Living Ministries

We live in a culture that's all about self, becoming the best "me" I can be instead of becoming like Jesus. This me-centered message affects every area of our lives - our friendships, our marriages, even our faith - and it breaks each one in different ways. The self-focused life robs our joy, shrinks our souls, and is the reason we never quite break free of insecurity. In this book, Sharon Hodde Miller invites us into a bigger, Jesus-centered vision - one that restores our freedom and inspires us to live for more.

Experiencing the Trinity, by Pastor Joe Thorn, contains 50 down-to-earth meditations on God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Overflowing with scriptural truth, pastoral wisdom, and personal honesty, this audiobook reflects on common experiences of doubt, fear, and temptation - pointing listener to the grace that God provides and the strength he promises.

Intimate conversations with God often focus on immediate needs, concern for others, and direction regarding his will, but praise requires believers to look beyond themselves and their circumstances and place their attention solely on God. Stormie shares personal stories, biblical truths, and practical guiding principles to reveal the wonders that take place when Christians offer praise in the middle of difficulties, sorrow, fear, and, yes, abundance and joy.

Piper has gathered many of Jesus' demands from the four Gospels and puts the demands in a redemptive, historical context, then concisely examines each. The result is an accessible introduction for thoughtful inquirers and new believers, as well as meditative meat for veteran believers who want to know Jesus better.

With this practical advice and encouragement, you can help your daughter develop awesome relationships with God, with you, and with the world around her.

Every family is hurting, and the wounds that come from our relatives can be deeper than all others. Conflict within a family can range from daily frictions and annoyances to rage and hatred and eventually estrangement. We want things to be different but have no idea where to start. After 25 years of ministering to families, Rob Rienow believes reconciliation is at the heart of the gospel - reconciliation with God and one another.

William Law’s classic book, A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life was a clarion call to action; to live a life worthy of one’s calling. “Devotion signifies a life given, or devoted to God.” The writings of William Law were challenging in the 18th century. Generations later the message is even more instructive and necessary.

This must-have resource on effective prayer from best-selling author and internationally respected pastor Jack Hayford gives believers the keys to unlocking the secrets of effective intercessory prayer, including how to pray with rightful authority, perseverance, and confidence. He provides encouragement, powerful testimonies, keen biblical guidance, and insight to help readers pray more effectively for God's grace, goodness, and power in the lives of those they love.

Too often, Christians today either sensationalize the subject of spiritual warfare by obsessing over demon possession, exorcisms, binding the devil, and rebuking demons or they minimize the idea and are unprepared for the real struggle they face against principalities and powers. Pastors Brian Borgman and Rob Ventura provide a balanced approach that exposes the fictions and superstitions surrounding this vital doctrine and at the same time reveal the unseen realities of this struggle.

Great men of God in Scripture are the focus as E.M. Bounds demonstrates powerful lessons on the need for and art of effective prayer. Paul, Ezra, Moses and Daniel are only a few of the men he gives examples of. God's desire is for men to be on their knees in full subjection to Him. His life was devoted to praying 3 hours a day beginning at 4 a.m. in the morning. E.M. Bounds himself is a wonderful example of the power of a praying man.

Imagine hearing your physician tell you that chips and queso contain more nutritional benefits than kale and quinoa. Or opening an envelope that looks like just another bill, and unfolding instead an official document declaring you the sole beneficiary of an anonymous billionaire's estate. In her new book, The Sacrament of Happy, Lisa Harper unveils a similarly extravagant, unexpected surprise, declaring that happiness - just plain feeling happy - is a gift from God that you can unashamedly enjoy.

All emotion - whether positive or negative - can give us a glimpse of the true nature of God. We want to control our negative emotions and dark desires. God wants us to recognize them as the cry of our soul to be made right with Him. Beginning with the Psalms, Cry of the Soul explores what Scripture says about our darker emotions and points us to ways of honoring God as we faithfully embrace the full range of our emotional life.

There is a simple answer to finding God's unique will for your life. When you obey the universal will of God, your obedience triggers your experience of the unique will of God for your life. Of course, that raises the question, "What is the universal will of God?" God has revealed four specific universal commands, or wills, and this audiobook is about each. Though there is more to God's universal will than these four, it is as though God declares, "Start here!"

Many today believe that the Christian life is rather easy to both obtain and live. But the Puritans saw it as warfare, as wrestling, as "holy violence" to use their term. The Apostle Paul spoke of beating his own body into subjection. And this holy violence is to be brought not only against one's self, but against Satan, the world, and heaven too. And in this confrontation, we must use the weapons God has given us: reading the Word, hearing the Word, prayer, meditation, self-examination, and the due observance of the Lord's Day.

Helping listeners walk the line between idolatry and ingratitude, this audiobook emphasizes our responsibility to glorify God by joyfully embracing his good gifts without letting them become worldly distractions that steal our affection.

As God allows us to understand the mystery and marvel of brain science, we have the exciting opportunity to reexamine our assumptions about human behavior. Perhaps nowhere does this impact our lives more profoundly than when we think about raising children - especially teenagers. Where parents often see a sweet boy or girl who has morphed into an incomprehensible bundle of hormones and angst, what we really ought to be seeing is an amazing young adult whose brain is under heavy construction.

Who is Jesus Christ? You've never met him in person, and you don't know anyone who has. But there is a way to know who he is. How? Jesus Christ - the divine person revealed in the Bible - has a unique excellence and a spiritual beauty that speaks directly to our souls and says, "Yes, this is truth." It's like seeing the sun and knowing that it is light or tasting honey and knowing that it is sweet.

If you're longing to become more attentive to God - to listen to him, know his voice and experience his love, spiritual direction can point the way. In Seeking God Together, experienced spiritual director Alice Fryling offers a unique introduction specifically for group spiritual direction: a place where individuals can experience what it means to be listened to and loved by others, so that they can learn to listen more attentively to God in their daily lives and be used by God.

New release from Jerry Bridges, author of more than a dozen books, including The Pursuit of Holiness, which has sold more than one million copies. His devotional, Holiness Day By Day, garnered the 2009 ECPA Christian Book Award for the inspiration and gift category, and The Discipline of Grace received a similar award in 1995 for the Christian living category.

Could you be the answer to the problems you see? Every day we are faced with the needs of those around us. Emotional. Physical. Spiritual. What are we to do about it? Are these problems for our pastors to address, or is there a way for the church member to make an impact that will last?