Ministry Time

When Spurgeon speaks, you’d be wise to listen. The great London preacher Charles Haddon Spurgeon had a lot to say during his four decades of ministry at the Metropolitan Tabernacle. And beyond his mighty voice, Spurgeon’s pen churned out countless words of biblical interpretation and Christian wisdom. These words can still encourage us today! This volume of the Spurgeon Speaks series focuses on the power of God’s Word. Nothing motivated Spurgeon more than proclaiming the holy Scriptures. His love for the Bible will encourage you as well.

During his time at Oxford, a friend asked Paget Wilkes one day, “I say, Paget, do you tackle everyone who comes into your rooms about his soul?" “Yes," answered Paget, “if he comes in alone." Wilkes was convinced that even the humblest Christian is responsible for bringing men to Christ. “If we have been forgiven and know it, if we have been made new creatures in Christ Jesus, then we...are commissioned to minister this same salvation unto men and to witness of all these things which Jesus our Savior has revealed to us. Hallelujah!"

In times of illness, anxiety, or sorrow, when hope is most elusive, the Bible stands as a beacon of eternal solace and strength. There is much to be learned about suffering, its meaning and its impermanence, from both Testaments. Selections from Romans, Job, and Psalms are among the many passages that will help you understand and transcend pain by reaffirming God's purpose and fortifying your faith when it is most severely challenged.

Christians love to fight, and most of the time we fight unnecessary battles. We fight over worship styles, building programs, carpet color, governance structures, use of alcohol, and a thousand other debatable matters of theology or culture. The fuel that feeds the fire are gray issues. What is a gray issue? A gray issue is an area of theology or culture that is either not addressed in the Bible, or while addressed, leaves room for legitimate differences of opinions. Come and join a new movement of biblically sound, theologically solid, and beautifully unified Gray Churches.

El 3 de noviembre de 2020, Tim y Aileen Challies recibieron la impactante noticia de que su hijo Nick había muerto. Estaciones de aflicción incluye una selección de las reflexiones de Tim en las que comparte la intensidad del duelo temprano, las dudas y temores que nos atormentan durante la pérdida, y la fe y el gozo que nos sostienen durante el dolor.

In a country where violent crime and AIDS are rampant, Ani Tims, as a woman and a mom, was afraid to even walk out her front door, constantly worried her daughters - one of whom was born prematurely and barely survived - would be raped. Ani looked down the barrel of a gun pointed at her and relocated halfway around the world to start over in a strange country. In this shocking and ultimately inspiring true story, she reveals that God has always been there and how his plans for us, though perhaps difficult to see in the moment, are always miraculous.

In Elders Reformed, Pastor Tim Bayly and Pastor Jürgen von Hagen bring decades of diverse pastoral experience to helping elders of Christ’s Church understand what it means to shepherd the flock of God. With Scripture as their foundation, they teach how elders should be chosen and appointed, what elders should be like, and the difficult work elders must do. They then combine hundreds of years of church history with their own experiences of ministering to God’s sheep—rich and poor, educated and uneducated, black and white, local and international.

We are currently living in a world where spiritual darkness seems to be making a greater appearance. Many Bible commenters tell us that we are living in the final generation before Christ returns to collect his church. Hear what Matthew Robert Payne believes he has seen for the future of our world. Take a look at some of the events that he thinks will play out before Jesus Christ returns.

Bruce 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.

"Revolutionary love" sounds like an oxymoron. Revolution is usually a negative, violent, and destructive change, while love is positive, peaceful, and contented. But true love always changes people. And Christ’s love brings the most revolutionary change of all. Festo Kivengere (1919 - 88) experienced both kinds of revolution. He escaped Uganda when the brutal regime of Idi Amin seized power. But he could not escape the pursuit of Jesus, who came into his life with radically transformative grace.

Daily Guideposts, America's best-selling annual devotional, is a 365-day devotional from the editors of Guideposts that will help listeners grow in their faith every day of the year. Daily Guideposts 2021 centers on the theme "Faithful in Prayer", based on Romans 12:12, and is filled with brand-new devotions from 50 writers. Each day listeners will enjoy a Scripture verse, a true first-person story told in an informal, conversational style, which shares the ways God speaks to us in the ordinary events of life, and a brief prayer....

When the Universe Cracks is a sweeping, multifaceted look at the role of crisis in the life of faith from an esteemed gathering of pastors, faith leaders, and experts. You’ll find honest and realistic reflections to help you navigate a present trouble or anticipate changes. Inspired by a global pandemic, these writers examine the whole history of God’s people and offer a fresh perspective for every time the universe cracks.

I am not famous. I will never be rich. I will most likely never stand and speak before thousands of people. But, I have a story to tell. You could say this is an adventure. Once you begin listening to this you will see how God took an ordinary man from a little hollow in Johnson City, TN through many different trials; ranging from thoughts of suicide, drinking, and going from one bad marriage to another. During all this, the Lord was directing me (most of the time without me realizing it).

God goes to great lengths to rescue lost and hurting people, and that is what The Story is all about: the story of the Bible, God’s great love affair with humanity. Filled with intrigue, drama, conflict, and redemption, listen to Chapter 31 of this dramatized edition that sweeps you into the stories, poems, and teachings of the Bible.

Naval Academy midshipman Jim Wilson didn't cuss or smoke or chew or go with girls who do. When a friend asked him if he was going to heaven, Jim replied, "If someone like me can't make it, heaven is going to be thinly populated." It was a serious answer, but his friend laughed. Jim was in for a surprise: You have to be bad to go to heaven.

You want to be healthy. God wants you to be healthy. Now this highly anticipated revised and expanded edition from the Bible Cure series is available to help you get healthy—body, mind, and spirit. The New Bible Cure for Heart Disease contains information that you may have never been told, including the hidden cause of heart disease (no, it’s NOT cholesterol!), and Dr. Colbert’s top risk factors for heart disease—and how to beat them with nutrition.

The scriptures remind us to "Knock and the door shall be opened to you" and to "Seek and you shall find", yet in these times of misdirection and confusion, many well-meaning people seek the word of God yet are led astray. This begs the question: What does a real relationship with God look like?

Insist that Christ is Lord, and you divide the world. While most societies acknowledge God in some way or another, Christ as Lord is not so universally honored. For Christians, this matter should be settled. Christ is Lord and Savior - but many Christians have little or no idea of the meaning of this simple statement or its implications for our day-to-day lives. Sixty years after its first publication, the message of The Lordship of Jesus Christ is still needed.

The church as we know it is in complete disarray. The leaders have become prideful and arrogant, and the sheep sit senseless, beaten into a state of disarray through fear and intimidation. The gifts are being abused, and they are being used out of order, and everyone is ministering for attention, engagements, and money. Is this what Christ died for? So the arrogant and prideful could lay waste to people whose love for God is being manipulated in order to control who they are and what they should become?

Hearing God's call to serve as a missionary in the French-speaking world, Joe Portale responded with excitement, boldness, and humility. His lifelong dreams were being fulfilled, and the land God had promised was within reach. But the journey was not easy. From spiritual forces in France to the perilous Sahara desert to war and poverty in Southeast Asia, Joe and his ministry team persevered through many challenges. Their successes and failures provide a roadmap for all who would respond to God's call, an instructive account of pursuing one's life vocation and ministry.