God can turn your messy life into a masterpiece. Every life gets messy at times. Sometimes these messes are literal, like a house that would be easier to condemn than to clean. But sometimes they are intangible messes such as illness, conflict, depression, abuse, bankruptcy, divorce, and job loss. And these messes can be painful, hurting our hearts and our homes. But as we see in the Bible, God loves to use messy people! In… read more

Discover the light of Christmas in a world of hardship and hope. Home for Christmas brings inspiring stories of hope and second chances into the Advent season. Author and pastor Justin Coleman matches real life stories of struggle and triumph to the Advent themes of hope, love, joy, and peace to show how the light of Christmas shines brightly even in hard times. Each chapter lifts up a scripture reflection alongside tales of… read more

Rejoice at the meaning and miracle of Christmas! The Christmas season is one of the busiest times of the year. But it is also a season of reflection and preparation for that special day when we remember the arrival of our eternal God in our own frail humanity. Let the Christ of Christmas prepare your heart for the celebration of his birth through a devotional journey reflecting on Advent and Christmas. Enjoy thirty-one… read more

The world of horsemanship has much to teach us about ministry leadership. Horses are accustomed to leaders. They want a leader. They expect a leader. From the first bridle to a horse’s last day in the barn, horse-lovers know that life with a horse is a complicated, challenging, beautiful, and sometimes bewildering experience. It takes Patience, Partnership, Communication, Trust, and Preparation—among other… read more

Connecting the light of the manger with the hope of the returning Christ. The Gift of New Hope, originally published in 2015, invites readers to explore their yearning for God's presence through a study of the lectionary Bible readings for Advent and Christmas. Each week's Scriptures call us to praise God as we actively await the coming of Christ and prepare our hearts and lives for his arrival. Through the readings, we hear… read more

Preparing for Christ one Gospel at a time. Each Gospel, in its own way, leads us on the Advent journey of preparation for Christ’s coming. Awaiting the Already, originally released in 2015, takes a tour through the four Gospel narratives that announce Christ’s birth or make way for his ministry. Readers will discover what parts of the Christmas story come from which Gospel, recognizing an invitation from… read more

Understand and love your listeners, to get preaching right. Preachers can find help from many resources to get the text right, the structure right, and the delivery right. Preaching with Empathy aims to help preachers and homiletics students learn to deeply understand and love their listeners, in order to get preaching right. Preachers who profess a love for God, Scripture, and preaching, but who lack loving empathy for the… read more

A preacher’s classic methodological guide, updated with significant new material. Doing justice to the complexity of the preaching task and the questions that underlie it, author Paul Scott Wilson organizes both the preparation and the content of the sermon around its "four pages."  Each "page" addresses a different theological and creative component of what happens in any sermon. Page One presents the trouble or… read more

As older church leaders, we’ve been told a million times that the Millennials and Gen Xers who are coming up behind us don’t think like we think. We don’t get it and it frustrates us. Guess what? We need to get over it and let it go. Because, get this: it’s up to us to mentor and empower the generations that follow us into church leadership. Sadly, many of us are doing just the opposite; we’re… read more

Heal the church by rediscovering a generous orthodoxy. Embracing the Wideness contrasts a generous orthodoxy with the culture wars that seek to drive a wedge between Christians with deep faith convictions.  A generous orthodoxy is possible for The United Methodist Church because scripture supports both a confessing movement and a reconciling movement. In addition to our divergent understandings of holiness in The United… read more

This workbook is a powerful companion resource for Stride: Creating a Discipleship Pathway for Your Church (ISBN: 9781501849220), and as a standalone resource. It is for anyone wanting to grow disciples. The workbook focuses on the work individual ministry leaders must do to equip those in their ministry area to develop their own individual discipleship pathway. The original Stride shows church leaders how to create a… read more