Personal Ministries

Most Christians know they should be trying to tell their friends and family about Jesus. But in a post-Christendom world, personal evangelism is viewed negatively - it's offensive, inappropriate, and insensitive. Recent studies confirm that the majority of Christians rarely evangelize, worried they might offend their family or lose their friends. Here, author Sam Chan equips everyday Christians who are reluctant and nervous to tell their friends about Jesus with practical, tested ways of sharing their faith in the least awkward ways possible.

From the best-selling author of The 5 Love Languages comes an audiobook for every couple looking to deepen their relationship with one another - and with God. Are you and your spouse speaking the same language? He sends you flowers when what you really want is time to talk. She gives you a hug when what you really need is a home-cooked meal. The problem isn’t love - it’s your love language. Adapted from The One Year Love Language Minute Devotional, this 100-day devotional helps you learn how to express heartfelt love to your loved one.

As parents face the difficult reality of a broken home, a sense of being completely overwhelmed can shut down the perspective they need to find restoration. Parents need to know that they can choose to define this season of their lives, instead of becoming defined by circumstances. They can deliberately look toward God and come to a deeper understanding of His true nature, power, and intimate care.

Building on their work at Chaddock, a nonprofit organization that has worked with some of the most challenging kids in the nation for more than 150 years, the authors empower frustrated parents with practical tips and real-life examples on how to minimize behavioral meltdowns, reduce conflict, increase cooperation, promote healthy attachment, and improve family relationships. The strategies they share work both for the child who is going through a difficult phase brought on by life disruption or trauma, and for the child who faces chronic struggles.

Adolescence now lasts longer than ever before. And as world-renowned expert on adolescent psychology Dr. Laurence Steinberg argues, this makes these years the key period in determining individuals’ life outcomes, demanding that we change the way we parent, educate, and understand young people.

In Confident Leader!, Dan Reiland draws from his 39 years of leadership experience to share a practical, workable, and transformational process that results in your ability to become a more self-assured leader and achieve maximum success. Building unshakable confidence will positively impact your personal work performance, your belief in self, your support and approval from others, and your trust and reliance on God.

Messy Beautiful Love delivers an incredible testimony of grace that offers hope for today’s marriages and a spark for rekindling love. Love gets messy. Financial problems, sickness, aging parents, a chronically unhappy spouse . . . trials will inevitably come that threaten your marriage. No matter how long you’ve been married or how strong your relationship is, sooner or later you are going to have a mess to clean up.

Lets make love. Lets have sex. Is there a difference? You bet there is! While sex is the joining of two bodies, love is the joining of two souls. Sex without love will never be ultimately satisfying, but sex that grows out of love will take a marriage to a whole new level of satisfaction. In his trademark simple, straightforward style, Dr. Gary Chapman explores the Judeo-Christian teachings on love and sex and teaches couples that if they desire greater sexual satisfaction, they must first learn how to love.

Dr. David Jeremiah reminds us, it's a biblical truth: Sex and passionate, romantic love are God's ideas! Nothing rivals the beauty of the writing in the Song of Solomon - and nothing rivals the wisdom of Solomon on matters of love, romance, marriage, and sexual intimacy. Dr. Jeremiah's thoughtful interpretation of Solomon and Shulamith's relationship provides all of us - whether married or single - with valuable lessons for a better, happier, more fulfilling life and a long, loving marriage.

For many, friends now play the role of family, but often our friendships don't turn out quite as we envisioned or hoped. Bible teacher Kelly Needham debunks our world's constricted, small view of friendship and casts a richer, more life-giving, biblical vision for friendship. In Friend-ish, Kelly Needham takes a close look at what scripture says about friendship. She reveals the distorted view most of us have of it and recasts a glorious vision for a Christian understanding.

Offering solid, practical advice and a fresh perspective on making this gift a bigger part of our families, The Blessing powerfully communicates these biblically based elements as necessary to prepare children for positive future relationships, including their relationship with a loving God.

This book is for everyone who has a father. And for all those who know what it's like to long for a father's blessing: his approval, affection, and attention. It's for anyone who's ever longed to hear your dad say, "I love you. I'm so proud of you." You may already know what it's like to live in the rays of such a blessing, to flourish in the marvelous light of a father's love. Yet, in this "fatherless generation", it's also likely you've never known the blessing of your earthly dad.

In the years following the senseless and tragic shooting on the campus of New Life Church in Northern Colorado Springs, Colorado, senior pastor Brady Boyd has received countless questions from the faith-filled and faithless alike. As the nation watched the suffering congregation reel from the gunman's rampage and, later, steady their stance once more, the one question on everyone's mind was, "How has new life weathered such a horrible storm so well"?

In Mother to Son, Jasmine Holmes shares a series of powerful letters to her young son. These are about her journey as an African American Christian and what she wants her son to know as he grows and approaches the world as a Black man. Holmes deals head-on with issues ranging from discipleship and marriage to biblical justice. She invites us to listen as she reminds Wynn that his identity is firmly planted in the person and work of Jesus Christ, even when the topic is one as emotionally charged as race in America.

According to Drs. Larry Crabb and Dan Allender, encouragement is more than a compliment or a pat on the back. It's a skill that can be mastered by anyone. Crabb and Allender ask: "What must we know in order to fulfill the biblical exhortation to 'encourage one another?'" Part one deals with understanding encouragement, and part two explores the process of encouragement, including such practical how-tos as developing a careful selection of encouraging words; cultivating active listening skills; using biblical fellowship to move beyond superficial smiles.

An expert on youth and youth culture, McKee shares his own heart-rending story and offers a sobering glimpse into the rapidly changing world of bullies, bystanders, and the bullied while providing helpful ways to connect with these kids, open doors of dialogue, and give them the encouragement they need and the validation they're searching for...too often in all the wrong places.

While parents long to better influence and express love to their children, they often have no clear plan of action. As a result, daily hopes turn into years of missed opportunities. The Love Dare for Parents helps busy moms and dads more fully cherish, enjoy, and impact each of their children during each season of their lives. From the writers of the original Love Dare (over five million copies sold), this new 40-day journey will help you to daily demonstrate love to your sons and daughters and keep your relationships respectful and close...long-term.

In the age of fingertip access to answers and a limitless supply of ambitions, where do we find the God who was birthed in dirt and straw? Sara Hagerty found him when life stopped working for her. She found him when she was a young adult mired in spiritual busyness and when she was a new bride with doubts about whether her fledgling marriage would survive. She found him alone in the night as she cradled her longing for babies who did not come. She found him as she kissed the faces of children on another continent who had lived years without a mommy’s touch. In Every Bitter Thing Is Sweet, Hagerty masterfully draws from the narrative of her life to craft a mosaic of a God who leans into broken stories. Here readers see a God who is present in every changing circumstance. Most significantly, they see a God who is present in every unchanging circumstance as well.

Hardly a week goes by without a story in the national media about Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD). Record numbers of children-even preschoolers-are being diagnosed as ADD and prescribed powerful medicines. For those who suffer from ADD or hyperactivity, there are effective natural and alternative treatments.

The Orthodox Church's reverence for Mary the Mother of God can be a stumbling block for converts, and a fulfilling relationship with her can prove elusive for converts and lifelong Orthodox Christians alike. In this deeply personal but beautifully universal memoir, Brandi Willis Schreiber relates her own quest to know and love the Virgin Mary and to incorporate her as a vital participant in her spiritual life. Brandi's sparkling, vulnerable account invites the listener to join her in this quest.