They will follow their own desires and will look for teachers who will tell them whatever their itching ears want to hear. They will reject the truth and chase after myths." --2 Timothy 4:3-4Jesus Christ is coming back. It is certainly a Christian's greatest hope during these difficult times. The Bible warns us that the last days will be tumultuous--wars and rumors of wars will spread (Matthew 24:6). In our age, the world seems to be spinning out of control, creating fear, confusion, and uncertainty. In addition to violence, pestilence, and epidemics, the Bible predicts a great "falling away" from God in the end times. Bible teachers call that "the great apostasy." Are we seeing evidence today in the church of this massive rejection of sound and wholesome teaching? Mark Hitchcock, former lawyer and popular Bible teacher, examines the evidence from the teachers of our time. Are today's teachers allowing people to follow their own desires by telling them what they want to hear, as the Bible clearly predicts? Are major portions of the church ready to abandon sound and wholesome teaching?Mark explores the writings of church leaders in America and is stunned by what he discovers. The great apostasy is coming, but is it closer than we imagine? What does that mean for the future? Let Mark Hitchcock be your steady guide to the difficult days ahead.

    Our pace is too frenetic to be in union with God, and we don't know how to quiet our hearts and minds to be present. Our emotions are unhealthy and compartmentalized. We feel unable to love well or live differently from the rest of the world--to live as people of the good news.New York pastor Rich Villodas says we must restore balance, focus, and meaning for our souls. The Deeply Formed Life lays out a fresh vision for spiritual breakthrough following five key values:- Monastic Value: unplug from this noisy world to care for your soul- Emotional Health Value: why deep love can't come from shallow wells- Healthy Sexuality Value: how our bodies connect with our spirituality- Multiracial Value: a spiritual, internal approach to pursuing racial justice- Missional Value: how to be the hands and feet of Jesus in a consumerist worldThe Deeply Formed Life is a roadmap to live in the richly rooted place we all yearn for: a place of communion with God, a place where we find our purpose.

     Simply put, we have more needs than we have leaders to meet those needs. So, how do we train better leaders faster? The truth is, very few churches really have a well-thought-out leadership development plan. Growth requires continually adding healthy new leaders, who carry the church culture forward and embody its core values. Everyone knows it, but how do we achieve it?In Empowering Leadership author and leadership consultant Michael Fletcher says leaders like this can't simply be bought, nor can they be hired from someone else's leadership assembly line. Developing leaders at every level, to create an environment that attracts potential leaders, and to build better leaders faster, an organization needs more than a pipeline. It needs a culture that develops leaders organically.Finding the right kind of leaders to guide your church on a path of continual growth comes out of keeping the right focus, and that focus is not just on the leaders. In fact, as Fletcher says, It isn't about the leader. It never was about the leader. It will never be about the leader. It will always and only be about Jesus and his people. It's about the people. True leadership development includes the often messy, but necessary, interaction of life upon life. So hiring pastors and key staff roles from within the church is the very best policy--people who breathe the culture of the church and who have helped create the culture you want to maintain.If your church or organization needs a good leadership development structure, then you're holding the right book. Empowering Leadership details Michael's greatest insights on how to build better leaders faster by creating a leadership development culture in your church or organization--naturally, organically, continually. Empower your church or organization through great leadership. This book will show you how!

    It isn't an entertaining showcase for a talented soprano or a lecture on textual criticism or a pleasant weekly reunion of friends and family. Instead, true worship is a joyous celebration of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. And as we actively turn our hearts toward God in earnest praise of God's great works, God in turn speaks to us and blesses us with a healing and renewing touch.In this life-changing and dynamic book, Robert Webber declares that worship is not "something done to us or for us, but by us." It is the most exhaustive demonstration of our faith and the most intimate form of relationship we can have with our Savior. Complete with a guide for group of personal study, "Worship Is a Verb" will show you how to leave the dull confines of the pew and enter the courts of the Living God.

    But why have efforts to change the world by Christians so often failed or gone tragically awry? And how might Christians in the 21st century live in ways that have integrity with their traditions and are more truly transformative? In To Change the World, James Davison Hunter offers persuasive—and provocative—answers to these questions.Hunter begins with a penetrating appraisal of the most popular models of world-changing among Christians today, highlighting the ways they are inherently flawed and therefore incapable of generating the change to which they aspire. Because change implies power, all Christian eventually embrace strategies of political engagement. Hunter offers a trenchant critique of the political theologies of the Christian Right and Left and the Neo-Anabaptists, taking on many respected leaders, from Charles Colson to Jim Wallis and Stanley Hauerwas. Hunter argues that all too often these political theologies worsen the very problems they are designed to solve. What is really needed is a different paradigm of Christian engagement with the world, one that Hunter calls "faithful presence"—an ideal of Christian practice that is not only individual but institutional; a model that plays out not only in all relationships but in our work and all spheres of social life. He offers real-life examples, large and small, of what can be accomplished through the practice of "faithful presence." Such practices will be more fruitful, Hunter argues, more exemplary, and more deeply transfiguring than any more overtly ambitious attempts can ever be.Written with keen insight, deep faith, and profound historical grasp, To Change the World will forever change the way Christians view and talk about their role in the modern world.

    This means church leaders need to create no-fail; practical ways to ensure a visitor's first impression is the best impression. Author Mark Waltz shares the strategies that work in his church--and takes "greeting" to a whole new level.When guests feel valued, they will return. And when they do, they'll have the opportunity to experience Jesus' love. Let visitors know "You matter to God, so you matter to us."Adapt these practical ideas to your church's unique setting, and it won't be long before everyone feels welcome: Learn how to create a church that's welcoming to guests with strategies on:— developing senior leadership— traffic flow— the walk to the door— to shake hands or not?— directional signs or people? Address the philosophy, strategy and implementation of a ministry that welcomes first-time and returning guests. Gain sure-fire, practical ways to make the first impression the best impression.

    A. Pierce, author of Spirituality at Work The concluding prayer of the Mass is a command: Go in peace to love and serve the Lord. We are charged to go forth and quite literally transform our families, our communities, and our world through the redeeming sacrifice of Christ as celebrated in the Mass. Fr. Dominic Grassi and Joe Paprocki use this challenge as the starting point for their inspiring and illuminating look at the central act of Catholic worship. They ask, What would our faith look like if we truly understood the gift of the Eucharist?Living the Mass will stir a new passion for and a greater understanding of this sacred two-thousand-year-old celebration offered freely to all who come, to all who believe.  Also available in Spanish! Vivir la misa

    was born in Puerto Rico. He began having visions of future events asa young boy, a gift he inherited from his mother. At age 13 he and his family joinedthe LDS Church, and the visions he had been receiving began to make sense as helearned more about the prophecies and doctrines taught by church leaders. Amongthe events he has foreseen are:�� Earthquakes in Utah�� A national financial collapse�� Plagues and sicknesses�� Concentration camps on U.S. soil�� An invasion from foreign troops�� The Saints prevail against the enemyHector's visions are specifically meant to serve as warnings to his own family, but hehopes that by sharing what he has seen, it will help others prepare for the challengingtimes that will soon come upon the world.

    It is invoked daily in prayers, blessings, ordinances, and testimonies of members of the Church throughout the world. Apostles serve as "special witnesses of the name of Christ in all the world." But what does it mean to be a witness not just of Jesus Christ, but also of His name? In His Holy Name, Elder Dallin H. Oaks explores the significance of the scriptural references to the name of Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world.Using personal insight and excerpts from the standard works, Elder Oaks takes a fascinating look at the meaning of the Savior's holy name in our worship and beliefs. Truly, His holy name is a vital portion of our understanding and faith in the restored gospel. Elder Oaks recounts the words of John: "But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name" (John 20:31). This modern-day Apostle explains, "In this context, 'his name' means His work and His plan of salvation with all of its glorious provisions for the children of God."

    Provides an approach that brings expository and narrative preaching together to help seminary students, ministry leaders, and pastors connect with a young church audience.

    Understanding its origin and development through the experiences of Wilford Woodruff will answer questions posed by individuals inside and outside of the Church. What is the relationship of temple ordinances and Old Testament rituals? Why have some ordinances been discontinued? Why did married women choose to be sealed to Joseph Smith? What is priesthood adoption? When were proxy ordinances introduced?Many books and articles address a specific temple ordinance or a period of time in Mormon history, but the development of all temple ordinances has never been included in a single volume - until now.Jennifer Mackley's meticulously researched biographical narrative chronicles the development of temple doctrine through the examination of Wilford Woodruff's personal life. The account unfolds in Woodruff's own words, drawn from primary sources including journals, discourses, and letters. Mackley elucidates the doctrine's sixty-year progression from Old Testament practices of washings and anointings in the 1830s, to the endowment, sealings, and priesthood adoptions in the 1840s, through all of the vicarious ordinances for the dead in the 1870s, to the sealing of multigenerational families in the 1890s. Her narrative is enhanced by 120 archival images (some previously unpublished), as well as extensive footnotes and citations for the reader's further study. More information can be found at www.wilfordwoodruff.info.

    The path is littered with too many burned out best and brightest, too many beleaguered institutions and stunted organizations. The church is no exception: pastors are fried and congregations are stuck, and the work never lets up. But what does it actually mean to share leadership? And how do we avoid burning out whole teams instead of single leaders? How does team leadership bless and not frustrate a congregation? Researchers and practitioners Warren Bird and Ryan Hartwig have discovered churches throughout the United States of various sizes and traditions that have learned to thrive under team leadership. Through practical insights, compelling research and real-life stories, they help you overcome barriers and build teams of mutual support and meaningful, sustainable action. This empowering vision for church leadership culminates with five disciplines that can take your team from struggling to thriving together."

    An appendix includes a suggested plan for using each days meditation as part of a morning or evening prayer.Paperback

    It offers creative approaches to answering some of the most pressing questions in theology of mission and missionary practice today. The authors, who are leading mission experts, discuss biblical theology of mission, provide historical overviews of the development of various viewpoints, and address theologically current issues in global mission from an evangelical perspective. This readable yet thorough text integrates current views of the kingdom of God and holistic mission with traditional views of evangelism and church planting. It also brings theology of mission into conversation with ecclesiology and eschatology. Topics covered include contextualization, the missionary vocation, church and mission, and theology of religions. Sidebars and case studies enable readers to see how theology of mission touches real-life mission practice.

    Imagine learning and employing the following leadership skills: -How to communicate vision in a way that causes people to respond -How to hire the right people and fire the wrong people -How to gauge the health of your church -Staffing strategies that add staff and reduce expenses -How to maximize momentum for greater growth -How to develop a system for raising up leaders -How to develop yourself as a leader -How to manage staff more effectively -And much more! Effective ministry doesn't have to be a mystery. Instead, it can be the ride of your life as you take the journey from Zero to Sixty!