Most Christians know they should be trying to tell their friends and family about Jesus. But in a post-Christendom world, personal evangelism is viewed negatively--it's offensive, inappropriate, and insensitive. Recent studies confirm that the majority of Christians rarely evangelize, worried they might offend their family or lose their friends. In How to Talk About Jesus (Without Being That Guy), author Sam Chan equips everyday Christians who are reluctant and nervous to tell the...

Are you tired of reading another news story about Christians supposedly acting at their worst?Today there are too many examples of those claiming to follow Christ being caustic, divisive, and irrational, contributing to dismissals of the Christian faith as hypocritical, self-interested, and politically co-opted. What has happened in our society? One short outrageous video, whether it is true or not, can trigger an avalanche of comments on social media.

The world has changed. The changes around us present daunting challenges to the church, and we minister in places we have never been in before. But there are no one-size-fits-all solutions because every church needs to attend to its specific situation and calling. We need to listen for not only what to do but also what not to do. In a world screaming in a thousand directions for our focus, it's essential for us to become attentive to God, our congregation, and our communit...

Research shows that over time, most churches plateau and then eventually decline. Typically, they start strong and experience periods of growth, then stagnate and lose members. Since 1991, the North American population has increased by 15 percent while the number of "unchurched" people has increased by 92 percent. Large church houses that were filled in the 1950s and `60s now hold a fraction of their capacity.To counter this trend, authors Ed Stetzer and Mike Dodson surveyed 300 ch...

Outreach Magazine Resource of the YearMany bemoan the decline of the church. We hear a steady stream of reports about how droves of people, especially younger generations, are abandoning Christianity. But new research shows that unchurched Americans are surprisingly more receptive and open to the Christian faith than is commonly assumed.Researcher and practitioner Rick Richardson unveils the findings of the Billy Graham Center Inst...

The global mental health crisis is growing faster than our existing mental health care system can address. To meet the scope of human need, we need new models of care. The good news is that there is an institution uniquely positioned with the resources and the heart to help: the church.Psychologists James Sells and Amy Trout and journalist Heather Sells know firsthand the urgency of the situation—but they have also witnessed creative partnerships between churches a...

Create Your Own Rhythm for Meaningful Time with GodDo you long for a deeper connection with God but find yourself overwhelmed by the demands of a busy life? In the chaos and noise of everyday life, finding time to truly connect with God can feel impossible.But what if you could cultivate true intimacy with God right in the middle of your ordinary, everyday moments?With God Everyday offers a customizable framework for a daily spiritual pract...

Across North America, many pastors are excited to see churches growing as they achieve their mission to connect the message of the gospel with the community at large. Still others are equally frustrated, following the exact same model for outreach but with lesser results. Indeed, just because a "missional breakthrough" occurs in one place doesn’t mean it will happen the same way elsewhere.One size does not fit all, but there are cultural codes that must be broken for all churches t...

How are we doing? The church, that is. And how are we doing it? Congregations have long measured success by "bodies, budget, and buildings"--a certain record of attendance, the offering plate, and square footage. But the scorecard can't stop there. When it does, the deeper emphasis on accountability, discipleship, and spiritual maturity is lost. Ignoring those details, we see fewer lives transformed, Christian influence wane, and churches thin out--a situation that is all too familiar acro...

Planting a church is one of the most exciting adventures you’ll ever embark on. It’s also one of the hardest. It requires initiative, leadership, strategy, systems, and a lot of prayer. In this second edition of Planting Missional Churches, not only will you find a completely redesigned book with new content in every single chapter, but you will also find several new chapters on topics such as church multiplication, residencies, multi-ethnic ministry, multisite, denominations and ...

Rural churches are standing at a crossroads. Long seen as stable anchors of their communities, they now face accelerating cultural change, declining influence, and a rapidly emerging post-Christian worldview—even in places once thought immune to such shifts. Retooling the Rural Church for the Twenty-First Century confronts this reality head-on. Rather than lamenting what has been lost, Glenn Daman and Jeff Clark issue a hopeful and urgent call for renewal. Grounded in theology and...

"...his practical approach neither demonizes nor deifies technology, and is buttressed by robust yet accessible theological explorations of existential questions about what it means to be human. This will provide tech-curious Christians plenty of food for thought." – Publishers Weekly Review, June 2025Thinking Theologically About Artificial IntelligenceAI Goes to Church unpacks one of the most significant technological advancements...