That lay women and men increasingly serve as leaders of institutional ministries in the Church is nothing new. Yet, until now, these lay leaders have longed for theological resources and formational training to help them in their vocation and ministry. Called and Chosen: Toward a Spirituality for Lay Leaders is designed especially for women and men who, in collaboration with vowed religious and the ordained, shepherd Church ministries and touch the lives of countless people. Written by lea...

***NEW YORK TIMES Bestseller***There’s complicated. And there’s Rowen Sterling.After numbing pain for the past five years with boys, alcohol, and all-around apathy, she finds herself on a Greyhound bus to nowhere Montana the summer after she graduates high school. Her mom agreed to front the bill to Rowen’s dream art school only if Rowen proves she can work hard and stay out of trouble at Willow Springs Ranch. Cooking breakfast at the crack of dawn for a couple dozen ranch ...

Best-selling author Jerry Brides (The Pursuit of Holiness, The Discipline of Grace, The Bookends of the Christian Life, and many other books) asks perhaps the most fundamental question of existence: “Who am I?” He then turns to Scripture to unpack for the Christian eight clear, interlocking, illuminating answers:I Am a CreatureI Am in ChristI Am JustifiedI Am an Adopted Son of GodI Am a New CreationI...

An exploration of identity and faith, Seeing Through the Fog invites readers to a vibrant life, an expectant life, a life of joy in each new morning.Pastor Ed Dobson has spent his life preaching sermons, but this book is not a sermon. He has spent more than ten years with a debilitating illness, but this book is not about grief. He has found joy in the midst of sorrow, but this book is not about looking on the bright side.Seeing Through the Fog...

In order to help pastors and other Christian leaders to lovingly lead God’s flock to Jesus Christ and into God’s mission, Scott Thomas and Tom Wood clarify a process of coaching and shepherding that is rooted in the patterns of the Good Shepherd himself, a process in which leaders stir up the gifts, passion, and calling upon others’ lives. This book addresses the needs of the leader, his or her sinful tendencies, and church leadership issues. It directs the leader to the person and work of...

You can fear God or everything else. Fear wisely.Most Christians will agree that we ought to love our God. But what about fearing God? The Bible says that “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (Proverbs 9:10), yet a broad survey of modern evangelicalism reveals that the fear of God is hardly regarded as such anymore. Many Christians seem to wrongly assume that the gospel of grace trumps the fear of the Lord. Yet it is only the God of the gospel who is truly wor...

Christ’s command to the church is clear: “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations...” It is in building disciples--helping others to embrace Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, mature in him, and then lead others to do the same--that the Kingdom grows. And when the Kingdom grows, churches do, too.In Growing True Disciples, respected author and researcher George Barna helps pastors and leaders assess how their churches are doing in fulfilling their role as disciplemak...

The diary of a man trying to live within his religious faith while dealing with the harsh realities of urban America.

To some, the New Evangelization" seems to mean warmed-over and outdated apologetics that rarely resonate with people today. But that approach fails to do justice to what evangelization is really all about. In Saint Paul and the New Evangelization, one of today's most respected Scripture scholars offers a far richer, more deeply biblical approach.Ronald D. Witherup, SS, analyzes the techniques of one of the church's best evangelists—Paul of Tarsus—to show how we can help re...

In the last decade, a giant cultural wave has swept the North American church into a brand new world—a pluralistic, complicated, high-tech/low-touch world. Faced with the challenge of engaging a jaded culture, a fresh expression of church has emerged alongside the traditional church. This short book gives an overview of the Fresh Expressions movement and its innovative approach to reaching those who would perhaps never come to our church buildings.

Bridging the Great Divide: Musings of a Post-Liberal, Post-Conservative Evangelical Catholic represents a pivotal moment in the life of the Catholic community. As the Church seeks to maintain its unique witness, nurture the faithful, and evangelize, a new generation of American Catholics has emerged. No longer the 'next generation,' these new leaders came of age after the Second Vatican Council and, like many others, no longer find compelling the battles between the liberals and conservati...

The first comprehensive resource for pastoral care in the face of disastera vital resource for clergy, seminarians, pastoral counselors and caregivers of all faith traditions.This essential resource for clergy and caregivers integrates the classic foundations of pastoral care with the unique challenges of disaster response on community, regional and national levels.Offering the latest theological perspectives and tools, along with basic theory and skills from the best disaster res...