Today pastors and church leaders have an unparalleled opportunity to shape a biblical vision for Kingdom giving. Based on the foundational premise that stewardship is the management of time, talents, and treasure, authors Stan Toler and Elmer Towns set forth a vision for pastors and church leaders to shape the thinking in the pews. Developing a Giving Church provides guidance for shaping a giving environment, suggestions for developing committed steward leaders, and counsel on biblical strategies. This vital stewardship resource merges insightful principles with proven methods for creating a climate for giving through stewardship education.

As a human, you have the absolute right to your beliefs. No one has the moral authority to impose their views on you by force or by the threat of eternal torture in hell.

God made you free.

Your beliefs influence your attitude, which affects your behavior. And your attitude and behavior determine whether you find meaning and joy in life.

This is Jesus Christ respects your mastery over your own mind. Instead of telling you what to believe, this interactive book simply provides information about Jesus Christ so that you can make an informed decision. You decide what to believe. You write down your own thoughts and independently grow to appreciate yourself.

As we mature, we increasingly value having a life of meaning. We want our existence to mean something. We want to have joy, especially when our lives are full of suffering, evil, pain, fear, and unfairness.

Among all the things Jesus taught, none is more tangibly valuable than the secret to having a life of meaning. If you follow it, you are guaranteed a joyful and meaningful life regardless of how awful life treats you. All you must do is to:

• Love God
• Love your neighbor
• Love yourself
• Keep God's commandments

This book, now in its second edition, brings together the best available understandings of human development from a multidisciplinary perspective. Uniquely inclusive of the moral and faith dimensions of context and life-cycle development, Human Development and Faith examines the interplay of mind, body, family, community, and soul at every stage of development. It addresses two central questions: What are the "good-enough" conditions of parenting, family, and community in each phase of life, from birth to death, that support growth and development? What gives life adequate meaning as development proceeds? If human development describes the normative and hoped-for passages of life, then faith provides the necessary component of meaning. Throughout the various perspectives offered in this volume is the premise that faith is that quality of living that makes it possible to fully live. The Journal of Pastoral Theology called the first edition of Human Development and Faith "an excellent text for pastoral theology courses, because it fulfills its ambitious goal of bringing a holistic faith perspective to the usual topics of development." This second edition includes a new chapter on infancy, updates reflecting our growing awareness of cultural diversity, and a new preface.

Boundaries with Kids will help parents: Recognize the boundary issues underlying child behavior problems Set boundaries and establish consequences with kids Get out of the nagging trap Stop controlling their kids---and instead help their children develop self-control Apply the ten laws of boundaries to parenting Take six practical steps for implementing boundaries with their kids Want to Paint a Happy Future for Your Children? Start Drawing the Line Today. One of the most loving things parents can do for their children is set firm boundaries with them. Boundaries with Kids will help the parents in your group raise their kids to take responsibility for their own actions, attitudes, and emotions. In eight sessions, Drs. Henry Cloud and John Townsend offer tools and insights for bringing order to problematic circumstances and cultivating healthier parent-child relationships in the home. This leader s guide gives you the clear, step-by-step instructions you need to maximize interaction, support, and insights within your group. Most of the preparation has been done for you---just follow the easy-to-use lesson plan, complete with helpful tips. Because this book includes the full text of the participant s guide, it s the only guidebook you need to track page-for-page with your group. Boundaries with Kids sessions: 1. Building Character in Kids 2. Kids Need Parents with Boundaries 3. The Law of Sowing and Reaping and the Law of Responsibility 4. The Laws of Power and Respect 5. The Laws of Motivation and Evaluation 6. The Laws of Proactivity and Envy 7. The Laws of Activity and Exposure 8. Six Steps to Implementing Boundaries with Your Kids"

Like no other religious thinker, Thomas Berry has been a prophetic voice regarding Earth's destruction and the urgent need for human response from the Christian community. This book collects Berry's signature views on the interrelatedness of both Earth's future and the Christian future. He ponders why Christians have been late in coming to the issue of the environment. He reflects insightfully on how the environment must be seen as a religious issue, not simply a scientific or economic problem.

In powerful and poetic language Berry presents a compelling vision of the sacredness of the universe and the interrelatedness of the Earth community. Drawing on Thomas Aquinas and Teilhard de Chardin he brings the Christian tradition into a cosmology of care for the whole of creation.

Von Allmen's essay on the central sacrament of the Christian faith examining from within the Reformed Tradition the truths enshrined in the Lord's Supper, seeing the act as not only a "sign", "symbol" or "memorial", but as the real presence of Christ. Von Allmen's essay on the central sacrament of the Christian faith examining from within the Reformed Tradition the truths enshrined in the Lord's Supper, seeing the act as not only a 'sign', 'symbol' or 'memorial', but as the real presence of Christ.