Warren W. Wiersbe says of No Little Places, "You'll learn a lot about small-town America and the changes occurring in American society today. Written by two seasoned veterans of ministry in small-town America, No Little Places is a heart-to-heart account of cross-cultural evangelism right here in the United States. It's a primer on how to discover a church's potential and build on it. It's a transparent, how-to-do-it book that pulls no punches. It reads like another chapter in the Book of Acts or extra verses in Hebrews 11".
Most Christians take an honest look at themselves and conclude that their limited talents, energy, and knowledge mean that they don't amount to much. Francis A. Schaeffer says that the biblical emphasis is quite different. With God there are no little people! This book contains sixteen sermons that explore the weakness and significance of humanity in relationship to the infinite and personal God. Each was preached by Schaeffer at L'Abri Fellowship in Switzerland to the community that gathered there to work, learn, and worship together. The focus of this collection is the lasting truth of the Bible, the faithfulness of God, the sufficiency of the work of Christ, and the reality of God's Spirit in history. The sermons represent a variety of styles-some are topical, some expound Old Testament passages, and still others delve into New Testament texts. No Little People includes theological sermons and messages that focus specifically on daily life and Christian practice. Each sermon is a single unit, and all are valuable for family devotions or other group study and worship. Readers will be encouraged by the value that God places on each person made in His image.
Struggle—of both the small and staggering sort—is woven throughout all our lives. It can erode our faith, strip us of hope, rob us of joy, extinguish our vitality, and diminish our capacity to love. But because God is always present and at work, seeds of redemption lie as hidden treasure buried in the ground of struggle. By taking a deeply human look at various figures in the lineage of Jesus in Matthew 1, Andy White shows us that the people we once may have considered unlike us because of thousands of years of separation suddenly come close in their pain, loss, and failures. He, too, comes close as a man who has faced hardships, to offer others a hand when their feet are unsteady. By digging into the lives of these biblical sojourners, White unearths hidden treasures, guides readers on a journey of self-discovery, and points the way forward, showing us ways to cultivate tenacious hope, stronger faith, and greater capacity to live and love as participants in God’s ongoing redemption story.
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A stunning “portrait of the enduring grace of friendship” (NPR) about the families we are born into, and those that we make for ourselves. A masterful depiction of love in the twenty-first century. NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST • MAN BOOKER PRIZE FINALIST • WINNER OF THE KIRKUS PRIZE A Little Life follows four college classmates—broke, adrift, and buoyed only by their friendship and ambition—as they move to New York in search of fame and fortune. While their relationships, which are tinged by addiction, success, and pride, deepen over the decades, the men are held together by their devotion to the brilliant, enigmatic Jude, a man scarred by an unspeakable childhood trauma. A hymn to brotherly bonds and a masterful depiction of love in the twenty-first century, Hanya Yanagihara’s stunning novel is about the families we are born into, and those that we make for ourselves. Look for Hanya Yanagihara’s latest bestselling novel, To Paradise.
A brilliant look at colonialism and its effects in Antigua--by the author of Annie John "If you go to Antigua as a tourist, this is what you will see. If you come by aeroplane, you will land at the V. C. Bird International Airport. Vere Cornwall (V. C.) Bird is the Prime Minister of Antigua. You may be the sort of tourist who would wonder why a Prime Minister would want an airport named after him--why not a school, why not a hospital, why not some great public monument. You are a tourist and you have not yet seen . . ." So begins Jamaica Kincaid's expansive essay, which shows us what we have not yet seen of the ten-by-twelve-mile island in the British West Indies where she grew up. Lyrical, sardonic, and forthright by turns, in a Swiftian mode, A Small Place cannot help but amplify our vision of one small place and all that it signifies.
An overseer…must be above reproach. 1 Timothy 3:2 Scripture holds leaders and teachers of the Word to an incredibly high standard. And for good reason. Shepherding God’s people into salvation and spiritual growth is an enormous responsibility. Even more now than ever, today’s church needs leaders who faithfully proclaim the Word of God and equip believers to live it out. But great leaders need great role models. Bestselling author John MacArthur has compiled, from the internationally renowned Shepherd’s Conference, the best-ever messages for Christian leaders—now available in a single volume. Alongside MacArthur’s candid, instructive writings you’ll find the works of other proven ministry leaders, including John Piper, Steven Lawson, RC Sproul, Ligon Duncan, and Al Mohler. Whether you’re a pastor, elder, or leader in your church, or you desire to be more effective in your spiritual leadership, this book will help you learn how to . . . guide others with integrity and conviction deliver God’s Word with passion and power accurately interpret and apply God’s Word When you accept the challenge to be a leader who follows God’s standard both in ministry and personally, you will become better equipped to fulfill your calling to lead with excellence.
In competitive sports we prize teamwork. We know that a mature team will usually beat an astounding collection of individual players. The burden of creating such esprit de corps falls to the coach and the team of leaders he has assembled. After all, a team without a coach cannot win. But what happens when the coach himself does not understand the dynamics of teamwork?In a similar manner, every leader of every church is a coach of sorts, with a ministry team responsible for the life of the church. The question put to you as a pastor is this: Are you a team player? Even more to the point: Whose team are you building?Too many church leaders, writes author Kenn Gangel, have fallen into the trap of personal kingdom-building, a focused concern on one's own and present ministry without a wider recognition of kingdom participation.The net effect of this condition has led to narrow vision, stunted church growth, and frustrated relationships within the body of Christ. In contrast, Gangel explores broad and penetrating support throughout the Word of God for team-based, inclusive, cooperative leadership. From Jethro's advice to Moses all the way to Jesus's approach to discipleship, biblical leadership is viewed as a tool to be shared--a model of servanthood, mentoring, and the mutual interdependence of gifts.Along the way Gangel explores the character attributes of successful biblical leadership--common things like humility, patience, and quiet dignity. From there he reveals how these qualities open an authentic leader up to the wide and thrilling possibilities of working hand-in-hand with others in the Lord's work...together.
Leadership in Small Churches inspires and equips men and women who are called to serve in churches of less than 100 people, which are the majority of churches in the United States. Small churches in the United States suffer from a lack of leadership. On the one hand, there is a shortage of leaders. On the other hand, leaders who serve faithfully sometimes feel ill-equipped to carry out their calling due to inadequate training, especially a lack of training specific to small churches. This volume provides guidance from scholars and practitioners with experience in small churches. Because of their experience in and commitment to ministry in small churches, these writers are well qualified to discuss the breadth of topics in this book. These topics include developing vision, handling conflict, pastoral care, preaching, discipleship, ministry to youth and children, missions, and identifying and training leaders.
These essays tell the story of geographic, literary, personal and various other types of names. Information on names is offered chronologically from 1391 up to the present time and the 'hip-lit' names used in Bret Easton Ellis's Less than Zero. There are also technical studies, such as the names of drugs in the world of street-Spanish, and the sound patterns of proper names in the English language.
