Sure, you can bring him your problems - but the chances are his solutions will blow your mind. This man can see into your soul, and the cures he prescribes don't come from the pharmacy. If you have fears you just cannot face, wounds you can't even bear to remember - if you've been abused, ignored, damaged by all life throws at you - the Shadow Doctor is here to help.But the Shadow Doctor has shades of his own, and the work of helping others may be the only thing keeping him afloat. Can he stay ahead of the demons that torment him long enough to help those who need him?

    This series of short films featuring innovative Bible teacher Rob Bell dives head-first into tough questions about faith, authenticity, and living as a follower of Christ. Use them in small groups, classes, even as sermon illustrations. Each 10--14 minute DVD video comes with a 32-page guide for group discussion and personal reflection. This NOOMA series library includes 10 titles: Rain, Flame, Trees, Sunday, Noise, Kickball, Luggage, Dust, Bullhorn, and Lump.

    But it's not cheap—true grace compels us to change. That’s where holiness comes in.Beloved writer, speaker, and bestselling coauthor of Wild and Free Jess Connolly will be the first to admit that not long ago, like many women, she grasped grace but she had forgotten holiness. Dance, Stand, Run charts her discovery that holiness was never meant to be a shaming reminder of what we “should” be doing, but rather a profound privilege of becoming more like Christ. That’s when we start to change the world, rather than being changed by it.Dance, Stand, Run is an invitation to the daughters of God to step into the movements of abundant life: dancing in grace, standing firm in holiness, and running on mission. Through story and study, Jess casts a fresh vision for how to live into your identity as a holy daughter of God, how to break free of cheap grace and empty rule-keeping, and finally, how to live out your holy influence with confidence before a watching world. Spoiler alert: it’s a beautiful thing.For anyone longing to take their place in what God is doing in the world, Dance, Stand, Run will rally your strength, refresh your purpose, and energize your faith in a God who calls us to be like Him.

    But contrary to the prevailing attitude, might the Old Testament contain relevant and meaningful application for today? Renowned author and scholar Walter Kaiser shows why the Old Testament deserves equal attention with the New Testament and offers a helpful guide on how preachers and teachers can give it the full attention it deserves. Growing out of his teaching material from the last decade, Preaching and Teaching from the Old Testament demonstrates Kaiser's celebrated straightforward exposition. Offering an apologetic for the Christian use of the Old Testament, the opening chapters deal with the value, problem, and task of preaching from it. Following a discussion of the role of expository preaching, Kaiser provides a practical focus by examining preaching and teaching from the texts of various genres. A final chapter explores the relevance of the Old Testament in speaking to a contemporary audience.Bible teachers, pastors, seminary students, and professors will appreciate Kaiser's practical focus and relevant applications. Additional helps include a glossary and suggested outlines and worksheets for expository preaching.

    Now The Forgotten Ways Handbook moves beyond theory to practice, offering ways for any missionally minded person to apply the ideas contained in The Forgotten Ways to their life and ministry.This intensely practical handbook includes many helpful tools: summary sections encapsulating the ideas contained in each chapter in a popular way; suggested practices to help readers embed missional paradigms concretely; and adult learning-based techniques and examples from other churches and organizations that enable readers to process and assimilate the ideas in a group context. EXCERPTMake no mistake about it; the scope of the change that is required to shift to the kind of movement described in The Forgotten Ways is nothing less than paradigmatic. Every element of mDNA poses a direct challenge to the prevailing ways of doing church and mission. When taken together, all six elements of Apostolic Genius make the task seem enormous. But we don't think it is actually as difficult as it seems. And it is certainly not impossible. The Chinese church proves that a highly institutionalized form of Christianity can become a remarkable movement given the right circumstances. And we don't believe that we have to have persecution to activate Apostolic Genius. Less intense forms of adaptive challenges can, and do, force the church to respond. What we are witnessing in our own day indicates that. Because the church carries the gospel as well as the full coding of Apostolic Genius in her, the potential for world transformation is always present in us. We can always draw upon latent resources and instincts. God is able and very willing to stir his church up. In fact we see this as one of the very special works of the Holy Spirit--to awaken God's people to their calling and destiny as a movement that can and will change the world.

    But God can become present to us in surprising ways through our everyday routines. Framed around one ordinary day, this book explores daily life through the lens of liturgy, small practices and habits that form us. Each chapter looks at something making the bed, brushing her teeth, losing her keys that the author does in the day. Drawing from the diversity of her life as a campus minister, Anglican priest, friend, wife, and mother, Tish Harrison Warren opens up a practical theology of the everyday. Each activity is related to a spiritual practice as well as an aspect of our Sunday worship. Come and discover the holiness of your every day."

    Taken from the biblical image of the shepherd, the pastor by virtue of his or her professional calling cultivates wise judgment in order to hear the hurting and offer guidance, reconciliation, healing, sustaining presence, and empowerment to those in need. This book will outline the quintessential elements pastors need to wisely minister in today's context by discussing four major kinds of lostness: grief, illness, abuse, and family challenges. The purpose of the Abingdon Essential Guides is to fulfill the need for brief, substantive, yet highly accessible introductions to the core disciples in biblical, theological, and religious studies. Drawing on the best in current scholarship, written with the need of students foremost in mind, addressed to learners in a number of contexts, Essential Guides will be the first choice of those who wish to acquaint themselves or their students with the broad scope of issues, perspectives, and subject matters within biblical and religious studies.

    Which social medium platforms make sense for your church community? How can you make them an effective tool for ministry? As a veteran social media expert, author, and sociologist, Meredith Gould has helped answer these questions and more in her best-selling book The Social Media Gospel. In this second edition, Gould provides an easy-to-understand, step-by-step guide to digital ministry for those wishing to embrace new technologies to build community and deepen faith. In this expanded edition, Gould delivers new content with humor, helpful tips, and counsel anchored in practical experience. She focuses on key topics for effective church communication, including: • Building and ministering to online communities • Privacy and self-disclosure in the digital age • Integrating communications across digital platforms • Managing and monitoring social media • Faith storytelling with visual social media • Hashtag development and live-tweeting

    Have you ever gone to a conference as a preacher of a local church and come away jaded because you felt that you couldnt live up to impressive conference speaker in your week to week Sunday ministry? This book is for the preacher; prospective preacher or the listener.From the words of Deuteronomy & Moses this is a call to make the proclamation of Gods word a priority each week.

    It is a way of life. Randy Harris invites you not just to understand these great teachings but to live them in ways you never before imagined.

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

    This book unwraps the hidden power of a relational genius and the practical pursuits that contribute to increasing one's relational quotient (RQ). Steve Saccone offers thought-provoking and compelling pathways into understanding the synergistic effect of relational intelligence, mission, and influence. He demonstrates how critical the art of relational intelligence is for leaders who desire to better serve those they lead, as well as the organizations and communities they love.Offers practical wisdom, engaging anecdotes, and compelling stories that show leaders how to develop relational intelligence Delineates the essential skills that make leaders relationally intelligent Unwraps six roles of a relational genius and how these transform our approaches to influence Includes Foreword by Erwin Raphael McManus A new book in the popular Leadership Network Series The author reveals how to increase one's awareness of the nuances in relational dynamics and suggests ways to help navigate relationships more intelligently and productively.

    Popular biblical scholar and author N. T. Wright provides his own Scripture translation and brief reflection, helping readers understand Advent in the wider context of Gods love.Wrights engaging and accessible writing and imagery help us see Advent both in relation to the Bibles message and in our own lives today. Each week discusses key themes for the season: thanksgiving, patience, humility, and joy. This book is suitable for both individual and group study and reflection.

    After years of responding patiently and agreeably to the pseudo-intellectual arguments and tactics of today's militant atheists, he's had enough. In this entertaining, no-holds-barred retort to atheism and its proponents, DeStefano reveals the intellectual bankruptcy at atheism's core and equips believers to respond to its hollow arguments.A witty and devastating takedown of the new atheist position, Inside the Atheist Mind systematically debunks the theories of Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens, Sam Harris, and others, revealing how inconsistent, illogical, and frankly ludicrous their conclusions truly are. Poking fun at atheists in a clever and intelligent way, DeStefano demonstrates just how full of holes the new atheism is and reveals that it is actually a religion of its own, complete with a creed, a set of commandments and sacraments, and a rigid moral code with rewards and punishments. More than that, DeStefano exposes that atheism is itself a superstition of the worst kind.Using irony and a healthy dose of playful sarcasm, Inside the Atheist Mind lampoons, teases, and deflates the atheist position, unmasking it for what it is--an empty, intellectually barren philosophy, devoid of any logic and common sense.

    But something has gone wrong with our worship. Too often, worship has become a place of safety and complacency. It can be a narrowly private experience in which solitary individuals express their personal adoration. Even when we gather corporately, we often close our eyes to those around us, focusing on God but ignoring our neighbour.But true biblical worship does not merely point us upward it should turn us outward as well.In this prophetic wake-up call for the contemporary church, pastor Mark Labberton reconnects Christian worship with social justice. From beginning to end, worship must do justice and seek righteousness, translating into transformed lives that care for the poor and the oppressed.Begin today to move beyond the comfort of safe worship to authentic worship that challenges injustice.Market/Audience- Worship team participants and leaders- Pastors- Book clubs and book club readersFeatures and Benefits- Recovers the biblical unity of worship and justice- Shows how social justice and care for the poor can flow out of action- A passionate, prophetic and profoundly biblical call to action