Ministry Leadership

Luca Lewis is done with church. It killed his father, and now he wants nothing to do with the whole thing. Yet, he can’t seem to shake the unwanted conviction his father planted deep in his soul: that maybe something else is possible–something much more important.

The notion that labor for profit and worship of God are now, and always have been, worlds apart is patently false. The early Church founders were mostly community leaders and highly successful businesspeople. In this expanded version of the best-selling Anointed for Business, Ed Silvoso focuses on the heart of our cities, which is the marketplace. Yet the perceived wall between commercial pursuit and service to God continues to be a barrier to advancing his kingdom. Silvoso shows Christians how to knock down that wall.

Ministry comes with many weighty responsibilities. Ministry leaders are called to teach, serve, and lead. But in leading those under their care, there comes a moment when they recognize the future leaders under their leadership. With this recognition comes an all too familiar question: What comes next? In Calling Out the Called, Scott Pace and Shane Pruitt answer this question by giving direction, encouragement, and a charge for ministry leaders to recognize the future leaders in their midst and do what needs to be done for the future of ministry: the calling out of the called.

We all need more energy, the vitality that helps us stay motivated, focused and productive in life. We know we receive energy from good nutrition, along with working out, adequate sleep and maintaining positivity. But there is another major source for the energy we need: having the right kinds of relationships with others. Not the ones that drain us, but the ones that refuel us.

Humility, or holding power loosely for the sake of others, is sorely lacking in today's world. Without it, many people fail to develop their true leadership potential and miss out on genuine fulfillment in their lives and their relationships. Speaker and historian John Dickson shows how the virtue of humility was an important character trait for the "greats" of history and figures prominently in the findings of psychology and sociology.

American Christianity teaches the centrality of the individual: my will, my experiences, my decision, my heart, my work, and my dedication. Yet we couldn't be more unaware that Christ and His saving and comforting work are being lost. Our minds and hearts are captivated in some way by those who often preach the Christian instead of Christ.

We often view authority as something oppressive, stifling, even fearful. And sometimes—perhaps too often—those impressions bear out in reality. We live in an era of overstepped boundaries and abuse in many fields of life, so that authority has become the enemy.

Apocrypha is a Greek word that means "something hidden". The term is often used for writings of the church that are not generally accepted as authentic or inspired. It is unclear what the motivation was for writing many of these works. But often they fill in gaps of information where the Bible is silent.

With characteristic humor and insight, author and pastor John Ortberg invites us to follow the biblical story of Esther and her example to courageously choose to embrace the mission God gives. Like Esther, we can lead without feareven in threatening circumstancesbecause we know God is always at work in unseen, unknown, and unlikely ways.

Did you know that there are certain types of prayers that Satan would like you to pray? Is the enemy wounding you with your own sword? Are you or your church experiencing calamities that prayer does not remedy? Heart attacks, miscarriages, runaway children, sudden illnesses, cancer, or untimely deaths? In this timely audiobook, John Paul Jackson reveals some startling insights that will uncover spiritual strategies of the dark side. Find out how you can protect yourself from Satan's onslaught and escape his unforeseen and unperceived attacks.

The third in Joe Thorn's series on the confession, nature, and expression of the Church, The Life of the Church explores what the church does because of who it is. Useful for training in membership class, discipleship groups, and elder boards, The Life of the Church is at once theological, practical, and experiential. Listeners will not simply be informed, but led to a deeper conviction about their role in the body of Christ.

You can be young, passionate about Jesus Christ, surrounded by diversity, engaged in a postmodern world, and reared in evangelicalism and not be an emergent Christian. In fact I want to argue that it would be better if you weren't. The Emergent Church is a strong voice in today's Christian community. And they're talking about good things: caring for the poor, peace for all men, loving Jesus. They're doing church a new way, not content to fit the mold. Again, all good. But there's more to the movement than that.

Spirit and Sacrament by pastor and author Andrew Wilson is an impassioned call to join together two traditions that are frequently and unnecessarily kept separate. It is an invitation to pursue the best of both worlds in worship, the Eucharistic and the charismatic, with the grace of God at the center. Wilson envisions church services in which healing testimonies, creeds, exuberant praise, and ancient liturgy coexist, and in doing so, deepen our worship and increase our joy.

In this book, you're going to learn about the nine ways that God uses obscurity to prepare you for your purpose. Each of these areas have been specifically worked through in my own journey over the last several decades of my life. I get honest and personal in how God has applied and work through each part of the process of promotions.

Neither "everything's fine" nor "burn it all down", Stringer offers a thoughtful appreciation of evangelicalism's history, identity, and strengths, but also lament for its blind spots, toxic brokenness, and complicity with injustice. From this complicated space, we can move forward with informed vision rather than resignation and with hope for our future together.

Based on a large-scale research study of small group pastors, leaders, and members, Leading Small Groups That Thrive gives church leaders both what they want - practical, straightforward, actual small group member voices and experiences, and compelling guidance on how to build transformational groups complemented with real-life examples and data of successful small groups - and what they need - substantial, challenging insights and a data-driven model grounded in the latest research on church small groups.

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?

We've all seen organizations falter and ministries collapse. As the rubble piles high, most people run away, while only a select few run toward the wreckage. These brave souls are ReLeaders—gifted rebuilders called to restore what is broken. In ReLeader, Jon Chasteen equips releaders with a biblical framework and practical insights to successfully ReLead teams, departments, and organizations back to health. Drawing from his experiences revitalizing a church, a university, and more, Jon provides wisdom and encouragement for the unique challenges ReLeaders face.

The Five Hazardous Attitudes are Anti-authority, Invulnerability, Macho, Impulsivity, and Resignation. Aircraft accident investigators have found that at least one of these hazardous attitudes have played a role in almost every aircraft accident. But pilots are not the only people who sometimes crash.

What do we do when life lurches out of balance? How can we reconnect to one another and to what's sustaining, when evil and catastrophe seem inescapable? These questions lie at the heart of Stitches, Anne Lamott's follow-up to her New York Times best-selling work, Help, Thanks, Wow. In this audiobook, she explores how we find meaning and peace in these loud and frantic times, where we start again after personal and public devastation, how we recapture wholeness after loss and how we locate our true identities in this frazzled age.