Showing results by narrator "Van Tracy" in All Categories

Jim Burgen was a preacher’s kid who grew up loving church, until it felt like one day, he realized he was an adult who didn’t. He’d burned out and was full of questions. An encounter with C.S. Lewis’ Voyage of the Dawn Treader introduced him to Eustace, a little boy whose greed and hurt turned him into a dragon. He couldn’t un-dragon himself, no matter how hard he tried. Only one person could: the good lion, Aslan. That day, Burgen’s life changed forever. Burgen takes us on a journey through the remarkable process of Jesus saving him from himself.

At some point in our lives, we all find ourselves in a boat in the middle of a lake. We might be there due to a job loss or the death of a loved one. Maybe disability, divorce, or financial insecurity has stranded us. Patrick and Ruth Schwenk found themselves feeling battered after five miscarriages and then surrounded by the waves with Patrick’s cancer diagnosis at age 43. They were alone. Drifting. And that’s when their transformation began.

The Gospel costs nothing. You can't earn it or buy it. It can only be received as a free gift compliments of God's grace. It doesn't cost anything, but it demands everything. It demands that we go "all in," a term that simply means placing all that you have into God's hands. Pushing it all in. And that's where we get stuck - spiritual no man's land. We're afraid that if we go all in that we might miss out on what this life has to offer. It's not true. The only thing you'll miss out on is everything God has to offer.

Some churches advocate one-on-one discipling, others try getting everyone into a small group, while still others training through mission trips or service projects. Yet others focus all their efforts on attracting people to a large group gathering to hear biblical teaching and preaching. But does one size really fit everyone? Based on careful biblical study and years of experience making disciples in the local church, Bobby Harrington and Alex Absalom have identified five key relationships where discipleship happens in our lives.

In Contagious Faith, best-selling author and teacher Mark Mittelberg introduces five approaches to evangelism and helps you determine which of them fit best with your unique personality and style. He also explains in a down-to-earth fashion several key skills that will help you talk about Jesus effectively, illustrating his message with real-life accounts of ordinary believers who applied these principles for extraordinary impact.

The Case for Christianity Answer Book provides succinct answers to real questions about Christianity. Best-selling author and spiritual skeptic Lee Strobel uses his investigative journalism skills to dig deep into the Bible to provide compelling and concise answers about the religion of Christianity.

You can make a difference! Believe it or not, the most effective way to make an impact on the world is to make an impact on individual people. How do you do that? Through influence. In How to Influence People, leadership guru John C. Maxwell and his friend Jim Dornan tell you how to make a positive impact on every person in your life, from your children and coworkers to your customers and the barista at the coffee shop.

If making disciples of Jesus is the greatest cause on earth, how should we equip people to do it? This handbook is a practical guide for how to embrace the discipleship lifestyle—being a disciple of Jesus—and how to make other disciples of Jesus. Whether you are a parent who wants to disciple your children, a small group leader who wants to disciple those in your group, or a church leader who wants to disciple future leaders, the seven key elements in this handbook form a framework for understanding discipleship that can be applied in countless situations.

Enter the world of ancient Rome through the eyes of one of history's most transformative figures. The Apostle by John Pollock seamlessly weaves together drama, scholarship, and historical accuracy in this book about the apostle Paul's extraordinary life. Starting with the dramatic death of Stephen, you'll witness Paul's incredible transformation from persecutor to preacher. Follow him on his daring missionary journeys that took him to the far corners of the Roman Empire, where he spread the teachings of Christianity.

Grounded in carefully selected Scripture, Believe Audio Bible in the NIV is a unique spiritual growth experience that takes you on a journey to think, act, and be more like Jesus. General editor and pastor Randy Frazee walks you through the 10 key beliefs of the Christian faith, the 10 key practices of a Jesus-follower, and the 10 key virtues that characterize someone who is becoming more like Jesus. Each chapter uses short topical passages from the New International Version (NIV) to help you live the story of the Bible.

As teens, it can feel difficult to find a way out of our bad habits and unhealthy thought patterns, too often feeling like our thoughts are running out of control and finding ourselves off-track from where we want to be. Pastor and bestselling author Craig Groeschel deeply understands this daily battle against self-doubt and negative thinking, and in this book adapted from his bestselling Winning the War in Your Mind, Groeschel explains how you too can challenge your thinking and change the course of your life for the better, revealing the strategies he’s found that help.

Is your life limited by labels the world and other people have used to define you? Labels you have internalized and apply to yourself every day? Labels like “Afraid” or “Addict” or “Orphan.” “Damaged Goods.” “Failure.” Maybe even “Religious.” These labels might be sewn into your life with such tight little stitches that they feel like a part of you. It feels like they define you. But that’s a lie. If you let him, Jesus can remove those old labels and tattoo new ones onto your soul. Then you’ll begin to see yourself as God the Father sees you.

The Little Red Book of Wisdom takes the listener on a journey so often sidestepped in favor of the newer, quicker, easier. If you're seeking simplicity in a complicated world, Mark DeMoss's insights will illuminate your path to a wiser and more deliberate way of living. By illuminating the notions of integrity, humility, and self-restraint, DeMoss demonstrates what is possible when we value listening and thinking over talking and doing. Wisdom is not just for past generations; it calls to us today. We need only respond.

A simple and sustainable path to a deep and satisfying walk with Christ. What if it were possible, Pastor Stovall Weems asks, to boil it all down to one practical, uncomplicated principle that would yield the vibrant, purposeful spiritual life so many are looking for? What if, in our relationship with God, we had one simple and sustainable touch point to experience a deep and satisfying walk with Christ? In The God-First Life, Weems shows that true success in our walk with God and in life in general is not an issue of need, but an issue of order.

Do you ever sense that there's far more to prayer, and to God's vision for your life, than what you're experiencing? It's time you learned from the legend of Honi the Circle Maker - a man bold enough to draw a circle in the sand and not budge from inside it until God answered his prayers for his people. What impossibly big dream is God calling you to draw a prayer circle around? In this powerful booklet, excerpted from The Circle Maker, Batterson helps you uncover your heart's deepest desires and God-given dreams and unleash them through the kind of audacious prayer that God delights to answer.

We all get the same 24 hours in a day, yet a special few seem to have superhuman abilities when it comes to accomplishing great things in life. Tommy Barnett, a proven master at “getting things done,” says the key to maximizing your productivity is to make use of small, manageable moments in your day - just 30 minutes at a time. In this remarkably practical book, Tommy shows how to begin a whole new life of fruitfulness.

A breakthrough for business owners and entrepreneurs of small to large businesses and companies looking to achieve more success, Fire Someone Today is a book about what to do, what not to do, and why. Whether you are a young company that's just starting out or a mature business looking to grow, business entrepreneur Bob Pritchett gives hands-on advice and practical examples that are a must-listen for every manager, business owner, and entrepreneur.

For many Christians who've tried their hands at evangelism or have had to defend their faith, it can feel like doing PR work for God—limiting ourselves to a series of strategies and tactics. In The Faithful Apologist, Scott Oliphint provides a foundation for Christians to explain their faith in a welcoming manner that avoids any burden to "sell" Christianity to non-Christians. Drawing as much from the rich tradition of Western apologetics as from the wisdom of effective communication, this book bridges the gap between sharing the truth of our faith and the art of persuasion.

America has become a beautiful mosaic filled with many colors and ethnicities - but does your church reflect this change? Are you longing to be a cross-cultural leader who can guide the church into a multicolored world for the sake of the gospel? Best-selling author and pastor Dr. Derwin Gray calls all churches and their leaders to grow out of ignorance, classism, racism, and greed into a flourishing, vibrant, and grace-filled community of believers.

Why do we believe what we believe? The Case for Christ Daily Moment of Truth offers fact-based, intelligent devotions to build a foundational faith. These 180 insightful writings will strengthen your spiritual knowledge and touch your heart with life-changing truth. Combining the authors' expertise in apologetics with scriptural application for daily living, leading Christianity apologists Lee Strobel and Mark Mittelberg articulate the reasons why Christians believe what they believe.