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Countless books are designed to help leaders to become better leaders. But most resources neglect the underlying emotional struggles of both emerging and established leaders, who are often isolated and suffering in silence. Leadership professor Nicholas Rowe and counselor Sheila Wise Rowe offer their expertise in helping leaders process painful and traumatic experiences. Trauma contributes to how we lead others in either empowering or dysfunctional ways. Understanding how these experiences formed us is the beginning of the path to healing.Woven throughout each chapter are five themes--invitation, attachment, remembrance, healing, and reconnection. Healing Leadership Trauma lays out the emotional challenges of leadership and offers encouragement, prayer, and therapeutic tools to help leaders face their pain and begin to heal.

Surrounded by a Cloud of WitnessesDo you ever feel like you're alone in your struggles to live out the Christian faith? Do you ever read the Bible yet still wonder what it looks like to follow Jesus in the complexity and difficulty of our time?The stories of great men and women throughout the history of the church can help us form a bridge between the teaching of Scripture and our embodied lives. This illustrated devotional vividly depicts the lives and words of great women and men of faith. Artist Ben Lansing and Anglican priest D. J. Marotta offer fifty-two profound images and reflections on Christians, from Polycarp in the first century to the martyrs of Sudan in the twenty-first century. These saints, from every continent and century of church history, demonstrate the historic church's relevance for Christians today and reveals God's faithfulness in all times and circumstances.The artwork, biographies, devotionals, and prayers in this book are meant to spark our imaginations, helping us to be faithful here and now, in our own age.

Can we still have joy in a world of pain and anxiety?The troubles around us and in our lives lead many of us into a joyless experience where despair and hopelessness are the norm. Yet something within us still longs for a joy that transcends our challenges and gives us meaning and satisfaction.Alastair Sterne says that our inner longings for joy actually point us to a God of joy who gives us both the capacity for joy and the realities of joyful experience. Sterne explores pathways to joy and why we often experience the absence of joy. He then offers theologically grounded and research-based practices for becoming people of joyful presence. Even if we are not temperamentally happy enthusiasts, we can gradually cultivate the deep abiding joy that we were created for and that enriches the world around us.

The Spiritual Practice of Watching MoviesWhat's your favorite Christmas movie? Easter movie? Pentecost movie? Casual viewers and movie buffs alike have favorite movies to watch at certain times of the year. But for film critic Abby Olcese, movies with spiritual themes aren't just limited to the holiday season. They're part of a deep human need to connect our favorite stories to the natural rhythms of our lives, and to let them shape and give meaning to our experience of the seasons all year long.The life of the church is also defined by stories, which we revisit through the pattern of the Christian year. In Films for All Seasons, Olcese invites us to reflect on the great themes of the church calendar through the lens of film. From superhero movies and Star Wars to classics and arthouse films, she chooses movies for each liturgical season and leads us through them with skill and infectious enthusiasm, exploring how each one can inform and deepen our appreciation of its corresponding season.Films for All Seasons is more than just a book about movies--it's a model for how we engage with art as Christians.Includes: Explorations of popular, classic, and arthouse films and how they relate to liturgical seasonsReflections on the great themes of the church calendarDiscussion questions after each movie designed to facilitate discussion with small groups and friends

Two of the world's greatest crises, systemic racism and environmental destruction, share the same origin story. The two are rooted in economic forces that exploit and oppress both people and land.Pastor and activist David Swanson shows how we have failed our God-given duty as caretakers of creation and how that failure has resulted in the exploitation of people and the extraction of natural resources. Racial and ecological injustice share the same root cause--greed--that turns people and the natural world into commodities that are only valued for their utility. Yet Christians have the capacity to live in a way that nurtures racial and environmental justice simultaneously, honoring people and places in dynamic relationship with our Creator God. Swanson shows how we can become communities of caretakers, the way to restore our relationship with creation and each other, and the holistic justice that can result.

Family discipleship is one of the most basic ways God has ordained to build his kingdom--and yet most parents struggle to do it consistently.Amid our busyness, the multitude of different approaches, and our own self-doubts, the deck seems stacked against us. But Brian Dembowczyk isn't here to pile on the guilt or to make us feel like failures. As a parent himself, he knows this struggle firsthand.In Family Discipleship That Works, Dembowczyk says that the goal of discipling our kids isn't just passing along head knowledge. It's teaching them to act like Jesus. The Bible itself is not just a story but a drama in which we ourselves participate, and our kids have roles to play too. Dembowczyk offers practical advice and a wealth of ideas for teaching our kids to imitate the character traits of Jesus himself as we "act out" the Christian life together.As parents, we are indeed called to disciple our children to know and act like Jesus. By God's grace, that's a task we can do--not out of guilt but with joy and good hope.Family Discipleship That Works . . . Invites parents into more active family discipleship without judgmentalism, but with grace and understandingPresents "imitating Jesus" as a new model for understanding and enacting family discipleshipIncludes practical, achievable advice for parents to live out these principles in their homes

How do you rebuild your life after it falls apart?Catastrophic events often feel like the end of the world. When we feel like we have nothing left, we sometimes wish for our own end too. Yet God keeps waking us up every morning--a sign that God wants us to keep living when our world ends. We must find our way to the new life that awaits us on the other side of loss. But how?Dawn Sanders has traveled this path before and lived to tell the tale--not once but twice. After a divorce and then the sudden death of her second husband, Dawn discovered a buried treasure in Genesis 1: God's process for creating new life out of chaos. In When Your World Ends, Dawn digs deep into the creation story and unearths a seven-step process by which God brings us out of the void and into new beginnings. With her unique perspective, authenticity, and courage, Dawn meets those who are starting over and guides us into renewed hope.

How to Fight Sexism in the ChurchDespite the real progress that has been made in recent years, women continue to be silenced, wounded, and relegated to the sidelines in our churches. Many churches--even churches that outwardly affirm and platform women--remain unaware of the patterns and cultures at play that set up unseen barriers for women.This is a book for Christians who want to learn how to do better. Heather Matthews has experienced sexism in the church firsthand. In Confronting Sexism in the Church, she explores the history and culture of sexism in our contemporary evangelical world and describes the many ways--subtle and not so subtle--that it lives on in the church today. She gives simple, practical steps for how Christians can actively fight sexism in its many forms.The mistreatment of women has been part of the human experience from the very beginning--but in Christ, women are set free to be all they've been created to be. This book invites churches to live out that reality in all its fullness.

Here is a one-year guide through one of our most treasured books: J. I. Packer's Knowing God. Each day you'll read a Scripture and a brief passage about the glory and joy of being in relationship with God. At the end of each day's reading you will find a prompt to help you respond to God in prayer and reflection. This could be the most significant book you will read this year--or next.

Trust is not transformation. Instead, we must invest trust for transformation.Groups that have become skeptical need leadership to refuel a sense of community and continuity if change is going to happen. But trust can be easily hoarded or squandered. In this fully illustrated volume in the Practicing Change Series, Tod Bolsinger outlines steps to envision trust for the sake of growth.More adaptive leadership titles in the Practicing Change Series: How Not to Waste a CrisisThe Mission Always WinsLeading Through Resistance

People don't resist change. They resist loss.Leading people who struggle to see the future feels impossible. As hesitancy overwhelms, we can't eliminate change, but we can chart a steady course through it. In this fully illustrated volume in the Practicing Change Series, Tod Bolsinger teaches courage and empathy for communities stuck in the loss of the past.More adaptive leadership titles in the Practicing Change Series: How Not to Waste a CrisisThe Mission Always WinsInvest in Transformation

It's time to further the mission. Not the boss, not the team, not the stakeholders--the mission.Change requires tough decisions. But when the focus is blurred, how can we stay on track? We need clarity and agreement on the real task at hand--our genuine mission. In this fully illustrated volume in the Practicing Change Series, Tod Bolsinger guides us through naming competing values and realigning the driving purpose with missional clarity.More adaptive leadership titles in the Practicing Change Series: How Not to Waste a CrisisLeading Through ResistanceInvest in Transformation

A Christian case for natural burialThe promises of the Christian gospel are never more precious or more beautiful than in the context of death and burial. And yet current burial practices in Western society are archaic and impersonal. They fail to confront us with the reality of death, and they make it harder to process death or to grieve properly.Kent Burreson and Beth Hoeltke have been teaching a Christian understanding of death and natural burial for many years. They argue that natural burial--laying the body into the earth in a way that allows it to decompose naturally--is not only better for the environment but is also a more accurate picture of Christian hope of the resurrection. Grounded in sound Christian teaching about death and burial, they advocate for natural burial and offer practical instructions for navigating the complex questions around burial practices.Lay Me in God's Good Earth is not only an immensely practical guide to natural burial; it is also an application of the hope of the resurrection to those grieving the loss of their loved ones.

Penny loves the sermon on Sunday because she loves to think about big things. But when preaching from the front porch to her friends doesn't turn out quite as she expected, Penny wonders if she was wrong to want to teach others about God. Written by Amy and Rob Dixon, Penny's story reminds us that God gives good gifts to everyone!

Ministering to Christian NationalistsPastor Caleb Campbell has watched as Christian nationalism has taken over large swaths of the United States. And he's suffered the relational fallout of standing against it, both in his community and his church. While it's possible to be both a Christian and hold Christian nationalist ideas, Christian nationalism itself is an un-Christian worldview, rooted in ideas about power, race, and property that are irreconcilable with Christian faith. Campbell has come to see himself as a missionary to Christian nationalists, reaching out to them with the love and freedom of Jesus Christ.In Disarming Leviathan, Campbell equips Christians to minister to their Christian nationalist neighbors. He introduces the basics of Christian nationalism and explores the reasons so many people are attracted to it. He also addresses a variety of American Christian nationalist talking points and offers questions and responses that humbly subvert these claims and cultivate deeper, heart-level conversations.Christian nationalism is an established feature of the American landscape. Disarming Leviathan can help prepare us to confront it with compassion and hospitality, and with the truth of the good news of Jesus.

Men of their time?Jonathan Edwards, John Wesley, and George Whitefield were the three most prominent early evangelicals--and all three were deeply compromised on the issue of slavery. Edwards and Whitefield both kept slaves themselves, and Wesley failed to speak out against slavery until near the end of his life.In Ownership, Sean McGever tells the true story of these men's relationships to slavery: a story that has too often been passed over or buried in scholarly literature. Laying out the dominant attitudes among Christians toward slavery at the time, McGever sets these "men of their times" in their own context, inviting us to learn how these shapers of American evangelicalism contributed to the tragic history of racism in America. He also explores how Christians finally began to recognize that slavery, which they'd excused for most of Christian history, is actually wrong. It's a story that white evangelicals must wrestle with today.Ownership is more than a book of history. It's an invitation to examine our own legacies and to understand--and take ownership of--both our heritage and our own part in the story.

Many who lead or who aspire to lead rightly champion the importance of hard skills, or quantitative and analytical skills. Knowing the numbers and implementing the right strategies are important but no longer enough to be an effective leader. Indeed, soft skills are now on the scene.In The Softer Side of Leadership, Habecker, who spent thirty-five consecutive years as a CEO of two universities and one large NYC nonprofit, makes the case for the integration of soft skills, like emotional intelligence and character quality. He shares that these should be woven into every aspect of the leader's personal life and organizational agenda. Habecker draws from his own experience, that of other international colleagues and popular leadership literature, and from the Scriptures. As you develop your soft skill competencies, including new behaviors and disciplines, and combine them with hard skill competencies, you will be better equipped to be more effective as a leader. Join Habecker in building healthier professional and personal lives and healthier organizations.

Every adoption is rooted in loss.Adoption is often framed by happy narratives, but the reality is that many adoptees struggle with unaddressed trauma and issues of identity and belonging. Adoptees often spend the majority of their youth without the language to explore the grief related to adoption or the permission to legitimize their conflicting emotions.Adoptee and counselor Cameron Lee Small names the realities of the adoptee's journey, narrating his own and other adoptees' stories in all their complexity. He unpacks the history of how adoption has worked and names how the church influenced adoption practices with unintended negative impacts on adoptees' faith. Small's own tumultuous search for and reunion with his mother in Korea inspired him to help other adoptees navigate what it means to carry multiple stories. His adoptee-centered advocacy helps adoptees regain their agency and identity on a journey of integration and healing, with meaningful relationships in all their family systems.

In this meditation on birding as a practice of hope, Courtney Ellis weaves together stories from her own life, including the death of her grandfather, with reflections on birds of many kinds. By "looking up to the birds," Ellis found the beauty of these creatures calling her out of her darkness into the light and hope of God's promises.

Growing up as an Indian American immigrant in white Southern culture, Prasanta Verma unpacks the exhausting effects of cultural isolation and marginalization as well as the longing to belong and the hope of finding safe friendships in community. Our places of exile can become places of belonging-to ourselves, to others, and to God.

"We are in the business of seeing others, seeing them the way God sees them, and letting them know they have value."Amy L. Williams has spent three decades doing ministry with youth in gangs and prisons. While most of society sees high-risk youth through lenses of fear or disregard, she has come to see them through God's eyes as having tremendous value and potential. Worth Seeing provides an up-close look at her work--successes, losses, lessons, and embarrassing mistakes. Through personal narrative, Amy reveals the lives of youth who are often pushed to the margins of society. Her storytelling both challenges perceptions and increases compassion and understanding, not just with youth, but all people. Practical tips equip you to take action to see others the way God sees them.

What is critical race theory?It may be one of the most widely referenced issues of the day, but it's also one of the least understood. In its translation from the academic world to the general public, critical race theory has inaccurately become a catch-all term for anything related to race. But what does it actually mean, and how should Christians engage it?Ed Uszynski is uniquely positioned to address the dynamics of critical race theory. He earned his PhD in American culture studies in the university world and navigated the realities of Marxist critical theory and critical race theory--while still a white male conservative Christian ministering in traditional contexts. In this enlightening guidebook, he unpacks what critical race theory really is and how Christians can make sense of it. Uszynski carefully explores CRT's roots and tenets, revealing what it aims to do and also how some portrayals of CRT misrepresent its purposes. With responsible answers to legitimate concerns, Uszynski goes beyond the surface to provide a reliable path of just discernment and cultural engagement.

The hour is critical. The American republic is suffering its gravest crisis since the Civil War. Conflicts, hostility, and incivility now threaten to tear the country apart. Competing visions have led to a dangerous moment of cultural self-destruction. This is no longer politics as usual, but an era of political warfare where our enemies are not foreign adversaries, but our fellow citizens.Yet the roots of the crisis are deeper than many realize. Os Guinness argues that we face a fundamental crisis of freedom, as America's genius for freedom has become her Achilles' heel. Our society's conflicts are rooted in two rival views of freedom, one embodied in "1776" and the ideals of the American Revolution, and the other in "1789" and the ideals of the French Revolution. Once again America has become a house divided, and Americans must make up their minds as to which freedom to follow. Will the constitutional republic be restored or replaced?This grand treatment of history, civics, and ethics in the Jewish and Christian traditions represents Guinness's definitive exploration of the prospects for human freedom today. He calls for a national conversation on the nature of freedom, and poses key questions for concerned citizens to consider as we face a critical chapter in the American story. He offers readers a checklist by which they can assess the character and consequences of the freedoms they are choosing.In the tradition of Alexis de Tocqueville, Guinness provides a visitor's careful observation of the American experiment. Discover here a stirring vision for faithful citizenship and renewed responsibility for not only the nation but also the watching world.

I am with you, I will strengthen and help you, I will uphold you. God's promises spoken through Isaiah offered reassurance and comfort during difficult days, and they're still true for us today! Join Bible teacher Kori de Leon in this six-week Bible study experience on Isaiah 40-48, pointing us to God's faithfulness and mercy.

Many bemoan the decline of the church. But new research shows that unchurched Americans are surprisingly more receptive and open to the Christian faith than is commonly assumed.Researcher and practitioner Rick Richardson unveils the findings of the Billy Graham Center Institute's groundbreaking studies on the unchurched. A study of 2000 unchurched people across the country reveals that the unchurched are still remarkably open to faith conversations and the church. Further research into the top 10 percent of churches that most effectively reach the unchurched reveals their best practices. People who were previously unchurched share what actually moved them to faith and Christian commitment. And research shows that churches and organizations can be transformed to become places where conversion growth becomes the new normal.If people tell you "the sky is falling," don't believe them. You can lead the change that will help your church reach people-who then reach others.

The cross is the heart of Scripture, the axis upon which the biblical story turns. In our ongoing quest to make meaning of the cross, Brian Zahnd helps us see that there are infinite ways to behold the cross of Christ as the beautiful form that saves the world. Accept the invitation to encounter the cross of Christ anew.

Christianity Today Award of MeritWhat if our memories are like shells we gather on a beach?According to pastor and spiritual director Casey Tygrett, "We--and all those who have come before us--pick up the experience and we sense it: we feel its edges, notice its color, we smell the distinctive character (for shells it is the sickly seafood salt smell) of the experience, and we try to make sense of what it is. Is it beautiful? How would you describe the color--the tones, the shades, wrapped around the ridges and swirls? Has it been damaged? Does the hard edge scrape our hand, leaving a blemish or a mark?"How we hold and carry these memories--good and bad--is a part of what forms us spiritually. In this way we have a common bond with the people of Scripture who also had a sensory life, gathering shells and trying to make sense of them. Previously titled As I Recall, Casey Tygrett's writing in The Practice of Remembering explores the power of memory and offers biblical texts and practices to guide us in bringing our memories to God for spiritual transformation.

While Christians generally acknowledge that the Bible is God's Word, many of us lack robust confidence in the reality of its trustworthiness. We may not be sure if we really believe what we read. But the more we understand how Scripture came to be, the more we discover its power and truth.Historian Susan Lim unpacks how the history of the Bible bolsters our faith and anchors us through the changing tides of time. The story of Scripture, while messy and complicated at times, is also the story of how God shepherded his people throughout the centuries in and through these writings. Lim explains how Christians came to accept certain documents as inspired and not others, and how the books we now call the Bible came to be assembled and canonized as authoritative. The same Spirit of God who oversaw the writing of Scripture continues to be at work actively in us in our receiving and reading of it, to grow us in faith and maturity.Those of us who confess that Jesus is Lord can also confess with confidence that Scripture is God's Word. As the church through the ages has received and passed down the sacred Scriptures, so too can we receive for ourselves the living Word that God still speaks through today.

Life is filled with challenges. We might be weary and overwhelmed by the world around us. Whether we are facing personal struggles or working against unjust circumstances, it can feel like the odds are against us. Does God care? How can we carry on?There is hope for us because God is a God of justice who cares for people in distress. Bruce Strom shows how those facing difficulties can receive God's power to persevere. By looking to God's perspective and purpose, we can find direction for what God has in store for us. He transforms our understanding of the past and gives us resources to renew our souls and find fresh strength to continue on. Strom shares how God has been active in his life and in others', encouraging us with examples of how lives can change and things can be different.If you're running on empty and are tired from the fight, discover the persevering power God has for you.

In stirring verse and essays, Katy Bowser Hutson chronicles her battle with breast cancer and the complications of faith amid such a fight. Accentuated by the art of Jodi Hays, Katy's words lead us through the realization of cancer, the experience of chemotherapy and a mastectomy, relentless rounds of radiation, the uncertainty of ongoing treatment, and what comes after survival. She writes in resistance to sickness, of wrestling toward beauty:Cancer is an overgrowth, a kudzu: Tangling and strangling legitimate life. Chemo is a killing, a burning out: Burning down to ashy carbon, indiscriminately But cancer, did you know that I am a poet?Through it all, she shows what it means to struggle in a battered body and to pray to a God who is near to the broken. Join her in this consideration of mortality and witness her persisting trust in God's unseen ways.