(Foreword by Luis Palau; updated edition) A real-life, proven approach for communicating the gospel through meaningful conversations, earning trust, and studying the Bible with interested seekers. This comfortable and natural approach replaces guilt with positive results.
This comprehensive resource includes contributions from well-known evangelists, such as Rick Warren, Josh McDowell, and Luis Palau, on everything a person needs to know about sharing his or her faith.
As a dedicated Christian, you've decided to follow Jesus Christ and have accepted the challenge to read through the Bible. Up until now, your Bible reading has been pretty hit-and-miss. To be honest, so far you've only hit Genesis, the first half of Exodus, part of Psalms, and portions of the New Testament and missed the rest. The thought of reading from Genesis to Revelation is exciting-but slightly intimidating. You'd like some help! Where do you turn? This book will guide you on your journey through the Scriptures, both showing the way and answering common questions. For every Christian who wants to read or is trying to read through the whole Bible, here is the book that shows the way! After all, it takes more than good intentions and will power to get that needed epiphany that "I really can read through God's Word." How to Read Your Bible answers the following questions: Why Should I Read the Bible? Is My Bible Inspired? Is My Translation Trustworthy? What About Apparent Errors? Where Do I Start Reading the Bible? What Do I Look for When I'm Reading? How Do I Make Sense of What I'm Reading? How Do I Personalize What I'm Reading? What Do I Do After I Read?
Every preacher, teacher, or writer knows the value of a good illustration in helping connect the truth of the passage with the congregation or class—and how hard it is to come up with good illustrations week after week. This book contains the cream of the crop: 1001 illustrations carefully selected from among thousands on Christianity Today International’s popular website PreachingToday.com. These illustrations are proven, memorable, and illuminating. As the saying goes, they will preach! And they’re fresh, all written within the past seven years. Of course the best illustrations are no good if you can’t find the right one. These illustrations have been arranged according to twelve master topics, each divided into several subtopics. Further, they’ve been indexed according both to Bible references and to 500 keywords. A searchable CD-ROM is included, allowing you to get the illustration into your lesson or sermon with ease.
This second book in the Perfect Illustrations series contains 300 more anecdotes and illustrations for pastors, writers, teachers, and other Christian communicators on a variety of topics. Each entry includes Scripture references, cross-references to related topics, and an anecdote or illustration, and its source.
What You Need to Know about Salvation will fortify your confidence in the salvation you've received and help you experience more of its infinite riches.
A ministry resource for motivating all Christians to become thoughtful apologists of their faith Although apologetics is as crucial today as it has ever been, the classical model for defending the faith often seems irrelevant to the 21st century where people listen with their eyes and think with their emotions. Is Your Church Ready? Presents a team of highly qualified Christian thinkers—including Ravi Zacharias, John Guest, Jay Budziszewski, Judy Salisbury, Dean Halverson, and Peter Grant—who build a case for the place of apologetics in the local church, home, and school. Using personal examples and illustrations they address: • How to answer objections to Christianity • How to equip children in the home and prepare youth to remain committed to Christ after they leave for college • How to reach international students and the foreign-born Included are discussion questions and a “Church Leaders Resource Guide” to the best books, articles, organizations, and websites on the subject.
Winner of The Word Guild award in the category of Christian Leadership in 2011. Why does it feel like most of the world today considers irrelevant the gospel we cherish and so faithfully proclaim in our churches? Why do our Christian responses fail to satisfy the heart quests of our neighbors? Does the shallowness of our neatly packaged answers alienate us from them and from each other? More Questions than Answers offers the hope of reconciliation through exploring how we can develop listening relationships. Walking together in what becomes a spiritual accompaniment, we learn to attune ourselves to one another and to the Spirit within us. Then we dare to reach across the chasm that separates us and discover an authentic faith emerges.
Bad news first: everyone is born lost. Now the good news: Jesus saves! Simple enough. But today’s secular and new age optimism blinds many to the reality that we need a Savior. And even some who come to Christ don’t fully understand the stupendous treasure God gives when He saves them. What You Need to Know about Salvation will fortify your confidence in the salvation you’ve received and help you experience more of its infinite riches. You’ll thrill at the drama of redemption as it unfolds through Scripture: the glory of creation, the tragedy of sin and the Fall, the provision of salvation in Jesus Christ, and its application today through the Holy Spirit. And you’ll be moved to worship your Savior and share the good news with others. Features include: 12 lessons you can complete in under one hour each Real-life application of biblical truth Explanations of prominent Christian views on the topic Easy-to-teach resources, including previews and summary features Questions for discussion Core teachings on Christianity that will challenge any seeker, new believer, or veteran believer looking for a stronger foundation What You Need to Know study guides sold to date: More than 200,000