What the Church Won't Talk about
What the Church Won't Talk about

Author: J. S. Park

Publisher: CreateSpace

Published: 2014-09-26

Total Pages: 228

ISBN-13: 9781502529565

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There are certain questions we're not allowed to ask in church. Forbidden issues. We're either ignored upfront or shut down with programmed responses. What about: Porn addiction? Homosexuality? Self-harm and cutting? Sex before marriage? Suicidal thoughts? The evil in the world? And long dry seasons of doubt? Over the last seven years as a pastor, blogger, and professional rambler, I've been asked thousands of questions through my blog from secretly hurting people who could no longer endure the pat, simplistic formulas found in church. Over and over, my heart was broken for such wonderful, struggling, fellow travelers. Now the toughest most viral questions have been organized into one place. From sex, dating, sexuality, doubts, depression, pornography, abortion, apologetics, to family drama, these were questions that we've always wanted to ask in church, but were too afraid to stir the status quo. These are real stories. These are real people with real questions, about the raw, messy, gritty, uphill journey we call faith. For those looking for a safe, gracious space, for those looking for authenticity and honesty: this is what the church won't talk about. This is a collection of the most viral questions I've received through my Q&A blog, about taboo subjects that we don't want to ask about in church. Whether you're absolutely skeptical of faith or you've been attending church for years, this is a journey of the questions we've always wanted to ask. It's also a critique and call for the church culture to examine itself with a more thoughtful, nuanced, self-aware honesty.

Why Men Hate Going to Church
Why Men Hate Going to Church

Author: David Murrow

Publisher: HarperChristian + ORM

Published: 2011-10-31

Total Pages: 257

ISBN-13: 0849949815

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“Church is boring.” “It’s irrelevant.” “It’s full of hypocrites.” You’ve heard the excuses—now learn the real reasons men and boys are fleeing churches of every kind, all over the world, and what we can do about it. Women comprise more than 60% of the adults in a typical worship service in America. Some overseas congregations report ten women for every man in attendance. Men are less likely to lead, volunteer, and give in the church. They pray less, share their faith less, and read the Bible less. In Why Men Hate Going to Church, David Murrow identifies the barriers keeping many men from going to church, explains why it’s so hard to motivate the men who do attend, and also takes you inside several fast-growing congregations that are winning the hearts of men and boys. In this completely revised, reorganized, and rewritten edition of the classic book, with more than 70 percent new content, explore topics like: The increase and decrease in male church attendance during the past 500 years Why Christian churches are more feminine even though men are often still the leaders The difference between the type of God men and women like to worship The lack of volunteering and ministry opportunities for men The benefits men get from attending church regularly Men need the church but, more importantly, the church needs men. The presence of enthusiastic men is one of the surest predictors of church health, growth, giving, and expansion. Why Men Hate Going to Church does not call men back to church—it calls the church back to men.

At Your Best
At Your Best

Author: Carey Nieuwhof

Publisher: WaterBrook

Published: 2021-09-14

Total Pages: 240

ISBN-13: 0735291373

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“A perceptive and practical book about why our calendars so rarely reflect our priorities and what we can do to regain control.”—ADAM GRANT “Carey’s book will help you reorganize your life. And then you can share a copy with someone you care about.”—SETH GODIN You deserve to stop living at an unsustainable pace. An influential podcaster and thought leader shows you how. Overwhelmed. Overcommitted. Overworked. That’s the false script an inordinate number of people adopt to be successful. Does this sound familiar: ● Slammed is normal. ● Distractions are everywhere. ● Life gets reduced to going through the motions. Tired of living that way? At Your Best gives you the strategies you need to win at work and at home by living in a way today that will help you thrive tomorrow. Influential podcast host and thought leader Carey Nieuwhof understands the challenges of constant pressure. After a season of burnout almost took him out, he discovered how to get time, energy, and priorities working in his favor. This approach freed up more than one thousand productive hours a year for him and can do the same for you. At Your Best will help you ● replace chronic exhaustion with deep productivity ● break the pattern of overpromising and never accomplishing enough ● clarify what matters most by restructuring your day ● master the art of saying no, without losing friends or influence ● discover why vacations and sabbaticals don’t really solve your problems ● develop a personalized plan to recapture each day so you can break free from the trap of endless to-dos Start thriving at work and at home as you discover how to be at your best.

So You Don't Want to Go to Church Anymore
So You Don't Want to Go to Church Anymore

Author: Wayne Jacobsen

Publisher: Windblown Media

Published: 2008-09-02

Total Pages: 157

ISBN-13: 1935170015

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Jake Colsen, an overworked and disillusioned pastor, happens into a stranger who bears an uncanny resemblance (in manner) to the apostle John. A number of encounters with John as well as a family crisis lead Jake to a new understanding of what his life should be like: one filled with faith bolstered by a steady, close relationship with the God of the universe. Facing his own disappointment with Christianity, Jake must forsake the habits that have made his faith rote and rediscover the love that captured his heart when he first believed. Compelling and intensely personal, So You Don't Want to Go to Church Anything relates a man's rebirth from performance-based Christianity to a loving friendship with Christ that affects all he does, thinks, and says. As John tells Jake, "There is nothing the Father desires for you more than that you fall squarely in the lap of his love and never move from that place for the rest of your life."

They Like Jesus but Not the Church
They Like Jesus but Not the Church

Author: Dan Kimball

Publisher: Zondervan

Published: 2009-05-26

Total Pages: 274

ISBN-13: 0310298547

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Many people today, especially among emerging generations, don’t resonate with the church and organized Christianity. Some are leaving the church and others were never part of the church in the first place. Sometimes it’s because of misperceptions about the church. Yet often they are still spiritually open and fascinated with Jesus. This is a ministry resource book exploring six of the most common objects and misunderstandings emerging generations have about the church and Christianity. The objections come from conversations and interviews the church has had with unchurched twenty and thirty-somethings at coffee houses. Each chapter raises the objection using a conversational approach, provides the biblical answers to that objection, gives examples of how churches are addressing this objection, and concludes with follow-through projection suggestions, discussion questions, and resource listings.

Revelation
Revelation

Author:

Publisher: Canongate Books

Published: 1999-01-01

Total Pages: 60

ISBN-13: 0857861018

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The final book of the Bible, Revelation prophesies the ultimate judgement of mankind in a series of allegorical visions, grisly images and numerological predictions. According to these, empires will fall, the "Beast" will be destroyed and Christ will rule a new Jerusalem. With an introduction by Will Self.

Hope in Times of Fear
Hope in Times of Fear

Author: Timothy Keller

Publisher: Penguin

Published: 2021-03-09

Total Pages: 272

ISBN-13: 0525560807

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The Resurrection accounts of Jesus in the Gospels are the most dramatic and impactful stories ever told. One similarity unites each testimony--that none of his most loyal and steadfast followers could "see" it was him, back from the dead. The reason for this is at the very foundation of the Christian faith. She turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus. (John 20:14) Hope in the Time of Fear is a book that unlocks the meaning of Jesus's resurrection for readers. Easter is considered the most solemn and important holiday for Christians. It is a time of spiritual rebirth and a time of celebrating the physical rebirth of Jesus after three days in the tomb. For his devoted followers, nothing could prepare them for the moment they met the resurrected Jesus. Each failed to recognize him. All of them physically saw him and yet did not spiritually truly see him. It was only when Jesus reached out and invited them to see who he truly was that their eyes were open. Here the central message of the Christian faith is revealed in a way only Timothy Keller could do it--filled with unshakable belief, piercing insight, and a profound new way to look at a story you think you know. After reading this book, the true meaning of Easter will no longer be unseen.

Taking Your Church to the Next Level
Taking Your Church to the Next Level

Author: Gary L. McIntosh

Publisher: Baker Books

Published: 2009-09-01

Total Pages: 224

ISBN-13: 1441210857

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All local churches experience a predictable life cycle of growth and decline. But if a church is on a downward trend, how can it turn around? Taking Your Church to the Next Level explains the impact of age and size on churches and outlines the improvements that must be made at each point for a church to remain fruitful and faithful to its mission. McIntosh deftly describes the cycles of fruitfulness and the importance of continual improvement to diminish destructive forces that keep a congregation from its mission. Church leaders, pastors, and all who care about the church and desire to see it experience biblical growth will benefit from the sage wisdom offered in these pages.

Letting God Meet Your Emotional Needs
Letting God Meet Your Emotional Needs

Author: Cindi McMenamin

Publisher: Harvest House Publishers

Published: 2003-03-01

Total Pages: 230

ISBN-13: 0736936106

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Women long to be loved, to be known, to be understood. But who can meet those needs at their deepest level? Only the One who created women--who knows them by name and who designed them--can bring fulfillment that truly satisfies. "Letting God Meet Your Emotional Needs" shows how God desires to help every woman: I need acceptance... God loves, forgives, and accepts I need security... God promises He will never leave I need to feel pretty... Christ sees me as new, spotless I need a companion... He is the perfect friend I need communication... He talks to me intimately through His Word Formerly "Heart Hunger."

What Your Pastor Won't Tell You
What Your Pastor Won't Tell You

Author: Marshall Davis

Publisher:

Published: 2018-09-12

Total Pages: 297

ISBN-13: 9781720258674

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There is something your pastor is not telling you. In fact there is A LOT your pastor is not telling you! This book lets you in on the secrets. A forty year veteran of pastoral ministry, Marshall Davis takes you behind the scenes into the world of fulltime professional ministry. In this book he shares things that your pastor will not say publicly. He reveals what it is really like to be a Christian pastor in today's complex and rapidly-changing world. He shares the emotional and spiritual struggles that ministers face in leading churches during a time when all forms of Christianity are in decline in America. At times intensely personal, Davis talks about the dangers pastors face from stress, depression, burnout, and "clergy killers" in the church. He goes on to share knowledge that pastors acquire in seminary and divinity school but are hesitant to share with their congregations. This includes scholarly knowledge about the origins and content of the Bible, the uncomfortable relationship that Christianity has with science, the changing nature of Christian theology, and some surprising revelations about early Christian history. He confronts the hypocrisy in the church when it comes to subjects like evolution, climate change, racism, sexism, and sexual assault in the church. He addresses topics like nationalism, child abuse, homosexuality, and the role of women in the church. In a clear and forthright manner he explores topics that many pastors will not address because of church and denominational politics. He ends the book by providing a list of ways that church people can help their pastors deal with difficult issues in the church. This book will be comforting to some and controversial to others. For all it will be an honest, personal examination of many subjects that are not talked about openly in Christian churches today.