We live in a time when our culture is becoming increasingly shallow, coarse, and empty. Radical shifts in the areas of sexuality, ethics, technology, secular ideologies, and religion have caused the once-familiar landscape of a generation ago to be virtually unrecognizable. Yet rather than shine as a beacon of light, the church often is silent or accommodating. This isn’t a new phenomenon. During World War II, pastor and theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer was deeply troubled by the compromise in the German church.

During our chaotic times, discover five forgotten values that can spark internal growth and help us reconcile our Christian faith with the complexities of race, sexuality, and social justice. Most believers live in the state of "being a Christian" without ever being deeply formed by Christ. Our pace is too frenetic to be in union with God, and we don't know how to quiet our hearts and minds to be present. Our emotions are unhealthy and compartmentalized. 

The widening of political, racial, generational, and religious differences often leads to an "us vs. them" mentality all too common today. In The Sacred Overlap, author J. R. Briggs communicates a refreshing vision that embraces tension and calls us to live in radical love and faithfulness between the extremes that isolate and divide people. Read the gospels and you'll see how Jesus was committed to crossing cultural, social, political, and religious either/or waters, engaging in many and/also activities. He comforted the disturbed and also disturbed the comfortable.

In this book, McKnight and Barringer explore the concept of tov - unpacking its richness and how it can help Christians and churches rise up to fulfill their true calling as imitators of Jesus. 

Jesus said his followers would be a light to the world and a city on a hill - a warmly inviting, neighbor-loving, grace-and-truth filled destination for all. He envisioned his followers as life-giving neighbors, bosses, employees, and friends, the kind of people who return even insults with kindness and persecution with prayers. Irresistible Faith is a blueprint for pursuing this vision in our current moment, of redeemed individuals and a renewed community working for a restored world.

In Telling a Better Story, author Joshua Chatraw presents a new and better way to do apologetics, an inside-out approach that is attuned to our late-modern moment and respectful of unbelievers, all the while remaining focused on Jesus. With chapters on cultural understanding, dealing with the difficult issues, and presenting Jesus in a holistic, contextual manner, Telling a Better Story offers a road map to effective apologetics both for experienced apologists and those new to sharing their faith with others.

Do you want to reignite your passion for the local church and see your congregation live out the Great Commission by growing and making disciples? If so, implementing the revolutionary Intentional Growth Planning™ operating system will benefit you, your church, and your community! Just as laptops and smart phones have an operating system, the church needs a biblically based operating system where its various programs and activities can effectively plug in to.

Do you wish you had more qualified, committed, and mission-oriented leaders in your church to share the ministry workload? Do you have a passion for cultivating the God-given leadership gifts in others? Most pastors say that the need to identify and develop leaders is critical to the health and growth of their church, yet most churches do not have an intentional plan for doing this. 

In Improv Leadership, Stan L. Endicott and David A. Miller share five leadership competencies: story mining, precision praising, metaphor cementing, lobbing forward, and going north. IMPROV leaders apply these five competencies to initiate powerful conversations, create memorable moments, and craft personal coaching strategies that help people grow. Improv Leadership cultivates teams of people who love their work (and each other), who perform at a high level, and who stop the disruptive carousel of staff turnover. 

Pastor and leadership development expert Steve Cuss explains how personal anxiety and leadership frustration is the result of not being “self-aware” and provides simple tools listeners can use to do something about it. Listeners will be empowered to take back control of their lives and lead in mature and vibrant ways.

Author A. J. Sherrill still remembers the moment when his life was forever changed by a word he didn't even understand at the time: Enneagram. A personality theory that includes nine different "types", the Enneagram has become a popular tool for self-awareness and improvement. But in this book, Sherrill goes deeper, exploring with Christians how the Enneagram can be a pathway to profound spiritual transformation. 

In a defensive and divided era, how can followers of Jesus reveal a better way of living, one that loves others as God loves us? How can Christians be the kind of people who are known, as Proverbs puts it, to "turn away wrath"? Scott Sauls' compelling new book shows Christians how to become people of "a gentle answer" in a politically, relationally, and culturally fractured world by helping listeners grow in affection for Christ, who answers our hostility with gentleness.

How can Christians today interact with those around them in a way that shows respect to those whose beliefs are radically different but that also remains faithful to the gospel? Timothy Keller and John Inazu bring together illuminating stories - their own and from others - to answer this vital question. Uncommon Ground gathers an array of perspectives from people thinking deeply and working daily to live with humility, patience, and tolerance in our time.  

While many leaders have learned to tune out distractions that keep them from being productive, they remain deaf to their inner desires and emotions. In How to Lead in a World of Distraction, Clay Scroggins teaches leaders four simple habits that create space for emotional evaluation and exploration. These helpful practices will empower leaders to replace the chaos of their busy days with emotional competence and awareness that leads to a calmer, more fulfilling life.

In Why I Am Still Surprised by the Power of the Spirit, Deere demonstrates that the Scriptures teach that God is healing and speaking today just as he did 2000 years ago. He tells documented stories of modern miracles. He explains the nature of spiritual gifts, defines each spiritual gift, offers sound advice on discovering and using the gifts in church today. He shows how all of this part of God's way of deepening our friendship with him.