Showing titles in Discipleship

World-renowned scholar and preacher John R. Stott embarks on a compelling course of study that first defends the fundamental claims of Christianity and then defines the proper outworking of these basic beliefs in the daily lives of believers. Here is a sound, sensible guide for those who are seeking an intellectually satisfying presentation of the Christian faith.

One of the church's primary responsibilities is to foster genuine spiritual growth in people's lives. Today's pastors bring tremendous effort and passion to this task, but they are often disappointed by people who sit in the pews for years, knowing about Jesus but never really knowing him. In 2004, Willow Creek Community Church in suburban Chicago undertook a three-year study to measure spiritual growth called the REVEAL Spiritual Life Survey. Over the next six years, additional data was collected from over a quarter million people in well over a thousand churches of every size....

Jesús le dio un mandamiento a sus seguidores: “Síganme” Y una promesa: “Yo los equiparé para encontrar a otros para que me sigan.” Fuimos hechos para hacer discípulos. Diseñado para ser usado en relaciones de discipulado y otros escenarios enfocados, Multiplícate te equipará para llevar a cabo el ministerio de Jesús.

With all the hostility boiling just under the surface of our world, we need a renewed vision of Jesus as the Lamb of God who can lead us in the peaceable ways of the Kingdom. When we fail to keep Jesus at the center of our lives, we lean into the desires of our hearts more than the desires God has for us. As a result, our entire spirituality becomes driven by the self and for the self. We need renewed practices of centering Jesus in our hearts and minds. Derek Vreeland invites you to imagine what it looks like to keep Jesus as the Lamb of God at the center of three key areas of our lives.

Most people think of God's will as something to be found or as the receiving of guidance from God when making decisions. Too often, however, the problem is not that we don't know what God desires for our lives, but rather that we just don't want to do what we already know he wants. How might our wills be changed so that we become both willing and able to do what God asks of us? In Desiring God's Will, psychologist and spiritual director David G. Benner explores the transformation of the will in Christian spirituality.

In Counter Culture, New York Times best-selling author David Platt shows Christians how to actively take a stand on such issues as poverty, sex trafficking, marriage, abortion, racism, and religious liberty—and challenges us to become passionate, unwavering voices for Christ. Drawing on compelling personal accounts from around the world, Platt presents an unapologetic yet winsome call for Christians to faithfully follow Christ into the cultural battlefield in ways that will prove both costly and rewarding.

In this world of frantic activity and constant entertainment, it can be hard to identify and embrace the rhythms that lead to true flourishing. Your spirit longs for a stronger connection to the divine, a clearer sense of personal spiritual growth, a closer relationship with your creator and redeemer. But how do you integrate this kind of inner growth into the realities of your outer life? If you long for a deeper experience of God as you journey through this life, Spiritual Practices for Soul Care offers forty ways to help you put the spiritual disciplines into action each day.

J.P. Moreland issues a call to recapture the drama and power of kingdom living—to cultivate a revolution of Evangelical life, spirituality, thought, and Spirit-led power. Moreland believes that evangelical Christianity can mature and lead the surrounding society out of the meaningless morass it finds itself in with humility and vision. With clear insight, he puts the thoughtful Christian in a position to understand our current struggle and to return to a responsible presentation of "the way of Christ" as not just a way of right living, but also a way of knowledge and meaningful life.

We are made for community. Deep within the heart of people is a longing to both know others and be known by them, and groups ministry has the opportunity to meet these needs in every church. Groups are an art, not a science. There's no one-size-fits-all formula for designing transformational groups that God uses to mold people into the image of Christ together.

What keeps us from flourishing in our spiritual lives is a neglect of the inner life of the soul. And more and more today, this neglect is driven by our ambition to accomplish something big outside ourselves. We live in a society that pressures us to achieve professionally, socially, and through the constant acquisition of material possessions. Drawing on a wide range of sources, including scripture, church history, psychology, and neuroscience, as well as a rich variety of stories from his own life, Ken Shigematsu demonstrates how the gospel redeems our desires and reorders our lives.

Marks of a Movement calls us back to the disciple-making mandate of the church through the timeless wisdom of John Wesley and the Methodist movement. With a love for history and a passion for today's church, Winfield helps us reimagine church multiplication in a way that focuses on making and multiplying disciples for the twenty-first century. Winfield Bevins reminds us of the vital multiplication lessons from the Wesleyan movement, one of the greatest missional movements the world has ever known.

In True Discipleship William MacDonald highlights some principles of New Testament discipleship and challenges every genuine Christian believer. He makes clear that nothing less than an all-out commitment to the Lord Jesus Christ is required of us. The savior seeks those who will give him first place in their lives.

Discipleship seems elusive. We all know that God told us to make disciples. We want to build fully devoted followers of Christ, but most often, we do little more than educate and entertain. How to Make Disciples follows Doug’s journey from struggling to make a few disciples to having five generations of self-sustaining, self-replicating disciples of God. Packed with real stories and insights, How to Make Disciples provides a simple, proven, step-by-step process for making disciples.

Defining true manhood has never been more challenging. In this first book of the Forged: Godly Men series, popular Bible teacher Vince Miller offers a clear, compelling look at what it means to be a man of God. Designed for small group or individual use, Essential Elements offers the practical encouragement and answers men are looking for.

Dwight Zscheile, Michael Binder, and Tessa Pinkstaff build on Scripture, theology, and the latest leadership and change theories to guide church leaders on a journey toward grassroots, participatory spiritual growth. This faithful innovation begins with a three-step process: listening to God and to each other, acting so we can learn, and sharing our stories in community. Real-life stories and supportive spiritual practices make each step toward effective change accessible and actionable.

Everyone takes little steps toward Jesus before they can take big steps with and for him. This is a process that starts long before people ever enter a church building, especially as the gap between the church and culture grows ever wider. This book will help equip you to handle the early stages of discipling others with care, address the stumbling blocks that hold them back, as well as redefine how you see your own identity as an ambassador of Christ.

From the pulpit of the cross, Christ gave His final and most riveting sermon: His seven last words. In times past, Christ frequently spoke in parables, but no more. No, Christ penned these words with His royal blood like a calligrapher using the most delicate of strokes. Christʼs seven last words are the greatest utterances ever recorded in the history of the world—greater than the words of any esteemed orator, heroic leader, or even saint, because they were the last words of God to mankind.

The average length of Jesus’ conversations as recorded in the Gospels was 42 seconds long. This is good news for all of us. It frees us up to talk about the most important part of our lives in a way that’s natural, meaningful, and helpful instead of clumsy, awkward, and irrelevant. Anyone who has spent countless uncomfortable hours walking from house to house with a clipboard or flash cards that talk about four spiritual laws understands.

"I don't care for vocational books written in the United States; they're too American." When Susan Maros heard this comment from a Malaysian colleague, she was initially taken aback. Isn't the concept of calling universal? Why wouldn't resources with a biblical perspective on vocation apply to everyone? The reality is that each of us encounters our questions of calling from within a particular context.

A. W. Tozer derived great personal satisfaction and help from the church creeds, and he used them as he preached and taught. This new book draws on four previously published essays and several articles that have never before been published in books.