Ministry Time

Congratulations! Your Goliath has arrived. Enemies often seem to get in the way of our plans, leaving us discouraged and disoriented. But what if these obstacles are a part of God’s plans for us? Our enemies - whether our weaknesses, circumstances, deep-seated sins, other people, or any other challenge - can become our stepstool to new breakthroughs in life, if we leverage the opportunity. Just as David’s encounter with Goliath transformed him to a national hero, our enemies can be a blessing.

Churches often realize they need to change. But if they're not careful, the way they change can hurt more than help. Leading practical theologian Andrew Root offers a new paradigm for understanding the congregation in contemporary ministry. He articulates why congregations feel pressured by the speed of change in modern life and encourages an approach that doesn't fall into the negative traps of our secular age.

In today’s polarized context, Christians often have committed, biblical rationales for very different positions. How can Christians navigate disagreements with both truth and love? Tim Muehlhoff and Rick Langer provide lessons from conflict theory and church history on how to negotiate differing biblical convictions in order to move toward Christian unity.

A humorous yet practical five-step guide to ridding ourselves - and our companies - of the bureaucratic bottlenecks and red tape that plague every office.

For years, Christian women have been told, "If you just prayed more, had more faith, and trusted Jesus, you'd have more peace." But what does it mean when a Christian momma continues to worry? How does she reconcile her feelings of fear with her faith in God? And how does she raise her children in a home full of peace when she feels anything but peaceful?

How do you grow as a leader in the church? Should you read church growth books? Take a few seminars? Or just wing it? Scott Thomas, former President of Acts 29, church planter, and pastor has a different approach. He unpacks how leaning on Jesus empowers not just your teaching, but also grows the humility and biblical wisdom you need to lead.

The very fact that listeners may find themselves surprised now and again by the prominent role of women in certain events and movements proves an inequality that historical narrative has often been guilty of. This is a book about women. In Daughters of the Church, authors Ruth A. Tucker and Walter Liefeld have endeavored to present an objective story.

What’s happening in our world today is moving Christians to return to the foundations of our spiritual existence. Believers everywhere must get back to what matters most. We must always remember that our battle, at its most basic level, is spiritual. Discover 10 spiritual tools the Bible relates directly to our preparation for the Lord’s coming - 10 biblical survival strategies to live out in these last days, so you and your family can prosper in an increasingly decaying, darkening world.

For thousands of readers in their 30s and 40s, Bob Buford's best-selling book Halftime has proved a wise guide for the special challenges of midlife. This audio version shares principles that can help you move from success to the significance you're looking for in life's second half. If you're at the transition, Buford invites you to take a personal "halftime": time to reevaluate who you are, what you have to offer God's kingdom - and what it will take to make your coming years most rewarding.

In "Blessed Are the Unoffended: The Ministry of Reconciliation," Dr. Michael H. Yeager brings insights from almost fifty years of pastoral work to tackle a common yet devastating issue: the danger of harboring bitterness. Since beginning his pastoral journey in 1977, Dr. Yeager has observed that bitterness often destroys churches, marriages, friendships, and families. He explains how this bitterness opens the door to harmful behaviors like blame, criticism, envy, and conflict. Drawing from the wisdom of scriptures such as Hebrews 12:15 and Proverbs 16:28, Dr. Yeager shows how unchecked ...

Most leaders start out with passion, a sense of calling, and a focus on building ministry skills. Such things might get some results, but they are not enough to sustain a healthy ministry - or a healthy life. Beyond the vocational capacities every church planter needs, there's a range of capabilities more difficult to measure but even more essential: What veteran church planter Tim Morey calls spiritual competencies. Morey provides here a practical guide to spiritual formation geared to the unique needs of church planters.

Josh Hamilton was the first player chosen in the first round of the 1999 baseball draft. He was destined to be one of those rare "high-character " superstars. But in 2001, working his way from the minors to the majors, all of the plans for Josh went off the rails in a moment of weakness. What followed was a 4-year nightmare of drugs and alcohol, estrangement from friends and family, and his eventual suspension from baseball.

Mission at Nuremberg is Tim Townsend's gripping story of the American Army chaplain sent to save the souls of the Nazis incarcerated at Nuremberg, a compelling and thought-provoking tale that raises questions of faith, guilt, morality, vengeance, forgiveness, salvation, and the essence of humanity.

The words in this book and the following three books in the Christ Mind series (Silence of the Heart, Miracle of Love, and Return to the Garden) were written down during a five year period from 1993-1998. These messages are the fruit of my personal relationship with Jesus which developed in the 1980s and intensified thereafter. Opening my heart and mind to my teacher and writing down his words was an experience of profound communion. It was essentially ecstatic in nature.

Many Christians feel bombarded by the messages they hear and the trends they see in our rapidly changing world. How can we resist being conformed to the pattern of this world? What will faithfulness to Christ look like in these tumultuous times? How can we be true to the gospel in a world where myths and false visions of the world so often prevail? In This is Our Time, Trevin Wax provides snapshots of 21st-century American life in order to help Christians understand the times.

All of us are in desperate need of strength to endure and hope to carry on. Life is difficult and demanding. It's often filled with pain, heartaches, setbacks, and detours. Disappointments in others sadden us, scandals among those we respect shock us, and disputes in our families, churches, or workplaces demoralize us. When such troubles strike, they can be downright devastating. But they don't have to be! In Clinging to Hope, Chuck Swindoll reassures us that we can endure unexpected calamities.

This book is the story of Dr. Eddie Hyatt's 3½ year battle of faith for his health and his life. In this book, he records the numerous lessons learned and shows his discovery that God has a personalized path of healing for each individual. The central theme of the book is the expostion of the 3 keys to Answered Prayer that were revealed to him in the midst of the battle.

In this book, Joni unveils the God whom she has found to be faithful through over 30 years as a paralytic. This is not the story of a woman who has all the answers or who is very different from you. Joni struggles with the same fears, questions, and heartaches we all have in common. But as the weeks and months turn into years and the years into decades, she meets her Savior at every turn.

Five hundred years after the beginning of the Protestant Reformation, many people - Christians and non-Christians alike - view it as a conflict about issues that are no longer relevant to the church. But what if the Reformation still has something to teach us? What if the doctrines so vigorously debated and defended by the Reformers still matter today? In this accessible primer on the Reformation, Michael Reeves and Tim Chester introduce listeners to 11 key questions raised by the Reformers.

What you need to know to control the emotion of anger and find healing for damaged relationships. Anger is something everyone struggles with - whether it's our own emotion threatening to explode out of control or the anger of others that makes us feel intimidated and afraid. But when we understand where anger comes from, how it shows or doesn't show, then we can do something about it. Either it will control us or we will control it, because anger is a choice. In learning how to handle conflicts and anger, we are enabled to heal damaged relationships and help others as well.