Spiritual Church

Christmas is one of the most joyful times of year, and it can also be one of the most stressful. It comes laden with expectations and, for many, overshadowed by difficult memories and emotions. If every other day of the year has us running in different directions, driven by the bleeping demands of our phones and devices, Christmas makes us run faster still.

Many people today, especially among emerging generations, don't resonate with the church and organized Christianity. Some are leaving the church and others were never part of the church in the first place. Yet often they are still spiritually open and fascinated with Jesus. This is a ministry resource book exploring six of the most common objections and misunderstandings emerging generations have about the church and Christianity.

After 30 years as a committed Christian, Pastor Bo Williams realized there were still theological knots to untie for him to gain greater levels of spiritual freedom. He shares his personal journey to understanding more deeply what Christ accomplished at the cross and how that impacts who we are as new creations. With vulnerability, Bo unpacks questions like, “Are we sinners saved by grace or saints who sometimes sin?” and, “Why do believers still struggle with sin?”

Church Unusual: Curious Memoirs of a Religious Mother is a heartfelt call to question archaic traditions and seek a spiritual home that nurtures your relationship with Jesus rather than stifling it. It’s not just about finding a church, but a spiritual family that encourages questions, focuses Jesus, and fosters a fulfilling relationship with Him.

Ever feel lost in translation? With the NET Old Testament, you don’t need to be. Modern listeners can find it challenging to connect with the ancient words and cultural contexts of the biblical writers. The NET Old Testament offers a completely new solution: pairing a listenable, everyday English translation with the largest set of translators’ notes ever created for a Bible. It is an indispensable resource for every Bible listener.

In You of Little Faith, Pastor Ryan Thomas isn't afraid to talk about the most taboo subject in the church - money. Drawing from a multitude of biblical passages and contemporary examples, he will convince you that giving aggressively and extravagantly, beyond what you ever thought reasonable or possible, will unlock God's blessing in your life and community and strengthen your faith in a way that nothing else can.

Christianity is the faith of the poor. As Christians, we worship the Lord Jesus Christ, who “though he was rich, yet for your sake became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich” (2 Cor 8:9). How do we discern the best responses to poverty? How should we as ministers, church leaders, and businesspeople engage in our communities? Sometimes it seems that we in the modern American church stand on opposite sides of an impassible gulf as we talk about poverty and justice.

No one has ever been in a position to see the presidents, and the presidency, so intimately, over so many years. They called him in for photo opportunities. They called for comfort. They asked about death and salvation; about sin and forgiveness. At a time when the nation is increasingly split over the place of religion in public life, The Preacher and the Presidents reveals how the world's most powerful men and world's most famous evangelist, Billy Graham, knit faith and politics together.

Today's Christian church is in a severe state of compromise. False prophets and teachers have infiltrated the church, using their status and position to deceive and exploit the hopes of naïve believing church members. Under compromised leadership, the focus of attaining salvation for lost and weary souls has shifted to obtaining celebrity status and riches.

In The Bible as Improv, author Ron Martoia helps you move beyond maxims and read the Bible so that its story shapes your own stories. In this new light, you will deepen your spiritual life and avoid the confusion about what is true for you today and what is “outdated.” Come take a look at the big picture of the Bible. The view is incredible.

The faith God calls us to is far more than glowing positivism that shields us from life's struggles. It is one that guides us into a deepening intimacy with the God who sustains us in the broad sweep of life. Best-selling author Gary Thomas helps us sharpen our spiritual vision and fortify our commitment to Christ by examining 10 disciplines God uses to forge a fire-tested faith. A biblical view of these disciplines can safeguard us from disillusionment when - not if - difficulties surface in our lives.

"What do you wish your pastor knew about women in the church?” The question went out to hundreds of Christian women. This book is the result of that survey: powerful new insights and guidance that can help pastors build up women, heal them, empower them, and help them contribute fully and gladly to the church.

Theodore Roosevelt is well-known as a rancher, hunter, naturalist, soldier, historian, explorer, and statesman. While Roosevelt's life has been written about from many angles, no modern book probes deeply into his engagement with religious beliefs, practices, and controversies despite his lifelong church attendance and commentary on religious issues. Theodore Roosevelt: Preaching from the Bully Pulpit traces Roosevelt's personal religious odyssey from youthful faith and pious devotion to a sincere but more detached adult faith.

Studying the views and lifestyles of your forerunners in the faith can provide incredible guidance for how you live out your spiritual convictions today. In Wisdom from the Ancients, author and scholar Bryan Litfin paints a vivid portrait of the first five centuries of the Christian church, packed with fascinating history and applicable insights for modern believers.

Groundbreaking analytical research from a database of over 200,000 North American churches reveals our population is growing faster than church attendance. This guide shows the problems as well as the potential of the American church, confirming hunches, exploding myths, and offering a clear path to a brighter future.

Helping Christ followers, in particular, Pastors, Worship Leaders and Church Musicians, discover the difference between flesh-fed worship and Spirit-fed worship.

Every week a terrorist attack, riot, or political scandal makes the headlines - and we feel the world around us shaking again. We struggle to separate truth from biased statements and hope from naïveté. We wonder how we got here and where these uncertain days will take us. One of the world’s top investigative reporters, John S. Dickerson, addresses this post-truth, post-Christian society in Hope of Nations. Hope of Nations shows us how and why the world is changing, where those changes will lead, and what it looks like to live like Christ in today’s society.

In How the Nations Rage, political theology scholar and pastor Jonathan Leeman challenges Christians from across the spectrum to hit the restart button by shifting our focus from redeeming the nation to living as a nation already redeemed, rejecting the false allure of building heaven on earth while living faithfully as citizens of a heavenly kingdom, letting Jesus’ teaching shape our public engagement as we love our neighbors and seek justice.

When you ask people the question, you usually get many different answers. Some see God as an authoritarian leader or dictator, others see Him as aloof and distant. Still, others see Him as a father figure concerned with even the smallest details of their lives. Whatever your view of God may be, it matters. In God is For You, David Blunt explains that in order for God to do the good things He wants to do in your life, you must have the right perspective of Him.

Many of us as women feel conflicted about Jesus’s calling on our lives because a woman trying to love God beyond her heart and soul, with her mind and strength, can be thought of as crossing some line or unspoken boundary. Bible teacher Kat Armstrong challenges us to ask, “Why am I allowing limitations on my pursuit of Jesus’s calling?”