Showing titles in Discipleship

In this provocative tell-all, David Gushee gives an insider's look at the frictions and schisms of evangelical Christianity, based on his experiences that began with becoming a born-again Southern Baptist in 1978 to being kicked out of evangelicalism in 2014 for his stance on LGBT inclusion in the church. But Gushee's religious pilgrimage proves even broader than that, as he leads his listener through his childhood experiences in Roman Catholicism, his difficult days at the liberal Union Seminary in New York, his encounters with the Christian Right, and more. In telling his story, Gushee speaks to the cultural divisions of a generation.

Night after night Mike and Sam found their beds under bridges and on the streets. They were forced to depend on the generosity and kindness of strangers as they panhandled to sustain their existence. For more than five months, the pair experienced firsthand the extreme pains of hunger, the constant uncertainty and danger of living on the streets, exhaustion, depression, and social rejection-and all of this by their own choice.

You were made to make disciples. Jesus gave His followers a command: “Follow Me.” And a promise: “I will equip you to find others to follow Me.” We were made to make disciples. Designed for use in discipleship relationships and other focused settings, Multiply will equip you to carry out Jesus’ ministry. Each of the 24 sessions in the audio book corresponds with an online video at www.multiplymovement.com, where New York Times best-selling author David Platt joins Francis Chan in guiding you through each part of Multiply.

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.

The Problem of God is written by a skeptic who became a Christian and then a pastor, all while exploring answers to the most difficult questions raised against Christianity. Mark grew up in an atheistic home, and after his father's death, began a skeptical search for truth through exploring science, philosophy, and history, asking the big questions of life, and eventually finding answers in Christianity. In a disarming, winsome, and persuasive way, The Problem of God responds to the top 10 questions people raise against God, and Christianity.

Based on the keynote message that so moved government leaders at the 2017 National Prayer Breakfast, US Senate Chaplain Barry Black's Make Your Voice Heard in Heaven shows us how to pray prayers that God will hear. Sometimes it feels as if we're never going to be heard and nothing will ever change. Known for his powerful prayers, Chaplain Black challenges us, individually and collectively, to make ourselves heard in a way that really changes things - by calling upon the one who holds ultimate power.

Do you want to make a difference with your life, but you're having trouble moving on from your past? "Follow me," Jesus told his early followers, "and I'll show you life as it was meant to be lived." Nick Hall reminds us that Jesus says the same thing to us today: "Trust me. Follow me. Come to me dirty, and I'll clean you up. Come broken, and I'll reassemble the parts. Come desperate, and I'll replace pain with joy. Come to me with all your questions, all your confusion, all your fear. I can reset your purity, your self-image, your faith. Come."

The community of Christ has a great tradition of invitation. Inviting others to faith requires leaning in to your own story, overcoming fear, and stepping out. But the good news is for everyone, always. And you can help keep it going. Using Scripture and story, Steve Carter casts a vision for nonthreatening conversations that point people to Christ. Most significantly, Steve shows that only through risking it all will we discover what God is truly like.

Pleasing God is not a matter of personal choice, but an imperative that must be taken seriously. In a world of self, we must give way to the priority of God if we want to experience His joy.In the popular book, Alistair identifies 10 benchmarks from Scripture that will prove invaluable as you seek to live a life that is pleasing to God. His clear, personal message will challenge and revitalize your faith.

In The Pietist Option, Christopher Gehrz, a historian of Pietism, and Mark Pattie, a pastor in the Pietist tradition, show how Pietism holds great promise for the church-and the world-today. Modeled after Philipp Spener's 1675 classic, Pia Desideria, this timely book makes a case for the vitality of Pietism in our day. Taking a hard look at American evangelicalism and why it needs renewal, Gehrz and Pattie explore the resources that Pietism can provide the church of the 21st century.

"And if someone asks about your hope as a believer, always be ready to explain it. But do this in a gentle and respectful way" (1 Peter 3:15-16, NLT). This book demonstrates again and again that talking about God is simple when we commit ourselves first to loving and listening to our friends. For people who are intimidated or fatigued by the idea of talking about matters of faith, Talking About God offers story after gripping story about faith conversations that avoid cliché and combativeness.

The world is fractured. Tensions are high, patience is low, and goodwill is hard to come by. In The Genius of One, author and pastor Greg Holder reminds us of the high value Jesus and his early followers placed on community and offers guidance for how to see and relate to one another in emotionally and spiritually healthy ways so that we, the church, can fulfill Jesus' prayer for us and model a better way of loving one another in a fractured world.

Doug Logan pastors in Camden, NJ, a city of great need where God is doing great things. Amid drug abuse, gang violence, and extreme poverty, God is using Doug and Epiphany Fellowship to rewrite broken stories and bring life to the block. With teachings from Scripture and powerful stories from his urban context, Doug will help you change the story on your own block, wherever that may be. If you are a pastor trying to mobilize your church, or a Christian trying to live with purpose, this theology of missions will help.

A virus has been spreading across America. Chances are you've already been infected without even realizing it. The virus is made up of dangerous ideas - worldviews that don't reflect Jesus and biblical living. According to a recent Barna study, less than one in five practicing Christians has a biblical worldview. Idea viruses - stemming from secularism, Marxism, postmodernism, new spirituality, and Islam - are rampant in our churches today. But don't give up - there is hope!

We are story-making people. We love reading stories - and we love hearing the personal stories of others. We need stories, or narratives, to make sense of our world. And those stories shape our lives. What is the story you have been told about the Gospel? About God? About the Christian life? About Jesus? About the cross? About yourself? About heaven?

In Moments of Reflection: Reclaiming the Lost Art of Biblical Meditation, trusted Pastor Robert J. Morgan leads you through a journey into biblical meditation. Contemplate and visualize the precious truths God has given you while enjoying soothing music as you listen to the timeless words of...

When people live in community moved by the gospel and marked by the Spirit, great things happen. They commit to one another. They grieve together, sing together, eat, pray, and play together. They love, serve, honor, encourage, and provide for each other gladly. And they live on mission together. Hearts are healed, walls come down, and outsiders come in. No competition. No pretense. No vain conceit. Just full hearts breaking bread and giving freely.

Too many discipleship books are written for clean, perfect people who know all the right Sunday school answers. The Imperfect Disciple is for the rest of us - people who screw up, people who are weary, people who are wondering if it's safe to say what they're really thinking. For the believer who is tired of quasi-spiritual lifehacks being passed off as true, down-and-dirty discipleship, here is a discipleship book that isn't afraid to be honest about the mess we call real life.

Jesus didn't say that the world would know we are his followers by our biting rhetoric, our political leanings, our charity work, or even by our knowledge of Scripture. He said the world would know us by our love for one another. Yet it's so easy to put others at arm's length, to lash out, to put up walls. Deidra Riggs wants us to put our focus on self-preservation aside and, like Jesus, make the first move toward reconciliation.

The second in Joe Thorn's series on the confession, nature, and expression of the church, The Character of the Church explores what the church is fundamentally like. Useful for training in membership classes, discipleship groups, and elder boards, The Character of the Church is at once theological, practical, and experiential. Listeners will be not simply informed but led to a deeper appreciation of the church of God.