This book analyzes the function and structure of a system that exerts real power in an area of existence vital to human service, happiness, and productivity: sexuality as it is understood by the celibate/sexual teaching and practice of the Catholic Church.

The healthy Christian life is one of continuing spiritual, emotional, and relational growth. But so many of us feel stuck or stagnated at one stage of the journey. It's not always clear to us where or why we are stuck, making it difficult to take the next step on our journey of the soul. That's where Bill and Kristi Gaultiere come in. After decades in private practice as counselors and therapists, they have developed a unique model for growing in grace. In Journey of the Soul, they draw on more than 70,000 hours of providing therapy and spiritual direction to show you how to identify your current stage of faith and the next steps to take based on your unique needs and struggles. With Scripture, self-assessments, and soul care practices to support your progress along the way, this insightful and inspiring book will be a treasured companion on your journey no matter where you are or how long you've been following Jesus.

An easy-to-learn, easy-to-use tool for in-depth Bible study Beloved and acclaimed for more than five generations, the Thompson (R) Chain-Reference (R) Bible is unparalleled in its ability to enrich personal devotions, topical study, and sermon preparation. This unique reference Bible enables you to search the breadth of Scripture's teachings on thousands of topics and allows you to follow those topics throughout the entire Bible. With over 100,000 references, covering over 8,000 topics, the chain-reference system is an ideal tool for comprehensive topical study. The Thompson Chain-Reference Bible also offers a library of additional study resources that allows readers to interpret the Bible using related scripture passages rather than consulting a commentary. The KJV Thompson Chain-Reference Bible is printed in the KJV Comfort Print (R) typeface for easy reading. Expertly designed specifically to be used for the King James Version (KJV) text, Comfort Print offers an easier reading experience that complements the translation. This Bible also features a fresh, two-color design that preserves the original look of the chain-reference system, while making each page cleaner and easier to read. Features: Complete text of the King James Version (KJV) Easy-to-understand chain-reference system with over 100,000 references Alphabetical and numerical indexes highlight study materials for over 8,000 topics, each with its own topic number, for exhaustive topical study An extensive study resource section includes biographical sketches, illustrated studies of the Bible, a concordance, Bible harmonies, and many other helpful study tools Fresh, two-color page design 66 book introductions 16-page full-color map section with map index Line-matched text for enhanced readability Words of Jesus in red Presentation page for gift-giving Gilded page edges Two double-sided satin ribbon markers, each 3/8-inch wide Leathersoft (TM) cover lies flat when open Exclusive KJV Comfort Print typeface Print size: 9.5

This set includes a copy of Gentle and Lowly and a companion study guide. Ideal for small groups and individuals, the guide has 10 lessons, each covering 2-3 book chapters. This set can be used with the Gentle and Lowly Video Study, sold separately.

The risen Jesus meets us in our mess Jesus shows up where we least expect him--to Mary Magdalene in the garden, to the disciples on the road to Emmaus, to Thomas when he is full of insecurity. Just as the resurrected Jesus surprised his disciples, he also surprises us today, showing up in the midst of our sorrows, uncertainties, and joys. In Unexpected Jesus, pastor Eric Rivera examines Jesus's appearances after his resurrection to show us how Jesus meets us today. Eric shares his own stories of God showing up amid financial uncertainty, pregnancy loss, a grim medical diagnosis within his family, and the unrest and uncertainty of 2020. Eric's insights will encourage readers as they look to meet God in their own times of uncertainty. The same Jesus who was present with his followers meets us in our mess today. When we feel confused or abandoned, Jesus finds us. When he arrives, the master teacher meets us with questions and guides us into a revelation of who he is. And as we walk with him, he heals us and is faithful in his promise to be with us always.

God, the Great Storyteller, chose to communicate with us through story - in fact a great library of stories, filled with heroes, villains, sex, violence, intrigue, sacrifice and redemption. The Think Tank gives young people an opportunity to explore their world through stories, and to relate it to the incredible story of the Bible - perhaps for the first time. Here are 100 stories designed to provoke discussion, followed by penetrating questions which relate the stories to biblical bedrock. The stories are in four parts: WOULD YOU BELIEVE IT? - Unbelievable stories, all absolutely true! INSPIRING INDIVIDUALS - Stories of celebrities, public figures and other people of note making a positive difference. WHAT WOULD YOU DO? - Ethics explored through stories, many based on real events. TALKING MOVIES - A major bonus: 25 movie clips that pack a punch with young people, and all the background and questions you'll need to facilitate discussion around them. This updated edition brings refreshed material that will speak to today's young people.

The NASB Preacher's Bible is the ideal combination of readability and elegance. The easy-to-read print, thick, opaque paper, and double-column layout bring the words into clear focus. The elegant cover and three satin ribbon markers complete the package making it a top choice for any preacher. Pairing the NASB Preacher's Bible with the NASB Pew and Worship Bible unlocks its true design ingenuity. While each Bible retains its distinct font and page layout, they were skillfully crafted so that the pages of these two different Bibles begin and end with the same word. That means you no longer have to preach from a pew Bible to be on the same page as your congregation. Universally recognized as the gold standard among word-for-word translations, the beloved New American Standard Bible, 1995 Edition, is now easier to read with Zondervan's exclusive NASB Comfort Print (R) typeface. Features: The full text of the New American Standard Bible, 1995 Edition Matches page-for-page with the NASB Pew and Worship Bible Soft, durable lay-flat covers Thick, opaque 36 gsm paper Double-column, verse-by-verse format Three satin ribbon markers Exclusive Zondervan NASB Comfort Print typeface 10-point print size

Use the Topical Memory System Kit (TMS), developed by The Navigators. to improve your knowledge of the Bible, deepen your walk with God, and memorize verses that will carry you through the hard times of life.Includes: - 60 verse cards in the NIV, NASB, MSG, ESV, NRSV, NLT, NKJV, and KJV- course workbook- verse card holderLearn more about God and His character as you memorize His Word.

As many as one in four girls and one in six boys experience sexual abuse during childhood, and it's estimated that half of the incidents are never reported. This means that countless millions in our societies, both children and adults, carry this complex and often hidden pain. What does the path to healing look like for survivors? And how can ministry leaders, pastors, and counsellors best help them as they walk this difficult road? Drawing on both his own and his wife's experience as survivors of childhood sexual abuse, minister and lecturer Tim Hein offers his expertise, practical guidance, and empathy-both for ministry leaders and for survivors themselves. How can we best respond when a survivor shares their secret with us? Where can survivors turn for encouragement when the road to recovery seems so long and lonely? Hein presents clinical data and resources alongside pastoral wisdom and care, addressing both psychological and spiritual aspects of sexual abuse. Both for those who have suffered sexual abuse and those in a position to help them, this book is a rich resource. Filled with sober truths and the hope of Christ, it calls survivors to take courage and walk unafraid down the road of healing.

Many programs for outreach, discipleship, and spiritual disciplines are available at any bookstore and on countless websites. We assume that we already know the nature of the Great Commission and the appropriate methods of carrying it out. But Michael Horton contends that it too often becomes our mission instead of God's. At a time when churches are zealously engaged in writing up mission statements and strategic plans, he argues that we must ask ourselves anew whether we are ambassadors, following the script we've been given, or building our own kingdoms with our own blueprint. Pastors, church leaders, and readers of Horton's "Christless Christianity" and "The Gospel-Driven Life "will value this frank and hopeful exploration of the Great Commission as a call to understanding and good practice. Now available in trade paper.

Preaching 2022 Book of the Year Haddon Robinson's widely used and influential text, Biblical Preaching, has influenced generations of students and preachers. In The Big Idea Companion for Preaching and Teaching, trusted leading evangelical homileticians, teachers of preaching, and experienced pastors demonstrate that Robinson's "big idea" approach to expository preaching still works in today's diverse cultures and fast-paced world. This accessible resource offers an insider's view on figuring out the big idea of each book of the Bible, helping preachers and teachers check their interpretation of particular biblical books and passages. The contributors offer tips on how to divide each book of the Bible into preaching and teaching passages, guidance on difficult passages and verses, cultural perspectives for faithful application, and suggested resources for interpreting, preaching, and teaching. Pastors, teachers, Bible study leaders, small groups, and college and seminary students and professors will find a wealth of valuable information in this resource.

This volume contributes to an emerging field that could be referred to as "plural spiritual care and chaplaincy". It's innovative approach brings together contributions from a broad range of contexts and religious traditions and includes empirical work and conceptual explorations. It helps to fill the gap between practices and developments related to plural spiritual care and chaplaincy in the scholarly discourse.

"A great deal of confusion exists today as to what pastors are to be," Lawrence writes. "Are they chaplains, CEO's, preachers, managers, or counselors? Paul gave us the answer long ago: They are to be equippers, disciple-makers." Just as the great artist Michelangelo took a chipped and flawed piece of marble and transformed it into a masterful sculpture of David, so does a pastor with his flock. "This is pastoring," writes Lawrence, "serving as sculptors of souls."

In spite of their physical invisibility, emotional wounds are a very damaging form of abuse. Whether caused by words, actions, or even indifference, emotional abuse is common--yet often overlooked.
In this helpful guide, Dr. Gregory L. Jantz reveals how those who have been abused by a spouse, parent, employer, or minister can overcome the past and rebuild their self-image. This revised and updated edition of "Healing the Scars of Emotional Abuse" includes
- strategies for dealing with the verbal abuser
- self-check quizzes with each chapter
- keys to rebuilding relationships
- letters from survivors of emotional abuse
- new information on dealing with spiritual abuse
- and a biblical plan for healing.

Family therapist Nicole Zasowski challenges you to let go of dwelling in your anxieties and fears and instead ask yourself the question: What if it's wonderful? These questions haunt many of us, leaving us sick with anxiety and frozen into inaction: what if my hope only leads to disappointment? What if I embrace joy only to have it ripped from my hands? What if my celebration is the cause of others' sadness? What if my joy takes me away from the God I knew so well in my pain? But these fears don't have to control your life. Author and marriage and family therapist Nicole Zasowski knows what it's like to suffer a blow that makes it difficult to look to the future. Despite the struggle, she found the courage to celebrate, and discovered that God is as present in our joy as He is in our pain. Yes, God's purpose for us is worked out in our struggles. But what if it is also worked out in our dreams and our delighted joy? In What If it's Wonderful? Nicole helps you: Overcome the fears that keep you from looking toward the future with joy Let go of the lies you've believed about happiness and embrace celebration as a part of spiritual growth Approach life with an expectant heart and courage to trust God's good gifts With a psychological and spiritual case for celebrating, Nicole challenges you to let go of the habit of practicing disappointment and fully embrace joy, beckoning you to ask yourself a new question: What if it's wonderful?

As society becomes more culturally diverse and globally connected, churches and seminaries are rapidly changing. And as the church changes, preaching must change too. Crossover Preaching proposes a way forward through conversation with the "dean of the nation's black preachers," Gardner C. Taylor, senior pastor emeritus of Concord Baptist Church in Brooklyn, New York. In this richly interdisciplinary study, Jared E. Alcantara argues that an analysis of Taylor's preaching reveals an improvisational-intercultural approach that recovers his contemporary significance and equips US churches and seminary classrooms for the future. Alcantara argues that preachers and homileticians need to develop intercultural and improvisational proficiencies to reach an increasingly intercultural church. Crossover Preaching equips them with concrete practices designed to help them cultivate these competencies and thus communicate effectively in a changing world.

The Celebrate Recovery Participant's Guides are essential tools for the personal recovery journey. In the seven lessons in Guide 4: Growing in Christ While Helping Others, you will work through the final two principles on the road to recovery. More than just maintenance, these principles will help you prevent relapse and give you the necessary tools to help others in their recovery process. 7 Reserve a daily time with God for self-examination. Bible reading and prayer in order to know God and his will for my life and to gain the power to follow his will. 8 Yield myself to God to be used to bring this Good News to others, both by my example and by my words. "Happy are those who are persecuted because they do what God requires" (Matthew 5:10). By working through the lessons and exercises found in each of the four Participant's Guides you will begin to experience the true peace and serenity you have been seeking, restore and develop stronger relationships with others and with God, and find freedom from life's hurts, hang-ups, and habits. All the scriptures have been updated to the new NIV 2011 version.

This is a collection of 25 meditations for use in public worship. Covering a range of personal, pastoral and biblical themes, these meditations can be used as part of congregational worship, with smaller assemblies (such as a prayer group) or in a house group or youth fellowship. Notes accompanying each meditation suggest appropriate situations for its use.

We become what we say. How do you grow your church in its health and mission? Sometimes our communities lack focus or vision. We lose sight of our ministry priorities, or our people don't have concrete reminders of why we do what we do. We need concise, memorable tools for cultivating culture, communicating ministry vision, and developing leaders. The language we use shapes our communities. Pastors J.R. Briggs and Bob Hyatt share seventy-five short and memorable mantras they use to cast vision, inspire ministry, and create a healthy church culture. These brief chapters provide a wealth of practical wisdom for leadership, discipleship, community, and witness, embodying best practices with vivid stories of on-the-ground ministry. These bite-sized ministry insights are ideal for church leaders to discuss with their teams and implement in their communities. They provide accessible handles for growing the health of your local church, for the sake of the kingdom.

There is a wide and growing gap in the Catholic Church in the United States between the clergy, who are mostly of European descent, and the large percentages of Catholics who identify as Latinos. While the US Church has made a concerted effort to build Hispanic ministries, many clergy and lay ministers are still ill-equipped to understand the cultural background of their parishioners, especially the large numbers who are foreign born. Because of this disconnect, the Church risks missing ""the Hispanic Moment"" in the US Church, in which the faith and traditions of these newest waves of US immigration could not just exist in parallel to English-language congregations, but enrich and enliven the faith of the whole community while passing on the faith to subsequent generations. Learning Spanish--while helpful--is not enough. There are intercultural competencies that can only be developed through practice, but it also helps already-busy clergy to have a concise guide. In addition to knowing the scholarly literature on cross-cultural preaching and Hispanic culture, Father Michael Kueber has twenty years of experience serving first generation Hispanic immigrants and their second generation children. In Preaching to Latinos, Kueber provides the readers with best practices for preaching to and leading their churches. As a member of an ecumenical community, he is able to speak to members of all Christian denominations.