It takes persistence and tenacity, along with faith in yourself, in God, and in the vision He has given you. In Believe That You Can, Jentezen Franklin gives you a powerful message of hope: you can do it!   Using his own personal experiences and examples from biblical characters who pursued their dreams to the end, Franklin shows you how to find and walk out your God-given vision for your life. Here you will find what you need to turn your dreams into reality, including:   The five stages of a dream and how to recognize and get through each of them What you can do when your dream seems far away or impossible How to fight for your dream and never let go until it comes to pass Don’t let anybody steal what God has already shown you!

    Articles, books, conferences—they mostly feature leaders of large congregations. Yet big churches are a small part of the ecclesial landscape. In fact, more than 90 percent of churches have fewer than 200 people. That means small churches play a big part in what God is doing.Small Church Essentials is for leaders of these smaller congregations. It encourages them to steward their role well, debunking myths about small churches while offering principles for leading a dynamic, healthy small church.Based on the popular six-hour lecture that Karl Vaters delivers to church leaders across the country, Small Church Essentials will affirm small church leaders and show them how to identify what they do well, and how to do it even better. Readers will:Be assured that leading a small congregation does not make them ministry failuresCome away inspired to lead with passion, regardless the size of their churchHave field-tested principles for leading a church in their contextPossess new metrics for biblically measuring vitality in small churchesHave a toolkit of resources to use in their everyday ministryKarl Vaters has been a small church pastor for 30 years, is the author of The Grasshopper Myth: Big Churches, Small Churches, and the Small Thinking that Divides Us (2013), and travels extensively to churches and conferences to speak about leading a small church well.If you are pastoring a small church, this book will be a breath of fresh air. It will affirm your calling while giving you fresh tools to help you lead. It will help you:Stop believing lies about small churchesLead your church to fulfill the role only small churches canUnderstand your congregation’s strengths and weaknessesTurn around a dying or unhealthy churchIdentify good trends and bad in church and culture

    

    You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery.

    God always has a better idea. And it most often requires us to move in the opposite direction.In The Opposite Life, pastor and author Alex Seeley explains the secret to living a powerful and abundant life through the upside-down kingdom of God. Each chapter unpacks the opposite-life principles that begin with our way of thinking and yield miraculous results. They includedeath vs. lifefear vs. faithlast vs. firstlove vs. hateworry vs. worshipgive vs. receiveimpossible vs. possibleWe all want the blessed life but sometimes go about it in the wrong way. God’s promises are conditional. He says follow Me, and I will change your weakness into strength, your foolishness into wisdom, and your nothing into everything.

    Drawing on nearly 40 years of teaching and ministry experience, pastor-scholar Sam Storms answers 25 challenging questions Christians are often too afraid to ask, addressing thorny issues ranging from the eternal destiny of infants to the roles of demons and angels.The robust, thoughtful answers provided in this book offer a helpful alternative to relying on simplistic explanations, and will encourage you in the search for truth and clarity on such tough topics.

    Inviting others to faith requires leaning in to your own story, overcoming fear, and stepping out. But the good news is for everyone, always. And you can help keep it going.Using Scripture and story, Steve Carter casts a vision for non-threatening conversations that point people to Christ. Most significantly, Steve shows that only through risking it all will we discover what God is truly like.

    And if we are honest, we don’t usually think of fear as a good thing. So why does the Bible call us to fear the Lord? In this book, Michael Reeves explains that the fear of God is not a gloomy fear marked by anxiety but a heartfelt and happy enjoyment of God as Creator and Redeemer. As we learn more about the surprising good news of the fear of the Lord, we will discover the vital role we play in displaying to the world the awesomeness of our God.

    We need to begin with the ideas that informed Paul’s worldview and culture. Our goal is simple – to see things the way he saw them rather than the way we see them.· What if the whole idea of ‘original sin’ was never part of Paul’s thinking at all? · What if the idea that we are saved by faith in Christ, as Luther so strongly argued, was based on a mistranslation of Paul’s words, and even more seriously on a misunderstanding of Paul’s thinking? Was Luther – and Calvin who followed him – simply terribly wrong?‘The tragedy,’ writes Steve Chalke, ‘is that over the centuries the Church has time and again failed to communicate, or even to understand, the core of Paul’s message. Although Paul has often been presented as the champion of exclusion, he was the very opposite. He was the great includer; a revolutionary who saw a new inclusive world dawning and gave his life to help bring it in.’ Steve Chalke MBE is a Baptist minister, founder and leader of the Oasis Charitable Trust, and author of more than 50 books.

    Williams places a special focus on the social world of Paul--and the "dangerous newness" that was Christianity--and the specific ways that the behavior and language of the Christian community was being molded and shaped in Paul's time. Easy-to-read and packed with illuminating spiritual insights, "Meeting God in Paul" is perfect for beginners as well as those who've read the letters many times before and want to see them in a fresh light. Questions for reflection or group discussion are provided for each chapter. The book also features a reading guide that includes a reflection and prayer for each of the seven weeks of Lent.

    Whether with a small group or large crowd, Jesus opened hearts and minds by asking questions that grasped attention and made one think. In The Jesus Code, author O. S. Hawkins poses fifty-two thought-provoking questions found throughout the Bible that believers should be able to answer as they grow in their faith and share their faith with others. Each question features a devotional thought to help readers find answers and promote further reflection.Sample questions include: What does the Lord require of you?Where can I go from Your Spirit?Who is my neighbor?What is your life? A vapor that appears and vanishes away?Why do you seek the living among the dead?Will a man rob God? As with The Joshua Code, all royalties will go to Mission:Dignity, whose mission supports retired pastors and their wives (or widows) living near poverty level.Features & Benefits:Includes 52 thought-provoking questions and answersHandsome burnished leathersoft binding for a rich, classic lookThis release follows peak of O.S. Hawkins’ book, The Joshua Code with sales of more than 150,000 unitsAll royalties go toward Mission:Dignity, an organization that supports retired pastors and their spouses living near the poverty level

    When he retired forty years later, it was nearing 20,000.Though Bob's ministry was a clear success, he'd be the first to say it wasn’t perfect. In After 50 Years of Ministry he shares why. He reflects on the best of what he’s learned—sometimes the hard way—about ministry and leadership, like how to:Respond to criticismProtect your marriageStop comparing yourself to other pastorsHandle a staff moral failurePrioritize preaching in your scheduleBuild trust with your eldersMake the best use of downtimeHilarious, warm, and full of great stories and illustrations, After 50 Years of Ministry is sage advice from a faithful servant of God. If you are in leadership of any kind, don’t miss this chance to learn from one of the best.

    But we live in a day when people put more stock in a once-said prayer than a life reflective of a renewed heart. Taking Matthew 7:13–27 as his text, Paul Washer reminds us of Jesus’s insistence that His way is narrow, and that its travelers will bear good fruit and rest on the solid foundation of God’s Word. Neglecting these warnings from Christ has left many on the broad road to destruction. Don’t think you are heading to heaven if you are not following the way of the Master. “Paul Washer is a gifted evangelist who brings a penetrating gospel message that pierces straight to the heart. This book is an expanded version of a message he gave that had an unusually profound effect upon countless souls. You will want to read these pages carefully because they will either expose unconverted hearts or bring the blessed assurance of salvation to those who have truly believed. May these provocative truths find their way into your soul for your eternal good.” —Steven J. Lawson, president, OnePassion Ministries, Dallas, Texas PAUL WASHER ministered as a missionary in Peru for ten years, during which time he founded the HeartCry Missionary Society to support Peruvian church planters. Paul now serves as one of the laborers with the HeartCry Missionary Society (www.heart crymissionary.com). He and his wife, Charo, have four children: Ian, Evan, Rowan, and Bronwyn.

    But it's the foundation of our faith. In this new 365-day devotional, Tullian Tchividjian reminds you every day that the gospel is good news. It's God's message that He loves us even when we don't deserve it. These short readings each contain a truth from God's Word that will set you on a solid foundation for the day—a foundation of God's grace, goodness, and unconditional love.

    Praying consistently seems almost impossible. Too often and too easily, prayer becomes a burden: one more item on an already overcrowded to-do list. Failing to pray becomes a source of guilt and stress as we must once again admit our inconstancy and procrastination to our father confessor. Yet, our Lord said, “Come to me, all of you who are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. My burden is easy and my yoke is light” (Matt. 11:30). The purpose of this book, then, is not to add to the burden, but to ease it by distilling the advice and experience of those who pray.