Living Ministries

In his four decades of urban ministry, Robert D. Lupton has experienced firsthand how our good intentions can have unintended, dire consequences. We fly off on mission trips to poverty-stricken villages, hearts full of pity and suitcases bulging with giveaways - trips that one Nicaraguan leader describes as effective only in "turning my people into beggars." In Toxic Charity, Lupton urges individuals, churches, and organizations to step away from these spontaneous, often destructive acts of compassion and toward thoughtful paths to community development.

We live in a 24/7 culture of endless productivity, workaholism, distraction, burnout, and anxiety-a way of life to which we've sadly grown accustomed. This tired system of "life" ultimately destroys our souls, our bodies, our relationships, our society, and the rest of God's creation. The whole world grows exhausted because humanity has forgotten to enter into God's rest. Combining creative storytelling, pastoral sensitivity, practical insight, and relevant academic research, Subversive Sabbath offers a unique invitation to personal Sabbath-keeping.

UnClobber reexamines what the Bible says (and does not say) about homosexuality in such a way that breathes fresh life into outdated and inaccurate assumptions and interpretations.

In this Very Short Introduction Stephen J. Davis discusses the history of monasticism, from our earliest evidence for it, and the different types that have developed from antiquity to the present day. He considers where monasteries are located, from East Asia to North America, and everywhere in between, and how their settings impact the everyday life and worldview of the monks and nuns who dwell there. Exploring how monastic communities are organized, he also looks at how aspects of life like food, sleep, sex, work, and prayer are regimented.

Physician Ed Wheat has helped thousands of couples improve their love lives and build happier marriages. In Love Life for Every Married Couple, he'll help you improve your marriage through sharing, touching, appreciating, and focusing healing attention on your mate. Answering physical, psychological, and stress-related questions in a Christian context, Dr. Wheat demonstrates how to bring your feelings of love back to life.

The heart of man is his worst part before it is regenerated, and the best part afterward. It is the seat of principles, and the fountain of actions. The greatest difficulty in conversion is to win the heart to God. The greatest difficulty after conversion is to keep the heart with God. For out of it [the heart] are the issues of life. In other words, the heart is the source of all vital operations; it is the origin of both good and evil, just as the spring in a watch that sets all the wheels in motion.

There has perhaps never been an age that set such great store in study as that in which we now live. The unfortunate thing about it is that so much of the study in our day is devoted to books and subjects in which there is little or no profit. Time is squandered on the purely speculative, the uncertain, the unprofitable, the unessential, the unproductive, the irrelevant, and the transitory. The most profitable of all study is wisely ordered Bible study. Its value is incalculable. It is beyond all comparison more profitable than any other study.

You are what you have. You are how you look. You are who you know. Our culture endlessly echoes these lies that hold many men and women captive. Your value, our world says, is a matter of sight - clothes, cars, youth, power, and beauty will make you worth something. But you don't have to measure yourself by the world's standards. You are not what they see. You are who God sees.

Wisdom, encouragement, and exhortation is contained in this audiobook. Not because of the author's brilliance, but because of the words of truth contained in the gospel of Luke. And just as the Apostle Luke didn't draw any attention to himself, so also J. C. Ryle clearly and wonderfully directs his words and our thoughts towards the inspired words of scripture. If we truly love God, we will love his word; and the more study his word, the more we will love God.

In this new audiobook by best-selling author, Edward Sri, we discover the close connection between growing in the virtues and growing in friendship and community with others. A consummate teacher, Dr. Sri leads us through the virtues with engaging examples and an uncanny ability to anticipate and answer our most pressing questions. Dr. Sri shows us in his inimitable, easy-to-listen style, that the virtues are the basic life skills we need to give the best of ourselves to God and to the people in our lives. In short, the practice of the virtues give us the freedom to love.

Picture respectful, responsible, obedient children who entertain themselves without television or video games, do their own homework, and have impeccable manners. A pie-in-the-sky fantasy? Not so, says family psychologist and best-selling author John Rosemond. Any parent who so desires can grow children who fit that description - happy, emotionally healthy children who honor their parents and their families with good behavior and do their best in school.

In this helpful and encouraging book, Elizabeth Liebert introduces the practice of discernment and guides listeners through the process of faithful decision making. Following the way of discernment means becoming increasingly able to notice where God is at work in the world and in one's own life - and becoming increasingly generous with one's own life in response.

I want to tell you what perhaps the greatest Christian who ever lived (the apostle Paul) thought of the cross of Christ. Believe me, the cross is of deepest importance. This is no mere question of controversy; this is not one of those points on which people may agree to differ and feel that differences will not shut them out of heaven. A person must be right on this subject, or he is lost forever. Heaven or hell, happiness or misery, life or death, blessing or cursing in the last day - all hinges on the answer to this question: What do you think about the cross of Christ?

Nicky Cruz's heart had turned to stone when he was only three. His mother nicknamed him the son of Satan, and he was severely abused, both physically and mentally. After moving from Puerto Rico to New York, Nicky became the leader of a notorious street gang the Mau Maus. He turned into a violent street criminal before he was eighteen. David Wilkerson, a skinny preacher from Pennsylvania, reached out to him with relentless love. He said, Nicky, Jesus loves you, and this simple message opened the door to a new life for Nicky Cruz.

Brokenness grasps for the soul of humanity. We are broken body, soul, and spirit, and we need the healing touch of Jesus. Soul Care explores seven principles that are profound healing tools of God: Securing your identity, repentance, breaking family sin patterns, forgiving others, healing wounds, overcoming fears, and deliverance.

Beginning from Genesis and working all the way through the story line of the Bible, Worthy demonstrates the significant and yes, even surprising, ways that God has used women to accomplish his kingdom goals. Like men, they are created in his image, and their lives reflect and declare his worth. Worthy will enable and encourage both men and women to embrace this true and lofty vision of God’s creation, plan, and their value in his eyes.

People assume Christians have all the answers; yet, in the face of tragedy, death, or suffering, everyone struggles to find just the right words to bring comfort or closure to those in need. Sometimes just hearing "It is God's will" isn't enough. Sometimes just saying "God will turn this to good" seems so meaningless when despair is so profound. Often the pain goes too deep, the questions won't go away, and even the assurance of faith doesn't help. How could God let this happen? How can God love us, yet allow us to suffer in this way? What is the point of this? What is the purpose?

Joni Eareckson is a well-known Christian speaker and author from America, but there was a day when she was a teenage girl in a bathing costume with nothing on her mind but boys, make up, and her beloved horse, Tumbleweed. However, all that changed one morning when an innocent dive turned into a tragic accident. Joni's story is a wonderful testimony to God's grace and power in someone's life.

Primarily, How Long, O Lord? is an audiobook of preventative medicine. This clear and accessible treatment of key biblical themes related to human suffering and evil is written by one of the most respected evangelical biblical scholars alive today. Carson brings together a close, careful exposition of key biblical passages with helpful pastoral applications.

Proof: The Bible is Supernatural...If someone claimed that the Declaration of Independence is a brilliant document, all we need to do is study the Declaration itself to draw our own conclusion. Similarly, all we need to do is read the pages of the Bible to determine if it is indeed supernatural. The New Testament claims that the Old Testament is loaded with fuzzy pictures that are actually pictures of Jesus Christ