An inspirational parable of spiritual self-discovery to help fully integrate your personal Christian faith with your professional life Peter Christiansen is a man on a mission to become the top home builder among the elite of Dallas, but his early success has stalled. After failing to land yet another large prospect, Peter makes an impulsive decision that leaves him stranded and seriously injured. A Good Samaritan couple, Jim and Mary, rescue Peter and provide aid to help his body and hissoul heal. Through discussions with Jim and Mary about God and his grace, Peter revisits past events in his life where he thought God had all but abandoned him. These conversations show Peter more than he ever thought possible about God’s love, His mercy, and a path toward understanding how faith and his professional world are surprisingly compatible. This provocative parable strikes at the dichotomy of the pursuit of business success and living a purpose-driven life. If you are a Christian wrestling with the seemingly incompatible nature of faith and success in business, The Reluctant Disciple will open up the possibility to see your business endeavors as a gift from God to be used for your good and His glory.

Ryan Kates is a paranormal expert, TV host, and skeptic. He hosts News4th, a nationally popular cable show focused on UFOs, ghosts, and everything that goes bump in the night. Ryan is used to dealing with the weird and unexplainable, but when bizarre paranormal phenomena rock the planet he finds himself questioning his long-held views. As these phenomena escalate, mass hysteria and political tensions begin to mount on a global scale. The world begins to spin out of control, and a former flame reenters Ryan’s life, bringing her family along for the ride. The pawns are moved into place, and Ryan must confront the ultimate evil on the world stage, culminating in a supernatural encounter far beyond his wildest dreams. The Reluctant Disciple establishes a credible connection between End Times biblical prophecy and our society’s fascination with the paranormal, taking readers on a thrill ride they won’t soon forget.

Historians of modern Chinese literature have generally used the year 1907 to mark the inception of Western-style drama in China. For in that year, a small group of Chinese students in Japan, inspired by the Japanese experiments with Western drama, decided to follow suit and form the Spring Willow Society, an amateurish dramatic club for experimental purposes. Their first play, staged in Tokyo in February of the same year, is an adaptation from Dumas' La dame aux camelias. The play had an all-male cast and used a strange mixture of old and new techniques. But to the Chinese audience brought up in the native operatic tradition, what must have seemed strange would not have been so much the mixture of technique old and new as the complete unfamiliarity of the plot and the method of its presentation: for neither the story nor the acting was anything akin to what they used to think, of as drama.

David Servant has been ministering to Christian leaders in conferences around the world for over three decades. From his experience of speaking to tens of thousands of pastors in over forty countries, he has complied biblical teaching in this book that addresses the most important issues that Christian leaders are facing today. Servant covers topics such as church growth, spiritual warfare, divorce and remarriage, biblical interpretation, house churches, women in ministry, church government, spiritual gifts, evangelism and many more. He often questions the prevailing opinion, always considering what Scripture says. His conclusions may sometimes surprise you. Servant's foundational condition is that every Christian leader should be making disciples who obey all of Christ's commandments. Translated into many languages, The Disciple-Making Minister is helping Christian leader around the world be more effective in fulfilling the Great Commission.

How can we transmit a living, personal Catholic faith to future generations? By coming to know Jesus Christ, and following him as his disciples. These are times of immense challenge and immense opportunity for the Catholic Church. Consider these statistics for the United States. Only 30 percent of Americans who were raised Catholic are still practicing. Fully 10 percent of all adults in America are ex-Catholics. The number of marriages celebrated in the Church decreased dramatically, by nearly 60 percent, between 1972 and 2010. Only 60 percent of Catholics believe in a personal God. If the Church is to reverse these trends, the evangelizers must first be evangelized-in other words, Catholics-in-the-pew must make a conscious choice to know and follow Jesus before they can draw others to him. This work of discipleship lies at the heart of Forming Intentional Disciples, a book designed to help Church leaders, parish staff and all Catholics transform parish life from within. Drawing upon her fifteen years of experience with the Catherine of Siena Institute, Sherry Weddell leads readers through steps that will help Catholics enter more deeply into a relationship with God and the river of apostolic creativity, charisms, and vocation that flow from that relationship for the sake of the Church and the world. Learn about the five thresholds of postmodern conversion, how to open a conversation about faith and belief, how to ask thought-provoking questions and establish an atmosphere of trust, when to tell the Great Story of Jesus, how to help someone respond to God's call to intentional discipleship, and much more. And be prepared for conversion because when life at the parish level changes, the life of the whole Church will change.

Moses pioneered a Spirit-led leadership paradigm that Christian leaders do well to emulate today Moses didn't want to be a leader. He had been raised as a prince of Egypt, but now at 80, he was content to be a simple shepherd, watching sheep on the slopes of Sinai. Then, God spoke from the burning bush and Moses' world changed. How do you lead a multitude of people through impossible situations, badgered by a storm of criticism from within the camp, and threatened by deadly peril from without? Moses the reluctant leader has much to teach both disciples and leaders today. This Bible study leads you through Moses' life covering several chapters in each lesson so you can see the big picture. It slows down, however, to examine key passages in Exodus and Numbers that give insight into God's instruction to Moses. One lesson surveys the tabernacle, the priesthood, and the sacrifices that God revealed through Moses. This book explores Moses' life in 9 lessons with discussion questions, and can be used for personal enrichment, by small groups and classes, and by teachers and preachers for sermon preparation.

Disciples need to study Daniel afresh. The Book of Daniel is both familiar and mysterious. You find the stories of the Hebrew children in the fiery furnace, Daniel in the Lions' Den, and the Handwriting on the Wall. But the book also contains visions of beasts and horns and kings that predict the future from Daniel's time all the way to the Second Coming of Christ. Daniel is foundational to the New Testament for three reasons: 1.The "Son of Man" that Jesus takes as his own title, is drawn directly from Daniel 7:13-14. As you understand Daniel's prophecy, you begin to comprehend Jesus' origins, authority, self-understanding, and mission. 2.Kingdom of God. The coming of the all-encompassing Kingdom of God has strong roots in Daniel's visions. This Kingdom is at the very core of Jesus' teaching. 3.Daniel's eschatology, his visions of the End Time, are echoed in the predictions of Jesus himself, of Paul the Apostle, and in the Book of Revelation. We'll look at the Book of Daniel in the light of New Testament revelation. However, the author says, "I don't have Daniel's visions of the Last Days all figured out, and I am leery of those who seem to be able to fit everything together perfectly." Daniel is like a jigsaw puzzle with some pieces missing. Though the main outlines are clear, some details can't be discerned at present. The task of this book is to help you understand what Daniel does teach, pros and cons of various interpretations of the key prophecies, to let you know where the author comes out and why, and to give you some sense of a level of certainty. This book is intended for study as well as instruction, presented in nine lessons. Each chapter concludes with a summary of lessons for disciples to ponder. Helpful thought and discussion questions make it useful for personal enrichment and by small groups and classes. Extensive research contained in the footnotes makes it a goldmine for teachers and a boon to preachers involved in sermon preparation.

In the aftermath of the waves of discipleship programs that have swept over the church in the last 30 years, clergy, and laypersons alike are more confused than ever about what it means to be a disciple of Jesus Christ. What should a disciple of Jesus look and act like today? What is the relationship between discipleship and salvation, between discipleship and sanctification, between discipleship and ministry? How were disciples of Jesus different from other disciples in the ancient world? How did the early church carry out Jesus' agenda in "making disciples of all the nations"? In Following the Master, Michael J. Wilkins addresses these and many other questions that perplex the church today- not by offering another discipleship program or manual but by presenting a comprehensive biblical theology of discipleship. Following the Master compares other forms of master-disciple relationships in existence in the ancient Judaism and Greco-Roman world, traces Jesus' steps as he called and developed disciples, and Mediterranean world as it followed Jesus' command to make disciples. Following the Master lays the groundwork necessary for developing biblical discipleship ministries in the church, on the mission field, and in parachurch ministries. It is essential reading for all pastors, students, and Christian workers.

The bestselling author of The Know-It-All takes on history's most influential book.

Five hundred years after Martin Luther and his Ninety-Five Theses ushered in the Reformation, bestselling author and controversial bishop and teacher John Shelby Spong delivers twelve forward-thinking theses to spark a new reformation to reinvigorate Christianity and ensure its future. At the beginning of the sixteenth century, Christianity was in crisis—a state of conflict that gave birth to the Reformation in 1517. Enduring for more than 200 years, Luther’s movement was then followed by a "revolutionary time of human knowledge." Yet these advances in our thinking had little impact on Christians’ adherence to doctrine—which has led the faith to a critical point once again. Bible scholar and Episcopal bishop John Shelby Spong contends that there is mounting pressure among Christians for a radically new kind of Christianity—a faith deeply connected to the human experience instead of outdated dogma. To keep Christianity vital, he urges modern Christians to update their faith in light of these advances in our knowledge, and to challenge the rigid and problematic Church teachings that emerged with the Reformation. There is a disconnect, he argues, between the language of traditional worship and the language of the twenty-first century. Bridging this divide requires us to rethink and reformulate our basic understanding of God. With its revolutionary resistance to the authority of the Church in the sixteenth century, Spong sees in Luther’s movement a model for today’s discontented Christians. In fact, the questions they raise resonate with those contemplated by our ancestors. Does the idea of God still have meaning? Can we still follow historic creeds with integrity? Are not such claims as an infallible Pope or an inerrant Bible ridiculous in today’s world? In Unbelievable, Spong outlines twelve "theses" to help today’s believers more deeply contemplate and reshape their faith. As an educator, clergyman, and writer who has devoted his life to his faith, Spong has enlightened Christians and challenged them to explore their beliefs in new and meaningful ways. In this, his final book, he continues that rigorous tradition, once again offering a revisionist approach that strengthens Christianity and secures its relevance for generations to come.