Many who go into ministry with expectancy and optimism find instead discouragement and regret. Is there a hope for renewal, for a new taste of God's grace in serving his people? With Christ, Andrew Purves reminds us, we move beyond ministry in the mood of Holy Saturday to ministry in the mood of Easter Sunday. And there we find the true basis of hope in ministry. Purves, a seasoned teacher of practical ...

The New Testament writers set before us a number of models of ministry, each of which is shaped by the particular needs of the churches they were serving. Their own backgrounds, ambitions and passions also contribute to what they have to say about ministry. The contours of New Testament pastoral leadership, inspired by the Holy Spirit, exhibit a genuine diversity that finds its unity in Christ and ...

What does it take to have fruitful ministry over the long haul? The stresses of pastoring are well known and can be a match for even the best-prepared, most experienced in ministry--multiple tasks, long hours, taxing responsibilities and, yes, some challenging personalities. Too often the results can be burnout, being run out or just feeling worn out. To find out how pastors can thrive as well ...

As a pastor, do you ever get the feeling that no matter what you try, nothing much seems to change? That is because the ministries themselves are not redemptive--they are not up to you. Only Jesus' ministry is redemptive. Jesus has to "show up." Theologian Andrew Purves explores at the deepest level the true and essential nature of Christian ministry. He says that the attempt to be an effective ...

Jack and Judy Balswick offer a vision of marriage that is both profoundly spiritual and thoroughly practical. Drawing insight from Christian theology and from social science research, the Balswicks bring together their years of teaching, writing and being married to each other to produce a book of faith and wisdom for facing the challenge of marriage in the twenty-first century.

Will God allow me to divorce my abusive husband? Would it be a sin if I remarried? Divorce and remarriage are major pastoral issues facing every church. Yet when we turn to Scripture for guidance, we often hear conflicting messages about its teachings. David Instone-Brewer shows how, when properly understood, the New Testament provides faithful, realistic and wise guidance of crucial importance ...

"What has Jesus Christ to do with English literature?" ask David Lyle Jeffrey and Gregory Maillet in this insightful survey.

First and foremost, they reply, many of the world's best authors of literature in English were formed--for better or worse--by the Christian tradition. Then too, many of the most recognized aesthetic literary forms derive from biblical exemplars. And finally, many great ...

Christianity Today Beautiful Orthodoxy Book of the Year Finalist

If we want to know who God is, the best thing we can do is look at Christ.

If we want to live the life to which God calls us, we look to Christ. In Jesus we see the true meaning of the love, power, wisdom, justice, peace, care and majesty of God.

Michael Reeves, author of ...