The call to ministry is profound and life-changing, one that women are often forbidden to answer. In this sensitive and moving memoir Sara Barton speaks openly and vulnerably about how the conflict has played out in her life.In many churches today, Christians assume that women are excluded from the public role of preaching--yet women like Sara Barton experience a call to preach, forcing congregations and individuals to confront a complicated rethinking of tradition and theology. For many, ...

What is left of the Gospel if you take away the cross?This central question, asked by C. L. Loos but tucked away in a nineteenth-century journal, launched The Cruciform Church twenty-five years ago. Read by a generation of ministers and church leaders, The Cruciform Church began a reimagination of the church in our increasingly, secular age.Now updated, with responses from eight key leaders, this contemporary classic aims to reach a new generation with the c...

From the popular blogger and provocative author of Jesus Feminist comes a riveting new study of Christianity that helps you wrestle with - and sort out - your faith. In Out of Sorts, Sarah Bessey - award-winning blogger and author of Jesus Feminist, which was hailed as “lucid, com-pelling, and beautifully written” (Frank Viola, author of God’s Favorite Place on Earth) - helps us grapple with core Christian issues using a mixture of beautiful storytelling and biblical teaching, a style well...

Sharing your faith doesn't have to be complicated.Christians are called to be a witness for Christ in daily life, to surprise people around us with the good news of the gospel. Yet putting that mission into regular practice can seem overwhelming. Author Michael Frost, a renowned expert on evangelism, offers refreshingly simple tactics to make evangelism fulfilling, exciting, and effective.Surprise the World teaches clear and practical tools for maki...

What is the “Christian life” all about? Studying the Bible, attending church, cultivating a prayer life, witnessing to others—those are all good. But is that really what Jesus has in mind? The answer, says Scot McKnight in One.Life, lies in Jesus’ words, “Follow me.” What does it look like to follow Jesus, and how will doing so change the way we live our life—our love.life, our justice.life, our peace.life, our community.life, our sex.life—everything about our life. One.Life will open your...

Best-selling author and ministry leader Thom S. Rainer drew an exceptional response when he posted a 500-word declaration about church membership to his daily blog. "I Am a Church Member" started a conversation about the attitudes and responsibilities of church members -- rather than the functional and theological issues -- that previous new member primers all but ignored.Thoughtfully expanded to book form, I Am a Church Member begins to remedy the outbreak of inactive or ...

In THE CHURCH AWAKENING, Charles Swindoll discusses the challenges, struggles, and priorities of the church in the twenty-first century. He reveals the problems inherent in the entertainment-based postmodern church and shows how a return to biblical teaching will restore its strength and impact. Now being replaced by a feel-good message instead of what Christians need to know to stand strong in a world that's lost its way--Swindoll exposes the problems of--and solutions for--the postmodern...

In this compelling book about diversity and community, McKnight shares his personal experiences and his study of the Apostle Paul to answer this significant question: What is the church supposed to be?Local churches matter far more than we often know because they determine what Christian life looks like for you. The church McKnight grew up in was a fellowship of sames and likes. Mostly white, same beliefs about everything, same tastes in music and worship ...

“Hilarious, honest, and full of the hard-won wisdom...At its core is this truth: real change only happens when we realize God loves us whether we change or not.” —Susan E. Isaacs, author of Angry Conversations With GodFrom a popular pastor and radio host—Three Free Sins teaches that the only people who make any progress toward being better are those who know that God will still love them, regardless of how good they are.Th...

A reader’s delight, A Scandalous Freedom sometimes shocks with challenges to prevailing wisdom, but it follows up with compelling validations of our need to celebrate real, unstinted freedom in Christ.Christians do not trust freedom. As author Steve Brown explains in this brave new book, they prefer the security of rules and self-imposed boundaries, which they tend to inflict on other Christians. Brown asserts that real freedom means the freedom to be wron...

Are our churches killing us?Killer Church walks readers through a Biblical study of life and death at the altar of God, and attempts to answer the question: are our churches making us sick?The Church has become peripheral to many Christians today, but throughout the New Testament it remains the epicenter of worship. Where have we gone wrong? And how can we recover the spiritual vitality of the Acts Church? Nathan suggests a way forward both theologically an...

Bible teacher Lisa Harper extends an unstuffy, unintimidating invitation to greater intimacy with God by exploring the truth about theology and how it can transform the way we live.The most basic definition of theology is words (logos) about God (theos). Conversations, if you will, about the most important thing in life--developing a real, ongoing, vibrant relationship with God Himself.With her signature style and wit, bestselling...