PRAYzing! will help you understand that we pray to a creative God, from His creative Word, by His creative Spirit--and we can pray in a creative way. Through powerful stories and real-life examples, this book will give you plenty of instruction and inspiration for making prayer a compelling--and creative--experience for every Christian. Saber más

Most people would agree that the church is an amazing concept-the idea that people who share faith in Christ can worship and serve together and enjoy sweet fellowship that has love, forgiveness, and mutual support as its hallmarks. But the reality is often quite different.

When people who are part of the church behave in ways that are thoughtless, selfish, and even vicious, then that shining ideal dims drastically and people get wounded, sometimes never to recover. Suddenly, the one place in the community that should symbolize hope and light becomes a house of horror. Why does this happen?

The easy answer is to point an accusing finger at Satan, but what about our own culpability? Troublemakers in the Church: Dealing with the Difficult, the Dangerous, and the Deadly identifies twenty-five types of troublesome church members and offers insights on how to deal with them, while also offering a specific plan for how to build a church culture that manages and minimizes trouble. Saber más

James P. Osterhaus offers pastors tangible and much-needed advice to help them at work and in their personal lives-advice that they do not often hear in seminary.
More and more, men and women who minister find themselves depressed. Their marriages are often in trouble. Their families are negatively affected. Often, they have few if any close friends. Over the years, Osterhaus has coached and counseled hundreds of these ministers from various traditions on four continents. As he sat with ministers who have been nearly crushed by the burdens of ministry, he came to learn that the average training of ministers across the globe is woefully deficient in the very areas that allow ministers to avoid many of the pitfalls. This guide is a result of those countless conversations.

Avoiding Pastoral Pitfalls is an attempt to fill some of the void left in the training of pastors. It offers down-to-earth, practical guidance in areas of ministry that are often neglected: understanding yourself (both strengths and weaknesses), what effective leadership looks like, the complicated organizational makeup of the church, how to deal with conflict effectively, how to make sense of your governing board, and how to both enter a new ministry and leave a ministry effectively. Saber más

Practical, homiletical advice for preachers on some of the most challenging genres of Scripture
What should a preacher do when facing a genealogy while preaching the book of Genesis? How should one handle the geographically rich chapters of Joshua? What about all those laborious architectural details on the tabernacle in Exodus? From the theologically complex to the well-worn narrative, from the long pericopes to the tiniest archaeological details, this book seeks to give honest, practical advice that will better equip preachers to tackle such topics.

Each chapter includes an introduction of the difficult passages, definition and examples of the difficult passages, function/purpose of the difficult passages, and how to preach the difficult passages.

Chapter topics include:

1. Preaching the Genealogies
2. Preaching the Law
3. Preaching the Lists and Construction Details
4. Preaching the Violent Texts and Imprecations
5. Preaching the Sexually Explicit Texts
6. Preaching the Geography
7. Preaching Intertextuality and Complex Language Issues
8. Preaching the Well-Worn Stories
9. Preaching Theologically Complex or Controversial Passages
10. Preaching Long Pericopes

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Disciple-making can be intimidating. You might think that someone who makes disciples has to be a teacher, a missionary, or someone who is seminary trained. Would it surprise you to know that disciple-making is just a lifestyle in which you offer people love, comfort, and encouragement where they live, work, and play?

Despite our weaknesses and fears, Jesus invites us to participate in the Great Commission by helping people live for Christ in the here and now. All you have to do is live intentionally, love God, and journey alongside others-life to life.

This ten-week Bible study with discussion questions spells out the "how" of making disciples through an alongsider approach to life. Discover and apply the practices of an alongsider, such as reading the Bible with others, asking questions, telling stories, encouraging application, and living on mission.

The Ways of the Alongsider can be used with small groups, in a class setting, or in a one-to-one discipling relationship. Saber más

PRAYzing! will help you understand that we pray to a creative God, from His creative Word, by His creative Spirit-and we can pray in a creative way. Through powerful stories and real-life examples, this book will give you plenty of instruction and inspiration for making prayer a compelling-and creative-experience for every Christian. Saber más

When Dr. Henrietta Mears began her ministry in Hollywood, California, in the 1930s, she was facing several challenges. Sixty percent of children at the time were not attending a church of any sort. Fewer than fifteen percent of children who attended Sunday School ever made a decision to follow Jesus. Youth in their early college years were walking away from faith at an unprecedented rate. Church attendance across the United States was experiencing a decline instead of growth.

In response to the crisis, Dr. Mears instituted a set of principles that helped grow the Sunday School program at First Presbyterian Church of Hollywood from 450 to more than 4,000 in just three years. In Sunday School Changes Everything, you will find her fearless recommendations on how to

• Build your church’s Christian education program both numerically and spiritually
• Use practical methods for training your leaders and teaching students of all stages of life
• Implement five ingredients of successful ministry: Jesus, the Bible, relationships, a comprehensive plan, and life change
• Employ 10 standards of a good curriculum that will help you answer the question of what to teach

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Saber más

When Dr. Henrietta Mears began her ministry in Hollywood, California, in the 1930s, she was facing several challenges. Sixty percent of children at the time were not attending a church of any sort. Fewer than fifteen percent of children who attended Sunday School ever made a decision to follow Jesus. Youth in their early college years were walking away from faith at an unprecedented rate. Church attendance across the United States was experiencing a decline instead of growth.

In response to the crisis, Dr. Mears instituted a set of principles that helped grow the Sunday School program at First Presbyterian Church of Hollywood from 450 to more than 4,000 in just three years. In Sunday School Changes Everything, you will find her fearless recommendations on how to

• Build your churchs Christian education program both numerically and spiritually
• Use practical methods for training your leaders and teaching students of all stages of life
• Implement five ingredients of successful ministry: Jesus, the Bible, relationships, a comprehensive plan, and life change
• Employ 10 standards of a good curriculum that will help you answer the question of what to teach

Saber más