Practical Ministry

In the fast-paced world of ministry, every lead pastor dreams of seeing their church surge forward, fueled by purpose and passion. Just like a precision-engineered Formula 1 car hurtling down the track, your church has the potential to achieve remarkable speed and impact. In XLR8, lead pastor and author Michael Murphy harnesses the thrilling metaphors of F1 racing to lead you on an exhilarating journey toward accelerating your church’s growth.

Every artist has been given an invitation to co-create with the Creator of the Universe. As we cooperate with him, though the power of the Holy Spirit, we can reveal, reflect, and release his image, nature and presence into the world through our creative expression. It's simply mind-blowing and yet, that's his invitation to us. Art, like any other created means, is a vehicle for the presence of God to move in and through. It functions almost as a stealth language by which God can commune with us as kingdom artists.

Most of the world is lazy. Too many believers are idle. Few attain their God-given potential. The kingdom suffers because of the too many spectators who are said to be soldiers in the army of the Lord. The loss to God, to the kingdom of God, and to the lazy person that is caused by the sin of laziness is beyond measure. Must things continue that way? I do not think so. Laziness is a deadly sin. The one who commits this sin can be delivered. That is what this book is about. May the Lord bless you as you listen to it! Amen.

Building on the best-selling go-to guidebook Sticky Faith, The Sticky Faith Guide for Your Family shows parents how to actively encourage their children's spiritual growth so that it will stick with them into adulthood and empower them to develop a living, lasting faith.

Congregations often seek to combat the crisis of decline by using innovation to produce new resources. But leading practical theologian Andrew Root shows that the church's crisis is not in the loss of resources; it's in the loss of life—and that life can only return when we remain open to God's encountering presence. This new book, related to Root's critically acclaimed Ministry in a Secular Age project, addresses the practical form the church must take in a secular age.

Taking a look at how the fivefold ministers relate to the church today.... Discover how the fivefold ministry was created to work within the local church, the training ground for ministry. These ministers - apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers - are coaches who equip and train God’s people to release his power for works of service. Learn how proven fivefold ministers can be mentored and released in the body of Christ.

If you have suffered spiritual abuse from a toxic church, toxic organization, or toxic leader, your trust has been broken. You entrusted your life to someone you thought would care for you: someone who initially inspired you to know God, only to reject you in the end. Now you are left wounded and disillusioned, wondering if you can ever trust others, yourself, or possibly even God, again.

The Bible is rich with leadership gold. But we haven't mined it for all it's worth. Leaders know a lot about the Bible and a lot about leadership — separately. We haven't yet explored the depths of the Bible as a primary source for leadership insight. This book aims to change that.

Preachers often quote this majestic promise in describing the consummation of history, the restoration of all things at the end of time. But few seek to uncover the passion of God in this promise: he wants us to know his glory, and he wants us to know it here on earth. What on Earth Is Glory? is one man's journey into this desire of God.

Millions of people want to follow Jesus, but don't know how. Upon becoming Christians, new believers often end up paralyzed. They become overwhelmed trying to master complicated doctrines, frustrated by a large list of rules for policing their lives, and bewildered by a new (and strange)...

As your children grow, will their faith grow too? As both stories and statistics attest, the number of evangelical children who abandon Christianity in adulthood is staggering. To see effective change, parents cannot leave their child’s faith to chance. Rather, families must start nurturing faith early - you cannot start once your child is grown, you must start at home. Strengthening family and home life is the best way to encourage your children to maintain a lifelong faith. It Starts at Home upholds marriage and family as the proving ground for lasting success.

Best-selling author and professional certified life coach Valorie Burton knows the value of pausing and reflecting in critical moments as a way to drive personal growth. In her practice, she has developed life-changing questions to help you make meaningful choices that lead to authentic success. Valorie offers a fresh way to help you think about what matters, build the courage to follow through, and discover a vision for your relationships, career, money, health, and spiritual life that energizes you.

On an average day, people make countless decisions: Should I get out of bed or hit the snooze button? What should I have for breakfast? Where should we go for this year's vacation? While some decisions are easy to make, others can leave individuals paralyzed and full of anxiety. As Christians living in an increasingly individualistic society, what's the best strategy for making decisions that honor God while becoming more like him in the process? Writing from her own experience and pointing to biblical examples, Aimee Joseph offers a biblical and theological framework for decision-making.

This book is designed for practitioners. Instead of needing more theory about evangelism (as important as that is), one of the pressing needs in the 21st century is to identify and employ practical approaches to evangelism that restores the good news to be good and new once again.

As an active member in ministry, writing is usually inevitable. Perhaps you approach these opportunities with excitement - or maybe you procrastinate to avoid the task altogether, your pages remaining forever blank. No matter how you feel about writing, approaching a project can be overwhelming. Knowing what to say can be as confusing as knowing where to begin. Perhaps for you, the first step in the writing process is simply to demystify the writing process, to realize that you are capable of accomplishing your projects. If so, then Writing for Life and Ministry is for you.

From the beginning of his ministry, Jesus called and equipped individuals who would serve his community of followers. These "shepherds" are called to preach, pray, and care for the needs of God's people. But what does it mean to be a pastor? And what is the nature of this ministry, according to...

There are things that God must do, and man must not attempt to do them. There are other things that he has decided in his sovereignty to let man do. He will not do them for man. If man decides not to do them, they will remain undone. This book, Sanctified and Consecrated for Spiritual Ministry, presents the responsibility of the believer to do that which he must do for his sanctification, consecration, and spiritual ministry.

Like a succession of failed diet regimens, the much-touted techniques that are supposed to bring us closer to God "in our hearts" can instead make us feel anxious, frustrated, and overwhelmed. Phillip Cary explains that discipleship is a gradual, long-term process that comes through the gospel experienced in Christian community, not a to-do list designed to help us live the Christian life "right." He covers ten things we don't have to do to be close to God, skillfully unpacking the riches of traditional Christian spirituality. The expanded edition includes a new afterword.

What does the Bible say about third millennium prophets? What’s the difference between being a prophet and being prophetic? In The Prophetic Path, Ron Campbell guides emerging prophets along his own journey from South Africa to America and from the sanctuary to legislatures and boardrooms to reveal the prerequisites, principles, and perils of the office of the prophet. The Prophetic Path is a powerful discipleship resource, not only for emerging prophets but also for all who would be prophetic!

Time is one of the most precious gifts that the Lord has given man. In giving people the gift of time, the Lord has ensured that no one may consider himself specially favored or disfavored. In his wondrous love, God has given the president of a populous nation and a simple street sweeper in that nation the same number of hours per day: 24. The president has not been given a 48 hour day while the street sweeper has been given a 24-hour day.