Ministry Time

I suffered a massive cardiac arrest. My heart stopped beating, my breathing ceased, and the medics couldn’t revive me. I was clinically dead for more than 30 minutes. And then, miraculously, the paramedics detected a heartbeat. As I lay in my bed in the ICU, I wrestled with a big question that went around and around in my mind: “Why am I still alive?” The answer, I believe, was divinely inspired. God wanted me to share with you the treasures He had given me in the darkness, during a period of unbelievable catastrophic suffering.

There is a big difference between being set free and living free. How do I know what to do with my life? How do I hear God's voice? Maybe the answer is easier than we think. When God led the Israelites from Egypt to the Promised Land, He gave them a cloud to follow. He led them in an intimately personal, ever-present way one next step at a time. He led them without revealing the whole picture because he wanted them to follow by faith.

What happens when we take Jesus at his word when he says, "I have come that you might have life and have it to the full?" New York Times best-selling author Mark Batterson and his mentor, Richard Foth, have done just that with their lives - and in A Trip Around the Sun, they show listeners how they too can experience their life and faith as the ultimate adventure.

When the Universe Cracks is a sweeping, multifaceted look at the role of crisis in the life of faith from an esteemed gathering of pastors, faith leaders, and experts. You’ll find honest and realistic reflections to help you navigate a present trouble or anticipate changes. Inspired by a global pandemic, these writers examine the whole history of God’s people and offer a fresh perspective for every time the universe cracks.

When Dr. Gene Baillie's wife, Gini, was diagnosed with a rare form of brain cancer, their world was forever changed. This book shares the lessons that Gini and Gene learned as God led them through - and beyond - their darkest valleys on their own journey home.

For decades Americans were vaguely aware that Islamist barbarians were in the deserts of the Middle East and in the mountains of Afghanistan and Pakistan, executing "infidels" and raiding villages with unrecognizable names. The Muslim world seemed far away, remote, and irrelevant to our daily lives. Then came the terrorist attack of 9/11, followed by attacks at Fort Hood, the Boston Marathon, San Bernandino, Orlando, and more. Now terrorists seem to be emerging everywhere, unleashing senseless death and destruction on our nation.

Five hundred years after the beginning of the Protestant Reformation, many people - Christians and non-Christians alike - view it as a conflict about issues that are no longer relevant to the church. But what if the Reformation still has something to teach us? What if the doctrines so vigorously debated and defended by the Reformers still matter today? In this accessible primer on the Reformation, Michael Reeves and Tim Chester introduce listeners to 11 key questions raised by the Reformers.

The Church Commissioned delivers a resounding yes. This powerful and practical book is a call to arms — not to fight culture, but to fulfill the high calling Jesus placed on every believer: to carry His name, His hope, and His message into the world. You weren’t rescued to be passive. You were redeemed to be commissioned.

Why is the city a battleground of hostile principalities and powers? What is the mission of the church in the city? How can the church be supported in accomplishing that mission? These are the questions that Robert Linthicum treats in his comprehensive and probing biblical theology of the city...

God's astounding claims about himself and his work on our behalf are embedded throughout the pages of Scripture. He sees potential in us that we don't see in our wildest dreams. He sees qualities that we don't think we can ever achieve. He has faith in us that we lack in ourselves. But when we...

You can change the world - one life at a time. Most of us enjoy a quality of life that much of the world could not even imagine. It's easy to live unaffected by the injustices and impossible realities on the other side of the world. The truth is, we know we should help those less fortunate than us, but when the faces of those who suffer are distant and the need feels so overwhelming, where do we start? Where can we make the most impact?

Though suffering often leaves us feeling isolated, God invites us into the community of the Trinity and offers us many companions in scripture. We experience loneliness alongside the exiled Israelites. We journey with David as he pleads to God for rescue. With Asaph we confess our unbelief. With Job we learn to lament. With Mary and Martha we learn to wait. In God's community, there is sweet fellowship, even in the hardest of circumstances. Journey in this book with Wendy Alsup through her story of suffering, and more importantly, with the God who walks with us in the wilderness.

What would you give to sit down with some of the most influential youth workers in the country? Not just the big names but those individuals who have proven time after time that they have a passion for reaching teens today that is pushing the limits of traditional youth ministry? In Pushing the...

A New Kind of Youth Ministrychallenges you to take a fresh look at your ministry through the concept of “reculturing”—the act of changing the way things are done or simply creating a culture of change. No fly-bynight, change-for-the-sake-of-change concept, it’s about altering our...

Amid a rising tide of despair comes a trusted voice of hope and reason. Not since the 1970s have Americans faced such a perfect storm of economic, moral and cultural crises. In the face of that intensifying gale, many Christians have succumbed to a paralyzing blend of dismay and resignation. Enter Charles Colson, one of the faith’s most respected statesmen and formidable defenders. In The Sky Is Not Falling, this New York Times best-selling author delivers much more than a tour of our nation’s cultural landscape. He offers a road map for living confidently in these turbulent times....

Sustainable Church is a thorough Bible-based exposition of how the ministry of every church should be organically built around all of the Spirit-gifted followers of Jesus within that local body. It critiques the shallow pragmatism and unsustainability of nonorganic churches and biblically showcases the sustainability of the organic church.

The light shines in the darkness, and the greatest light will shine in the greatest darkness in the end times. In the world multitudes are about to be lost, but multitudes are also about to be saved. In this last battle for souls ever, God will raise up the greatest soldiers for this greatest battle. How much of the book of Revelation applies to us? The rapture is pre or/and post tribulation, or when? If you get ready for the events of the end times, you will be ready for anything!

Time Management, Jesus' Way takes a closer look at how Jesus managed to accomplish all the Father designed for him to do, without the chaos we often feel today. Thirty lessons with discussion questions allow you to consider Jesus' example as a part of a personal devotional plan or small group study. Originally published in 2005, it has been added as an audiobook for listeners to enjoy now.

Bruce Miller debunks the idea of balance - basically trying to have it all, all the time. Most churches and their pastors try to do everything at once and feel guilty if any one aspect (worship, ministries, outreach, etc.) is neglected. He replaces the exhausting concept of balance with the idea of rhythm: churches, like people, need to give attention to different programs and ministries at different times, basically by attending to their seasons and cycles.

Discover the God-inspired difference only you can make in the world - using the key you never knew you had. Tim Tebow credits his mom with being the key to his success - but Pam never expected that she would be known on a national stage. For most of her life, she was serving quietly and faithfully as a wife and a mom - choosing life for her child in the face of medical risks, answering the Lord's call to mission work in the Philippines, and homeschooling before anyone knew what the word meant.