Irresistible Faith


Book Description

"I love everything that Scott Sauls writes." -- Christine Caine What if Christians became the best advertisement for 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 insults with kindness and persecution with prayers. Rooted in biblical convictions, they would extend love, empathy, and care to one another as well as to those who don't share their beliefs. Over time their movement would become irresistible to every nation, tribe, and tongue. 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. This is a way of being that gives a tired, cynical world good reason to pause and reconsider Christianity--and to start wishing it was true. "I miss the kind of church Scott describes in this book, and I don’t think I am alone." -- Donald Miller, author of Blue Like Jazz and Building a StoryBrand "An important call to resist the urge to lobby and position ourselves, but rather to be driven by gospel-powered love." -- Raechel Myers, founder and CEO of She Reads Truth "An antidote to much that is wrong with our Western, American version of Christianity. " -- Gabe and Rebekah Lyons, authors and founders of Q




Irresistible


Book Description

A fresh look at the earliest Christian movement reveals what made the new faith so compelling...and what we need to change today to make it so again. Once upon a time there was a version of the Christian faith that was practically irresistible. After all, what could be more so than the gospel that Jesus ushered in? Why, then, isn't it the same with Christianity today? Author and pastor Andy Stanley is deeply concerned with the present-day church and its future. He believes that many of the solutions to our issues can be found by investigating our roots. In Irresistible, Andy chronicles what made the early Jesus Movement so compelling, resilient, and irresistible by answering these questions: What did first-century Christians know that we don't—about God's Word, about their lives, about love? What did they do that we're not doing? What makes Christianity so resistible in today's culture? What needs to change in order to repeat the growth our faith had at its beginning? Many people who leave or disparage the faith cite reasons that have less to do with Jesus than with the conduct of his followers. It's time to hit pause and consider the faith modeled by our first-century brothers and sisters who had no official Bible, no status, and little chance of survival. It's time to embrace the version of faith that initiated—against all human odds—a chain of events resulting in the most significant and extensive cultural transformation the world has ever seen. This is a version of Christianity we must remember and re-embrace if we want to be salt and light in an increasingly savorless and dark world.




The Irresistible Revolution


Book Description

Living as an Ordinary RadicalMany of us find ourselves caught somewhere between unbelieving activists and inactive believers. We can write a check to feed starving children or hold signs in the streets and feel like we’ve made a difference without ever encountering the faces of the suffering masses. In this book, Shane Claiborne describes an authentic faith rooted in belief, action, and love, inviting us into a movement of the Spirit that begins inside each of us and extends into a broken world. Shane’s faith led him to dress the wounds of lepers with Mother Teresa, visit families in Iraq amidst bombings, and dump $10,000 in coins and bills on Wall Street to redistribute wealth. Shane lives out this revolution each day in his local neighborhood, an impoverished community in North Philadelphia, by living among the homeless, helping local kids with homework, and “practicing resurrection” in the forgotten places of our world. Shane’s message will comfort the disturbed, and disturb the comfortable . . . but will also invite us into an irresistible revolution. His is a vision for ordinary radicals ready to change the world with little acts of love.




The Church of Irresistible Influence


Book Description

Now available in paperback. The inspiring story of how a church showed God's love to a dying culture by building bridges to its neighborhood, community, and world.




Compelled


Book Description

Deep in the heart of every believer, there is a faint whisper. A call. A prompting. We go about our business and we hear it. We see and interact with lost people each day, and the whisper echoes again: "Share your faith. Tell them about Jesus." But fear, busyness, and lack of tools or motivation silence the whisper. Another day, another year, another life passes and we haven't told anyone about the best thing that ever happened to us -- the life-changing message of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Modern-day messages of kindness and acceptance deceive us into thinking we never have to open our mouths and actually share the truth with others in love. And yet the whisper is trying to tell you that you have the key to eternity in your possession. Can you hear it? In Compelled, Dudley Rutherford shares his earnest desire for each and every believer to be equipped and bold with the good news of salvation. He encourages you with inspiring stories of men and women, young and old, who have accepted the irresistible call to share Jesus with everyone they meet. And he provides practical methods to overcome your fears and effectively articulate the message of salvation. Allow these pages to strengthen the gentle nudging in your spirit until it's too loud to ignore -- until you are compelled to tell others about the hope you've found.




Irresistible Evangelism


Book Description

AUDIENCE: Senior Pastors, Adult Ministry Leaders, Evangelism Directors




The Reason for God


Book Description

A New York Times bestseller people can believe in—by "a pioneer of the new urban Christians" (Christianity Today) and the "C.S. Lewis for the 21st century" (Newsweek). Timothy Keller, the founding pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City, addresses the frequent doubts that skeptics, and even ardent believers, have about religion. Using literature, philosophy, real-life conversations, and potent reasoning, Keller explains how the belief in a Christian God is, in fact, a sound and rational one. To true believers he offers a solid platform on which to stand their ground against the backlash to religion created by the Age of Skepticism. And to skeptics, atheists, and agnostics, he provides a challenging argument for pursuing the reason for God.




Irresistible Church, The


Book Description

Bestselling church leadership author identifies 12 healthy traits of a growing church, showing how to develop a church that makes people want to come back.




PROOF


Book Description

It’s time to open your eyes to the freeing power of authentic grace—grace that releases us from trying to earn God's favor, grace that enables us to rest in the finished work of Christ, grace that liberates from the tyranny of trying to please others. That's what the theology of Martin Luther and John Calvin did in their own day for the people around them. Time magazine recently dubbed Calvinism as one of the top ten ideas changing the world right now. And yet most of these discussions center on the issue of predestination or on whether particular people agree with the five points of Calvinism. Daniel Montgomery and Timothy Paul Jones think it's time to rescue the theology of the Reformers from such stale scholasticizing and to declare anew the dangerous and intoxicating joy of the gospel that theyproclaimed. PROOF stands for planned grace, resurrecting grace, outrageous grace, overcoming grace, and forever grace. The authors offer proof of God’s grace upon which people can stand against the attacks of legalism that have led many of God's people to lose sight of the freedom and joy of the gospel. And this proof is intoxicating—it’s like a 200-proof drink that will leave you spiritually staggering at its effect on your life. God’s grace not only declares us “not guilty!” in his presence, it changes our relationship with God—forever.?




Starting Point


Book Description

Everything has a starting point--your life, your relationships, your education, your career. Sometimes we forget that faith has a starting point as well. For some of us, our faith journeys began in childhood as a set of beliefs handed to us by a parent, teacher, or pastor. Maybe you developed a framework of faith based on personal experience. Or maybe you had no faith at all. Too often, a faith formed in childhood isn't strong enough to withstand the pressures of adult life. But what if you could find a new starting point for faith? Welcome to Starting Point - an 8-session small group conversation about faith (DVD/digital video sold separately). Whether you're new to faith, curious about God, or coming back to church after some time away, it's a place where your opinions and beliefs are valued, and no question is off limits. During the eight sessions, you will: Use this Starting Point Conversation Guide to reflect on central questions of faith and life. Watch the video component each week in preparation or as part of the discussion. Explore and share what you're learning with other people in a conversational environment. Come as you are and build relationships with others as you discover your starting point. SESSIONS INCLUDE: Start Problem Trust Rules Jesus Grace Faith Invitation Designed for use with the Starting Point Video Study (sold separately). Andy Stanley is the founder of North Point Ministries, Inc. (NPM). Each Sunday, more than 36,000 people attend one of NPM's six Atlanta-area churches. To learn more and to access free online resources, visit www.northpointministries.org.