Why Pastors Quit


Book Description

My journey as a pastor had quite a few ups and downs. Although there were many aspects of serving in full-time ministry that I loved, there were more things that happened along the way that made a negative impact on both myself and my family. After I resigned from the pastorate, it took several years of forgiving and getting plugged in to a healthy church before I really began to heal from the hurt. Whether you've spent your entire career as a pastor or if you have recently thrown in the towel, Why Pastors Quit is an easy-to-read book that will encourage you and make you ask the question: What can I do to help change the statistics?




Is Sunday School Destroying Our Kids?


Book Description

How do we make grace part of Christian living? Does Sunday School encourage discipleship and teach our children faith? People in the world often reject Christianity simply because they can't distinguish it from mere morality. The world needs morality--oppression thrives when consciences are abandoned--but we need more than that alone. We need the gospel of grace. A gospel that has largely been lost amid the dos and don'ts and preoccupations of religious culture.12 Essays on the Distinction Between Grace and Morality Includes perspectives on topics such as: Why Do Our Children Leave the Church?Graceless Goodness: The Problem with MoralismThe False Gospel of "Just Do It"The Temptations of Christian PublishingThe Ugliness of Religious RighteousnessThe Insidious Danger of "I'd Never Do That"We Read the Bible the Wrong WayComments from Readers I like what Sam Williamson has to say about how good people--people like us--may be piling burdens on our children they can't possibly bear. Has the good news of the gospel magically morphed into bad news for them? Read Sam's provocative new book to find out. -Ann Spangler, Author, Praying the Names of God (and many other books) These days we hear so much and think so little. We consume without digesting and then wonder why our body is acting strangely. In this book, Sam helps us look carefully, graciously, and wonder-fully at the Gospel and the beliefs of our heart. -Gary Barkalow, founding director of The Noble Heart, and Author, It's Your Call. This has got to be one of the best books on raising Godly children (or simply new believers) I've ever read. Thank you. -Brian This is as clearly and as beautifully communicated as I have heard the Gospel for a long time. -Bob This is such an excellent read!!! I wish all Christians could read it. What a great blessing to see this truth presented in a way that it is so easily understood. Thank you for this thoughtful book. - Linda This is a fitting warning that Christian education could fall into moralization (and idolizing "heroes of faith"). The same warning is applicable even to the whole teaching/preaching ministry of many churches. - RayFrom the Book People often pit grace against moralism. And they should. Moralism circumvents heart-changed morality. We need moral men and women, but moralism damages the foundation of heart-change. It's okay to pit grace against moralism, but let's not pit grace against morality. Grace is the source of real morality, and grace--thank God!--breaks the bars of moralism that imprison us. Is Sunday School Destroying Our Kids? exposes moralism for its false pretensions--the sham that it is--and it moves our hearts to believe the gospel, for the first, or the hundred-and-first, time.Available in Print and eBook Editions Scroll up and order your copy now.




Godmothers


Book Description

There is a role unique to women that we abandon easily. We live near each other, but not with each other--and not for each other. We don't want to intrude or judge and, maybe, we don't want to see each other truly succeed. And the world is happy with this unhappy state for women--one that pushes us to conform to a pattern of distrust, disengagement, and competition. It's no wonder we've lost ourselves, and our way. In her most personal, powerful book yet, New York Times bestselling author Lisa Bevere offers a catalytic, transformative vision for women of a different way to live--one that embraces the presence of a godmother--the older, wiser women you can go to and learn from, the strong women who partner with us through life. And everyone needs one! Drawing from her own life, biblical women, and the world of fairy tales, Lisa will show you how to transform what you have into what God wants you to have, push you forward during seasons of doubt, and love you enough to speak truth about God's larger, expansive view of your life. Lisa's candid, compassionate words are your best first step to living as a daughter of God, surrounded by strong relationships and confidence in your calling.




Never Unfriended


Book Description

Written by Lisa-Jo Baker of the (in)courage women's community, Never Unfriended, is a step-by-step guide to friendships you can trust with personal stories and practical tips to help you make the friends, and be the friend, that lasts.




The Act of Marriage


Book Description

A book for married couples, from newlyweds to those married for fifty years or more, advice on how to maintain a healthy sex life.




The Secret of Contentment


Book Description




Heaven Is a Place


Book Description




Computing Algorithms with Applications in Engineering


Book Description

This book collects high-quality research papers presented at the International Conference on Computing Applications in Electrical & Electronics Engineering, held at Rajkiya Engineering College, Sonbhadra, India, on August 30–31, 2019. It provides novel contributions in computational intelligence, together with valuable reference material for future research. The topics covered include: big data analytics, IoT and smart infrastructures, machine learning, artificial intelligence and deep learning, crowd sourcing and social intelligence, natural language processing, business intelligence, high-performance computing, wireless, mobile and green communications, ad-hoc, sensor and mesh networks, SDN and network virtualization, cognitive systems, swarm intelligence, human–computer interaction, network and information security, intelligent control, soft computing, networked control systems, renewable energy sources and technologies, biomedical signal processing, pattern recognition and object tracking, and sensor devices and applications.




Portrait of Obedience


Book Description

I determined to write a devotional biography. In no sense is this volume a critical analysis of the man's theology or his actions. Instead, it is the account of an Allegheny mountain farmboy with a limited education and a severe physical handicap who promised God the only thing he had to offer: obedience. Each experience in Dr. Ketcham's life reinforced the principle that obedience is all God expects from anyone. The story of Robert Thomas Ketchum is the story of God's sufficient grace in the life of His obedient servant. Thus, the message of this volume is simple: God rewards obedience. As a historian, I was captivated by the manner in which Dr. Ketcham's life was rooted in the history of fundamentalism. In order to portray him correctly, I felt it important to show some of the conflicts within the Northern Baptist Convention. It also seemed necessary to present briefly the development and decline of the Baptist Bible Union, a movement in which Dr. Ketcham was deeply involved. Finally, since in many respects the story of his life is the story of the General Association of Regular Baptist Churches, some history of the Association has also been included. Dr. Ketcham was a vital part of the history of the Baptist fundamentalist movement. He was by no means the only figure, but he was an important figure. His life was devoted to the defense of biblical Christianity. It is my prayer that this volume might help the reader achieve a more complete understanding of fundamentalism in its historic context. - Preface.




Networking


Book Description

Networking means to create nets of relations, where the publisher and the reader, the artist and the audience, act on the same level. The book is a first tentative reconstruction of the history of artistic networking in Italy, through an analysis of media and art projects which during the past twenty years have given way to a creative, shared and aware use of technologies, from video to computers, contributing to the creation of Italian hacker communities. The Italian network proposes a form of critical information, disseminated through independent and collective projects where the idea of freedom of expression is a central theme. In Italy, thanks to the alternative use of Internet, during the past twenty years a vast national network of people who share political, cultural and artistic views has been formed. The book describes the evolution of the Italian hacktivism and net culture from the 1980s till today. It builds a reflection on the new role of the artist and author who becomes a networker, operating in collective nets, reconnecting to Neoavant-garde practices of the 1960s (first and foremost Fluxus), but also Mail Art, Neoism and Luther Blissett. A path which began in BBSes, alternative web platforms spread in Italy through the 1980s even before the Internet even existed, and then moved on to Hackmeetings, to Telestreet and networking art by different artists such as 0100101110101101.ORG, [epidemiC], Jaromil, Giacomo Verde, Giovanotti Mondani Meccanici, Correnti Magnetiche, Candida TV, Tommaso Tozzi, Federico Bucalossi, Massimo Contrasto, Mariano Equizzi, Pigreca, Molleindustria, Guerriglia Marketing, Sexyshock, Phag Off and many others.