What does it mean to be a healer in the modern world? In this hope-filled book, Nouwen offers a radically fresh interpretation of modern ministry.

    We measure our worth by what others think of us. We compare and strive, existing mostly for the approval of others. Pressure rises, anxiety creeps in and we hustle to keep up.Jesus whispers, I gave my life to set you free. I gave you purpose. I called you to live in freedom in that purpose. Yet we still hobble through life, afraid to confess all the ways we push against this truth, because we can’t even believe it. We continue to grasp for the approval of anyone that will offer it: whether strangers, friends, or community.Christ doesn’t say you can be or may be or will be free. He says you are free. Dare you believe it?In You Are Free, Rebekah invites you to:• Overcome the exhaustion of trying to meet the expectations of others and rest in the joy God’s freedom brings.• Release stress, anxiety and worry, to uncover the peace that comes from abiding in His presence.• Find permission to grieve past experiences, confess areas of brokenness, and receive strength in your journey towards healing.• Throw off self-condemnation, burn superficial masks and step boldly into what our good God has for you.• Discover the courage to begin again and use your newfound freedom to set others free.Freedom is for everyone who wants it—the lost, the wounded, and those weary from all of the striving. It’s for those who gave up trying years ago. It’s for those angry and hurt, brilliant and burnt by the Christian song and dance. You are the church, the people of God. You were meant to be free.

    Death had won. But after three days in a rich man's tomb, Jesus appeared…alive! The news was so shocking that His followers refused to believe it until they saw Him with their own eyes and touched His wounds with their own hands. Then Jesus made an amazing claim: In the future, they too would have resurrected bodies like His, bodies that would never deteriorate, age or perish. They would have new life without death or pain in the presence of a loving God forever.  But can we really believe His promise? For that matter, can we really believe that the promise was made by a Man who rose from the dead? In this fascinating look at the claims of the Gospel writers and 2,000 years of believing Christians, bestselling author Josh McDowell and his son Sean examine the compelling evidence and conclude that Jesus Christ conquered death and the gravel in clear, concise and accessible chapters, Josh and Sean present the fact s about the resurrection and what it means for readers today.

    Discover the power in the blood of Jesus to protect and save.

    Why Does It Have to Hurt? The Meaning of Christian Suffering

    Each lesson is self-contained, featuring clear teaching from Scripture, and requires no extra work outside of the group setting. The self-explanatory Leader s Guide helps small group leaders with discussion questions and background material that clearly explain and apply the gospel truths from each lesson. Designed for: Pastors and leaders who want to spur gospel renewal in their churches and ministries. Church-planters who want to form gospel DNA in the churches they start. Students and campus ministers who are looking to live out the gospel on campus. Christians who want to be more deeply formed around the gospel. Small group leaders who are looking for content that works with diverse groups of people. Missionaries who are looking for simple material to disciple new Christians.

    This companion training manual to Real-Life Discipleship provides unique guidance and insight to pastors, church leaders, and their disciples as they work to create an effective discipleship program.With a thorough, results-oriented process that can be applied in other contexts and cultures, this manual explains the necessary components of disciplemaking so that every church member can play a part in reaching others for Christ.This leader's resource shows you how to cultivate new leaders for the future and equip them to make disciples.

    You see, those Gospels were written for first century readers already familiar with many of the persons, places, parties, and politics that colored events in those long-past days. Not so modern readers, twenty centuries later! Which is why Fr. Ralph Gorman has here crafted for us a single detailed narrative out of the four Gospels, weaving into his narrative relevant Old Testament passages and prophecies, and facts from Jewish and Roman history, laws, beliefs, traditions, and practices, plus helpful first century military, political, geographical, and archaeological information. Faithful to the Gospels while drawing on the best commentaries on them in English, Latin, French, German, and Italian, these rich pages provide you a refreshing reading of the Gospels supplemented by reliable archaeological, historical, and theological information about the period, places, and persons involved. Plus, you have the benefit of Fr. Gorman's keen depictions of the Gospel places based on his three years' residence there.You can read this book straight through, or one chapter a day as spiritual reading before Mass or during Lent. Either way, you'll come to understand better the malice of the crowds, the dismay and confusion of Christ's friends, and the speed with which the deadly events unfolded. Most of all, you'll come to grasp anew the depths of Christ's love for you, awakening in you greater devotion to Him than ever before.

    Picking up on the monastic tradition of creating a rule of life that allows for regular space for the practice of the spiritual disciplines, this book takes you more deeply into understanding seven key disciplines along with practical ideas for weaving them into everyday life. Each chapter includes exercises to help you begin the practices--individually and in a group context. The final chapter puts it all together in a way that will help you arrange your life for spiritual transformation. The choice to establish your own sacred rhythm is the most important choice you can make with your life.

    Authors include: Harper Lee Kathleen Norris Frederick Buechner Maya Angelou Pope Francis James Martin Marianne Williamson"Amazing Peace" is a wonderful book for daily inspiration during the holiday season and to re-read for its beauty and wisdom on many days after.

    Rather, it is disruptive, courageous, and socially unacceptable. In Bold Love, Dr. Dan Allender and Dr. Tremper Longman III draw out the aggressive, unrelenting, passionate power of genuine love. Far from helping you "get along" with others, Bold Love introduces the outlandish possibility of making a significant, life-changing impact on family, friends, coworkers--even your enemies. Learn more about forgiveness, maturity, and seeing others through Jesus' eyes.

    Each vignette is real, down-to-earth, and comes with a Bible verse to link daily life to the Word of God.Lovers of the "Chicken Soup for the Soul" series will devour these funny and insightful anecdotes. Be inspired by everyday things around you! Perfect for devotionals.

    Such was the case for Jessalyn Hutto when she became pregnant with her first baby. But as is all too common in our post-fall world, the life she carried came to an abrupt end. Death had visited her womb, and the horrors of miscarriage had become a part of her life’s story. ••• Ultimately, she would lose two children in the womb, at 6 and 15 weeks gestation. Through these painful losses, a whole new world of suffering opened up to her. It seemed that everywhere she looked women were quietly mourning the loss of their unborn children. Yet this particular type of loss has been grossly overlooked by the church. ••• Couples navigating the unique sorrow of losing a child are often left with little biblical counsel to draw upon. Well-meaning friends and family often offer empty platitudes and Christian clichés. But what these couples truly need is the hope of the gospel. ••• Short, sensitive, and theologically robust, Inheritance of Tears offers hope and comfort to those who are called to walk through the painful trial of miscarriage, and shows pastors and church members how to effectively minister to these parents in their time of need.Endorsed by Russell and Maria Moore, Jen Wilkin, Courtney Reissig, Tom Schreiner, and more.

    Here he speaks to our yearning to live undivided lives--lives that are congruent with our inner truth--in a world filled with the forces of fragmentation. Mapping an inner journey that we take in solitude and in the company of others, Palmer describes a form of community that fits the limits of our active lives. Defining a "circle of trust" as "a space between us that honors the soul," he shows how people in settings ranging from friendship to organizational life can support each other on the journey toward living "divided no more."This paperback edition includes two new and useful features. Circles of Trust is a DVD containing interviews with Parker J. Palmer and footage from retreats he facilitated for the Center for Courage & Renewal (www.CourageRenewal.org). Bringing the Book to Life, by Caryl Hurtig Casbon and Sally Z. Hare, is a reader's and leader's guide to exploring the themes in A Hidden Wholeness. The DVD illuminates and illustrates the principles and practices behind circles of trust. The guide includes questions that connect the DVD to the book, offering "a conversation with the author" as well as an engagement with the text. Together, these features give readers new ways to internalize the themes of A Hidden Wholeness and share with others this approach to sustaining identity and integrity in all the venues of our lives.Inspired by Palmer's writing and speaking--and challenged by the conditions of twenty-first century life--people across the country, from many walks of life, have been coming together in circles of trust to reclaim their integrity and help foster wholeness in their workplaces and their world.For over a decade, the principles and practices in this book have been proven on the ground--by parents and educators, clergy and politicians, community organizers and corporate executives, physicians and attorneys, and many others who seek to rejoin soul and role in their private and public lives.A Hidden Wholeness weaves together four themes that its author has pursued for forty years: the shape of an integral life, the meaning of community, teaching and learning for transformation, and nonviolent social change. The hundreds of thousands of people who know Parker Palmer's books will be glad to find the journey continued

    But since most pastoral guidebooks available today date back to 1980 or earlier, this new resource by Mac Brunson and James W. Bryant will offer fresh experience-based encouragement to all pastors in their pursuit of excellence and development in their God-called profession.Among the twenty chapters are "The Pastor and His Call," "The Pastor and His Family," "The Pastor and His Staff," "The Pastor and Worship," "The Pastor and Finances," "The Pastor, Wedding, and Funerals," "The Pastor, Politics, and Moral Issues," and "The Pastor and His Denomination."