Church Ministry

What would you do if you met someone you thought just might be one of Jesus' original disciples still living in the 21st century? That's Jake's dilemma as he meets a man who talks of Jesus as if he had known him, and whose way of living challenges everything Jake had previously known. So You Don't Want to Go To Church Anymore is Jake's compelling journal that chronicles 13 conversations with his newfound friend over a four-year period and how those exchanges turn Jake's world upside-down.

Perhaps no subject about church generates more opinion and passion than worship. Walk with the typical church-going family on their way to the car after the service and just listen. Everybody really does talk about worship. Now, veteran worship leader and experienced ministry coach Mike Harland offers the tools worship leaders need to build biblically-faithful and effective worship ministries without bringing the disruption that often accompanies change.

Seasoned pastor and church leader Will Willimon excels at creating thought-provoking, accessible books for working pastors and seminarians. In Aging, he takes a theologically rich look at numerous aspects of growing old. Drawing on scripture, literature, current research, and his experiences as an aging adult, Willimon reflects on aging as a spiritual journey. He explores the challenging realties as well as the rewarding joys of growing old and shows pastors how to help their congregants grow old gracefully and in good Christian hope.

Sixty-five million adults in the US have dropped out of active church attendance, and about 2.7 million more are leaving every year. Faith After Doubt is for the millions of people around the world who feel that their faith is falling apart. Using his own story and the stories of a diverse group of struggling believers, Brian D. McLaren, a former pastor and now an author, speaker, and activist, shows how old assumptions are being challenged in nearly every area of human life, not just theology and spirituality.

From Peace Child author Don Richardson, an unforgettable story of primitive jungle treachery. Another exciting, unforgettable missionary story as Don Richardson shares his experiences of the Stone Age Hell of Java's Jungle!

Neil Cole's best-selling book Organic Church described the fastest growing segment of contemporary Christianity - the so-called organic church. Now in this next-step book, he answers questions about how to deal with theological and organizational issues that come up. He talks about issues such has what to do with finances, children, heresy, leader training, and rituals and ordinances. Without the top-down structure of a denomination, even people who are proponents of this small, house-church model worry that they are not doing it right.

"I'm tired of helping others enjoy God―I just want to enjoy God for myself." With this painful admission, Ruth Haley Barton invites us to an honest exploration of what happens when spiritual leaders lose track of their souls. Each chapter includes a spiritual practice to ensure your soul gets the nourishment it needs. Forging and maintaining a life-giving connection with God is the best choice you can make for yourself and for those you lead.

Understanding the Bible isn't for the few, the gifted, the scholarly. The Bible is accessible. It's meant to be comprehended by everyone from armchair listeners to seminary students. A few essential insights into the Bible can clear up a lot of misconceptions and help you grasp the meaning of Scripture and its application to your 21st-century life. More than three quarters of a million people have turned to How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth to inform their understanding of the Bible.

Being a pastor is a complicated calling. Pastors are often pulled in multiple directions and must "become all things to all people" (1 Cor. 9:22). What does the New Testament say (or not say) about the pastoral calling? And what can we learn about it from the apostle Paul? According to popular New Testament scholar Scot McKnight, pastoring must begin first and foremost with spiritual formation, which plays a vital role in the life and ministry of the pastor. As leaders, pastors both create and nurture culture in a church.

In his previous work, A More Christlike God, Brad Jersak looked to the incarnation of Jesus Christ to reveal the true nature of God as self-giving, radically forgiving, compassionate love. In this follow-up audiobook, after deconstructing four counterfeit ways, Jersak explores seven facets of the Jesus Way. Christ's radical revelation of true humanity beckons us, "Would you be human? Take up your cross and follow me."

Do you feel too overwhelmed to enjoy life, unable to sort out the demands on your time? Are you doing your best work as a leader yet not making an impact? Have you ever felt stuck, powerless to change your environment? In The Emotionally Healthy Leader, best-selling author Peter Scazzero shows leaders how to develop a deep, inner life with Christ, examining its profound implications for surviving stress, planning and decision-making, building teams, creating healthy culture, influencing others, and much more.

In Accidental Saints, New York Times best-selling au­thor Nadia Bolz-Weber invites readers into a surprising encounter with what she calls "a religious but not-so-spiritual life." Tattooed, angry and profane, this former standup comic turned pastor stubbornly, sometimes hilariously, resists the God she feels called to serve. But God keeps showing up in the least likely of people - a church-loving agnostic, a drag queen, a felonious Bishop and a gun-toting member of the NRA.

Spoken word artist and best-selling author Hosanna Wong unveils a no-fluff, fresh approach to spiritual disciplines as the practical ways we can stay connected to Jesus and to who we truly are, every day. Using the rhythms of life from Jesus, find a practical and fresh way to live—unlocking who you really are no matter what.

The Church Who Hears God's Voice provides church leaders and Christian thinkers with the theological framework and pastoral strategies needed to build churches where everyone can hear the Spirit’s voice for themselves. After experiencing the transforming power of hearing God’s voice in her own life, Rev Dr Tania Harris set out to unlock the questions Christians have debated for centuries: How does God speak? How do you know it’s God? and What difference does it make to the church?

Who are you when the teeth come out? For every true act of leadership, there is an equal and monstrous act of sabotage. Our leaders have been entirely routed by the agitated and the anxious. These emotional tyrannies manifest themselves in local libraries, HR cubicles, elder meetings, and at your Thanksgiving dinners.

This audiobook clearly explains how to plant churches that are simple enough to keep on reproducing and even grow into a movement of churches. Planting Churches that Reproduce is the fruit of Comiskey’s extensive research and personal experience (three church plants in a wide variety of settings).

We too often view Church history as the story of obscure aliens instead of the lives of brothers and sisters, mothers and fathers. In this collection of 46 brief biographies for children, Hannula sketches the stirring trials and triumphs of many famous and some lesser known figures in our family of faith including Augustine, Charlemagne, Anselm, Luther, Bunyan, and C. S. Lewis. Through them, we can begin to enjoy the old paths and find rest for our souls.

If you're not reaching the future of the church, your church has no future. 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.

Effective leadership is important. Nowhere is this more true than in the church. In this short guide, Jeramie Rinne offers listeners a concise overview of the Bible's teaching on spiritual leadership, helping church leaders effectively shepherd their congregations. Giving practical guidance to new elders and helping church members better understand and support their spiritual leaders, this conversational book emphasizes purposeful ministry rather than project management.

A third-generation Jehovah's Witness, Amber Scorah had devoted her life to sounding God's warning of impending Armageddon. She volunteered to take the message to China, where the preaching she did was illegal and could result in her expulsion or worse. Here, she had some distance from her community for the first time. Immersion in a foreign language and culture - and a whole new way of thinking - turned her world upside down, and eventually led her to lose all that she had been sure was true.