Showing titles in Discipleship

Christianity has tended to focus on right beliefs and right choices as the keys for personal growth. But biblical evidence and modern brain science show that our character is shaped more by whom we love than what we believe. Through conversations he had with Dallas Willard at the Heart and Soul Conference shortly before Dallas' death, Jim Wilder shows how we can train our brains to relate to God based on joyful, mutual attachment - which leads to emotional and spiritual maturity as our identity and character are formed by our relationship with God.

You and I are invited to live at home with God in Christ Jesus. This invitation is called “union with Christ.” And it is one of the most unbelievable and overlooked realities of Christian salvation. In this book, Kyle Worley (pastor, author, and host of the “Knowing Faith Podcast”) guides listeners along the story of Scripture to help them understand that this invitation into life with God in Christ is not only a key part of the Bible’s entire message, but also, the primary belief of Christian salvation.

You know what you don't believe: about the Bible, the church, and God. You don't agree with the doctrines of an exclusionary, dominant Christianity. But what if someone asked you: "What do you believe?" In this primer on progressive, expansive, generous Christianity, writer and pastor Bruce Reyes-Chow helps us reconsider—or consider for the first time—what it means to choose faith.

Deconstruct Faith, Discover Jesus will help you to enter the mindset of a deconstructionist. A worldview with a high capacity for paradoxes. A mental space that outweighs your self-interest in being right. A tendency to see Christian beliefs as inseparable from Christian ethics. In doing so, you will find the original deconstructionist, Jesus, right beside you.

John Owen wrote this book, often given the subtitle The Nature and Power of It, the Danger of Entering into It, and the Means of Preventing That Danger, with a resolution to show how Christians can avoid temptation in living a more spiritual life. A prolific author, Owen was an English nonconformist Church leader who served as academic administrator at the University of Oxford.

In Sticky Faith, the team at FYI presents youth workers with both a theological/philosophical framework and practical programming ideas that develop long-term faith in teenagers. Each chapter presents a summary of FYI’s quantitative and qualitative research, along with the implications of this research, including program ideas suggested and tested by youth ministries nationwide. This resource will give youth pastors what they need to help foster a faith that sticks with all the teenagers in their group long after they’ve left the youth room.

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.

Written in the same warm, accessible style as Richard Foster's best-selling Celebration of Discipline, Freedom of Simplicity articulates a creative, more human style of living and points the way for Christians to make their lives "models of simplicity."

Stop whoring with other gods and follow the real God of the universe. This was the basic message of Hosea to his people. He wanted to help the citizens of Israel and Judah continue a relationship with the God that lead their forefathers from the nadirs of slavery. Hosea showed God’s love not only with words but by action in marrying a prostitute. This unconventional marriage from the prophet was an active symbol of God’s love to people who worshiped man made idols and earthly creations. Restoring the Fallen is a Bible study on the book of Hosea to those who claim to be God’s people.

- Why do people fall away from the Christian faith? - What is going on in the heart of one who deconstructs? - Why do some produce abundant spiritual fruit? The parable of the Sower reveals the keys to Christian maturity. Such a simple illustration uncovers two grand threads woven through the fabric of the Bible. What is the seed? Who represents good soil? These themes, once defined, bring clarity to many mysteries. How do believers grow deep spiritual roots? Why do so many fall away and fail to bear fruit? How do Christians produce abundant fruit? Hidden in this parable are answers to ...

In I Saw the Lord, Anne shares the revival lessons she has carried to audiences throughout the world, showing you how you can experience an authentic, deeper, richer relationship with God in a life-changing, fire-blazing revival. It begins here. Now. Open this book and hear the wake-up call. Then get ready for the fire of revival to fall on you!

Crashing the chatterbox = Overpowering lies of insecurity, fear, condemnation, and discouragement with the promises of God. “I used to think that someone who struggled with the kinds of weaknesses I deal with daily was useless to God. I felt so often like I was drowning in internal dialogue I couldn’t control. It had been the soundtrack of my life for as long as I could remember.

Mark Batterson has a strong following among 20- and 30-something Christians who are passionate about their faith but suspicious of the consumer-oriented approach of many mega churches. Primal sheds troublesome cultural baggage while articulating fresh ways to embrace the elements of the faith.

When building a children’s ministry at a church, there is so much to consider: Which curriculum should we use? How many volunteers do we need? How do we keep parents in the loop? And that’s before we run into stalled check-in computers, missing activity sheets, and floors that need to be vacuumed. Writing from personal ministry experience, Jared Kennedy shares a four-fold approach for gospel-centered, missional children’s ministry: hospitality, teaching, discipleship, and mission.

In today's Western world, plenty of shiny false gods still hold power - idols of prosperity, nationalism, and self-interest. Old Testament scholar Christopher J. H. Wright combines a biblical study of idolatry with practical discipleship. He calls listeners to consider connections between Old Testament patterns and today's culture, especially recurring temptations to trust in political power.

Grouped into separate sections ("Science and Scripture," "Outreach," "Doctrine," "Ministry and Evangelism," and "The Christian Life"), these pieces offer a breadth and depth on pertinent, contemporary subjects.

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.

“In this distinctively Christian approach to habits, Greg Gifford makes the case from Scripture that both heart motivations and godly practice are critical for growth in Christ. He shows that progressive sanctification travels on a bidirectional highway between our hearts and our habits—we do what we love and we love as we do! Filled with concrete examples and exercises to address our hearts and habits in the various spheres of life, Greg helps the reader put into practice the fear of the LORD in everyday life.” –MICHAEL R. EMLET, M.Div., M.D., Dean of Faculty and Counselor, ...

Friendship: it's one of the simplest of human relationships in comparison to marriage or family relationships, yet it's one of the least understood and practiced. This is the core of biblical friendship, and what sets it apart from what the world is offering: it all flows from Jesus Christ. Friendship finds its origin, purpose, and power in Jesus. Our human friendships then must be shaped by this life-changing truth. Biblical friendship is deep, honest, pure, transparent, and liberating. Dig into this book, and learn how your friendships can embody this amazing and wonderful reality.

Our goal as Christians is never simply to build our own tribe. Instead, we seek the peace and prosperity of the city or community in which we live through a gospel movement led by the Holy Spirit, a movement united by the gospel of Jesus Christ, a common mission to reach and serve others, and a commitment to be gracious and generous to those who disagree with you. In Serving a Movement, best-selling author and pastor Timothy Keller looks at the nature of the church’s mission and its relationship to the work of individual Christians in the world.