Showing titles in Discipleship

The average length of Jesus’ conversations as recorded in the Gospels was 42 seconds long. This is good news for all of us. It frees us up to talk about the most important part of our lives in a way that’s natural, meaningful, and helpful instead of clumsy, awkward, and irrelevant. Anyone who has spent countless uncomfortable hours walking from house to house with a clipboard or flash cards that talk about four spiritual laws understands.

While Christians have had a long heritage of rigorous scholarship and careful thinking, some circles still view the intellect with suspicion or even as contradictory to Christian faith. And many non-Christians are quick to label Christians as anti-intellectual and obscurantist. But this need not be so. In this classic introduction to Christian thinking, John Stott makes a forceful appeal for Christian discipleship that engages the mind as well as the heart.

Many new believers have questions about what it means to live as a Christian in the context of a local church, and pastors are looking for resources to pass along to their congregations to help them think biblically about the Christian life. Church Questions is a series by 9Marks that seeks to provide Christians with sound and accessible biblical teaching by answering common questions about church life. Each booklet offers biblical answers and practical applications with the goal of nurturing healthy church practice and commitment.

A. W. Tozer derived great personal satisfaction and help from the church creeds, and he used them as he preached and taught. This new book draws on four previously published essays and several articles that have never before been published in books.

Christ never actually told us how to "do church". Yes, he had a lot to say about the church, but what he did say was mostly unrelated to stylistic issues or contextual trends. He never spoke about its leadership hierarchies or the pros and cons of denominational fellowships or the types of music. And yet, much of our time and energy as leaders and shepherds is consumed by chasing after tips, tricks, and secrets to "grow" churches.

Starting Point is a conversational environment where you can explore faith and experience community. It's a safe place for you to ask questions and to learn about the Bible and Christianity. You may have questions that you’ve always wondered about but never felt you could ask at church, legitimate questions that would make many Christians uncomfortable. Ask them. Nothing is off-limits. We want to have conversations about the stuff that really matters to you, even when it’s difficult to talk about—especially when it’s difficult to talk about.

Churches committed to following Christ's example want this world changed for the sake of eternity. While the supernatural piece of making that happen goes without saying, how does a body of believers do its part to be in that "sweet spot" where true spiritual transformation occurs?

Confronting Injustice Without Compromising Truth: Audio Lectures looks beyond the divides of the left and right to discover how a Christian worldview speaks truth, hope, and unity into the most polarizing social justice controversies of our day. It presents a compelling vision of justice that offers hopeful answers to life’s biggest questions.

We all long for homes where we can thrive and flourish. What does it take to have a spiritually vibrant household? Don Everts invites us to contemplate what the Bible says about households and consider what a new research project has revealed by pulling back the curtains on everyday households of faith. Original research from the Barna Group and Lutheran Hour Ministries shows that some of the healthiest, most vibrant homes extend beyond the nuclear family and include people that may not be biologically related but feel like family.

On an average day, people make countless decisions: Should I get out of bed or hit the snooze button? What should I have for breakfast? Where should we go for this year's vacation? While some decisions are easy to make, others can leave individuals paralyzed and full of anxiety. As Christians living in an increasingly individualistic society, what's the best strategy for making decisions that honor God while becoming more like him in the process? Writing from her own experience and pointing to biblical examples, Aimee Joseph offers a biblical and theological framework for decision-making.

Defining true manhood has never been more challenging. In this first book of the Forged: Godly Men series, popular Bible teacher Vince Miller offers a clear, compelling look at what it means to be a man of God. Designed for small group or individual use, Essential Elements offers the practical encouragement and answers men are looking for.

In True Discipleship William MacDonald highlights some principles of New Testament discipleship and challenges every genuine Christian believer. He makes clear that nothing less than an all-out commitment to the Lord Jesus Christ is required of us. The savior seeks those who will give him first place in their lives.

Like a physician running a biopsy on lifeless faith, here A. W. Tozer offers one of the most compelling critiques of feigned spirituality you may ever listen to. In Of God and Men, Tozer exposes false religious notions and lifts up true New Testament Christianity. A loving and gentle critique of culture and even the church, it reveals lies we unknowingly believe, godless practices we unknowingly do, and treasures of Christ we unknowingly ignore.

We live in a world of options, where we might do this or that if we feel like it. But for followers of Jesus, certain things are not optional, but necessary. Bishop Claude Alexander unpacks the Gospels' statements of what Jesus said he must do. He must be about his Father's business. He must go through Samaria. He must go to Jerusalem. Life in God is less about what you could do, and more about what you must do. Contrary to the life of the optional, accidental, and haphazard, the believer is called to live with a sense of divine necessity. No maybes about it.

The Jesus Climb crafts George Mallory's quest to climb the world's tallest mountain into a parable illustrating how Jesus trained his first students to summit the world's greatest commandment. Like Mallory peering too low on the horizon to see Everest's peak towering above him, the lack of Christlikeness in modern Christianity stems from our inability to imagine the impossible heights to which Jesus calls us.

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.

We are living in times of great change and revelation. This is a pioneering audiobook in its genre, designed to revolutionize how you see yourself and lead you to understand how significant your influence is on the Earth. You will see dimensions of the resurrection that you have never seen before. You will know how you are designed and who you are as an eternal celestial being before the foundation of the world. You will know your celestial body, what it means to be a star in God’s firmament, and how it operates with your spirit to produce his light on the Earth.

Could your love language guide you to a meaningful life? In a world of varying beliefs and endless opportunities, determining how to spend our lives can seem impossible. And even more difficult than finding direction can be finding meaning. Perhaps we know what we’re most interested in, but how do we know if it has purpose? These longings are rooted in our desire to feel God’s presence in our lives, which begins when we know how he communicates with us.

In her upbeat, practical style, bestselling author Elizabeth George encourages women to embrace radical faith as they serve God by helping people and accomplishing His projects.

Using Jesus's words in John 15, "I am the vine; you are the branches," Andrew Murray explores how the believer abides in Christ. In a message as timely today as when first published in 1895, he urges listeners to yield themselves to Jesus, in order that they may know the "rich and full experience of the blessedness of abiding in Christ."