2012 Christianity Today Book Award winner 2011 Leadership Journal Top Book of the Year Copastors Kent Carlson and Mike Lueken tell the story of how God took their thriving, consumer-oriented church and transformed it into a modest congregation of unformed believers committed to the growth of the spirit--even when it meant a decline in numbers. As Kent and Mike found out, a decade of major change is not easy on a church. Oak Hills Church, from the pastoral staff to the congregation, had to confront addiction to personal ambition, resist consumerism and reorient their lives around the teachings of Jesus. Their renewed focus on spiritual formation over numerical growth triggered major changes in the content of their sermons, the tenor of their worship services, and the reason for their outreach. They lost members. But the health and spiritual depth of their church today is a testimony of God's transforming work and enduring faithfulness to the people he loves. Honest and humble, this is Kent and Mike's story of a church they love, written to inspire and challenge other churches to let God rewrite their stories as well. Read it for the church you love.

Bestselling, Easy-to-Use Spiritual Gifts Resource for Group Use This trusted spiritual gifts resources has been helping individuals and congregations learn about their unique giftings for generations. Your Spiritual Gifts Can Help Your Church Grow is the quintessential group resource. Comprehensive and easy to understand, this guide includes the questionnaire and will help you and your group identify the gifts God has given you. More than that, you will discover how each gift works so that you and your group or congregation can use your unique gifts to help your church and community flourish.

Do you walk along the safe and shallow shoreline? Or do you want to be in the deep waters where Jesus calls you? Reading this book and following the Spirit's direction, launch out into the deep and let down your net for a breaking catch Jesus calls, equips, and empowers you to be His daily disciple in ways greater than you can imagine

What is Hip Hop? Hip hop speaks in a voice that is sometimes gruff, sometimes enraged, sometimes despairing, sometimes hopeful. Hip hop is the voice of forgotten streets laying claim to the high life of rims and timbs and threads and bling. Hip hop speaks in the muddled language of would-be prophets--mocking the architects of the status quo and stumbling in the dark toward a blurred vision of a world made right. What is hip hop? It's a cultural movement with a traceable theological center. Daniel White Hodge follows the tracks of hip-hop theology and offers a path from its center to the cross, where Jesus speaks truth.

2011 Outreach Magazine Book Award winner The world is becoming increasingly diverse. More and more of our neighbors are from a variety of cultures, ethnicities and cultural backgrounds. But most churches are still culturally homogenous and do not represent every tribe and tongue. What can we do to minister more effectively to our multicultural society? David Anderson and Margarita Cabellon bring together an experienced team of practitioners to share best practices for multicultural ministry. First they lay out the biblical rationale for multicultural community as God's vision for his people. Then key leaders share personal journeys and practical ideas for multicultural leadership development, worship, children's ministry, outreach and much more. Drawing on the pioneering expertise of Bridgeway Community Church and BridgeLeader Network, the contributors present a holistic and multifaceted portrait of what a dynamic, grace-filled and diverse ministry can look like. Our tribalized world is crying out for healing. Discover how you can minister to others as agents of God's reconciliation and hope.

This is an accessible resource for students and practitioners to become aware of the significance of self-knowledge for the provision of sensitive spiritual and pastoral care. The greatest asset which people in pastoral care offer to in a caring relationship is themselves or to be more precise the aspects of self which they have reflected upon. Offering oneself to other people in order to provide companionship along the road of life, especially when the particular stage on the journey is one of anticipated or actual loss, is an act which is both challenging and yet potentially life enhancing for a carer. The purpose of this book is to offer an aid to those who seek to understand themselves better with a view to enhancing the quality of spiritual and pastoral care they offer. Here the reference point for reflexivity is the caring relationship but as we are fundamentally the same beings in personal and professional relationships then perhaps readers may also find stimulus to reflect on what they bring to a variety of relationships including that with the Sacred and, indeed, themselves.

To be a Christian involves becoming more like Jesus and this involves at least three things: Developing the type of relationship with God that Jesus had. Having our lives transformed by the Holy Spirit into lives of purity and holiness. Ministering to people with the same love and power in which Jesus ministered. In this book, John Coles, Director of New Wine, pays particular attention to the third point (which is often neglected) and gives practical guidelines to all those who desire to minister healing to others. Firmly grounded in biblical principles it helps readers to know where to begin and offers valuable advice and wisdom, gained over many years of ministry experience, as they seek to develop a healing ministry.

Is your small group boring? (It's okay to be honest.) Do you sometimes have to force yourself to attend the meetings (even the meetings you lead )? Do you wonder if small groups are doing anything for your spiritual growth? Kim Engelmann, a pastor and small group leader, describes how she felt about one small group she attended: "It is Thursday evening--small group night. I . . . hesitate before getting out of the car. Do I really want to do this? I am not the sort of person that likes weeknight meetings. I am tired from a long day's work, but I push my car door open and crunch on up the gravel driveway. . . I convince myself that this is for my own good. I tell myself that I ought to be grateful that I live in a free country where small groups that talk about Jesus and the Bible are allowed. But I am not grateful--not one little bit." As a result Kim asked herself a hard question about groups: Is it small groups that are the problem or the way we do small groups? In this book she shares her answers, offering a new format for groups that gives authentic spiritual community a chance. She challenges the compartmentalization of Bible study, prayer and even fun (only laugh during icebreaker time ), and offers creative, practical suggestions that can serve to integrate these aspects into an experiential framework. Whether you are a pastor, a group leader or a member, if you find yourself dragging when it's time for small group, then this is the book for you.

The blessing of this book, "Man Up No Excuses - Do the Work " is how it provides a means to empower and equip young boys into the responsibility of young manhood. Uniquely written by a father, mentor, football coach and a police officer, one who has labored over 20 years shaping and molding young men's lives, making this book an extraordinary practical guide for self development. - Rev. Dr. Lloyd T. McGriff "Man Up No Excuses - Do the Work " can truly be a guiding light for all adults who really want to help young men develop positive action plans for the serious journey of life. Demitri asks the right questions and gives the right answers on survival in an unjust world and does so from the perspectives of a concerned father. "Man Up No Excuses - Do the Work " challenges the young reader to understand the impact and consequences of what he says and does in life. This book is a "must read" for everyone - Cubie A. Bragg, Ph.D., LICW, LPC Demitri C. Kornegay is a lieutenant with the Montgomery County Police Department in Montgomery County, Maryland. This is the third book for the 25 year veteran who graduated from the University of Richmond in 1979. He has tutored at the Richmond Penitentiary and for the Washington Urban League's "Operation Rescue" programs. An ordained Baptist Deacon, he developed and has run, "Men Under Construction" since 1992. As a high school football coach since 2000, he helped guide Maryland's 2005 AAA varsity champions to their first ever undefeated season. His motto is - "No Excuses - Do the Work "