Pastoral Helps
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40 Days Of Community Devotional
$10.99Add to cart40 Days of Community Devotional is a dynamic individual or small-group devotional journal that will help you learn how to fulfill God’s five purposes for your life. It includes the biblical support behind each purpose, the ways it applies to you and your circle of influence, and how you can use this knowledge to benefit God’s kingdom. According to Warren, from the beginning, God planned for Christians to fulfill his purposes in community with each other in our church families, small groups, and in the world as a whole. Why did God plan it this way? Because we’re better together! This 40 Days of Community Devotional will deepen your understanding of how God uses community for your own good and growth, as well as help you cultivate deeper relationships with those around you. Learn to fulfill God’s purposes … discover how we are better together. This devotional journal is designed for use with the 40 Days of Community DVD and 40 Days of Community Study Guide.
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40 Days Of Community Study Guide (Student/Study Guide)
$9.99Add to cart40 Days of Community Study Guide—part of the Living with Purpose series by Rick Warren—is a dynamic individual or small group study guide that will help you learn how to fulfill God’s five purposes for your life. It includes the biblical support behind each purpose, the ways it applies to you and your circle of influence, and how you can use this knowledge to benefit God’s kingdom. From the beginning, God planned for Christians to fulfill his purposes in community with each other in our church families, small groups, and in the world as a whole. Why did God plan it this way? Because we’re better together! 40 Daysandnbsp;of Community Study Guide will deepen your understanding of how God uses community for your own good and growth, as well as help you cultivate deeper relationships with those around you. Learn to fulfill God’s purposes … discover how we are better together. This study guide is designed for use with theandnbsp;40 Days of Community DVD and 40 Days of Community Devotional Journal.
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Called To Love
$35.99Add to cartLife comprises a series of transitions: from childhood to adolescence, adulthood, senescence, death and life beyond death. Christian life is graced by transition into Christlikeness which requires us to make choices, continually, to remain faithful to Christ. At times of transition we seek the will of God as we journey through life making decisions about what to do and where to go next in the service of God and our neighbor.
This is a beautiful and thoughtful resource with a focus on those in ordained ministry and those aspiring to ordination. Combining pastoral experience, wisdom and empirical research, the author explores how we discern God’s will and how we make decisions about the direction for ministry.
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Leading Life Changing Small Groups
$16.99Add to cartLike nothing else, small groups have the power to change lives. They’re the ideal route to discipleship-a place where the rubber of biblical truth meets the road of human relationships.
This updated and revised third edition of the bestselling Leading Life-Changing Small Groups handbook helps small group leaders learn the basics of leading a successful small group. Regardless of whether a person is leading for the first time or has been for years, this resource will help a small group leader more effectively facilitate group discussion and encourage and support group members in a way that leads to authentic and lasting life change.
The unique, ready-reference format highlights the requirements and responsibilities of a small group leader, gives helpful insight into the process of group formation and answers practical questions about meeting preparation and how to encourage group participation. It includes a model for discipleship within a small group and suggestions for dealing with some of the common roadblocks and struggles that most groups encounter.
This workbook can be used as a stand-alone resource to train coaches or partnered with the eight-session training videos taught by the author, available on the Equipping Life-Changing Small Groups DVD (sold separately). For those who want to lead small groups with excellence and truly witness life change in their small groups, this go-to guide offers practical answers and inspiring examples.
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10 Temptations Of Church
$17.99Add to cartChurch after church faces eventual death while helplessly lamenting its fate. What perversity is at work that causes those who sincerely love the church to become obstacles to growth? Like the apostle Paul, churches don’t always do the things they want, but instead they do the very thing they hate. Why? While the theological answer is sin at work in us, the organizational answer may just be that members of dying churches unconsciously find a payoff in the church’s decline. They are tempted by church.
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Contagious Generosity : Creating A Culture Of Giving In Your Church
$22.99Add to cartWhat does it look like when pastors cultivate a culture of generosity in the church by actively teaching and mentoring people in the spiritual act of giving? It’s generosity that’s contagious.
A growing number of leaders are beginning to discover that there are key factors that make some churches thrive with abundant resources while others struggle with shrinking budgets.
Jim Sheppard and Chris Willard have spent years consulting with church leaders across a broad spectrum of church settings and have gathered their observations into this resource, part of the Leadership Network Innovations Series.
Contagious Generosity highlights the best practices gleaned from real-life church leadership situations and shows how church leaders can effectively cultivate a culture of generous giving in the local church. It explains why some churches are experiencing unexplainable ministry growth and unprecedented church funding … even in the midst of tough economic times.
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Calling On The Spirit In Unsettling Times
$19.95Add to cartBased upon addresses given to Anglican audiences in North America and Australia, Bill Countryman directly confronts the challenges that face Anglicans and other Western Christians at a time of internal division and increasing indifference to religion on the part of educated elites. He regards these challenges as a work of the Holy Spirit, who is clearing the ground for a new era of building, and help readers start thinking about what kind of future the Spirit is leading us toward.
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Beyond The Broken Heart
$5.99Add to cartGrief is not a crisis of faith; it is a crisis of the heart. This affordable and pocket-sized book is the perfect gift for anyone who has experienced a recent loss or is grieving. Using excerpts from Beyond the Broken Heart, an eight-week support and grief ministry program, readers will find comfort and both spiritual and practical guidance during their grief journey.
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Leading Gods People
$21.99Add to cartWritten by an acclaimed patristics scholar with firsthand parish experience, this book presents the key principles of church leadership as they were taught by some of the great pastor-theologians of the early church. Over the centuries, countless leaders from all church traditions – Eastern and Western, Protestant, Catholic, and Orthodox – have turned to the classic works on pastoral ministry for inspiration and guidance. Here Christopher A. Beeley draws on the wise teachings of early Christian leaders as he offers warmhearted pastoral advice to fellow ministers and candidates for ministry. Topics covered include the nature of Christian service, pastoral authority, spirituality for leaders, pastoral care and healing, Scripture and theology as resources for ministry, and the transformative power of word and sacrament.
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Equip : A Youth Workers Guide To Developing Student Leaders
$14.99Add to cartMost any endeavor of significance is going to require someone to be a leader. One of the main points Equip makes is that only youth workers (excuse us, youth leaders) who reflect on their own journeys can develop the personal leadership skills necessary to equip other leaders specifically students, in this case to mature and lead their peers. Simply put: Developing leaders develop leaders.
In Equip: A Youth Worker’s Guide to Developing Student Leaders, Tim Milburn challenges youth leaders to create environments where student leadership development will thrive. Rather than step-by-step program (which he explains why he does not provide), Milburn uses anecdotal evidence as well as alliterative tips to get you started in recognizing how to apply the principles in your own context. Then he sets you free with an encouragement to implement in your own way, at your own pace, and in whatever methods work for you and the group of leaders you are developing. May Equip guide your leadership development philosophies, programs (or non-programs), and processes.
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Faith And The Future Of The Countryside
$40.00Add to cartFaith and the Future of the Countryside is a practical and theological handbook for rural ministry today, offers up to date resources for theological reflection, preaching and practical action in response to issues affecting rural congregations and whole communities in the 21st century. Practitioners in a variety of Christian denominations address the concerns of rural communities today, helping you to understand key issues in the context of mission and respond both pastorally and prophetically. Topics included are the changing profile of rural communities, health and wellbeing, the politics of food production, the rural economy, the local effects of climate change, the pastoral mission of the rural church, spirituality and the countryside and more.
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Church Actually : Rediscovering The Brillance Of God’s Plan
$13.99Add to cartAn exploration of the challenges of ‘being church’ in the 21st century.
Church attendance in the west has declined in recent years, but decline has been accompanied by growth in spiritual exploration, a desire for spirituality, faith, even Jesus – all without the church. Experience, history and the New Testament suggest this desire is ill-founded. It is through the church, the Bible suggests, that the Kingdom comes. How can we find a wider vision of the Kingdom and the church’s role? Kelly explores four of the ‘brilliant ideas’ inherent in God’s design of the church. God works through his people, and the church trains and equips; the church is Spirit-driven, and spiritual formation is central to God’s mission; the church’s task force transforms the world through acts of love and service; the church is the rainbow-clothed Bride of Christ, one global family, a reconciling model for the world. Can we break out of the greyness of our church experience to discover the riot of colour God intended? Is there a route back to the brilliance of God’s plan?
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Variegated Tapestries Of Ministry
$17.99Add to cartAmidst the postmodern technological explosion and the vexing complexities of our time, the church and its affiliate learning facilities need men and women thoroughly informed in theology, and well grounded in ministry to keep them afloat and make them the channels of hope, comfort, direction and leadership to a blind and dying world.In Variegated Tapestry of Ministry, P. Myles-Aikins puts into the hands of the clergy and seminary academics a premium text, and a profound lifelong material in ministry with a solid theological cornerstone to enhance the theological education and ministerial excellence.
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Episcopal Etiquette And Ethics
$21.95Add to cartWhat is the appropriate attire for an Episcopal priest at the events associated with the service in the Book of Common Prayer, the Celebration and Blessing of a Marriage? What does it mean to be an icon of Christ at a cocktail party? How does one live with sensitive confidential information from a parishioner? These questions might seem almost trivial yet are deeply serious. The Episcopal Church is a distinctive culture: effective ministry needs an understanding of the distinctive Episcopal culture. At one level, this is a book that introduces and explains the Episcopal faith to a potential priest who wants to be effective in this world. At another level, this book is a reflection on the meaning and nature of the holy mystery of priesthood. Drawing upon his rich parish experience in the Episcopal Church, Hawkins distils a wealth of practical experience and tips to enhance the training of seminarians and the ministries of established priests. Hawkins takes the reader through the pastoral offices with theological reflection and vignettes in order to encourage good priestly habits. Ideal reading for anyone wishing to serve the Episcopal Church in an ordained capacity.
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Creative Bible Lessons On The Trinity
$16.99Add to cartThe Trinity can be one of the most difficult ideas in the Bible to understand. How can our God be made up of three different people? Andrew Hedges answers this question in Creative Bible Lessons on the Trinity, an in-depth guide perfect for small groups and student discussions.
Divided into three sections, one for each aspect of the Trinity, this book presents students with a clear understanding of the role each part plays. Biblical evidence is supplemented with discussion questions so your small group can talk about how they see the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit work in their own lives.
Creative Bible Lessons on the Trinity also includes a guide to identifying and working with different learning styles, so you can connect effectively with each of the students in your small group. With this knowledge, you’ll be able to effectively teach your students to incorporate what they learn about the Trinity into their day-to-day lives.
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Fresh : An Introduction To Fresh Expressions Of Church And Pioneer Ministry
$35.99Add to cartFresh ! offers a strong rationale for fresh expressions and pioneer ministries rooted in scripture and in the breath of the Christian tradition. This is tested against the realities of contemporary British culture and critiques of the notion of Fresh Expressions. It offers practical guidance for starting and sustaining such ministries in the long term. It provides a survey of best practice within Fresh Expressions and pioneer ministry.Fresh ! comes out of the mature reflection of church leaders and theologians who have been active in such ministries over a number of years, showing how such ministries are integral to the work of the church both now and over the long term.This is combined with valuable practical advice – the best kind of practical theology.
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Shaping The Journey Of Emerging Adults
$20.99Add to cartBetween adolescence and adulthood is a new stage of life: emerging adulthood.
Those in their twenties and early thirties find themselves in transition. This “provisional adulthood” is a time of identity exploration and instability in which one’s vocation, purpose, relationships and spirituality are all being renegotiated. Many emerging adults lose sight of God and experience significant confusion and brokenness. Others unexpectedly reconnect with the Christian faith and seek deeper discipleship, yet lack helpful mentoring and direction.
Veteran disciplemakers Rick Dunn and Jana Sundene offer concrete guidance for those who shepherd and care for emerging adults. Some traditional models of disciplemaking focus on a set curriculum to be transferred from the discipler to the disciplee. Dunn and Sundene instead emphasize relational rhythms of discernment, intentionality and reflection to meet emerging adults where they are at and then to walk with them further into the Christlife.
Whether you’re an older adult ministering to the next generation or a younger adult with a heart for your peers, this book is an accessible, hopeful guide for effective ministry to emerging adults
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Ministry Without Madness
$15.99Add to cartIn previous generations, ministers often enjoyed high job satisfaction. They could be clear about who they were and what they were for. Today, they are increasingly anxious about role confusion, overload and burnout. Drawing on his abundant experience in hands-on ministry and ministry education, Gordon Oliver speaks directly, with faith and with hopefulness to these realities. He explores the covenant that exists between ministers and their churches and provides a clear evaluation of the structures, constraints and freedoms of ministry. With real-life stories and insightful questions for reflection, his thought-provoking guide helps ministers, and those who support them, work together to fulfill ministers’ true calling.
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Heart And Soul
$24.99Add to cartFighting crime by helping criminals and their families.
Read five true stories of criminals who are Heart and Soul Survivors. The best way to fight crime is to improve the community. The quality of a community is seen in how it treats its marginalized people. Statistics show that the percentage of marginalized adults in custody is considerably higher than the percentage of their representation in the overall population. Marginalized people include the poor, the mentally ill, the learning disabled, and drug addicts. Warehousing these people is a community’s shame. This book is urging a ministry involving volunteers working with criminals and their families. It will provide you with the tools necessary to help some people and thereby reduce crime. Chaplain Elsey writes from his experience and the knowledge gained working with hundreds of these families.
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Healthy Community : Moving Your Church Beyond Tunnel Vision
$15.99Add to cartChurches in America are dying. It s a sad reality, but statistics show that some 3,000 churches close their doors permanently every year. What does it take for a church today to remain healthy? How can pastors lead their churches into the future as strong, thriving communities?
In The Healthy Community, church leaders will be able to diagnose the problems that may exist in their own church and understand what it looks like when a church is lacking healthy essentials such as a doctrinal statement, grace, a mission, pastoral leadership, and discipled believers.
This book is an important first step for pastors who want to lead their churches towards health, and avoid becoming another statistic.
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Pornography Trap : A Resource For Ministry Leaders
$15.99Add to cartFresh material, in an updated 2nd edition!
Leaders both within the church and outside of it can deal with a sexual sin epidemic that is sweeping across churches today via the Internet and other venues. According to a Leadership Journal survey, almost two-thirds of all pastors struggle with Internet pornography. Men everywhere are living in bondage and fear of exposure.
The Pornography Trap, 2nd Edition, is for Pastors, leaders and those that may be flirting with this devastating addiction, or even those who counsel others who have already crossed the line. Mark Laaser & Ralph Earle Jr. helps one understand the core issues related to sexual sin and give insight into developing a biblical view of healthy sexuality. -
Missional House Churches
$26.99Add to cartMissional House Churches examines the impact and effect that house churches are having in the United States in evangelizing, discipling, and church planting in local communities. Based on the author’s first-hand research and interviews with over thirty missional house churches as well as his own experiences, this insightful work offers an inside look at, and analysis of the workings of the missional house church.
Topics addressed include the recent growth in the popularity of house churches in the United States, what defines church, various characteristics of the house churches, methods of evangelism and leadership development which lead to growth, use of financial resources for missions and benevolence, future of house churches in North America and the relationship of church planting movements and house churches. The appendices describe the research methodology and surveys used in the study as well as characteristics of church planting movements.
This book will be of interest to church leaders, mission-minded thinkers, and students who wish to explore, understand, and participate in this phenomenon of the missional house church movement.
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Beyond Boundaries Participants Guide (Student/Study Guide)
$14.99Add to cartPainful relationships violate trust and close hearts. But God designed us to experience freedom and love, and to live this way we need to take risks. After six books on boundaries, bestselling author Dr. John Townsend realized that, though people who experienced tough relationships may put up an emotional wall to protect themselves, they often have no idea how to reconnect with the person who has violated their trust or forge a fresh connection with someone new.
In Beyond Boundaries, Townsend offers a simple path to regain the intimacy and fulfilling closeness that every human needs. How do you know you’re ready to trust again … and what does it take to be ready? In this six-session, video-based study, Townsend takes participants beyond the pain of the past to re-enter a life of intimate relationships. Beyond Boundaries walks through the process of healing broken trust in a relationship or beginning a new relationship in a healthy way. Starting over is possible. You can find the intimacy that you long for, and you can do it in a way that honors God.
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Giving Up Gimmicks
$12.99Add to cartA fast-paced but thorough guide for youth ministers, volunteers, and parents seeking to provide a God-glorifying means-of-grace ministry to youth. Filled with examples, personal anecdotes, and gospel application, this book provides the reader with a fun and thoughtul approach to 21st-century youth ministry. Teens not only need a deeper ministry, but want one too.
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Where Two Or Three Are Gathered
$28.95Add to cartMuch has been written about the practice of one-to-one spiritual direction, but much less about small group communities that offer in-depth mutual spiritual support and guidance to its members. But small groups are most likely the more usual setting for spiritual companionships and have a strong biblical, theological and historical foundation in the Christian tradition.
This book offers a detailed presentation of ten small group models, plus guidance in group leadership dynamics. It also presents material related to group retreat work, spiriutal guidance with organizations, and a peer supervision/consultation model for supporting leaders of spiriutal companionship groups, and retreats.
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Building A Youth Ministry That Builds Disciples
$22.99Add to cartWhile most youth pastors are being regularly evaluated (or even scrutinized) for what they’re doing right now in the youth group, the reality is that the most important thing they are doing won’t actually be evident until much later. That’s because the biggest challenge for any youth ministry is helping teens embrace a whole-hearted devotion to God that lasts far beyond their years in the youth room.
Unfortunately, much of youth ministry seems to be designed on the model of setting teenagers up for a ‘date’ with God—a delightful evening that involves music, laughter, food, and light conversation. But what scripture calls us to is not a ‘one-night stand’ with God, but a lifelong love of God that endures.
Youth ministry educator and veteran, Duffy Robbins, offers youth workers a blueprint for building that kind of faith in teenagers. In this concise book, ideal for busy youth workers, they’ll be equipped to build a youth ministry that instills that lasting faith in its students.
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Embracing The Prophets In Contemporary Culture (Student/Study Guide)
$15.95Add to cartQuick Guide To The Handbook
Beyond The “Quick Guide”
Pointers On Facilitation
Session 1: Moses, Pharaoh, The Prophets And Us
Session 2: The Prophets As Uncredentialed Purveyors Of Covenant
Session 3: Moral Coherence In A World Of Power, Money And Violence
Session 4: The Shrill Rhetoric That Breaks Denial
Session 5: The Grief Of Loss As Divine JudgementAdditional Info
New 6-12 week study for adults and young adults led by Walter BrueggemannOld Testament scholar presents this compelling faith exploration and develops the contemporary significance and relevance of the Old Testament prophets as uncredentialed purveyors of convenant and moral coherence in a world of power, money and violence.
In keeping with the format established by two earlier editions, this new Emracing study engages participants with two components. (1) A DVD, here featuring five 10-15 minute presentations, followed by additional video with a small, diverse group of adults as they respond and discuss the topics, and (2) a participant workbook containing all the material needed by class participants as well as for the facilitator.
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Shaping Of An Effective Leader
$18.99Add to cartDrawing on the influence of Peter Drucker and other mentors as well as his own years of experiences as a pastor, administrator and college president, Gayle Beebe has developed a pyramid of leadership principles that define a leader of influence and integrity. Discover what it takes to be effective in your sphere of influence.
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Moments Of Wonder
$14.99Add to cartA resource full of children’s messages with a “Wow!” factor
Moments of Wonder includes 52 fun and distinctive theme-based sermons that will connect with children ages 3-8.
Offers a year’s worth of children’s sermons that help pastors reach children effectively with a “wow factor”
Each of the sermon lessons is theme-based and includes a selected Scripture text
Format offers messages that are distinctive, fun, and easily presented
Ideal for children’s church
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Journey Leader Guide (Teacher’s Guide)
$11.99Add to cartTake your group on a journey with Adam Hamilton as he travels on video from Nazareth to Bethlehem in this fascinating look at the birth of Jesus Christ. This 64-page Leader Guide pdf contains everything needed to guide your group through the 5-session DVD study, The Journey: Walking the Road to Bethlehem. Inside you’ll find session plans, discussion questions, as well as multiple format options and suggestions of ways to make the study a meaningful experience for any group.
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Circle Maker Participants Guide (Student/Study Guide)
$14.99Add to cartThis six-session video-based study with participant’s guide (sold separately) will help participants gain a deeper understanding of prayer and, in turn, make a more consistent practice of prayer.
It will give viewers new vocabulary and methodology to pray with a holy confidence. It will help participants dream big, pray hard and think long.
The six video sessions combine a teaching element with a creative element to draw viewers into the circle. Through this combination, participants will gain old theology and new methodology for prayer.
The six-week study will not only revolutionize the personal prayer life of each participant, but together the group will form a prayer circle around each other’s challenges, opportunities and dreams.
Each session wraps up with a practical application called ‘Draw the Circle,’ giving participants the opportunity to put the prayer principles they have learned into practice. Session titles include:
The Legend of the Circle Maker
Circling Jericho
The 1st Circle-Dream Big
The 2nd Circle-Pray Hard
The 3rd Circle-Think Long
Circling Your Life Goals -
Mosaic : When God Uses All The Pieces A Lenten Study For Adults
$13.99Add to cartFocuses on how God uses the brokenness in people’s lives to make them better
Seven sessions, one for each Sunday in Lent and Easter Sunday
Each session features a Scripture reference, a personal reading, questions for personal reflection or group study, and closing prayer
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Modern Psychotherapies : A Comprehensive Christian Appraisal
$60.00Add to cartAcknowledgments
Introduction
1. The Integration Of Psychology And Christianity
Stanton L. Jones And Richard E. Butman
2. A Christian View Of Persons
Stanton L. Jones, Laura Miguelez And Richard E. Butman
The Psychodynamic Psychologies
3. Classical Psychoanalysis
Stanton L. Jones, Robert Watson And Richard E. Butman
4. Contemporary Psychodynamic Psychotherapies
Michael W. Mangis, Stanton L. Jones And Richard E. Butman
The Cognitive And Behavioral Psychologies
5. Behavior Therapy
Stanton L. Jones, Kelly Flanagan And Richard E. Butman
6. Cognitive-Behavior Therapy
Mark R. McMinn, Stanton L. Jones, Michael J. Vogel And Richard E. Butman
The Humanistic And Experiential Psychologies
7. Person-Centered Therapy
Terri Watson, Stanton L. Jones And Richard E. Butman
8. Experiential Therapies
Terri Watson, Tracey Lee, Stanton L. Jones And Richard E. Butman
The Systemic Psychologies
9. Family Systems Theory And Therapy
David Van Dyke, Stanton L. Jones And Richard E. Butman
10. Community Psychology And Preventative Intervention Strategies
Sally S. Canning
Toward Christian Psychologies
11. Responsible Eclecticism And The Challenges Of Contemporary Practice
Richard E. Butman And Stanton L. Jones
12. Christian Psychotherapy And The Person Of The Christian Psychotherapist
Richard E. Butman And Stanton L. JonesAdditional Info
The wide variety of psychotherapies that psychologists and students of psychology face can make for a confusing picture. The level of complexity is multiplied for Christians since they must ask how a particular psychotherapy fits (or doesn’t fit) with a Christian understanding of persons and their suffering. In this expanded and thoroughly update edition, Stanton Jones and Richard Butman continue to offer a careful analysis and penetrating critiques of the myriad of psychotherapies now current in the field of psychology including:Classical Psychoanalysis
Contemporary Psychodynamic Psychotherapies
Behavior Therapy
Cognitive Therapy
Person-Centered Therapy
Experiential Therapies
Family Systems Theory and Therapy
Two valuable new chapters have been added: “Community Psychology and Preventative Intervention Strategies” and “Christian Psychotherapy and the Person of the Christian Psychotherapist.” Opening and closing chapters discuss foundational concerns on the integration of psychology and theology and present the authors’ call for a “responsible eclecticism.” Modern Psychotherapies remains an indispensable resource. -
Grow Your Churches Income
$19.99Add to cartIn these recessionary times, churches are as hard hit financially as anyone. Here is a simple, practical guide to making your church’s resources go as far as they possibly can in the short, medium and long term. In non-technical language this provides a basic guide to: Managing money and budgets, controlling your expenditure, ways of increasing income, how to address falling numbers and falling income, identifying ways to raise income from outside sources, getting the best prices for utilities and other services, group purchasing schemes etc. Illustrated with real examples from churches of all sizes and in all states of financial health, here is an indispensable guide.
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Stop The Churchs Revolving Door
$30.99Add to cartDoes your church have a revolving door? Most churches do not have a ministry to establish and maintain authentic personal relationships with inactive members, visitors, or prospective members. Before implementing this ministry, one church failed to stay relationally connected to its members. Is your church suffering from the same dilemma?
This new ministry empowered churches toward improving its church health, increasing service opportunities for laypeople, and establishing stronger personal relationships. It is possible in your church, too! This book provides a guide toward implementing this crucial ministry in your church. It is time to stop your church’s revolving door!
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Stop The Churchs Revolving Door
$13.99Add to cartDoes your church have a revolving door? Most churches do not have a ministry to establish and maintain authentic personal relationships with inactive members, visitors, or prospective members. Before implementing this ministry, one church failed to stay relationally connected to its members. Is your church suffering from the same dilemma?
This new ministry empowered churches toward improving its church health, increasing service opportunities for laypeople, and establishing stronger personal relationships. It is possible in your church, too! This book provides a guide toward implementing this crucial ministry in your church. It is time to stop your church’s revolving door!
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Making Sense Of The Cross Leader Guide (Teacher’s Guide)
$19.99Add to cartIntroduction
Session 1: A Man Hanging On A Tree
Session 2: Portraits And Perspectives
Session 3: Ransom And Victory
Session 4: Substitution, Satisfaction, And Sacrifice
Session 5: Example And Encouragement
Session 6: Event And ExperienceAdditional Info
Lead your small group as they ask questions and engage in conversation about the cross. Making Sense of the Cross is a flexible course and this leader guide contains suggestions for adapting the sessions to your context. -
Many Voices : Pastoral Psychotherapy In Relational And Theological Perspect
$39.00Add to cartMany Voices is a must-read textbook for pastoral psychotherapists and pastoral counselors in clinical training as well as a guide for those in professional practice. In it Cooper-White harvests the great potential of postmodern sensibilities to help, accompany, and support individuals, couples, and families in recognizing and healing especially painful psychic wounds or longstanding patterns of self-defeating relationships to self and others. In Part 1 she shows how multiplicity and relationality provide a dynamic way of viewing human potential and pain. In Part 2 she unfolds the practical applications of this paradigm for a strongly empathic therapeutic relationship and process.
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Irresistible Church : 12 Traits Of A Church Heaven Applauds (Reprinted)
$15.00Add to cartWant your church to become more vibrant and effective? After years of ministry, Cordeiro knows how to work together as a team. Here he presents 12 practical steps to help you cultivate a congregation God wants to bless; develop a culture of serving; turn visitors into regular attenders; and more. Includes study guide.
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And Now For My 43rd Point
$24.99Add to cartAuthentic Publishers Title
Packed full of creative ideas, hints and tips for improving talks and sermons, from voice control to effective sermon planning. The Pages take a humorous look at the development and current state of the sermon and explore whether the method of preaching and teaching most frequently used – the monologue sermon – is necessarily the best. They question whether the sermon is the only way of teaching, even more, if it is God’s way of doing things. Suggested further reading and further resources and material available from the associated website.
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Beautiful Disciplines : 12 Steps To Help Young People Develop Their Spiritu
$18.99Add to cartA practical resource book to help youth leaders to introduce the ancient spiritual disciplines to teenagers.
Packed with practical activities, engaging stories, and relevant explanation, this photocopiable resource will be a powerful tool to help young people develop a deep-rooted and lasting faith. Martin believes that many young believers today practise a dangerously brittle faith. They need to be led deeper, to a faith rooted not in the personalities of their leaders or the hype of big events, but in a disciplined direct relationship with God. This book provides practical tools to help youth leaders to teach their teenagers to pray, study the Bible, live more simply, and discover the value in other ancient disciplines such as fasting, solitude, study, worship and celebration. There are 10 short chapters, each suitable for one session. Each begins with background information for the leader, then provides a study section with practical exercises. Each concludes with questions suitable for discussion in small groups.
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Leaving Egypt : Finding God In The Wilderness Places
$17.00Add to cartThe Exodus story is your story.
The Israelites’ liberation from Egypt and journey to the promised land is one the Bible’s most compelling narratives. But the Exodus isn’t just a long-ago Bible story. We each find ourselves enslaved: to work, to destructive relationships, to food, to spending . . . but beyond our personal Egypt lies God’s promised land.
Chuck DeGroat shows how our wilderness journey helps us face our fears, receive our new identity, experience transformation, and live into our newfound freedom. Discussion questions follow each chapter.
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Consultancy Skills For Mission And Ministry
$35.99Add to cartConsultancy Skills for Mission and Ministry provides a readable handbook to doing consultancy in church based organisations. Many of those who exercise ministry in churches move into roles where they are expected to supervise and support ministers and church leaders in their work. Consultancy is an effective way of doing this and provides skills and theoretical frameworks for both those working explicitly as consultants to ministers and church workers and leaders as well as for officers in churches such as Archdeacons, Superintendents, Mission Officers, local church and regional development advisers or those involved in continuing professional development. Often people moving into these roles are not provided with the specific skills and knowledge they need. Other groups who will find this book useful will include consultants who operate in commercial, public and voluntary organisations but who need to know how to apply their skills in church settings and students on courses in consultancy.
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Sticky Faith Youth Worker Edition
$26.99Add to cartMany of the statistics you read about teenagers and faith can be alarming. Recent studies show that 40-50 percent of kids who are connected to a youth group throughout their senior year will fail to stick with their faith in college. As youth workers are pouring their time and energy into the students in their ministries, they are often left wondering if they’ve done enough to equip their students to carry their faith into adulthood.
Fuller Youth Institute has done extensive research in the area of youth ministry and teenage development. In Sticky Faith, the team at FYI presents youth workers with both a theological/philosophical framework and practical programming ideas that develop long-term faith in teenagers. Each chapter presents a summary of FYI’s quantitative and qualitative research, along with the implications of this research, including program ideas suggested and tested by youth ministries nationwide.
This resource will give youth pastors what they need to help foster a faith that sticks with all the teenagers in their group long after they’ve left the youth room.
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Theological Turn In Youth Ministry
$25.99Add to cartWhat haunts your youth group? So often we avoid talking about doubts and fears because we feel inadequately equipped to address them in any meaningful way. The crisis of existence can’t be answered with pat Sunday school formulas or a few Bible verses, let alone another relay race. The questions our youth have are often the same ones that perplexed the great theologians, driving them to search for God in the places God didn’t appear to be–places of brokenness, suffering and confusion. What if we let these questions drive our search for God too? Andrew Root and Kenda Creasy Dean invite you to envision youth ministries full of practical theologians, addressing the deep questions of life with a wonderfully adolescent mix of idealism, cynicism and prophetic intolerance for hypocrisy. Follow them into reflection on your own practice of theology, and learn how to share that theology through rich, compassionate conversation and purposeful experience.
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Teaching And Christian Practices
$27.99Add to cartIn Teaching and Christian Practices several university professors describe and reflect on their efforts to allow historic Christian practices to reshape and redirect their pedagogical strategies. Whether allowing spiritually formative reading to enhance a literature course, employing table fellowship and shared meals to reinforce concepts in a pre-nursing nutrition course, or using Christian hermeneutical practices to interpret data in an economics course, these teacher-authors envision ways of teaching and learning that are rooted in the rich tradition of Christian practices, as together they reconceive classrooms and laboratories as vital arenas for faith and spiritual growth.
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Child By Child
$17.95Add to cartA how-to-guide to integrate children and youth with special needs into church programs and activities, including worship.
Includes how to train volunteers and staff for hands-on work with children and youth who have special needs.
Provides a theological grounding for the inclusion of people with learning differences and disabilities in the life of a congregation.
Integrating children and teens with learning differences into church programs is a growing priority for nearly all congregations, large and small, yet many feel ill-equipped to “manage” those with special needs in their classrooms, programs and worship.
This new guidebook for churches is designed to help integrate children and teens with learning differences – and their families – into the fabric of everyday church life. A useable on-the-ground resource for church leaders with specific suggestions, samples, and processes for adapting curricula, training volunteers, and supporting parents and caregivers, this guide is grounded in theological principles for the inclusion of people with disabilities in the life of a congregation. It begins by focusing on human relationships instead of programs. Expanding the church’s awareness and understanding of inclusion is done with respect and achieved by extending the gospel of welcome to all. An extensive annotated bibliography of support materials is included.
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Engage : A Guide To Creating Life Transforming Worship Services (Reprinted)
$20.00Add to cartNo matter how great Sunday’s worship service was, there’s always another Sunday lurking at the end of the next week that must be planned. Church leaders often fall into ruts, working on automatic pilot just trying to get things together, which does not allow for much creativity or focus on designing services that lead to transformation for those involved in them.
Engage is a step-by-step, stress-free guide to planning worship services that allow for and foster true life change. Comprehensive in scope, Engage provides teaching pastors, worship leaders, and volunteers with the tools they need to work together to develop and implement a worship planning system that improves communication, enhances creativity, and honors Jesus every week. -
What Not To Say
$28.00Add to cartJohn C. Holbert and Alyce M. McKenzie have provided a humorous and helpful guide for avoiding common pitfalls in preaching. Their practical advice abounds with wit and wisdom for students, preachers, and teachers who seek to understand and execute the privilege of preaching while avoiding all-too-familiar snares. A free video companion is available, making this book excellent for group or classroom discussion.
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Quick Reference Guide To Counseling Women (Reprinted)
$33.00Add to cartThe newest addition to the popular Quick-Reference Guide collection, The Quick-Reference Guide to Counseling Women focuses on the special needs of women in counseling situations. It is an A-Z guide for assisting people-helpers–pastors, professional counselors, youth workers, and everyday believers–to easily access a full array of information to aid them in formal and informal counseling situations. Each of the 40 topics covered follows a helpful eight-part outline and identifies (1) typical symptoms and patterns, (2) definitions and key thoughts, (3) questions to ask, (4) directions for the conversation, (5) action steps, (6) biblical insights, (7) prayer starters, and (8) recommended resources.
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Think Christianly : Looking At The Intersection Of Faith And Culture
$26.99Add to cartThink Christianly is about seizing the opportunities we have every day to speak the life Jesus offers into our culture. Tragically, many such opportunities pass us by unclaimed—either because we don’t notice them or we have not prepared ourselves to enter into them. And those around us seem to grow increasingly unwilling to hear anything the church has to say.
Jonathan Morrow helps church leaders envision and implement ways for their congregations to ‘think Christianly’ about contemporary questions and to speak in informed, engaging ways. Morrow explores many of the important issues that Christians often hear raised with regard to faith—questions about who Jesus was, the good and bad of religion, pain and evil in the world, the reliability of the Bible, sexuality and intimate relationships, and hope for change, among others.The life and faith issues that Think Christianly addresses lead to cultural moments where Christianity and contemporary culture intersect. This book will help churches take vital steps toward cultivating compassion and competence in speaking faithfully to a questioning world.
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Letters To A Young Pastor
$14.99Add to cartMuch has changed over Calvin Miller’s decades of pastoral ministry, but he believes two things remain the same: God is love and people are broken. Now God is calling young pastors to stand in that gap. And in this honest, warm and humorous series of letters, Miller shares his wisdom and experience so you can flourish in your future ministry–without ever wanting to resign on Monday.
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Preaching And Teaching The Last Things
$27.00Add to cartDistinguished Old Testament scholar Walter Kaiser believes that the Old Testament is sorely neglected today in teaching and preaching, but it is even more neglected when it comes to setting forth the hope that Christians have for the future. Firmly believing that the Old Testament offers important insights into biblical eschatology and the Christian life, he provides guidance for expositing fifteen key Old Testament eschatological passages to preachers, teachers, and Bible students. Each chapter focuses on a single biblical text. Kaiser introduces the topic, examines the issues, notes who has contributed to some of the solutions, and shows how this sets up the text to be exegeted and prepared for exposition.
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Addiction And Virtue
$35.99Add to cartPreface
1. Addiction And Disease
2. Addiction And Incontinence
3. Addiction And Habit
4. Addiction And Intemperance
5. Addiction And Modernity
6. Addiction And Sin
7. Addiction And Worship
8. Addiction And The ChurchAdditional Info
What is the nature of addiction? Neither of the two dominant models (disease or choice) adequately accounts for the experience of those who are addicted or of those who are seeking to help them. In this interdisciplinary work, Kent Dunnington brings the neglected resources of philosophical and theological analysis to bear on the problem of addiction. Drawing on the insights of Aristotle and Thomas Aquinas, he formulates an alternative to the usual reductionistic models. Going further, Dunnington maintains that addiction is not just a problem facing individuals. Its pervasiveness sheds prophetic light on our cultural moment. Moving beyond issues of individual treatment, this groundbreaking study also outlines significant implications for ministry within the local church context. -
Collected Sermons Of Walter Brueggemann
$44.00Add to cartIn addition to being one of the world’s leading interpreters of the Old Testament, Walter Brueggemann is a skilled and beloved preacher. This collection of sermons demonstrates Brueggemann’s fidelity to biblical texts, which come alive with meaning in our contemporary world. Throughout, Brueggemann also reflects on his preaching.
The book features a biblical index as well as a foreword by Samuel Wells of Duke University who writes: “Enjoy this volume from a master exegete, a master theologian, and a master preacher. They really are neat sermons. And they’re for you.”
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Journey For Youth
$8.99Add to cartWitness the birth of God-with-Us! Follow Mary and Joseph on the arduous journey to Bethlehem, feel their disappointment when there’s no room at the inn, and rejoice with the angels and the shepherds when Jesus is born. Combining biblical scholarship, theological interpretation, and spiritual insight, best-selling author Hamilton paints a vivid picture of Christ’s nativity.
The most amazing moment in history comes alive for youth and their families. Stories include:
Mary’s story and Nazareth
Joseph’s story
Mary in Judea
The journey
BethlehemProvides everything needed to conduct a seven-week study, including reproducible handouts
Study book with leader helps
Further teacher helps on the Web at Hamilton’s webpage
DVD used with adult classes also recommended for use with youth -
Journey For Children
$16.99Add to cartA Bible study for children that explores the profound, life-changing impact of Jesus’ birth
The most amazing moment in history comes alive for children and their families. Stories include:
Mary’s story and Nazareth
Joseph’s story
Mary in Judea
The journey
BethlehemBased on Adam Hamilton’s The Journey: Walking the Road to Bethlehem, children ages 4 through 8 will explore the story of Jesus’ birth with fresh eyes and ears.
Children will:
*learn about the places where the story occurred.
*experience some of the culture of Bible times.
*discover what each character in the story teaches us about God.
*realize what this story means for their lives today.
*celebrate the birth of God’s Son.
*discover the real meaning of Christmas.Provides everything needed to conduct a seven-week study, including reproducible handouts
Study book with leader helps
Further teacher helps on the Web at Hamilton’s webpage -
Against The Tide
$12.99Add to cartYoung people are surrounded by media militantly attacking biblical virtue and values. The goal of Christian education is still to “present every man perfect in Christ,” but postmodernism declares that there is no one right way to live. In the midst of this conflict, many Christian school leaders are surrendering, lowering their expectations in order to bring in more students, tolerating an atmosphere which works against the basic purpose for which the schools were founded. Against the Tide calls the Christian education movement back to its mission. The ideas offered in this book are thoroughly practical. The authors have effectively implemented these principles in their Christian schools. More important, these ideas are thoroughly biblical in their understanding of the role of Christian education and, in particular, of the Christian school, in helping parents to develop Christlike character in young people.
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Sermons From Job
$25.00Add to cartLeroy Nixon, the translator of these sermons wrote, “Of all the sermons by Calvin, the 159 on the book of Job have probably been the most famous. They express clearly his sense of the majesty of God. To work with them over the past three years has been a rich and exciting spiritual experience. . . If the reader gets only a fraction of the benefit which came to the translator, the reader will be amply rewarded. Calvin’s piety is well expressed in the sermons titled, ‘The Lord Gave; the Lord has taken Away’; ‘Blessed is the Man whom God Corrects’; ‘Though He Slay Me, Yet Will I Trust in Him;’ ‘Does Not God Count My Steps’; ‘ and ‘The Right Use of Affliction.’ Pervading these sermons is the prayer and conviction that whatever comes to pass may all be for the glory of God.”
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Navigating The Sermon Cycle B
$39.95Add to cartFor each Sunday in Cycle B, the writers and editors of “Charting the Course,” an integral part of Emphasis: A Lectionary Preaching Journal from CSS Publishing Company, delve into the heart of the lectionary readings, providing you, the pastor with in-depth lectionary-based commentary; relating several fresh, solid ideas — based squarely on the lectionary texts — for creating sermons that speak powerfully to your audience. The team of Navigating the Sermon looks for overall topics for the entire Cycle B church year that hold the readings together. Then, they zero in on the theme and the specific scripture links, suggesting directions for the sermon and worship service. Since a single application for each week may not provide what you are looking for at that particular time, Navigating the Sermon in most cases suggests several ideas, giving you the opportunity to select the one that matches your specific needs.
This book is like having a dedicated, thoroughly versed sermon research and sermon resource team right in your own study to help you create riveting sermons that are truly yours and that speak powerfully to your audience.
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Hardest Sermons Youll Ever Have To Preach
$19.99Add to cartAs much as we wish we could avoid it, tragedy strikes every community and family at one time or another. When it does, pastors must be ready to offer hope and help, speaking words of truth and encouragement during the tough times.
Bryan Chapell, well-known pastor, seminary president, and author of Christ-Centered Preaching, gathered together these essential sermons from some of today’s most trusted Christian leaders, including John Piper, Tim Keller, Michael Horton and others. This indispensable resource of 25 sermons includes suggested Bible verses and idea starters for preparing a mesage to help busy pastors face the toughest topics they will ever be called upon to preach: murder, suicide, abuse, AIDS, war, national crisis, accidental death, abortion, miscarriage, death of a child, and more.
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Basic Types Of Pastoral Care And Counseling (Revised)
$40.99Add to cartThis standard text in the field of pastoral care and counseling has been updated to include changes that have occurred in the field, including crisis intervention, the emergence of lay caring groups, the feminist movement, and numerous others.
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What They Didnt Teach You In Seminary
$20.00Add to cartIn churches today, there are ever fewer older pastors speaking into the lives of younger leaders, and fewer younger leaders feeling there is much to be learned from the experience of their elders. Street-smart wisdom is gone from training as there are many men and women preparing pastors who have never themselves pastored a church. Intriguingly, even older, more seasoned pastors yearn for insight into their task, as they remain “undiscipled” in the school of leadership.
In What They Didn’t Teach You in Seminary, veteran pastor James Emery White provides the kind of mentoring young pastors desperately need but cannot get from academia or leadership books. These “from the trenches” insights will help them transform their relationships with staff and parishoners, develop healthy boundaries, deliver hard truths, avoid spiritual pitfalls, use their time effectively, and much more.
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Preach The Word
$25.00Add to cartFor more than forty years, pastor R. Kent Hughes has shared the gospel with thousands of people and raised the standard of expository preaching in North America and beyond.
To celebrate his legacy and pay tribute to his years of ministry, fifteen of Hughes’s friends and colleagues from across the globe, including J. I. Packer, Wayne Grudem, John MacArthur, Peter Jensen, and D. A. Carson, examine what it means to be an expository preacher. Among the contributors are professors, a university chaplain, a college president, and urban church planters-living testimonies to Hughes’s wide influence.
These contributors address an array of themes for the ministry-minded, such as interpretive principles and practices, biblical and historical paradigms, expository preaching’s contemporary aims and challenges, and the priority of training-all in the expectation that this one man’s passion to preach the Word faithfully will enhance the understanding and practice of expository preaching in churches and seminaries around the world.
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God In The Present Tense Cycle B
$12.95Add to cartOne of the enduring legacies of the Revised Common Lectionary is its ability to draw different parts of scripture together to form a coherent narrative, drawing congregations from around the world into the life-changing message of faith in Jesus Christ. Each element of the lectionary brings its own point of view into this message, giving us insights into its origins, the impact on its original hearers, as well as its relevance for our lives today. In the gospel message, we see the drama of Jesus’ life and ministry and are challenged to join in it.
God in the Present Tense covers the middle third of the Pentecost season, examining the ministry of Jesus as presented in the gospels of Mark and John. In this collection of sermons, Carter endeavors to show how these passages are not confined to a singular moment in history, but instead are relevant and valuable in our own time, as well. Jesus’ ministry was not just for first-century Palestine but for all people everywhere throughout time. These sermons will lift the stories off the page and give them new life in our present time.
This collection of sermons is a valuable resource for:
– Sermon starters and illuminating illustrations
– Gaining a new homiletical perspective to the lectionary
– Offering a newer, deeper understanding and appreciation of scripture
– Using as a starter for adult Bible study groups or personal devotionsThis sermon collection includes:
The Meal that Stays with You
Welcoming the Child
Welcome to the Household
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Now To Him
$14.99Add to cartThe case for a more biblical approach to worship which honours the divine and allows space for wonder.
The authors, a theologian and a worship leader, are concerned that modern worship is growing self-indulgent: more about performance, less about an encounter with the divine. They consider what the Bible teaches about worship, addressing four key concerns: Worship as entertainment; worship which lacks wonder and awe; worship as irrelevant to mission; worship which gratifies the worshipper rather than honouring the Almighty. The authors each contribute six chapters, looking at biblical aspects of worship. They tackle worship and holiness; worship with passion; worship and the danger of idolatry. How, they ask, can we rediscover the mystery of an encounter with God, in corporate worship? How can leaders open themselves and their congregations to the heart of God, releasing his presence and power? How should we craft the unique dynamic of a people gathered to sing to God?
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Living Church : Convictions Of A Lifelong Pastor
$22.99Add to cartPreface: “Emerging Churches”
The Postmodern World
Acknowledgments And Abbreviations
1. Essentials: God’s Vision For His Church
2. Worship: Glorying In God’s Holy Name
3. Evangelism: Mission Through The Local Church
4. Ministry: The Twelve And The Seven
5. Fellowship: The Implications Of Koinonia
6. Preaching: Five Paradoxes
7. Giving: Ten Principles
8. Impact: Salt And Light
Conclusion: Looking For Timothys In The 21st Century
HIstorical Appendix 1: Why I Am Still A Member Of The Church Of England
Historical Appendix 2: I Have A Dream Of A Living Church
Historical Appendis 3: Reflections Of An OctogenarianAdditional Info
John Stott describes the characteristics of an “authentic” or “living” church that conserves Scripture and radically combines tradition and that convention called “culture.” He presents the Bible’s wisdom with a teacher’s skill and applies it with a pastor’s heart. Stott shows that becoming a living church is not an impossible goal. -
Living Without Enemies
$24.99Add to cartIntroduction
1. Nazareth
2. Ministry
3. Silence
4. Touch
5. Words
6. Kingdom
Ten Gleanings
About The Duke Divinity School Center For ReconciliationAdditional Info
With senseless violence occurring throughout society, people are suffering and communities are groaning. Fear and not knowing where to begin hold many back from doing anything at all. But is “doing something” really what is most needed? Marcia Owen and Samuel Wells come together to tell the story of a community’s journey through four different dimensions of social engagement. After attempts to seek legislative solutions led nowhere, a religious coalition began holding prayer vigils for local victims of gun violence. It was then that Owen discovered the beauty of simply being present. Through her friendships with both victims and offenders, Owen learned that being with was precisely the opposite of violence–it was love. And to truly love others as God loves us meant living without enemies and taking small steps toward reconciliation. Owen and Wells offer deep insights into what it takes to overcome powerlessness, transcend fear and engage in radical acceptance in our dangerous world. Your view of ministry will be altered by this poignant tale of coming face-to-face with our God who loves boundlessly and has no enemies. -
Embracing Emergence Christianity (Student/Study Guide)
$15.95Add to cart1. Emergence 101
2. Where Now Is The Authority
3. The 20th Century And Emergence
4. Gifts From Other Times
5. How Then Shall We Live?
6. Hallmarks Of EmergenceAdditional Info
Author, historian and keen cultural observer Phyllis Tickle invites us to join her in examining the changing face of Christianity and culture. Phyllis surveys 2000 years of Western history, identifying the great upheavals that occur in Western culture and Christianity every 500 years. The last was the Great Reformation of the 1500’s; the next is happening now.What are the implications of the “Great Emergence,” both culturally and spiritually? What are the key questions and issues that need to be addressed? Where might we be headed next?
And, perhaps most importantly, where are you, at this moment? Might you be an emergence Christian?
There are six sessions on the DVD.
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Season Of Creation
$39.00Add to cartAs the global climate crisis worsens, many churches have sought to respond by instituting a movement to observe a liturgical season of creation. Scholars who have pioneered the connections between biblical scholarship, ecological theology, liturgy, and homiletics provide here a comprehensive resource for preaching and leading worship in this new season. Included are theological and practical introductions to observance of the season, biblical texts for its twelve Sundays in the three-year lectionary cycle, and astute commentary to help preachers and worship leaders guide their congregations into deeper connection with our imperiled planet.
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Teaching Through The Art Of Storytelling
$24.99Add to cartAs communicators in a culture saturated with storylines, we have the profound opportunity to invite our students into the masterful Story of God. There are a variety of ways to invite our students into this Story, but this book discusses and explores how to teach through one of Jesus’ most powerful modes of communication–fictional storytelling. Rabbinical storytelling (otherwise known as Jewish Agada) embraces the narrative of Scripture and invites its listeners into understanding and participation. Our Rabbi, Jesus, employed this mode of communication through his parables. Approaching the topic as a theologian, philosopher and artist, Jon invites and teaches how to create modern-day parables that illuminate the message of Jesus. These stories do not simply illustrate the message; they are, in fact, the message. Whether hoping to articulate deep theological concepts or relevant topics, teaching through the art of fictional storytelling has the potential to engage and invite our students into The Story.
In this book:
*You will learn how to create your own fictional stories (modern day parables) that use a realistic setting, engaging characters and a thought provoking plot to communicate a specific topic.
*You are given practical worksheets that offer guidance in developing such stories
*Jon includes a variety of stories he has developed over his years of youth ministry and offers them as a resource to any youth pastor/communicator. -
Are You Waiting For The One
$18.99Add to cartPreface
1. Young Love: Beyond The Fantasy Of Romance
2. Marriage: What Makes It Christian?
3. Families: Telling The Stories That Have Shaped Us
4. Peace: Handling Conflict Constructively
5. Friendship: From Acquaintance To Intimacy
6. Sex: Embodied Communion
7. Hospitality: Welcoming Children And Other Strangers
8. Households: Forming An Economic Partnership
9. Old Love: Growing Together Into Maturity
Epilogue: WeddingsAdditional Info
Does God want to write your love story? Well, maybe not-especially not if it is the culture’s romanticized ideal of happily ever after! Margaret and Dwight Peterson help us sort out the difference between how our surrounding society often depicts marriage and how Christians really should approach this particular gift of God to all humanity. They guide us through many aspects of a growing, maturing marriage including being a family, handling conflict, friendship, children, household economics and weathering the transitions of life. In the end they show how Christian marriage is far deeper and stronger than a romantic fairy tale. In fact, it reflects the kind of love God has for us in the gospel of Jesus Christ who gave his life for us that we might have his life in us. -
Future For The Latino Church
$23.99Add to cartForeword By Manuel Ortiz
Introduction: A Moment Of Transition In The Barrio
1. Living In The Hyphen
2. Multigenerational Hispanic Churches
3. Multiethnic, Predominately Hispanic Churches
4. Good News And Good Works In The Barrio
5. The Local Church As Organic Seminary
6. The New Hispanic Challenge
Conclusion: A Future For The Latino ChurchAdditional Info
Many assume that Hispanic ministry in North America still necessarily focuses on Spanish-language congregations. But over 60 percent of all American Latinos were born in the United States and are now English dominant.Daniel Rodriguez argues that effective Latino ministry and church planting is now centered in second-generation, English-dominant leadership and congregations. Based on his observation of dozens of cutting-edge Latino churches across the country, Rodriguez reports on how innovative congregations are ministering creatively to the next generations of Latinos. In-depth case studies reveal how gifted leaders are reaching beyond their own demographics to have lasting impact on their wider communities.
The future of the Latino church is multilingual, multigenerational and multiethnic. Those who “live in the hyphen” between Latino and American can become all things to all Latinos, sharing the gospel in ways that language is no barrier.
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Hurt 2.0 : Inside The World Of Todays Teenagers (Reprinted)
$27.00Add to cartHurt provided a vivid and insightful view into the world of today’s teenagers. Now leading youth ministry expert Chap Clark substantially updates and revises his groundbreaking bestseller (over 55,000 copies sold). Hurt 2.0 features a new chapter on youth at society’s margins and new material on social networking and gaming. Each chapter has been thoroughly revised with new research, statistics, quotations, and documentation.
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Replenish : Leading From A Healthy Soul (Reprinted)
$17.99Add to cartEvery leader functions on two stages–the front stage or public world, and the back stage or private world. One cannot lead successfully front stage when one is completely depleted back stage. In a time when pastors are leaving the ministry in record numbers due to cynicism, disillusionment, weariness, and personal scandals, there is an urgent need for soul care in the private lives of leaders.
Replenish helps leaders focus on the back stage, the interior life, in order to remain spiritually healthy. In a caring, encouraging tone, it will show pastors how to:
prioritize matters of the soul
develop healthy spiritual practices
address problems that lead to burnout
create a healthy rhythm in their lives
improve their people skills and the
spiritual climate of their team
develop better systems in their churches
discover how to lead an unhurried lifeFor the many ministry leaders who feel alone, in over their heads, or simply worn out, this book will offer welcome relief and a healthy way forward.
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On Being A Leader For God (Reprinted)
$16.00Add to cartBooks on leadership in various aspects of life and work abound. But are the principles upon which these books are grounded biblical? Do they describe the best way for Christians to lead, knowing that they function as ambassadors for Christ as they facilitate meetings, lead people, and manage projects?
On Being a Leader for God covers numerous topics that are relevant to Christian leadership in this and every era, including obedience, faithfulness, character, maturity, ability, God’s authority, seizing opportunities, biblical images of successful leadership, listening, the difference between a boss and a leader, change management, organizational leadership, and vision. Pastors, deacons, church leaders, and laypeople will find this book both engaging and transformative.
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Other 80 Percent
$24.95Add to cartHow can you shift more of your church from sitting toward serving, and from being spectators toward engaging more deeply? Would doing so help more people to grow and develop spiritually?”-From the Preface
The Other Eighty Percent is a practical guide for church leaders written by respected researcher Scott Thumma and noted author Warren Bird. The authors draw upon new research across a broad range of Protestant attenders and churches of all sizes.
Thumma and Bird listened to thousands of church members’ voices to discern what motivates less connected, inactive members to move toward a life of discipleship and of living out the faith in community.
The authors explore societal norms influencing involvement and identify distinctive qualities of churches that shape patterns of better volunteer participation. They also examine the sometimes faulty and limiting perspectives leaders have about ways to increase involvement. The book proposes practical steps to develop listening and learning teams to assist church leaders in uncovering membership patterns, cultural norms and leadership blind spots common to Evangelical and Mainline congregations alike.
The Other Eighty Percent includes a wealth of creative ideas that can expand what it means for people to engage more fully with their church. The authors reinforce the idea that spiritual growth is directly related to participation and involvement and that spiritual nurturance of the entire congregation should be at the heart of this effort.
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Christian Atheist Participants Guide (Student/Study Guide)
$14.99Add to cartYou believe in God, go to church, and generally treat people with kindness. But, have you surrendered to God completely, living every day depending upon the Holy Spirit? In this six-session DVD group study pastor and author Craig Groeschel teaches you how to be more than just “Christian” in name, how to break free of hypocrisy to live a more authentic, God-honoring life.
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Renovate Or Die
$16.99Add to cartBe the Church Jesus calls us to be.
Bob Farr asserts that to change the world, we must first change the Church. As Adam Hamilton says in the Foreword, “Read [this book] carefully with other leaders in your church…You’ll soon discover both a desire to renovate your church and the tools to effectively lead your church forward.” If we want to join Robert Schnase and claim radical hospitality, passionate worship, intentional faith development, risk-taking mission and service, and extravagant generosity, we must also engage pastors and motivate churches. We must renovate and overhaul our churches and not merely redecorate and tinker with our church structure.
With straight forward language and practical tips, this book will inspire and help you organize your church for new life on the mission field. Learn how to grow your church and discover the commitments that denominational leaders must make to guarantee the fruitfulness of local congregations.
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Leap Over A Wall
$15.99Add to cartOf all the characters in the Bible, it is David who is most human. His life is lived on the “rough-edged actuality” of real life, and his relationship with God is an energetic one. Through the passions, the trials, and the lyrical poetry of this beloved figure, we gain powerful insights into the role of God in our own lives.
In this inspirational volume, Professor Eugene H. Peterson, translator of The Message, uses stories from David’s epic life as vivid lessons in everyday faith and spirituality. Exploring David’s experiences of friendship, grief, love, sin, and suffering, as well as sanctuary, beauty, and wilderness, he reawakens us to the enduring truths behind these beloved stories.
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Churchs Healing Ministry
$23.99Add to cartHealing is one of the fundamental aspects of Christian ministry, reaching into every area of personal and public life. Leading ethicist David Atkinson asks whether suffering can ever be creative and explores how today’s conversations between theology, psychology and medical science are shaping our understanding of healing. He offers a practical and pastoral theology that embraces healing’s different dimensions, from the biblical notion of health and wholeness, to healing in relation to sickness and disease, environmental health, emotional health, and pastoral care and counselling.
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Collected Sermons Of Fred B Craddock
$40.00Add to cartThis collection of more than fifty of Fred Craddock’s sermons provides a glimpse of a master preacher at work. Amazingly, only one of the sermons was preached from a manuscript written in advance, as Craddock considered a sermon to be an event in the world of sound. As a result, the selections here wonderfully reflect and preserve Craddock’s voice and engage readers with all the immediacy of the spoken word.
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Disrupting Homelessness : Alternative Christian Approaches
$26.00Add to cartDisrupting Homelessness unmasks the futile assumptions of our present approaches to homelessness and suggests ways in which Christians and Christian communities can create a prophetic social movement to end poverty and homelessness.
The American dream, as conveyed by the media, includes owning a home. Increasingly, people are homeless or precariously housed because of joblessness, foreclosure, or dislocation. Ecclesial responses to homelessness and housing vary. Some Christian organizations focus on fixing the person and the behaviors that contribute to homelessness. Others promote home ownership for low-income households.
Employing a disruptive Christian ethics, Laura Stivers criticizes both approaches, outlines an advocacy approach for churches to address the multiple causes of homelessness, and calls us to make a home for all in God’s just and compassionate community.
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7 Checkpoints For Student Leaders (Revised)
$17.99Add to cartThe Seven Checkpoints for Student Leaders is more than a book; it is a ministry plan. It goes far beyond the “how to” of youth ministry and provides youth ministers, youth works, and parents with the content that students need to equip them for ‘life beyond youth group.” The material in this book and the companion book The Seven Checkpoints Student Journal reveals what Stanley calls “the irreducible minimum”–the essential principles upon which an entire youth ministry can be built. Stanley and Hall offer some unorthodox but very sensible approaches to planning and maintaining a youth group over a long period of time with a specific goal in mind. The book outlines a strategy for effectively teaching students over the course of their time in school, and this new updated edition is what every leader needs to keep up with the ever-changing challenges students face. Stanley and Hall identify seven “checkpoints” that are the most important and critical issues facing teens:
1. Authentic Faith2. Spiritual Disciplines
3. Moral Boundaries (this section deals primarily with issues of sexual purity and dating)
4. Healthy Friendships
5. Wise Choices
6. Ultimate Authority
7. Others First
Practical application, biblical principles, and realistic approaches for facing modern challenges facilitate teaching for busy youth leaders that will make an impact for eternity.
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Counseling Couples In Conflict
$40.99Add to cartMost therapeutic approaches, especially those of a cognitive orientation, are not very effective in dealing with high conflict relationships–couples often heading toward divorce by the time they seek help. Counseling Couples in Conflict is a resource for counselors and therapists who want to be ready for these uniquely difficult cases. Utilizing a relational conflict and restoration model Mark Yarhouse and James Sells point the way beyond the cycle of pain towards marital healing.
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Becoming An Anti Racist Church
$27.00Add to cartMartin Luther King’s observation that 11 a.m. on Sunday is the most segregated hour of the week remains all too true.
Christians addressing racism in American society must begin with a frank assessment of how race figures in the churches themselves, leading activist Joseph Barndt argues. This practical and important volume extends the insights of Barndt’s earlier, more general work to address the race situation in the churches and to equip people there to be agents for change in and beyond their church communities.
A hallmark of Barndt’s analysis is his keen grasp of the deep yet checkered legacy that American church and church bodies inherit on this question. Yet Barndt also lifts up the ways in which their prophetic work has proved a catalyst for progress in American race relations, and he clearly shows why and how churches can inculcate an anti-racist commitment into their collective lives.
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Pastor As Scholar And The Scholar As Pastor
$15.00Add to cartPiper and Carson explore the interrelated role of pastoral ministry and scholarship in their lives. Following the 2009 Gospel Coalition conference John Piper and D. A. Carson presented two talks at Park Community Church in Chicago, IL, sponsored by the Henry Institute at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. The topic of their presentation was on the relationship of scholarship and pastoral ministry. Piper centered on the importance of scholarship and academic pursuits in his role as pastor. Carson, conversely, focused on the importance of pastoral ministry in his career as scholar. The event was enthusiastically received and brought great insight and balance. Now their talks have been edited with additional content and put into book form. Weaving testimony and teaching, Piper and Carson challenge all those in ministry to think carefully and holistically about their calling. An introduction by Owen Strachan and a conclusion by David Mathis provide context and application to these unique messages. Pastors and scholars will want to take advantage of this valuable insider perspective from two men who have been acclaimed for their sharp thinking and pastoral hearts.
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1st 100 Days
$14.99Add to cart1. On Your Mark, Get Set, Reflect
2. Know What You Don’t Know
3. Help Your Family Transition
4. Establish Clear Expectations
5. Preach Well
6. Secure Some Early Wins
7. Choose Your Battles Carefully
8. Transition Accelerators
9. Take Care Of YourselfAdditional Info
Every time a pastor goes to a new church, they form hopes, dreams, and expectations – without necessarily realizing it – for the progress and growth of their new ministry. Not only do these pastors have to transition into a new congregation and community, but they also have to think about building strong relationships with other influential people in the area.Almost every day, pastors of new churches face unexpected hardships and challenges. Some of the issues are financial mismanagement from their predecessor, moral or ethical misbehavior, or unresolved conflict that has just been suppressed long enough to find a new pastor. The fact is, pastors of new churches need guidance. The First 100 Days is for these pastors who need some guidance and insight to help them lead with godly wisdom and purpose during the first few months.
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It Is Easy Being Green
$22.99Add to cartCreative, ready-to-use craft projects that highlight the importance of recycling and environmental stewardship
This volume offers sixty exciting craft projects that children ages 6-8 will enjoy making while learning about the Bible and building their faith. Simple “green” crafts accompany related Bible stories.
Provides clear step-by-step instructions, along with a materials list featuring green or recycled products
Uses many wonderful artistic mediums through which children can express their creative side and explore their faith in a group setting
Provides a hands-on, fun way of bringing God’s Word to children
Ideal for a variety of settings, including Sunday school and mid-week
Helps reinforce the message of the Bible story or verse
Includes reproducible pages -
Your Church In Rhythm
$30.00Add to cartBruce 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.
*Offers an innovative new model for church leaders
*Miller has been influential in the formation and promotion of “Church-Based Training” as in international movement
*Offers a proven method for avoiding burnout for church leaders and members by doing the right things at the right timeThe author offers much-need help to overwhelmed leaders and shows them how to apply Miller’s seasonal/cyclical approach to church life.
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Adam Hamiltons 24 Hours That Changed The World For Older Children
$16.99Add to cartA Bible study for children that explores the profound, life-changing impact the last week of Jesus’ life had on human history.
Contains everything needed to conduct a seven-week study, including reproducible handouts.
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Worship Mall : Contemporary Responses To Contemporary Culture
$32.95Add to cartReligion today is in competition with the leisure and entertainment industries. Gen Y, the postmodern generation, is open to spirituality; but most of today’s young adults have not been born into faith communities where they feel any lasting allegiance. Studies suggest that for the young, belief in God is an optional matter, a virtual consumer choice. As a result, different trends in worship and worship styles are offered by different churches to suit lifestyles, attitudes, and personal taste.
In this comprehensive and lively survey, Bryan Spinks examines postmodern worship trends including hip hop, praise and worship songs, emerging worship, blended worship, the U2 Eucharist service, the Roman Catholic rethinking of Vatican II, contemporary Celtic worship, the Zaire Mass in Africa, liquid worship, Vineyard and Hillsong worship, the snake-handling holiness churches of the American south, and other emerging forms of alternative worship.
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Disruptive Grace : Reflections On God Scripture And The Church
$39.00Add to cartWalter Brueggemann has been one of the leading voices in Hebrew Bible interpretation for decades. His landmark works in Old Testament theology have inspired and informed a generation of students, scholars, and preachers. These chapters gather his recent addresses and essays, never published before, drawn from all three parts of the Hebrew Bible-Torah, prophets, and writings-and addressing the role of the Hebrew canon in the life of the church.
Brueggemann turns his critical erudition to those practices-prophecy, lament, prayer, faithful imagination, and a holy economics-that alone may usher in a humane and peaceful future for our cities and our world, in defiance of the most ruthless aspects of capitalism, the arrogance of militarism, and the disciplines of the national security state.
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Domestic Violence : What Every Pastor Needs To Know – Second Edition (Revised)
$27.00Add to cartAccording to the American Medical Association, one quarter of American women will be abused by an intimate partner at some point in their lives. Loving support can make a tremendous difference to survivors as they struggle with the difficult process of healing and regaining trust in themselves and others. Often, however, pastoral caregivers possess the same misconceptions about domestic violence as does the uninformed public.
Al Miles addresses the issues related to inadequate pastoral response to this pervasive problem. He explores the dynamics of abusive relationships and the role that clergy members can take to heal this painful situation.
The new edition of Domestic Violence builds upon the insights, policies, and programs of the original volume and includes new information on the pathology of domestic violence and the effect the economic downturn is having on victim-survivors and batterers. Miles also focuses on helping clergy and other pastoral ministers develop a more compassionate response to victim-survivors who are gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender.
This thoroughly updated edition includes questions for discussion, a list of additional resources, and contact information for state coalitions working to end domestic violence.
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Complete New Testament Resource For Youth Workers Volume 2
$29.99Add to cartWith lessons created, written, and tested by active, experienced youth leaders who work with young people every week … never before has there been a resource this comprehensive, this practical, and this relevant for teaching the New Testament to your students. Walking students through the New Testament used to feel like a daunting task—especially if you’ve tried to create studies that are relevant and engaging to your students. Now, you have a diverse team of nearly thirty youth ministry practitioners working for you—and they’ve put together more than 100 studies that will make your job easier while helping your students dig into the Bible. Whether you lead them yourself or hand the lessons over to your volunteers, each lesson is easy to implement and can be used alone or combined with lessons that have already been planned. You’ll also find a searchable CD-ROM, making it easier than ever to find exactly what you need to help lead your students deeper into the life-changing books from the New Testament.
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Nuts And Bolts Of Church Planting (Reprinted)
$22.00Add to cartMost books on church planting offer a model for churches to replicate–usually one that is tied to a particular style, generation, or demographic. But what churches really need is a process that is flexible, not bound to a particular time or current fad. In The Nuts and Bolts of Church Planting, trusted author and church-planting expert Aubrey Malphurs shares the basic steps any church planter will need, regardless of his or her generation now or in the future. These steps include:
establishing values, mission, vision, and strategy
reaching the community
making disciples
recruiting a team
determining location and facilities
raising money for the ministryWith instant practical takeaway based on proven techniques, this book will be invaluable to any church planter.
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Reimagining Ministry
$35.99Add to cartReimagining Ministry offers an overview of mission and ministry in Britain for ordinands and practising clergy. It is intended as a contribution to thinking about ministry, in particular ordained ministry in the context of the social and cultural setting of the twenty-first century, several significant theological developments and a perception of the way God through the Holy Spirit is leading the church in Britain.Following an analysis of the situation in which ministry takes place, the author then invites his readers to consider a new and different paradigm of ministry for the church of the future. The groundwork for a new paradigm of ministry needs to include an account of the kingdom of God, which is the goal of mission; the role of the church in the mission of God; and, for reasons that will be developed briefly in the synopsis, individual discipleship and transformation.
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They Smell Like Sheep Volume 2
$17.99Add to cartSpiritual sheep, stray sheep, and searching sheep aren’t nearly as concerned about the knowledge and skill of the shepherd as they are about his heart. When finding their way — at weddings, at funerals, during family crises, and in the hospital — sheep go to a shepherd in whom they discern God’s own heart, like King David of old.
Jesus said sheep would know their shepherd’s voice and be drawn to it. It is the heart behind the voice that soothes and comforts God’s people.How do you measure the influence of a godly shepherd? Without doubt, it’s the heart of the shepherd that most powerfully shapes lives and souls in our flocks.
If you want your own heart shaped and molded into the likeness of Christ, this book is an excellent place to begin.“Be shepherds of God’s flock under your care… as God wants you to be.”
Heeding the call to be a leader is an awesome responsibility. Whether you have been called to serve as a minister or you’re teaching an adult Bible study group or you’re a teen leading the youth group in song, most assuredly from time to time you question your abilities and look for support and example.Author Lynn Anderson addresses the starting and ending place of true leadership among God’s people: the heart of a shepherd. He presents Jesus, the Head Shepherd, as our only reliable model of godly leadership; he guides us through the Scriptures and gives us practical exercises to strengthen our hearts as we do the difficult yet rewarding work of shepherding people of God with love and grace.
Enter the book’s pages with the confidence that you are being led by someone who has the heart of a shepherd and who sees himself first as a smelly sheep, dearly loved and led by the Good Shepherd.“And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory. — 1 Peter 5:4”
