In The Insider, Navigator authors Jim Petersen and Mike Shamy will give you the awareness and skills needed to share your faith and deepen your outreach to others.

    As soon as he was able, he left the community and moved as far away as he could. But through a remarkable turn of events, he reluctantly returned and found himself not only back in Englewood but also serving as a pastor ("Pastah J") and community leader. In Church Forsaken, Brooks challenges local churches to rediscover that loving our neighbors means loving our neighborhoods. Unpacking the themes of Jeremiah 29, he shows how Christians can be fully present in local communities, building homes and planting gardens for the common good. His holistic vision and practical work offers good news for forgotten people and places. And community stakeholders and civic leaders will rediscover that churches are viable partners in community transformation in ways that they may never have considered. God has always been at work in neglected neighborhoods. Join Pastah J on this journey and discover new hope for your community.

    This is good news for all of us. It frees us up to talk about the most important part of our lives in a way that’s natural, meaningful, and helpful instead of clumsy, awkward, and irrelevant.Anyone who has spent countless uncomfortable hours walking from house to house with a clipboard or flash cards that talk about four spiritual laws understands.Jesus’ conversations were remarkably simple. Contemporary Christian lingo has set up a dichotomy between what we call “discipleship” and “evangelism,” but the Bible doesn’t do that. Jesus had conversations all the time with those who thought they were close to God, as well as with those who deemed themselves lost and without hope. He invited all of them to come and learn from Him.42 Seconds is a simple book that uses the ordinary moments of our lives the way Jesus used the same moments in his own. The premise is straightforward: If we can learn from Jesus how to have great conversations, it will change our lives and the lives of those around us. Its four-part structure, including five short chapters per section, is for churches and small groups to engage with the practical ideas together. 42 Seconds includes discussion questions to help groups and individuals implement Jesus’ natural rhythm of interaction in their own lives.

    And so the Christian Community Development Association (CCDA) was born, with Wayne Gordon an immediate and enthusiastic participant. Nearly thirty years later CCDA's eight key components of community development still set the bar for how churches, parachurches and nonprofits engage cities with the whole gospel.Relocation Reconciliation Redistribution Leadership Development Listening to the Community Church-Based Development A Wholistic Approach to Ministry Empowerment In Making Neighborhoods Whole Perkins and Gordon revisit these eight commitments and how they've played out in real communities, even as they scan the horizon of urban ministry to set a new tone. With profiles of longstanding and emerging community development ministries, they guide a new conversation and empower disciples of Jesus to seek the welfare of their cities to the glory of God.

    It might be healing or a home. Regardless of what we're waiting for, it's easy to feel discontent when things aren't going as planned and our dreams are delayed--especially when questions of "Why?" and "How long?" remain unanswered.God uses seasons of waiting to teach us patience and make us more like himself. But sanctification is not the only purpose God has in mind. When we wait faithfully with unmet longings, we become a powerful picture of the bride of Christ waiting for the day when he returns and God's kingdom reigns.

    First, that effective preaching without a manuscript is not a matter of talent as much as it is a matter of preparation. Preachers can learn the practices and disciplines that make it possible to deliver articulate, thoughtfully crafted sermons, not from a written page, but as a natural, spontaneous act of oral communication. Throughout the book, the author offers specific examples including a transcript of a sermon preached without manuscript or notes. Second, that the payoff of learning to preach without a manuscript is nothing less than sermons that more effectively and engagingly give witness to the good news.

    George G. Hunter III points out that, while the attention paid to the Celtic Christians is well deserved, much of it fails to recognize the true genius of this ancient form of Christianity. What many contemporary Christians do not realize is that Celtic Christianity was one of the most successfully evangelistic branches of the church in history. The Celtic church converted Ireland from paganism to Christianity in a remarkably short period, and then proceeded to send missionaries throughout Europe.North America is today in the same situation as the environment in which the early Celtic preachers found their mission fields: unfamiliar with the Christian message, yet spiritually seeking and open to a vibrant new faith. If we are to spread the gospel in this culture of secular seekers, we would do well to learn from the Celts. Their ability to work with the beliefs of those they evangelized, to adapt worship and church life to the indigenous patterns they encountered, remains unparalleled in Christian history. If we are to succeed in "reaching the West . . . again," then we must begin by learning from these powerful witnesses to the saving love of Jesus Christ.

    They provide relaxed and informal settings which facilitate growth in grace and understanding. Orlando Saer provides a realistic and practical guide for anyone leading or wanting to lead such a group. This book will give you the tools you need as a leader to see your group thrive.

    Drawing from the teaching of the New Testament, with illustrations from his own experience, Wimber persuades us to "yield control of our lives to the Holy Spirit." It includes a chapter-by-chapter study guide.

    Throughout, Allen compares Paul's methods to modern missionary methods; he concludes by suggesting some ways the apostolic method might be usefully employed today.

    Shortly before he died in 1998, Lesslie Newbigin recorded a series of eight radio addresses on basic themes and central figures in the Bible. These addresses, which form the basis of this book, affirm the Bible as the story of the history of humankind. Newbigin invites readers to join him on a journey from Genesis through Revelation, introducing the great biblical figures along the way - Abraham, Moses, Noah, the prophets, Paul, and of course, Jesus. His characteristically lucid prose, reflecting a lifetime of faithful teaching and preaching, both challenges and inspires the reader to a deeper level of Christian discipleship. This authoritative, powerful summary of the Bible story is indispensable reading for individuals, teachers, clergy, and adult study groups. Lesslie Newbigin was a founding bishop of the Church of South India and associate general secretary of the World Council of Churches. He authored numerous books, including Proper Confidence: Faith, Doubt, and Certainty in Christian Discipleship; The Gospel in a Pluralist Society; and Foolishness to the Greeks: The Gospel and Western Culture.

    Advocating for a balanced perspective, Carl Trueman offers an analysis of why creeds and confessions are necessary, how they have developed over time, and how they can function in the church of today and tomorrow.