Mission Ministry

People are leaving the church J. D. Greear pastors. Big givers. Key volunteers. Some of his best leaders and friends. And that's exactly how he wants it to be. When Jesus gave his disciples the Great Commission, he revealed that the key for reaching the world with the Gospel is found in sending, not gathering. Though many churches focus time and energy on attracting people and counting numbers, the real mission of the church isn't how many people you can gather.

The days of cultural Christianity are fading. It's time to rethink normal. Suffering and exclusion are normal in a believer's life. At least they should be. This was certainly Jesus' experience. And it's the experience of countless Christians around the world today. No matter your social location or set of experiences, the biblical letter of 1 Peter wants to redefine your expectations and reinvigorate your hope.

When it comes to sharing our faith, we can make things more complex than they need to be. Simple evangelism offers practical ways to connect people to Gods amazing love. With three decades of outreach leadership, Kevin Harney provides tools that free you to set fear aside and walk boldly into the adventure of evangelism.

No relationship is perfect - but it can be better. The secret to stronger relationships isn't to become more charming or funny or to solve the world's problems or to just try harder. All you have to do is listen. It's that simple. Yet our noisy culture hasn't equipped us to do this. With warmth and a touch of humor, personal coach and expert communicator Becky Harling shares simple, practical listening tools that will help you become a person others are drawn to and want to spend time with.

We all want to know, "How can I help without hurting in this specific situation?" But there’s no one answer, and there’s definitely no shortcuts, but there are key principles—or ministry design principles. Think of these like the rules an improvising actor learns—the principles are crucial, but the actor must decide how to put them into practice based on the complexities of the situation. This book contains 20 ministry design principles. They’re in no way perfect, but they represent the very best ideas we have for how to do effective poverty alleviation in the kingdom of God.

With His gentle hand He wounded my neck And caused all my senses to be suspended. Part poetic masterpiece, part mystic treatise, The Dark Night of the Soul by 16th century Carmelite monk, St. John of the Cross, addresses the feeling of being forgotten by the Presence of the Almighty that every Christian, desirous of walking more closely with God must pass through in order to learn to walk by faith and not by sight.

Evangelism and missions are parts of the Christian life often accompanied by fears, insecurities, and cultural pressures. In this addition to the Union series, Daniel Hames and Michael Reeves argue that an individual's relationship with God influences their evangelism and missions more than anything else. Scripture clearly shows that a believer's responsibility is to make God known in the world, but this cannot be done without first knowing and enjoying God.

Wrecked is about the life we are afraid to live. It's about radical sacrifice and selfless service - how we find purpose in the midst of pain. It's a look at how we discover fulfillment in the least likely of places. It's about living like we mean it. It's a guide to growing up and giving your life away, helping you live in the tension between the next adventure and the daily mundane. This book is for us - a generation intent on pursuing our life's work in a way that leaves us without regrets

Practically everyone in the western world has heard of the man called St. Patrick. But hardly anyone knows anything about him. About the only two things that more people "know" about Patrick is that he was Irish and Roman Catholic. In truth, he was neither. He was British, and he belonged to the autonomous Celtic church. Although Patrick is the most famous person of his age, the real man has been buried in a cloud of myths

The goal of the church should be simple—share the gospel to the ends of the earth. But in our highly politicized age, Christians can tend to place earthly political and social agendas over God's spiritual mission of the church. In Empowered Witness, author Alan D. Strange examines the doctrine of the spirituality of the church, making a clear distinction between the functions of the church and other institutions.

This thoughtful book provides cultural analysis, probes some of the most important turning-points of biblical theology, describes the experiences of those who are proving fruitful in contemporary evangelism, and exposes readers to those who are thinking hard both strategically and practically about reaching the postmodern world.

What will it take to accomplish Christ's mission in our lifetime? That's the question evangelicals have been asking for over a century, but our efforts to reach the unreached and finish the task have often sacrificed the important for the immediate. The greatest challenge in evangelical missions isn't a lack of urgency, but a lack of discernment. As we've prioritized movements that are simple and reproducible, the gospel and faithful churches are now threatened. In Mission Affirmed, Elliot Clark seeks to reshape our motivation by considering the example of Paul the missionary.

Offering almost 100 new selections on a variety of themes such as the feasts and seasons of the liturgical year, compassion, ministry, difficult times, and important events for personal or group prayer, Prayer Seeds is a collection of never-before-published prayers written since the publication of her first collection. The prayers are organized thematically. Rupp's warmth and closeness to God along with her sensitivity to the joy and sadness of life make her an ideal prayer companion. Her prayers are like seed planted in your soul.

In Reclaiming the Great Commission, Fr. Evan Armatas offers a roadmap to help us get back on track. Relying on his 20 years of parish experience, Holy Scripture, and insights from research and his visits with churches across the US, he discusses how you and your community can implement changes that will transform, revitalize, and renew your parish.

Discover how all things are possible with God! Sharing the gospel with those from different cultures and belief systems can sometimes seem futile, especially when it comes to reaching Muslims. The gap between Christianity and Islam is vast, and bridging cross-cultural values can seem impossible.

This is the story of the making of a missionary to America. Dr. Tesfai Tesema was born in Ethiopia, grew up as an agnostic, became a Christian in Saudi Arabia, started a church planting movement in Sudan, and became a missionary in San Jose, California.

One of the first Methodist bishops in America, English-born Francis Asbury devoted his life to ministry, traveling on horseback to preach and teach to those living on the vastly isolated American frontier. Alone in a new country, with no home of his own, Asbury rode over 300,000 miles—across rivers and through rocky, overgrown roads—shining God’s light on the fledgling colonies.

Trendy new missions strategies are a dime a dozen, promising missionaries monumental results in record time. These strategies report explosive movements of people turning to Christ, but their claims are often dubious and they do little to ensure the health of believers or churches that remain. How can churches and missionaries address the urgent need to reach unreached people without falling for quick fixes?

Yes, it’s possible to grow your donor base, raise more support, and get fully funded in today's modern world. Over 5,000 missionaries leave the field every year because of a lack of finances. There’s a gap between what you’ve been taught about raising support and the reality of what it actually takes. More than ever, donors are distracted and preoccupied. How can missionaries and ministry leaders raise support and grow their donor base in an increasingly noisy world?

It happens to every parent. One day, you have a sweet son or daughter who loves to snuggle on the couch and who puts a smile on your face just by walking into the room. The next day, it's as if someone left the door open and let in an alien with a smart mouth and an attitude that, frankly, you could do without. Entering middle school is like stepping onto a different planet - for parent and child alike. It's a planet where peer pressure, social media, and hormones can wreak havoc in your child's life.