Showing results by narrator "Jim Denison" in All Categories

Originally published in 1737, The Crook in the Lot continues to bring comfort and inspire countless souls, and it remains one of the most beloved of all Puritan classics. Its depth of explanation regarding God's role in our afflictions and sufferings is without equal. Thomas Boston - a well-known, influential, and beloved Puritan - was famous for his ability to communicate sound biblical truths in a way that conveyed clarity and insight.

Straight talk about the Holy Spirit. When the Holy Spirit is confined to creeds, the church becomes like a land with no water or a kite with no wind. In his life and writings, A.W. Tozer was insistent that the church reclaim a practical theology of the Holy Spirit—that it actually know Him. The Counselor will help you cultivate sweet communion with God. Gifted at bringing lofty thoughts down low, Tozer explains clearly who the Spirit is and what it means to know Him. His words will leave you with a deep longing to be filled with the blessed Spirit, to have joy, peace, life, and power in Him.

Authors Eric Geiger (author of the best-selling Simple Church and Creature of the Word) and Kevin Peck argue that churches that consistently produce leaders have strong convictions to develop leaders, healthy cultures for leadership development, and helpful constructs to systematically and intentionally build leaders. All three are essential for leaders to be formed through the ministry of a local church.

Someone said that while Dr. A. W. Tozer always sought to introduce sinners to their Savior, he longed to help saints to see the greatness of God and to experience the life of victory and joy through surrender and faith. This theme—recognizing God for who He is, giving Him the worship and honor due Him—was particularly dominant in Dr. Tozer's late writings.

It used to be that Christians conceived of the world as a battleground. They believed in sin and the devil and hell as constituting one force, and in God and righteousness and heaven constituting the other. How different today. People think of the world not as a battleground, but as a playground.

Carl Medearis provides new insights into the top questions people have about Muslims and Islam. With practical information and fascinating stories, he shares culturally sensitive ways for Christians to get to know Muslims on a personal level. Medearis shows how common ground is the best foundation for hearts turning to Jesus rather than focusing initially on the differences between Islam and Christianity.

No matter what's making you feel anxious, God cares! Set your heart free as you are encouraged by God's truth and empowered by His love. Be uplifted as you listen to short devotions to quiet your mind, scripture to guide your thoughts, and prayers to help you convey your burdens to the Lord, who can handle them all.

The year 2017 is the 500th-year anniversary of Martin Luther nailing his Ninety-Five Theses to the door of Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany - the event that marked the beginning of the Reformation and the end of unified Christianity. For Catholics, it was an unjustified rebellion by the heterodox; for Protestants, the release of true and purified Christianity from centuries-old enslavement to corruption, idolatry, and error. Benjamin Wiker's account rejects the common distortions of Catholic, Protestant, Marxist, Freudian, or secularist retellings of this world-changing event.

It's the most significant question of all time: Is there a God, or isn't there? In this compelling book, Ray Comfort argues the case with simple logic and common sense. If there is a God, surely he has made his presence known so that anyone, young or old, scholar or school child, can find him. By applying basic logic to three clear evidences for the existence of God, Comfort will help you examine the case for evolution, explore the facts that led the world's most notorious atheist to acknowledge a creator, and more.

How do we make sense of the world's different religions? In today's globalized society, religion is deeply intertwined with every issue we see on the news. But talking about multiple religions can be contentious. Are different faiths compatible somehow? And how can we know whether one religion is more true than another? In this creative thought experiment, Peter Kreeft invites us to encounter dialogues on the world's great faiths.

For almost anyone in any career - just starting, midway, or wrapping up - Dean has the goods. With deep insight from his personal journey, Dean lays out the path to a career with purpose. (Sometimes the career changes; always the heart does.) Listeners get self-assessment tools and clear steps wrapped in 20 years' worth of stories, hard-won wisdom, and grace. A person can know what he or she was wired to do - and how to get there.

In our quest to renew the church, Christians have walked through seeker-friendly, emergent, missional, and other movements to develop new expressions of the body of Christ. Now, in the post-Christian world in North America, we're asking the question again: Is there a way to be the church that engages the world, not by judgment nor accommodation but by becoming the good news in our culture?

God does not keep secrets. Yet, when it comes to God’s will, we live in fear that He is holding out on us somehow. But the Bible clearly reveals God’s will for your life. You only need to listen. When it comes to the subject of God’s will, author and pastor James MacDonald finds rampant misunderstandings among Christians.

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.

The third in Joe Thorn's three-book series on the confession, nature, and expression of the Church, The Life of the Church explores what the church does because of who it is. Useful for training in membership class, discipleship groups, and elder boards—and even for devotional reading—The Life of the Church is at once theological, practical, and experiential. Listeners will not simply be informed, but led to a deeper conviction about their role in the body of Christ.

The first in Joe Thorn's three book series on the confession, nature, and expression of the Church, The Heart of the Church explores the center of the Church's life and identity: the gospel. Useful for training in membership classes, discipleship groups, and elder boards - The Heart of the Church is at once theological, practical, and experiential. Listeners will not simply be informed, but led to believe in, rejoice in, and be transformed by the truth of God for his gathered people.

All Things for Good by Thomas Watson provides the biblical answer to the contemporary question: Why do bad things happen to good people? Thomas Watson, the 17th-century minister of St. Stephen's Walbrook, believed he faced two great difficulties in his pastoral ministry. The first was making the unbeliever sad in the recognition of his need of God's grace. The second was making the believer joyful in response to God's grace.

King Solomon had all the fame and fortune that any man could want. He was the world's wisest and wealthiest king. And yet, tragically, he threw it all away for the love of money, the pleasures of sex, and the powers of an earthly kingdom. In studying the life of Solomon, we see both the true greatness and the tragic failure of our own humanity - from godly devotion to self-serving excess. Philip Graham Ryken tells us how, by the grace of God, to prevent those downfalls and to seek God's glory amid earthly temptations through this rich, Christ-centered study of the life of Solomon. 

Negative perceptions. Church dropouts. Prodigals and nomads. It's easy to get discouraged by all that's going wrong when it comes to Christianity and the emerging generation. Yet what's going right? In fact, signs of hope are springing up all around. Faith for Exiles unveils major new Barna research that uncovers what's working - five practices that contribute to resilience. In a world where always-connected smart devices and search algorithms educate and entertain, digital Babylon is the new context for discipleship.

Where did they come from, these furiously self-righteous "social justice warriors"? The incoherence of their mixed creed dooms social justice warriors to perpetual frustration. Their identity politics generates ever more radical demands that can never be satisfied, further fracturing a society in desperate need of a unifying myth. We seem to be left with only two options, Mitchell concludes - Nietzsche or Christ, the will to power or the will to truth. The choice is bracingly simple.