus Christ, you will not only experience the freedom of a clear conscience but also discover how to lovingly interact with those who hold different convictions.

    That's why we go to conferences and emulate the latest superstars. But we know we can never live up to those images. Deep down, we know our own limitations, our weaknesses, our faults. We fear that if people knew who we really are, we'd be disqualified from ministry.Not so. Mandy Smith unpacks the biblical paradox that God's strength is revealed through our human weakness. Transparently describing her pastoral journey, Smith shows how vulnerability shapes ministry, through our spiritual practices and relationships, influencing our preaching, teaching and even the nuts and bolts of the daily schedule. Understanding our human constraints makes our ministry more sustainable and guards us against disillusionment and burnout.We don't have to have it all together. Recognizing our weakness makes us rely on God, so our weakness can become a ministry resource. God has called you to lead not as a demigod, but as a human, so the world can see that the church is a place for humans like them.

    This beloved classic will give new meaning to the ageless Shepherd Psalm, enriching your trust in and love for the Lord who watches closely over you.

    At the same time, she encourages women to teach and lead in the church in ways that may startle some complementarians. Readers on both sides of this hot-button topic will be challenged by her ministry-tested and thoroughly Scriptural perspective.

    Now the bestselling author of "unChristian" trains his researcher's eye on these young believers. Where Kinnaman's first book "unChristian" showed the world what outsiders aged 16-29 think of Christianity, "You Lost Me" shows why younger Christians aged 16-29 are leaving the church and rethinking their faith. Based on new research, "You Lost Me" shows pastors, church leaders, and parents how we have failed to equip young people to live "in but not of" the world and how this has serious long-term consequences. More importantly, Kinnaman offers ideas on how to help young people develop and maintain a vibrant faith that they embrace over a lifetime.

    In this text Gary Parrett and Steve Kang set forth a thoroughly biblical vision for intentional teaching of the Christian faith that attends to both the content and process of educational and formational ministries.

    Her mama finds her dark skin repulsive, so she abuses and neglects her. Also, she constantly compares Dana to her light-skinned sister. Regardless of Dana's unconditional love for her mama, she still encounters a cycle of torment. Will mama finally realize that Dana is a beautiful person in spite of her dark skin or will she continue to spew those hateful words, "Mama don't like ugly?"

    In Signs of the Spirit he articulates the substance of Edwards's arguments in a more understandable way. The point is not to dumb down Jonathan Edwards but to make his work accessible to a wider audience.This volume serves those both in and outside the academic realm as valuable preparation for, or as a companion guide to, a reading of Edwards's Religious Affections.

    But with many decisions, there's a certain amount of danger. One wrong decision can destroy a career or a marriage. A string of wrong decisions can derail a life. So how do we know if our decisions are wise ones?Pastor Bob Merritt has found that the best way to get it right is to cultivate godly wisdom. In Get Wise, he takes God's best wisdom as found in the book of Proverbs and applies it to the top decisions every person has to make--decisions about education, work, family, friends, sex, parenting, money, and more. Topic by topic, he shows readers how to make choices that result in long-term benefits in health, reputation, peace, and finances.

    Most antebellum southern Baptist churches allowed women and slaves to vote on membership matters and preferred populists preachers who addressed their appeals to the common person.Paradoxically no denomination could wield religious authority as zealously as the Baptists. Between 1785 and 1860 they ritually excommunicated forty to fifty thousand church members in Georgia alone. Wills demonstrates how a denomination of freedom-loving individualists came to embrace anexclusivist spirituality--a spirituality that continues to shape Southern Baptist churches in contemporary conflicts between moderates who urge tolerance and conservatives who require belief in scriptural inerrancy. Wills's analysis advances our understanding of the interaction between democracyand religious authority, and will appeal to scholars of American religion, culture, and history, as well as to Baptist observers.

    In a liminal season it simply is not helpful to pretend we understand what needs to happen next. But leaders can still lead.How to Lead When You Don't Know Where You're Going is a practical book of hope for tired and weary leaders who risk defining this era of ministry in terms of failure or loss. It helps leaders stand firm in a disoriented state, learning from their mistakes and leading despite the confusion. Packed with rich stories and real-world examples, Beaumont guides the reader through practices that connect the soul of the leader with the soul of the institution. --Phill Martin, Chief Executive Officer, The Church Network

    He lays out specific habits such as study, collegiality, and humor as the day-by-day means of following the difficult and dangerous, yet deeply rewarding, calling of a pastor.

    Based on the 16 fundamental truths of the Assemblies of God doctrinal statement, this study offers an opportunity for growth and stability in the faith.

    Leaders administrate the new program, and members go on a raid. But picture a church where evangelism is just part of the culture. Leaders share their faith consistently and openly. Members follow, encouraging one another to make evangelism an ongoing way of life.Such is the way of evangelism presented by this brief and compelling book. No program here. Instead, it just might give your church a new way to live and share the gospel together.

    Rather than preparing a steady diet of spiritual meat, pastors are mistakenly serving up a self-focused snack--ultimately leaving congregations malnourished and ill prepared to stand firm when their faith is challenged.Recognizing the need for a return to biblical preaching, Begg has written this practical book, outlining the nature of power-filled, expository preaching and demonstrating its importance in the life of the church.