Church Ministry

In today’s polarized context, Christians often have committed, biblical rationales for very different positions. How can Christians navigate disagreements with both truth and love? Tim Muehlhoff and Rick Langer provide lessons from conflict theory and church history on how to negotiate differing biblical convictions in order to move toward Christian unity.

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.

For years, Christians have been asking, "If you died tonight, do you know where you would go?" It turns out that many believers have been giving the wrong answer. It is not heaven. Wright outlines the present confusion about a Christian's future hope and shows how it is deeply intertwined with how we live today. Wright asserts that Christianity's most distinctive idea is bodily resurrection, and provides a magisterial defense for a literal resurrection of Jesus. Wright then explores our expectation of "new heavens and a new earth".

It's not enough to plant individual churches in isolation from each other. The spiritual need and opportunity of our cities is too big for any one church to meet alone. Pastors Neil Powell and John James contend that to truly transform a city, the gospel compels us to create localized, collaborative church planting movements. They share lessons learned and principles discovered from their experiences leading a successful citywide movement. The more willing we are to collaborate across denominations and networks, the more effectively we will reach our communities for Jesus.

To truly grasp Bible prophecy, we must first understand how God’s promises to Israel complement his vision for the church. While some believe God has forsaken Israel for the church, this goes against the nature of the faithful Lord we find in Scripture. In his latest book, native Israeli and best-selling author Amir Tsarfati makes clear what the Bible says about God’s unique master plans for his two chosen groups, Israel and the church.

Author Kevin Lowry's journey to Catholicism is fascinating, often funny, and demonstrates God's unfailing, patient love for all of us. A preacher's kid at a Catholic university, Kevin Lowry settled into a double major in beer and billiards soon followed by uncomfortable run-ins with pious students, failing grades, increasing anxiety, a missing night, and the startling realization that some fellow students actually attended Mass the morning after a party instead of sleeping it off. After getting kicked out, Kevin got his act together, got the MBA, and also got the girl.

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.

Once upon a time there was a version of our faith that was practically...irresistible. But that was then. Today we preach, teach, write, and communicate as if nothing has changed. As if “The Bible says it” still settles it. It’s time to hit pause on much of what we’re doing and consider the faith modeled by our first-century brothers and sisters who had no official Bible, no status, and humanly speaking, little chance of survival. What did they know that we don’t? What made their faith so compelling, so defensible, so irresistible? Buckle up...you’re about to find out.

The church across North America has struggled to minister effectively with people struggling with mental health issues. One reason for the lack of ministry is the absence of a widely accepted model for mental health outreach and inclusion. In Mental Health and the Church, Dr. Stephen Grcevich presents a simple and flexible model for mental health inclusion ministry for implementation by churches of all sizes, denominations, and organizational styles.

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."

Daniel's story is one of extraordinary faith in God lived out at the pinnacle of executive power. It tells of four teenage friends, born in the tiny state of Judah about 26 centuries ago, but captured by Nebuchadnezzar, emperor of Babylon. Daniel describes how they eventually rose to the top echelons of administration. Daniel and his friends did not simply maintain their private devotion to God; they maintained a high-profile witness in a pluralistic society antagonistic to their faith.

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.

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.

The year 2017 is the 500th-year anniversary of Martin Luther nailing his Ninety-Five Theses to the door of Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany - the event that marked the beginning of the Reformation and the end of unified Christianity. For Catholics, it was an unjustified rebellion by the heterodox; for Protestants, the release of true and purified Christianity from centuries-old enslavement to corruption, idolatry, and error. Benjamin Wiker's account rejects the common distortions of Catholic, Protestant, Marxist, Freudian, or secularist retellings of this world-changing event.

Modern readers of the New Testament often notice its varying ideas about women. Some passages encouraged women to be submissive and remain silent. Yet in others, women characters owned property, headed households, or spoke with approval. Women in the New Testament World helps listeners understand this conflicting evidence. It argues that social norms of the time encouraged traditional feminine virtues. However, as Susan Hylen argues, women in the culture enacted these virtues in a variety of ways, including active leadership in households, associations, and cities.

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.

The ancient church fathers taught many things about end-time prophecy. They taught the Second Coming would be approximately 2,000 years after the First Coming (AD 32 and AD 2032). The actual writings of church fathers Irenaeus (AD 170), Hippolytus (AD 210), and Ephrem (AD 350) identify three of the ten nations that will become part of the Antichrist’s government and where the Antichrist will be born. Brought to you by Biblefacts Ministries, Biblefacts.org.

Churches have split and denominations have formed over the issue of church government. While many Christians can explain their church's form of rule or defend it because of its "tried and true" traditions, few people understand their church's administrative customs from a biblical perspective.

Digital is a confusing concept, and many churches struggle to understand it, with most limiting their digital experience to streaming their church services and nothing more. In this book, you'll learn how to think strategically about digital strategy and how to best integrate digital ideas into your church that align with your ministry's in-person objectives. The goal is to disciple more people and not just get an online audience.

Congregations often seek to combat the crisis of decline by using innovation to produce new resources. But leading practical theologian Andrew Root shows that the church's crisis is not in the loss of resources; it's in the loss of life—and that life can only return when we remain open to God's encountering presence. This new book, related to Root's critically acclaimed Ministry in a Secular Age project, addresses the practical form the church must take in a secular age.