Showing results by narrator "Jim Denison" in All Categories

Fear is the primary reason we fail to share the gospel with our friends, family, and coworkers. We're afraid of looking weird or out of touch. We're afraid we won't have the right answers to their questions. We're afraid that if they reject the gospel, they're really rejecting us. We don't want to make things awkward or strain our relationships. So we say nothing because our discomfort feels bigger than our loved ones' ultimate destination if they remain outside of the body of Christ. We know it's not, but it's just so hard to get over our fear.

Practical and straightforward, yet warm and compassionate, Grieving with Hope clarifies the popular misconception that people move through stages of grief. This will be an encouragement to many, as grieving people often think something is wrong with them when their grief doesn't proceed neatly through stages. The reality is that grieving people jump back and forth between different emotions, sometimes wrestling with multiple emotions at once. This book is packed with short, biblically based, gospel-centered, topical chapters addressing the issues grieving people face.

Many of us tend to live as though Jesus represents the "spiritual part" of our lives. We don't clearly see how he relates to the rest of our experiences, desires, and habits. How can Jesus, the Bible, and Christianity become more than a compartmentalized part of our lives? Highly regarded New Testament scholar and popular teacher Jonathan Pennington argues that we need to recover the lost biblical image of Jesus as the one true philosopher who teaches us how to experience the fullness of our humanity in the kingdom of God.

In Inspired Imperfection, Gregory A. Boyd adds another counterintuitive and provocative thesis to his corpus. While conservative scholars and pastors have struggled for years to show that the Bible is without errors, Boyd considers this a fool's errand. Instead, he says, we should embrace the mistakes and contradictions in Scripture, for they show that God chose to use fallible humans to communicate timeless truths.

Through a pointed analysis of our spiritual and practical difficulties in prayer, Wallis show how the Holy Spirit helps us in our weaknesses. Learn how to yield yourself to Him, to allow Him to pray through you, and let the Holy Spirit lead you into "the deep things of God."

Over the last 30 years, many influential church leaders and church planters in America have adopted various models for reaching unchurched people. An “attractional” model will seek to attract people to a local church. Younger leaders may advocate a more “missional” approach, in which believers live and work among unchurched people and intentionally seek to serve like Christ. While each of these approaches have merit, something is still missing, something even more fundamental to the mission of the church: discipleship.

It used to be that Christians conceived of the world as a battleground. They believed in sin and the devil and hell as constituting one force and in God and righteousness and heaven constituting the other. How different it is today. People think of the world not as a battleground but as a playground. In This World: Playground or Battleground?, Tozer calls us to see the real world of the spiritual realm that lies beyond the physical that so ensnares us. The audio is short and to the point, abrupt but full of vigor, profound, and downright relevant today.

King Solomon had all the fame and fortune that any man could want. He was the world's wisest and wealthiest king. And yet, tragically, he threw it all away for the love of money, the pleasures of sex, and the powers of an earthly kingdom. In studying the life of Solomon, we see both the true greatness and the tragic failure of our own humanity - from godly devotion to self-serving excess. Philip Graham Ryken tells us how, by the grace of God, to prevent those downfalls and to seek God's glory amid earthly temptations through this rich, Christ-centered study of the life of Solomon.

Ludwig Wittgenstein was born in Vienna in 1889 and died in Cambridge, England in 1951. He was one of the most influential philosophers of the 20th century.

Christians believe that history is moving toward a dramatic conclusion - that one day Jesus Christ will return in glory to judge the living and the dead. But there seem to be so many different views about how this will happen and when it will take place. How can we make sense of it all? This short, listenable book explains clearly and simply the liberating reality of what the Bible is actually saying about the return of Christ and the end of the world.

Authors Eric Geiger (author of the best-selling Simple Church and Creature of the Word) and Kevin Peck argue that churches that consistently produce leaders have strong convictions to develop leaders, healthy cultures for leadership development, and helpful constructs to systematically and intentionally build leaders. All three are essential for leaders to be formed through the ministry of a local church.

Negative perceptions. Church dropouts. Prodigals and nomads. It's easy to get discouraged by all that's going wrong when it comes to Christianity and the emerging generation. Yet what's going right? In fact, signs of hope are springing up all around. Faith for Exiles unveils major new Barna research that uncovers what's working - five practices that contribute to resilience. In a world where always-connected smart devices and search algorithms educate and entertain, digital Babylon is the new context for discipleship.

John Owen wrote this book, often given the subtitle The Nature and Power of It, the Danger of Entering into It, and the Means of Preventing That Danger, with a resolution to show how Christians can avoid temptation in living a more spiritual life. A prolific author, Owen was an English nonconformist Church leader who served as academic administrator at the University of Oxford.

Like a succession of failed diet regimens, the much-touted techniques that are supposed to bring us closer to God "in our hearts" can instead make us feel anxious, frustrated, and overwhelmed. Phillip Cary explains that discipleship is a gradual, long-term process that comes through the gospel experienced in Christian community, not a to-do list designed to help us live the Christian life "right." He covers ten things we don't have to do to be close to God, skillfully unpacking the riches of traditional Christian spirituality. The expanded edition includes a new afterword.

Grandma was right. You've got to get the weeds by the roots, or they'll just grow back. So too with deep-rooted anger. Moralistic efforts to be patient with your coworkers won't cut it. Regret-riddled resolutions to stop yelling at your kids won't last. You must rip out those angry roots.

Carl Medearis provides new insights into the top questions people have about Muslims and Islam. With practical information and fascinating stories, he shares culturally sensitive ways for Christians to get to know Muslims on a personal level. Medearis shows how common ground is the best foundation for hearts turning to Jesus rather than focusing initially on the differences between Islam and Christianity.

In Created for Purpose, you will discover God's plan for your life as a loved and valuable member of his creation, what it means to be called by God, and how to know and live in your purpose throughout your life. You are not an accident. You are present on this earth for a significant reason. Find out who you were meant to be!

When Jesus walked the earth, he cast out demons and had powerful encounters with the devil. But who exactly is the devil, and where did he come from? And what is he up to in the world today? This short, listenable book explains clearly and simply what we can say with certainty from the Bible about Satan, demons, and evil spirits. Suitable for all Christians - especially those who are struggling with questions about Satan.

In 48 Laws of Spiritual Power, bestselling author Frank Viola lays out the unchanging principles of tapping into God's power and releasing it to serve others. These laws are based on over thirty years of ministry experience—trench-tested in Frank's life and the lives of others who have spent decades in ministry. Though these laws may seem counterintuitive and uncommon, they will equip you to look for God's power in your ministry.

Doubt as to moral and spiritual truth is distilled through a score of channels. Our seats of learning are hotbeds of agnosticism. Our literature, with rare exceptions, makes light of God and jokes about sacred things. The newspapers, the radio broadcasts, public utterances, and private conversations are steadily but surely removing the foundations of righteousness and destroying what little faith in spiritual things still remain.