As Art Lindsley says, "Lewis knew what it was like not to believe. He struggled with many doubts along the way to faith. Since he was an ardent atheist until age thirty-one, Lewis's experience and education prepared him to understand firsthand the most common arguments against Christianity." As a scholar and teacher of literature at Oxford, Lewis confronted many questions:Aren't all religions just humanly invented myths?Doesn't evil in the world indicate an absence of any personal or loving God?Why should what is true for one person be true for me, especially when it comes to religion?How can anyone claim that one religion is right?Why follow Jesus if he was just another good moral teacher?This book provides a readable introduction to Lewis's reflections on these and other objections to belief in Jesus Christ and the compelling reasons why Lewis came to affirm the truth of Christianity. Art Lindsley is a helpful and reliable guide to the voluminous and sometimes challenging writings of Lewis for both seekers and those who want to grasp their own faith more deeply.

    He describes the preaching of the Puritans (thoroughly biblical, unashamedly doctrinal, experimentally practical, holistically evangelistic, and studiously symmetrical), the primary methods of evangelism (plain preaching and catechetical evangelism), and the inward disposition of the Puritan evangelist (dependent on the Holy Spirit and prayerful). Table of Contents: 1. Introduction: Puritan Evangelism Defined Characteristics of Puritan Preaching 2. Thoroughly Biblical 3. Unashamedly Doctrinal 4. Experimentally Practical 5. Holistically Evangelistic 6. Studiously Symmetrical The Method of Puritan Evangelism 7. Plain Preaching 8. Catechetical Evangelism The Inward Disposition of the Puritan Evangelist 9. Dependency on the Holy Spirit 10. Men of Prayer

    Running a program to help the needy, Laura discovered a world of people she never knew: the lonely and unemployed, chronically poor families, and middle-class folks surprised to be struggling in a great recession. And to each, she offered a bag of groceries, a compassionate ear, and a heart of love. Taking a tiny food pantry and watching it grow to feed hundreds, Laura learned about her own hunger for God and began to discern her own spiritual directions, learning how her calling card a bag of groceries could be a gift to others and to herself of abundance and grace."

    What makes for good preaching?In this accessible volume--written for preachers and preachers in training--pastor David Helm outlines what must be believed and accomplished to become a faithful expositor of God's Word.In addition to offering practical, step-by-step guidance for preachers, this short book will equip all of us to recognize good preaching when we hear it.

    They will help you reflect on Jesus in the run-up to Easter. Ideal to start at the beginning of Lent.

    . . cheating, pride, and greed? This book is for the avid sports fan who loves Jesus. Let’s face it: Sports—with the scandals, cheating, arrogance, and more that often accompany them—are complicated to watch. How should Christian sports fans enjoy the good in the game amidst all the bad?There are books on how to worship God with our marriages, our money, and our sex lives. Books on how to “think biblically” about movies, television, and the arts. Books on how to vote and how not to vote as a Christian. But there is little thoughtful, Christ-centered writing on the subject that drives most of men’s banter with each other and consumes the bulk of their free time: sports.Learn from a Pro.Author Ted Kluck understands these complications with being a Christian sports fan—and a Christian athlete. He played professional indoor football, coached high school football, and trained as a professional wrestler.He knows how to write well about sports because of these experiences and also because he watches them (dedicatedly), and has written about them. Ted’s award-winning writing has appeared in ESPN The Magazine, Sports Spectrum magazine, and on ESPN.com’s Page 2.Written in the vein of Rick Reilly (Sports Illustrated), Chuck Klosterman (Spin, Esquire), and David Foster Wallace (A Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never Do Again), The Reason for Sports will both entertain and shed light on some of today’s most pertinent sports issues (race, drugs, hero worship, and more) all through a biblical lens.Enjoy His Expert and Humorous Articles.In twelve articles, Ted humorously and honestly investigates the world of sports from a Christian perspective. Through a Biblical lens, he examines topics such as:Jock ApologiesSteroidsStories about famous athletes such as Mike Tyson and Tom BradyFantasy FootballSports, film, sexuality, and humilityRacial reconciliationNot only will you be entertained as you read this book, but also you will be trained to think Christianly about many of today’s most pertinent issues in sports.“There are plenty of books about Christian athletes, and plenty of books by Christian superstars. But there is precious little writing on sports from a Christian perspective. It’s amazing really. Americans are obsessed with sports, especially men, and yet Christians haven’t done much to reflect on the good and bad of sports. That’s why I love Ted’s writing. He knows sports. He’s played sports. He’s done real sports reporting. And he’s a strong Christian who knows how to write.”Book review by Kevin DeYoung on TheGospelCoalition.comA Short Excerpt from Ted’s Introduction: Sports are a huge part of the lives of American men, including church men. Our churches have informal basketball, golf, and softball leagues. Guys talk about sports in the church lobby. Yet with all the books teaching us how to worship with our marriage, our money, our “quiet times,” and our sex lives, little is written about the subject that drives most of our banter with each other and around which much of our free time revolves.How do we worship God with this part of our lives? How do sports help us to grow in sanctification? How do we think theologically about the myriad of moral dilemmas in sports?On the pages that follow, hopefully, you’ll be able to enjoy sports with me as I try to find the good in a sports world that at times has gone bad. I’m not going to try to convince you that Mike Tyson or Ricky Williams should be your spiritual guide, or that you shouldn’t cheer for Mike Vick because he drowns puppies, or that you should cheer for all American QB Tim Tebow because he etches a Bible verse on his eye-black before every game. I’ll let you draw your own conclusions about all of these people. But I’ll invite you to begin formulating your own theology of sports with me.

    As much sting as that statement has, it's hard to argue with. Yet many churches have no idea how to attract and retain younger generations.If you want to understand how to reach, teach, and empower young adults in your church, Jonathan "JP" Pokluda is ready to show you how. Sharing stories of successes and failures during his years of ministering to Millennials, JP offers you transferable principles that will help you mobilize the next generation toward Jesus. He encourages and equips you to- be real- teach the whole truth- hold traditions loosely- find young leaders- give the ministry away- and so much moreTomorrow's church is out there, waiting for you to care, to reach out, to understand their struggles, and to show them why today's church needs, wants, and cherishes them.

    Trend lines, unless altered, point to accelerated cultural change and even greater drift from the historic roots of this country. As a result, there is a growing intolerance towards believers and their message. Increasingly, followers of Jesus are being viewed as narrow, bigoted and hateful.  Yet all of this was predicted by Christ before His departure.Prepare: Living Your Faith in an Increasingly Hostile Culture will set forth a biblical, theological, and practical approach to navigating the challenging days ahead and a reason for hope and optimism - the power of the Gospel and the possibility of societal transformation.

    It's a strategy that enabled Osborne's congregation to grow from a handful of people to one of the larger churches in the nation—without any marketing or special programming. Sticky Church tells the inspiring story of North Coast Church's phenomenal growth and offers practical tips for launching your own sermon-based small group ministry.Topics include:Why stickiness is so importantWhy most of our discipleship models don’t work very wellWhy small groups always make a church more honest and transparentWhat makes groups grow deeper and sticker over timeSticky Church is an ideal book for church leaders who want to start or retool their small group ministry—and velcro their congregation to the Bible and each other.

    This extensive encyclopedia is the most complete and practical work ever published on the art and craft of biblical preaching. Its 11 major sections contain nearly 200 articles, comprehensively covering topics on preaching and methodology, including:Sermon structure and “the big idea.”The art of introductions, transitions, and conclusions.Methods for sermon prep, from outlining to exercising.Approaches to different types of preaching: topical, expository, evangelistic, and more.Best practices for sermon delivery, speaking with authority, and using humor.Leveraging effective illustrations and stories.Understanding audience.and much more.Entries are characterized by intensely practical and vivid writing designed to help preachers deepen their understanding and sharpen their communication skills. The contributors include a virtual Who’s Who of preaching from a cross section of denominations and traditions, such as Dallas Willard, John Ortberg, Rick Warren, Warren Wiersbe, Alice Mathews, John Piper, Andy Stanley, and many others.Haddon Robinson and Craig Brian Larson—two of today’s most respected voices in preaching—provide editorial oversight.Includes audio CD with preaching technique examples from the book.

    Writing out of his personal experience and biblical conviction, Driscoll here examines six key areas of church leadership.

    Few, if any, address for a contemporary audience the biblical foundations of the government of the church. But this should be a priority for us, because God emphasizes the government of his church throughout Scripture. Why should we be church members? How do church officers reflect Jesus' reign over us? Where do the church's responsibilities begin and end? Where do ours? These, and other important questions, are answered in Guy Prentiss Water's vital examination of How Jesus Runs the Church. At a time when church authority is treated with contempt, it's important that we honor God in our churches more than ever.

    the smoke rises ... the band starts playing. It's a familiar scene, as youth ministers everywhere use entertaining and trendy approaches to draw in teens. But when the lights come on and the fog clears, what do we find?Far too many teenagers raised in Christian homes drift away from the church after high school. Why is this true? Could it be because youth groups, in seeking to elevate experience over truth, have left teens dissatisfied and hungry for that truth?Brian Cosby demonstrates a ministry approach that nurtures teens and brings them back for more--one solidly grounded in Christ and patterned after the means of grace: the Word, sacraments, prayer, service, and community. Learn how much teenagers not only need a deeper ministry, but want one too.

    Too often technical reason and excessive religious certitude reduce the gospel to coercive, debilitating pietisms that mask the text's meaning and freeze the hearers heart.With skill and imagination, Brueggemann demonstrates how the preacher can engage in daring speech-differently voiced and therefore differently heard. This speech, as suggested by the Bible itself, is poetic speech, enabling the preacher to forge communion in the midst of alienation, bring healing out of guilt, and empower the hearer for missional imagination. As an alternative to theological/homiletical discourse that is moralistic, pietistic or scholastic, Brueggemann proposes preaching that is artistic, poetic, and dramatic. The basis for the 1989 Lyman Beecher Lectures at Yale Divinity School, Finally Comes the Poet is a unique and transforming guide for powerful preaching.