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The bestselling book The Measure of a Man continues to impact millions of men around the world, but it has long been author Gene Getz's dream to bring that message to young men who are still in the process of finding their identities. When his son, Kenton, was in junior high, Gene wrote a series of letters to him based on 1 Timothy 4:12: "Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity." Out of that verse, Gene drew seven principles that he hoped would inspire Kenton to become a young man of faith, strength, and godly purpose.Gene and his son, who is now a father of five, have teamed up to share these principles with young men and their families. The Measure of a Young Man challenges readers to find their identity in Christ and to set a high standard for themselves in words, in daily living, in loving others, in growing faith, and in sexuality. It also encourages young men to reach out to a network of fathers, grandfathers, youth pastors, and Christian peers who will support their growth to faithful, godly maturity.

When Carol Floch realized that her marriage was about to end and that she was about to join the ranks of moms left to raise their children on their own, she could not stop crying. She mourned her shattered hopes and grieved the loss of the family she had always dreamed of. But mostly, she cried for her children. Into Carol's grief, regret, and fear, God's Spirit came with a message from Psalm 84: Build your nest near my altar, and I will be your children's source of security, protection, provision, and blessing. In The Single Mom's Devotional, Carol tells her story and shares with the sisterhood of single moms how they can build their family's nest in the protective shadow of God's presence. Single mothers, whether on their own after a divorce or a husband's death, will discover how to find true life in Christ and allow the strength of that inner life to be the compass by which they navigate an unpredictable future. Near God's altar, the cross of Christ is where single moms will discover life through relinquishment, power through dependence, and hope through surrender. Anchored at the foot of the cross, readers will find daily security and hope as they nourish their souls and nurture their children at a place near God's altar.

For more than sixteen years, veteran journalist J. Lee Grady has kept a finger on the pulse of the charismatic and Pentecostal renewal, which restored the power of the Holy Spirit to the church, but which now suffers from abuse. Since many Spirit-empowered believers have lost their original focus and purity, Grady delves into some of the problems that plague churches and ministries: financial scandal, faulty theology, moral failure, and more.Yet the message of this fervent journalist, who loves the gifts of the Spirit, isn't one of condemnation and finger-pointing. Instead it is a clarion call to restore the fire of supernatural anointing with biblical boldness, purity, integrity, humility, truth, justice, and compassion. Grady longs for every believer to find or recover a genuine experience with the Holy Spirit. Among the topics he addresses are• the genuine work of the Holy Spirit• strategies for developing healthy leaders• how to set up proper accountability structures• why so many churches and ministries have imploded in recent yearsWith extraordinary insight, a keen eye for discernment, and a desire to see the church purified and believers empowered, Grady gives a straightforward and ultimately affirming message that will expose the problems and ignite believers with God's fire.

With more than 60 million athletes involved in sports in America, it is estimated that one coach will impact more people in one year than the average person does in a lifetime. Today's coach could be one of the greatest authoritative figures in the life of today's adolescent. So the question isn't whether coaches leave a legacy, but rather, what will that legacy be?  Current trending research shows that only 15% of coaches are intentional about coaching beyond the skills and strategies of the game (1st Dimension). A 3-Dimensional Coach understands and harnesses the power of the coaching platform to coach the mind (2nd Dimension) and transform the heart (3rd Dimension). They can be the catalysts for internal transformation that guides both the coach and the athlete on a spiritual journey to finding purpose in our performance-based culture. Now that's a legacy!  In 3D Coach, National Coaches Training Director Jeff Duke shares his own journey through the three dimensions of coaching and how it has impacted his life and those around him. He also shares the personal stories of coaches from all levels who have implemented the 3D concept into their own programs and who have pointed to Jesus Christ, the Master Coach, as the ultimate example of how to lead athletes to true significance.

Week after week, they sit in church . . . alone. They are the spiritually mismatched, those who are committed to a spouse who does not share their faith. Feeling abandoned by their spouse and forgotten by their church, they live out their faith in survival mode, guarding the spiritual flame yet never feeling free to share it. But God wants them to thrive--not just survive. Winning Him Without Words presents ten Christ centered keys to thriving in a spiritual mismatch. Readers are encouraged to commit to Christian community, to release their spouse to God's capable hands, to find peace in their relationships with Christ and with their spouse, to continue their pursuit of a growing faith, and to love their spouse with fresh enthusiasm. God wants every marriage to exude peace and love, and Winning Him Without Words empowers readers to create that environment in their homes and thrive as God works. Winning Him Without Words was the recipient of the Nonfiction Book of 2011 Award from the San Diego Christian Writers Guild, one of the largest Christian writers group in the United States.

"If you are thinking about getting married, you need to read this book."--Neil Clark Warren, founder, eHarmony.com Anyone can get married. The goal, however, should not only be to marry--but to marry the right person.As a singles pastor, author Dan Chun worked exclusively with more than 5,000 singles, and of the hundreds who were married under his teaching, less than 10 percent got a divorce--far below the national average. This book incorporates Pastor Dan's principles, which provide practical and proven ways to pick a spouse, and is your guide to finding--and keeping--a lifelong partner. You will discover how to test your relationship for key differences using a variety of methods including the Seven Cs: Character, Chemistry, Competency, Cultural Differences, Commitment, Communication, and Core Values.Experts agree: Whether you are dating or planning to date, How to Pick a Spouse will give you clear, usable information for guiding your heart and mind before making one of your most important decisions ever.

Starting a church from scratch? Start here! This is no typical church planting or church growth book. The authors, both pastors at The Journey Church of the City in Manhattan, offer specific strategies for beginning a church from scratch, based on their own experiences in launching a church with no members, no money, and no staff and watched membership skyrocket to more than a thousand people in three years! They offer clear, practical how-to strategies for quickly raising funds, creating a team, planning services, effective evangelism, and rapidly developing a growing membership. Specific advice is included for reaching that often difficult-to-target demographic, the 20 to 40 year old. You will also get an insider's look at The Journey Church of the City as a model for church planting. The helpful strategies here will help you remove many of the barriers, questions, and doubts encountered in starting a church from scratch. If these principles work in NYC, they will work for you!

Church leaders want to know how to make small groups work for their church communities, yet a quick look around shows that while small groups are popular, much of the time they create more problems than they solve. Nelson Searcy and Kerrick Thomas, founding pastors of The Journey Church in the heart of New York City, suggest that this failure is due to widely held beliefs about small groups that just aren't true--and they aim to debunk the myths and set the record straight! Drawing from the startling success of small groups at The Journey Church, Searcy and Thomas show how church leaders can implement a life-changing small group ministry that gets the maximum number of people involved and solves many of the important problems facing churches of all sizes.

"Greater is he who is in you than he who is in the world" (1 John 4:4). Taking this verse at face value provides the perfect opportunity to prove it in the educational setting of our children, say the authors of Going Public. By nurturing the life and power of Christ within them, students will be ready to stand against negative influences no matter the environment, even bringing light to a dark place. They will also benefit from many of the services that the public school system has to offer. Readers of this practical guide will learn how moms and dads have a strategic role to play in the ongoing development of their school-age children. Discover what the Bible says about education, the three most important things to teach your public-school child, how to shape your child through teachable moments, the importance of getting involved at school, and why everyone should homeschool in addition to public school.

The next generation hungers for strong, visionary, ethical, and passionate leaders. Where do we start in this day where we lack leadership at all levels? The authors of this breakout book contend that leaders of tomorrow are among us, but they need to be identified, trained, and empowered. John M. Perkins casts the biblical vision that has started a movement. Wayne Gordon has rolled up his sleeves at the grassroots level to spark the transformation of a Chicago neighborhood. Together (and with friends) they founded the Christian Community Development Association. Now they put in this book the stories and lessons of discovery, growth, mistakes, success, and lives changed. They are ready to hand batons of leadership, especially for poor and under-resourced communities, over to the next generation. With this book, they do just that!

"I am persuaded that the Church, as the steward of this gospel, holds the key to justice in our society. Either justice will come through us or it will not come at all." John Perkins's optimistic view of justice becoming a reality starts and ends with the Church. With Justice for All is Perkins's invitation to live out the gospel in a way that brings good news to the poor and liberty to the oppressed. This invitation is extended to every racial and ethnic group to be reconciled to one another, to work together to make our land all God wants it to be. And it is a blueprint--a practical strategy for the work of biblical justice in our time. In an age of changing demographics where the need to break the cycle of poverty is staring many of us in the face, Perkins offers hope through practical ministry principles that work. This outstanding resource includes reflection questions for personal or group study as well as interactive sessions for groups to participate in activities together.

According to the author, perhaps our greatest responsibility is to evangelize our own generation. Yet established churches are not able to do that. In fact, rising generations of Americans live in ignorance of Jesus Christ and have no moral absolutes. Aggressive church planting, the author believes, is the answer to the problem, because new churches focus on the needs of each new generation and present biblical truth in the cultural context that best reaches those people. The objectives of this book are to lay down the challenge to consider becoming a church planter while at the same time screen out wishful thinking and focus on the practical challenges of church planting. This authoritative and edgy message is the next thing in evangelism.

In this powerful book that Dutch Sheets calls his life message, readers are given truths about who they are in Christ and how to become the person God made them to be. More than a book about identity in Christ, it is an action plan to help believers conquer the lies that keep them defeated and walk into a newfound freedom. Originally titled Roll Away Your Stone, it provides sound biblical teaching that shows believers how to walk in the Spirit.

The church finds itself in a period of great diversification and multiple expressions. In the midst of great change, we have become confused about what really makes for healthy and authentic pastoral leadership. What are the basic and common characteristics necessary for pastors to be effective? How can lay people understand the pastoral call more fully and partner better with pastors for the health of their church? Here Mannoia and Walkemeyer examine the foundations of pastoral effectiveness and bring together nine experienced pastoral leaders to discuss the basic characteristics that exist in effective pastors. Regardless of context or personality, ineffectiveness in pastors and subsequent ill health in churches is often not the result of a lack of calling, but instead is the result of misappropriated efforts to find success. Let's help those who are called to be good stewards of their call. And let's help churches have a chance to be healthy under the leadership of effective pastors!

We live in a culture that more and more questions authority, truth claims, and traditional beliefs. So what are we to believe about the authority and trustworthiness of a book that is thousands of years old? Is God's Word truly inerrant? How is it different from other religious texts? Why should we trust its claims?In Why Believe the Bible?, esteemed Bible teacher John MacArthur asks--and definitively answers--these questions and many more, including-Is the Bible the Word of God?-Can we prove the Bible is true?-How did the Bible come to be?-What does it mean that the Scriptures are "inspired?"-What did Jesus believe about God's Word?-Who decided which books were part of the Bible?Skeptics, new Christians, and longtime believers will find in this accessible book clear answers to vexing questions about the book that has arguably had more impact on the world than all other books combined. Includes a Bible reading plan with study tips and an appendix with helpful tools for Bible study.

Do you find the Christian life too complicated, your zeal diminished, your relationship with Jesus grown cold and predictable? Award-winning author and respected pastor John MacArthur reminds us in A Simple Christianity that what's been lost can be found--and tells us how! This practical tool will help you restore the fire and conviction of your first love for Christ by helping you better understand his character, his glory, and his love for you. MacArthur counsels all who want more love for Christ to pursue him by making Christ their focus each day, in every activity, in every contact, and in every thought. It's when you make him your priority and love Christ with all your heart, soul, and strength that God is glorified.

The urban landscape is changing and, as a result, urban ministries are at a crossroads. If the Church is to be an effective agent of compassion and justice, Robert Lupton notes, we must change our mission strategies. In this compelling book, Lupton asks the tough questions about service providing and community building to help ministries enhance their effectiveness. What are the dilemmas that caring people encounter to faithfully carry out the teachings of Scripture and become personally involved with "the least of these?" What are some possible alternatives to the ways we have traditionally attempted to care for the poor? How do people, programs, and neighborhoods move towards reciprocal, interdependent relationships? To effect these types of changes will require new skill sets and resources, but the possibilities for good are great.

Overcome giants and experience a life-changing relationship with Jesus Christ. When it comes to their spiritual journey, many men feel defeated. Hindered by 'giants' they stand motionless feeling like wimps instead of warriors. Whether they feel intimidated, unmotivated, or just downright out of touch with what it means to pursue a relationship with God, Facing Goliath offers help to every man who wants to overcome his giants and experience a life-changing relationship with Jesus Christ. Addressing topics like intellectual doubt, fear, pride, and selfishness, men will find practical steps to discovering the answers to questions, of faith, salvation, and spiritual growth. This discipleship game plan will help men learn Christian essentials in a way that appeals to those who are seeking what it means to be a follower of Jesus and those who have already found Jesus and want to grow.

I've told my kids for years that God doesn't make mistakes," writes Mary Beth Chapman, wife of Grammy award winning recording artist Steven Curtis Chapman. "Would I believe it now, when my whole world as I knew it came to an end?"Covering her courtship and marriage to Steven Curtis Chapman, struggles for emotional balance, and living with grief, Mary Beth's story is our story--wondering where God is when the worst happens. In Choosing to SEE, she shows how she wrestles with God even as she has allowed him to write her story--both during times of happiness and those of tragedy. Readers will hear firsthand about the loss of her daughter, the struggle to heal, and the unexpected path God has placed her on. Even as difficult as life can be, Mary Beth Chapman Chooses to SEE. Includes a 16-page full color photo insert.

Today's church world is complex, with an array of church and leadership models that can cause confusion rather than bring clarity. It's no wonder that some leaders can lose sight of the church they is commissioned to build. Strategic Church will help pastors and leaders refocus on visioning and building a faith community that is biblically based and spiritually transformative, helping people become fruitful disciples of Christ. Readers will uncover principles from the church Jesus built and find out how to apply these strategies to their local context. Strategic Church offers road-tested tools and proven principles for building a life-changing church in a complex culture.  

Bestselling author and modern-day prophet Tony Campolo believes that one of the best ways to tell the grand story of the gospel is to tell stories of everyday life where God is at work...just as Jesus did during his earthly ministry. This collection of stories from Tony's lifelong friendships and international travels allow readers to "overhear" the gospel at work around the world. Set around Romans 8, the stories center on eight gospel themes: freedom of condemnation, new life in Christ, intimacy with God, the call to rescue creation, living with hope, praying in the Spirit, God's plans for us, and the assurance we need. Whether humorous or poignant, each one is an unforgettable echo of God at work around us and within us.

In today's political environment, who speaks for whom is not always clear. Over the past couple of decades, evangelical Christians have tended to be associated with the religious right and the most conservative positions of the Republican Party. Rebelling against this designation are those who prefer to be called Red Letter Christians, desiring to live out Jesus's words in the New Testament. Believing that Jesus is neither a Republican nor a Democrat, Red Letter Christians want to jumpstart a religious movement that will transcend partisan politics and concentrate on issues such as fighting poverty, caring for the environment, advancing peace, promoting strong families, and supporting a consistent ethic of life, all viewed as critical moral and biblical values. Into this arena of thought steps Tony Campolo, the powerful evangelist known for his passionate and prophetic sharing of the radical message of Jesus. In this book, Campolo examines many of the hot-button issues facing evangelicals from the perspective of Jesus's red-letter words in the Bible. No matter where you fall on the political spectrum, Campolo will make you think, pray, and act.

Classic Weekly Devotional through Some of the Bible's Most Fascinating Stories How well do everyday Christians know the stories that have shaped their faith? More than just a collection of significant and entertaining stories, The 52 Greatest Stories of the Bible impresses upon readers the beautiful interconnectedness of the varied narratives we find in the Bible. It:· connects the dots, demonstrating how each individual story is really one chapter in the larger story· shows how Jesus, especially his death and resurrection, is the point of the story, even when the Son of God is not a key player · helps readers build a biblical worldview that answers the ultimate questions of life Readers will gain a better grasp of the whole story of Scripture and, most importantly, why these stories are the ones God chose to preserve for us through the writers of the Bible.

In The Power of Vision, George Barna invites church leaders to discover the power of God's vision for ministry. Readers will learn: how God has shared his vision throughout history, how vision is different than mission, common practices and beliefs that inhibit true vision, practical steps toward practicing God's unique vision for them, and ways to share and promote congregational ownership of the vision. Barna's word to all Christian leaders: Uncovering God's vision for your ministry is not an option. As Barna clearly states, "To minister authentically and authoritatively, you must first clarify your vision, then embrace it and make it the focus of your life's work and the heartbeat of your church." Vision is the insight God provides to instruct and direct our paths, a reflection of what God wants to accomplish through us in building his kingdom. With this clear picture, from God, of where you are headed, your chances of a successful journey are increased exponentially.

Since what Christian doctrine denies can be as important as what it affirms, it is important to understand teachings about Jesus that the early church rejected. Historians now acknowledge that proponents of alternative teachings were not so much malicious malcontents as they were misguided or even misunderstood. Here a recognized expert in early Christian theology teaches orthodox Christology by explaining the false starts (heresies), making the history of theology relevant for today's church. This engaging introduction to the christological heresies is suitable for beginning students. In addition, pastors and laypeople will find it useful for apologetic purposes.

Perfect for churches and small groups, the dvd, participant's guide, and curriculum kit for Mark Batterson's new book will help readers delve deeper into the God who is bigger than any of our problems.

In the Old Testament, Jezebel was married to Ahab, king of Israel. Ahab ceded his power to his wife, acquiescing to her control and becoming passive. In the same way today, people demonstrating the control and domination of the Jezebel spirit compel people into the passivity of an Ahab spirit, whether in a marital situation, a church, or any other relationship.It doesn't have to be this way. Using sound biblical teaching and real-life illustrations--some from his own life--bestselling author Steve Sampson shows readers how to discern and defeat the spirit of Ahab, Jezebel's ancient ally. It is possible to be assertive in a godly way, and Sampson's teaching will motivate believers trapped in passivity to claim their freedom and become a positive force for change.

According to Warren Wiersbe, The Supremacy of God in Preaching "calls us back to a biblical standard for preaching, a standard exemplified by many of the pulpit giants of the past, especially Jonathan Edwards and Charles Spurgeon." This newly revised and expanded edition is an essential guide for preachers who want to stir the embers of revival. Piper has added valuable new material reflecting on his thirty-three years of preaching at Bethlehem Baptist Church, offering a glimpse of what a lifetime of putting God first has done for the faith of the hundreds of thousands who have heard him preach over the years.

In this volume, a leading expert brings readers up to date on the latest advances in New Testament Greek linguistics. Stanley Porter brings together a number of different studies of the Greek of the New Testament under three headings: texts and tools for analysis, approaching analysis, and doing analysis. He deals with a variety of New Testament texts, including the Synoptic Gospels, John, and Paul. This volume distills a senior scholar's expansive writings on various subjects, making it an essential book for scholars of New Testament Greek and a valuable supplemental textbook for New Testament Greek exegesis courses.

At the age of thirty-nine, Christian theologian Todd Billings was diagnosed with a rare form of incurable cancer. In the wake of that diagnosis, he began grappling with the hard theological questions we face in the midst of crisis: Why me? Why now? Where is God in all of this? This eloquently written book shares Billings's journey, struggle, and reflections on providence, lament, and life in Christ in light of his illness, moving beyond pat answers toward hope in God's promises. Theologically robust yet eminently practical, it engages the open questions, areas of mystery, and times of disorientation in the Christian life. Billings offers concrete examples through autobiography, cultural commentary, and stories from others, showing how our human stories of joy and grief can be incorporated into the larger biblical story of God's saving work in Christ.