Living Ministries

We’ve never been more educated and entertained. We have technological tools our parents could only dream of, and we are saturated with information, amusement, and recreation. Yet more than ever, we are starving for hope. After 40 years of counseling and ministry, Max Lucado has learned that nothing lifts the desperate, weary heart like the promises of God. In a world full of despair, depression, anxiety, and instability, we do not need more opinions or hunches; we need the definitive declarations of our mighty and loving God.

Are you hungry for an encounter with Jesus? Do you want to make an impact on the world? In this power-packed book, Bill Johnson discusses how you can be a person who hosts the Presence of God. Though all believers obviously have the Spirit of God within them, there is more that enables you to be so full that you overflow his Spirit into your world.

At more than 78 million strong, the Millennials - those born between 1980 and 2000 - have surpassed the Boomers as the larger and more influential generation in America. Now, as its members begin to reach adulthood, where the traits of a generation really take shape, best-selling research author Thom Rainer (Simple Church) and his son Jess (a Millennial born in 1985) present the first major investigative work on Millennials from a Christian worldview perspective.

Monica Swanson knew she'd tapped a heartfelt concern when nearly two million readers shared her blog post, "What a Teenage Boy Needs Most from His Mom". In this helpful audiobook, she takes mothers deeper into the insights they need for the boy-raising journey, covering topics from dealing with the daily influences of friends and technology to helping a boy grow to be physically, spiritually, and emotionally healthy. She also addresses learning and finding passions, perspectives on relationships and dating, and work ethics and money management.

Changing Our Mind has helped thousands of families and congregations carefully and compassionately rethink traditional religious teachings about full LGBTQ inclusion. With growing scientific evidence, our wider society has taken big steps, but too many religious families and communities have not kept up. Dr. David Gushee offers a powerful, inspiring message of hope and healing by helping Christians to return to Bible study, prayer, and reflection in a way that creates a vision for a more inclusive church.

Edwards gives his usual thorough treatment as he examines the difference between common grace and saving grace, demonstrates the nature and qualities of saving grace, and emphasizes how the principle of grace is from the Spirit of God. Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758) is a towering figure in American history. A controversial theologian and the author of the famous sermon Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, he ignited the momentous Great Awakening of the eighteenth century.

Are you ready to open your imagination to the possibility that God has a vision for your life that is greater? We all have honest moments when we're gripped by a desire to feel that what we're doing matters more. That who we are matters more. And according to one of the most shocking verses in the Bible, Jesus wants the very same thing for every one of us. If you're tired of being ordinary, it's time to dream bigger. If you're feeling overwhelmed about where to begin, it's time start smaller.

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.

What keeps us from flourishing in our spiritual lives is a neglect of the inner life of the soul. And more and more today, this neglect is driven by our ambition to accomplish something big outside ourselves. We live in a society that pressures us to achieve professionally, socially, and through the constant acquisition of material possessions. Drawing on a wide range of sources, including scripture, church history, psychology, and neuroscience, as well as a rich variety of stories from his own life, Ken Shigematsu demonstrates how the gospel redeems our desires and reorders our lives.

In her dynamic new devotional, Trusting God Day by Day, international speaker and New York Times best-selling author Joyce Meyer provides you with powerful "starting points" for every day of the year. Each day's devotion is filled with practical advice and help from Joyce along with life-changing promises from God's Word that you can quickly and easily apply in your own life.

In Great Lives: David, the first volume in Charles Swindoll's bestselling Great Lives series, Swindoll gives us a closer look at this incredible man who had his fair share of difficulties. Throughout his life, David was gripped by destructive passion, rocked by family chaos and personal tragedy, and motivated by political expediency. Like all of us, David was far from perfect, but Swindoll teaches us that David had the chance to become great when he placed himself at the Lord's disposal.

Have you ever felt you tried every solution on earth to solve a problem, but nothing worked? Have you ever wondered where the difficulties you face are coming from? Joyce Meyer has answers. In Your Battles Belong to the Lord, Meyer explains that while some problems may result from a person's choices or circumstances, others are rooted in the spiritual realm. Once you recognize the devil - who is real and active in the world today - as your true enemy and the source of many of your struggles, you can overcome them and live a life of peace, freedom, faith, and victory.

Is an imposter robbing you of God's love? Many Christians have bought into the lie that we are worthy of God's love only when our lives are going well. If our families are happy or our jobs are meaningful, life is a success. But when life begins to fall through the cracks and embarrassing sins threaten to reveal our less-than-perfect identity, we scramble to keep up a good front to present to the world - and God. We cower and hide until we can rearrange the mask of perfection and look good again.

In this book, award-winning author James K. A. Smith shows that who and what we worship fundamentally shape our hearts. And while we desire to shape culture, we are not often aware of how culture shapes us. We might not realize the ways our hearts are being taught to love rival gods instead of the One for whom we were made. Smith helps listeners recognize the formative power of culture and the transformative possibilities of Christian practices.

With her fresh approach to the familiar Bible story and its creative, practical strategies, Joanna Weaver shows how all of us, Marys and Marthas alike, can draw closer to our Lord, deepening our devotion, strengthening our service, and doing both with less stress and greater joy.

Proverbs is God's book of wisdom, teaching us the essence and goal of a Christian life. In this 365-day devotional, Timothy Keller offers listeners a fresh, inspiring lesson for every day of the year based on different passages within the Book of Proverbs. With his trademark knowledge, Keller unlocks the wisdom within the poetry of Proverbs and guides us toward a new understanding of what it means to live a moral life.

You don't have to be perfect to do God's work. Look no further than the twelve disciples, whose many weaknesses are forever preserved throughout the pages of the New Testament. Join best-selling author John MacArthur in Twelve Ordinary Men as he draws principles from Christ's careful, hands-on training of the original disciples for today's modern disciple, you!

In Emotionally Healthy Discipleship, best-selling author Pete Scazzero combines three decades of wisdom with hard lessons from his own ministry journey. He lays out what is required for church leaders to multiply deeply changed people who are growing in relationship with God, themselves, and others. Scazzero begins with four beneath-the-surface, systemic gaps that undermine serious discipleship. He provides a clear vision for a church culture that deeply changes lives and then practically unpacks the seven biblical marks of emotionally healthy discipleship.

Why does communication between couples remain the number one marriage issue? "Because," says Dr. Emerson Eggerichs, "most spouses don’t know that they speak two different languages. They are sending each other messages in 'code,' but they won’t crack that code until they see that she listens to hear the language of love and he listens to hear the language of respect."

His grandfather’s lynching in the deep South, the murders of his two older brothers, and his verbally harsh and absent father all worked together to form Jason Wilson’s childhood. But it was his decision to acknowledge his emotions and yield to God’s call on his life that made Wilson the man and leader he is today. As the founder of one of the country’s most esteemed youth organizations, Wilson explains the dangers men face in our culture’s definition of “masculinity” and gives listeners hope that healing is possible.