Showing titles in Church & Church Leadership

Why would a leader ever want to be mean? It's all about the vision. Almost every organization has a vision, but few stick to it over time. Even after short-term success, visions tend to blur, drift, and fade. Why does this happen? Accomplishing the vision requires intentionality. It requires consistency. It requires commitment. It requires courage. In Be Mean About the Vision, author Shawn Lovejoy challenges leaders to stay true to the vision—regaining and sustaining its trajectory over time. The kindest, godliest thing we can do is Be Mean About the Vision.

A revolution is moving through the body of Christ, challenging the spiritual status quo and redefining the very notion of corporate worship - a movement inspired by the divine design for holy fellowship. It's a fresh concept rooted in ancient history.

Every pastor's wife is a faithful servant and leader in her own right. She has great influence on her church, her community, her family, and her husband, and she finds joy in seeing God move in the lives of others. Yet she also faces unique challenges that too often go unnoticed and unaddressed.

In Loving the City, bestselling author and pastor Timothy Keller looks at the biblical foundations for contextualizing the gospel as we communicate to the culture in a way that is both respectful and challenging. He articulates the key characteristics of a city vision, showing how the city develops as a theme throughout Scripture, from its anti-God origins, to its strategic importance for mission, to its culmination and redemption in glory.

Many ministry leaders serving in churches find themselves overwhelmed, disillusioned, and depressed by the enormous and challenging task of leading and ministering in a congregation. As a result, the ministry suffers, the leaders suffer, and the result is often an unhealthy church existent with little or no Gospel influence. Scott Thomas and Tom Wood help pastors and other Christian leaders to lovingly lead God’s flock to Jesus Christ and into God’s mission through a process of coaching and shepherding that is rooted in the patterns of the Good Shepherd himself.

Break free by exposing the lies of a rejection mindset. Through his work as a transformational consultant, Mark has witnessed the effects of a rejection mindset first-hand. Through his own personal freedom journey and helping many to break from personal limitations, Mark will expose this sinister mindset and give you practical tools to live free. Throughout this audiobook, you will learn to see how this root system of rejection seeks to get itself into every facet of relationships.

We are living in historic times. Not since the Civil Rights Movement of the '60s has our country been as vigorously engaged in the reconciliation conversation. There is a great opportunity right now for culture to change, to be a more perfect union. However, it cannot be done without the church, because the faith of the people is more powerful than any law government can enact.

While the Bible is enough to take us to heaven, knowing history helps us live more wisely on our way. George Orwell observed in 1984 that those who pay attention to history have the potential to influence the future. Stuck in the Present offers a grounding in historical consciousness that allows us to better navigate the daily bombardment of information. Amnesia about the past makes us vulnerable to the shackles of modern-day hucksters who try to convince us that the present is all that matters.

This book is not about pornography. You won't find graphic depictions about the porn industry, the catastrophic effects it has on individuals and relationships, or how to think differently about porn. If you're reading this book, you probably have some understanding of those things already—the last thing you need is to be subjected to that kind of detail...again. Finally Free is about hope. It's about discovering the freeing power available to those who trust in Jesus Christ, who can, will, and does set people free from the power of pornography.

For more than 25 years John Thavis held one of the most fascinating journalistic jobs in the world: reporting on the inner workings of the Vatican. His daily exposure to the power, politics, and personalities in the seat of Roman Catholicism gave him a unique, behind-the-scenes perspective on an institution that is far less monolithic and unified than it first appears. Thavis reveals Vatican City as a place where Curia cardinals fight private wars, scandals threaten to undermine papal authority, and reverence for the past is continually upended by the practical considerations of modern life.

To the early Christians, hospitality was central to the gospel mission. This hospitality did not consist of entertaining neighbors, but welcoming the stranger, especially those who could not return the favor. Yet despite urgent need, hospitality has fallen by the wayside. Christine Pohl’s classic work, Making Room, first spoke to this issue in 1999. And it is just as relevant today, with the refugee crisis, the rise in homelessness, and growing loneliness and isolation.

In the last days, scripture reveals that there will be a great generational synergy: fathers and sons, mothers and daughters - multiple generations coming together to see the kingdom of God advanced and the powers of darkness destroyed! For this explosive generational alignment to take place, we need a fresh revelation of what it means to “serve another’s vision". By asking us to serve God’s leaders, God works for our growth and maturity, ultimately positioning us to walk in the fullness of our own divine destinies!

If churches are the dwelling place of God’s spirit, why are so many built around the strategies of man? Eager for growth, leaders can be lured by entertaining new schemes, forgetting doctrinal truth as their driving force. Churches must humbly lean on the sufficiency of God’s word. How to Build a Healthy Church challenges leaders to evaluate their motivations for ministry and provides examples of healthy, deliberate leadership. This is more than a step-by-step plan to mimic; it’s a biblical blueprint for pastors, elders, and anyone committed to the church’s vitality.

They served God to the ends of the Earth. In his fifth God’s Generals volume, Roberts Liardon chronicles some of the great evangelists who risked their lives to take the gospel message to strange and unknown cultures around the world. The sacrifice and courage of these spiritual pioneers are sure to stoke the fires of your faith and revive within your heart a spirit of evangelism and compassion for the lost.

Anyone who serves God will discover sooner or later that the great hindrances he has in the Lord's work is not others but himself. He will discover that his outward man (soul) is not in harmony with his inward man (spirit). Both tend to go toward two opposite directions from each other. He will also sense the inability of his outward man to submit to the inner control of his regenerated spirit. His greatest difficulty lies in his outward man, which hinders him from using his spirit.

A pastor inhabits multiple roles — teacher, preacher, youth leader, and counselor. Yet many church leaders feel unprepared to counsel church members who are struggling with difficult, multifaceted problems. David Powlison reminds pastors of their unique role as the shepherds of God’s people, equipping them to apply biblical wisdom to the thoughts, values, moods, expectations, and decisions of those under their care.

Compassionate, biblical, and thought-provoking, Embodied is an accessible guide for Christians who want help navigating issues related to transgenderism.

If the fear of the Lord is "the beginning of wisdom," then it must be the starting point for fruitful Christian leadership. David Cook and Shane Parker offer an accessible volume focused on Christian leadership philosophy and practice from the foundational viewpoint of the fear of the Lord. This unique approach will enable developing and seasoned leaders to grow in godliness for the sake of the gospel and the church.

In Biblical Counseling and the Church, Bob Kellemen and Kevin Carson have assembled over twenty respected ministry leaders who examine the relationship between counseling and the church. This comprehensive resource, part of the Biblical Counseling Coalition series, helps leaders and counselors develop a vision that goes beyond being a church with a biblical counseling ministry to becoming a church of biblical counseling—a church culture that is saturated by "one-another" ministry.

Roberts Liardon chronicles compelling spiritual biographies of some of the most powerful preachers ever to ignite the fires of revival. Follow the faith journeys and lives of the great generals of God, including George Whitefield, Charles Finney, and many others. Let these revivalists inspire your life and revitalize your ministry!