This is the first book to take a practical and technical look at boredom in the church. If church leaders could see the rich information in expressions of boredom, they would scream for the insights. Boredom is an old problem, a form of pain, a motivation to escape. Church leaders are afraid of it and their people aren't allowed to talk about it. Many churchgoers walk away, knowing they'll be called lazy, unspiritual or divisive if they don't go along with the way things are. After all, what pastor has not enforced the ban on boredom by declaring, "God didn't call me to be an entertainer"?Bored-Again Christians isolates four characteristics of interesting environments and explains how leaders can use them to raise the quality of small or large church gatherings without resorting to entertainment. But it's not all about church services and other meetings or outings. One source of boredom is the shortage of truly relevant, faith-based outreach to the local community. Some bored-agains have good outreach ideas that need a place to germinate and blossom. Bored Again Christians shows church leaders how they can help these individuals launch an outreach that extends the congregation's ministry, even if it isn't operated or funded by a certain church.This nontraditional guide to more interesting church life lifts the ban on boredom and tells you how to look at your own particular context so you can build environments that are more interesting to more people. Stop scolding bored people. Understand the nature of boredom and interest. We all need help with staying tuned in.

Are you BORED? Not likely, given the endless opportunities today to see, share, post, watch, and like. So are you bored? No way! (Except maybe at Mass.) We want the Mass to entertain, make us laugh, give us foot tapping music and sound-bite theology, and get it done in under an hour. Yet every Sunday many of us tune out. Author Tim O’Malley, in a series of reflections on every part of the Mass, challenges us to turn the idea of boredom on its head, calling boredom—the “good” boredom that opens us to the quiet interior space where we can encounter God—a “sweet gift.” It is there that full participation in the Mass becomes possible—the potential to be transfixed by a ritual, to contemplate the readings, to savor the Eucharist. To be fruitfully “bored again.” Become a Bored Again Catholic and rediscover the power of the Mass to change your life – and the entire world. ABOUT THE AUTHOR Timothy P. O'Malley, Ph.D. is director of the Notre Dame Center for Liturgy in the McGrath Institute for Church Life. He teaches in the Department of Theology at the University of Notre Dame. He researches in the areas of liturgy, catechesis, and Christian spirituality. He is the author of Liturgy and the New Evangelization: Practicing the Art of Self-Giving Love (Liturgical Press, 2014). He and his wife Kara live in South Bend and have one son.

Explains the importance of a moral and Christian approach to life for Seventh-Day Adventists.

Millennials have disrupted almost every major industry. Whether you’re a parent trying to raise them, a pastor trying to reach them, or an employer trying to retain them, they’re disruptive. As the largest living generation, millennials are one of the most studied but misunderstood groups of our day. And the chasm between the generations is only getting wider. Speaker and founder of the Initiative Network Grant Skeldon pulls back the confusing statistics about millennials to reveal the root issue: it’s not a millennial problem, it’s a discipleship problem. Millennials are known for their struggle to hold jobs, reluctance to live on their own, and alarming migration away from the church. And now our culture is feeling the results of a mentor-less, fatherless generation. But how do you start discipling young people when you struggle to connect with them? Written by a millennial, The Passion Generation will guide you beyond the stats of what millennials are doing to the why they’re doing it and how we can all move toward healthy community. With wit, compassion, and startling insights, this book shares stories and studies drawn from Skeldon’s years of working to bridge generational gaps. In his signature conversational style, Skeldon offers researched strategies that will spark healthy connections, and practical methods that will help you disciple the millennials you love. This book is your guide to understanding the millennials in your life who are seemingly reckless but far from hopeless, for the future of the church that depends on them.

Some pastors preach boring sermons. Some church music is dull. But here’s the thing: If Jesus had been boring, the disciples wouldn’t have followed him and the Pharisees wouldn’t have killed him. So if you’re bored, don’t waste another minute. If your church service feels like a failed pep rally that never leads to the actual game, then it’s time for you to follow Jesus onto the field where the opposition is real and the stakes are extraordinary. It will get messy. It won’t always be comfortable. But you’ll make a difference. And you’ll discover that nobody’s bored out there. Nobody.

A brother and sister are bored and irritated visiting their grandfather. There's no TV, no video games or computers -- only books! Sent by their grandfather into the attic, they discover a dusty volume that is unlike all the others. When they open it, it expands into a giant map. As the map grows larger and larger, filling the attic, the children fall into adventures that take them all over the world, face to face with sharks, pirates, knights, even an abominable snowman. Suddenly their visit is anything but boring! The Bored Book uses stunning illustrations, with no text, to remind youngsters of the unique adventures to be found in books.

Life Is Never Mainly About Love and Marriage. So Learn to Live and Date for More. Many of you grew up assuming that marriage would meet all of your needs and unlock God's purposes for you. But God has far more planned for you than your future marriage. Not Yet Married is not about waiting quietly in the corner of the world for God to bring you "the one," but about inspiring you to live and date for more now. If you follow Jesus, the search for a spouse is no longer a pursuit of the perfect person, but a pursuit of more of God. He will likely write a love story for you different than the one you would write for yourself, but that's because he loves you and knows how to write a better story. This book was written to help you find real hope, happiness, and purpose in your not-yet-married life.

Life is an incredible journey with ups and downs. We soar, struggle, scale and stumble, and often stand at the edge of cliffs, afraid to step into the unknown, unsure of where we will land. But instead of running away, we are called by God to stand firm, muster up what faith we can, and take a step. Because we were made to move mountains. In this inspiring book, Kristen Welch calls you to step out in faith and climb the mountain in front of you--not because you are good enough or adequate or able, but because God makes a way where there is no way. With heartbreaking and hopeful personal stories, Scripture, and questions for contemplation, she draws you out of fear and into a holy confidence, showing you that the mountain in your path was put there on purpose, so that you could exercise--and grow--your faith.

Richard Winter's critique of our "culture of entertainment" explores the nature, causes and effects of boredom and counteracts it with practical suggestions for living with passion and wonder.