• A fresh approach to church life and ecclesial health • Addresses the concerns of leadership in challenging times • Includes questions for reflection and study by individuals and groups Patience may be the least understood and least practiced of the Christian virtues—and yet patience may be the most important virtue to today’s church, the virtue that can underpin our most faithful longing. Building on a theological, biblical, and historical foundation, the author lays out a case for patience as a distinctly Christian practice. Patience subverts the cycle of crisis and fear that shapes so much of our culture. Patience understands that urgency and haste are hallmarks of the secular world, not the church. Patience and attending to the Other, whether divine or human, is a modern day cornerstone of justice, holding us together in a timeless bond. The author, a scholar and minister, has long wrestled with the notion that the church has to get out there and sell itself. In this book, he offers patience as an alternative way to address current issues and church growth.

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.

The third edition of the New Bible Dictionary will increase the reader's knowledge and understanding of God's Word as no other single book can do. This up-to-date edition is filled with the latest developments in biblical studies, ancient Near Eastern studies, and archaeological finds.

We are an impatient people who want everything done in a hurry. But God refuses to be rushed. In the words of author James W. Moore: We love instant results. We want everything done in a hurry these days. We don’t want to wait for anything. We are so different from the earlier generations who ordered things from the Sears catalog and waited with great anticipation for weeks or even months for the items to arrive. We want to pay a little down now (even if we can’t really afford it) and get it today. We are impatient people looking for immediate action and instant gratification, so much so that God’s patient ways sometimes confuse, perplex, and bother us. We are impatient, but God is deliberate, steady, and long-suffering. We look for the speedy way, the shortcut, the instant answer, the immediate solution. But God takes the long way ’round. God refuses to be rushed. The way to become a spiritually mature Christian is to spend so much time with Christ that we begin to think and act like him, to spend so much time with him that we take on what the apostle Paul called “the mind of Christ.” It just takes time and effort and commitment. There are no easy, instant solutions. What we need to remember is that the things that matter most take time, effort, commitment, discipline, lots of practice, lots of hard work . . . and lots of patience. Working chapter titles include, “Lord, Give Me Patience, and Give it to Me Right Now”; “Lord, Give Me Perseverance”; “ Lord, Give Me Faith”; “Lord, Give Me Forgiveness”; “Lord, Give Me Love”; “Lord, Give Me Childlikeness”; “Lord, Give Me Life”; “Lord, Give Me Grace”; and others. This book includes twelve chapters and a discussion guide.

How and why did the early church grow in the first four hundred years despite disincentives, harassment, and occasional persecution? In this unique historical study, veteran scholar Alan Kreider delivers the fruit of a lifetime of study as he tells the amazing story of the spread of Christianity in the Roman Empire. Challenging traditional understandings, Kreider contends the church grew because the virtue of patience was of central importance in the life and witness of the early Christians. They wrote about patience, not evangelism, and reflected on prayer, catechesis, and worship, yet the church grew--not by specific strategies but by patient ferment.

Profound reflections on the cross that help you to meditate on and marvel at the sacrificial love of Jesus. This book can be used as a devotional, especially during Lent and Easter. These profound reflections on the cross from David Mathis, author of The Christmas We Didn’t Expect, will help you to meditate on and marvel at Jesus’ life, sacrificial death, and spectacular resurrection-enabling you to treasure anew who Jesus is and what he has done. Many of us are so familiar with the Easter story that it becomes easy to miss subtle details and difficult to really enjoy its meaning. This book will help you to pause and marvel at Jesus, whose now-glorified wounds are a sign of his unfailing love and the decisive victory that he has won: “He was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.” (Isaiah 53:5) This book can be used as a devotional. The chapters on Holy Week make it especially helpful during the Lent season and at Easter.

From the author of the acclaimed Simply Christian and Surprised by Hope comes a book that addresses the question that has plagued humans for centuries—what is our purpose? As Christians, what are we to do with that ambiguous time between baptism and the funeral? It's easy to become preoccupied with who gets into heaven; the real challenge is how we are going to live in the here and now. Wright dispels the common misconception that Christian living is nothing more than a checklist of dos and don'ts. Nor is it a prescription to "follow your heart" wherever it may lead. Instead, After You Believe reveals the Bible's call for a revolution—a transformation of character that takes us beyond our earthly pursuit of money, sex, and power into a virtuous state of living that allows us to reflect God and live more worshipful, fulfilling lives. We are all spiritual seekers, intuitively knowing there is more to life than we suspect. This is a book for anyone who is hoping there is something more while we're here on Earth. There is. We are being called to join the revolution, and Wright insightfully encourages readers to find new purpose and clarity by taking us on an eye-opening journey through key biblical passages that promise to radically alter the work of the church and the direction of our lives.

Lasting happiness through patience & humility. Learn how to develop these virtues without which heroism, self-denial, and martyrdom are worthless. Learn why Jesus said that to save your life, you must lose it, and see how happiness can be found in self-surrender.

Hear the voices of women of colour on the most important subject in any age-the word of God. Hear the voices of women of colour on the most important subject in any age-the word of God. This inspiring collection of devotions is by a diverse group of women of colour-African-American, Hispanic, Caribbean, and Asian women. Contributors include Kristie Anyabwile, Jackie Hill-Perry, Trillia Newbell, Elicia Horton, Christina Edmondson, Blair Linne, Bev Chao Berrus and more. It is a faithful exposition of Psalm 119 and incorporates each contributor’s cultural expression both within the teaching and as they bring the word of God to bear on their lives. You will be thrilled and encouraged by hearing God speak through his word as it is expounded by these faithful women teachers, and you will long for more.