From our friends at christianaudio

Christianity needs a powerful voice in today’s world. Such a voice can come only from strong leaders guided by God and devoted to Christ. Spiritual Leadership will encourage you to place your talents and powers at His disposal so you can become a leader used for His glory. This edition has been been completely revised. The language is updated with a modern flavor and a study guide has been added, designed as a tool to help you grow and successfully apply the principles in this classic book!

“This is the best book on Christian leadership I have ever read.” -Charles Colson

Many books have been written concerning leadership. Some have been classics and withstood the test of time. Fewer combine Biblical wisdom and clarity with humility and servant leadership; Spiritual Leadership by J. Oswald Sanders is one of those books. Required reading for many in leadership courses & positions, this classic book details the practices and hearts of some of the greatest leaders who ever lived. Sanders uses primary examples in Scripture (Moses, Nehemiah, Paul) and also some of the most important leaders of the last 200 years, such as C.H. Spurgeon and David Livingstone.

We would also like to thank Moody Publishers for partnering with us to offer this free audiobook download for the of the month of September. While you’re downloading the free book for this month, be sure to jump in and discuss the free download on our Facebook page!

Blessings!

christianaudio

Checkout some of our training videos on our YouTube Channel

Free Counseling Advice via Twitter

Free Counseling Advice via Weekly eBlast

Checkout Counseling Solution’s Membership Training Site

Help! My Marriage Has Grown Cold is a 64-page mini-booklet about Julie, Bob, and a marriage that has grown cold. Though Bob has checked out of their marriage, Julie decides to get help to win her marriage back to God. This booklet is a counseling case study that walks you through their dating relationship, the marriage, and where it went wrong.

Follow her journey, as she learns how to apply the Gospel to her personal life and then her marriage. If you want to restore your marriage to God, this booklet is for you. Help! My Marriage Has Grown Cold is for any person, male or female, who wants to know how to bring a marriage from the brink of divorce to a God-glorifying, one-flesh union.

You can pre-order larger quantities for your local church or counseling ministry. This booklet will be an excellent resource to give away to any marriage in trouble.

Pre-order any amount at the links below.

ISBN: 1846252199
ISBN-13: 9781846252198

Amazon pre-orders here: http://www.amazon.com/Marriage-Grown-Living-Fallen-World/dp/1846252199/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1280284926&sr=8-1

CBD pre-orders here: http://www.christianbook.com/help-my-marriage-has-grown-cold/rick-thomas/9781846252198/pd/252198?item_code=WW&netp_id=805132&event=ESRCN&view=details#curr

Day One Publishers pre-orders here: http://dayone.co.uk/index.php?_a=viewProd&productId=4795

Checkout some of our training videos on our YouTube Channel

Free Counseling Advice via Twitter

Free Counseling Advice via Weekly eBlast

Checkout Counseling Solution’s Membership Training Site

Are you more aware of your sin than of God’s grace? Nothing conquers condemnation like the message of the Cross. New levels of grace and peace await you as This Great Salvation unfolds the wonder of Christ’s finished work. Our hope is that a user-friendly format will make studying this glorious doctrine more fulfilling and less daunting.

I’ve read this book more than once. It is a yearly, easy to read reminder of God’s great work for me on the cross. If you are new in the faith or are discipling a new convert I heartily recommend This Great Salvation as a wonderful user-friendly, Christ-centered resource to accomplish that good goal.

This Great Salvation is a free PDF book that you can download from Sovereign Grace Ministries. You can also purchase a soft cover version of this book. Here is a list of the chapter titles:

FOREWORD

1. This Great Salvation (C.J. Mahaney)
2. Does Anyone Believe in Sin? (Robin Boisvert)
3. The Holiness of God (Robin Boisvert)
4. The Wrath of God (C.J. Mahaney)
5. Justified by Christ (C.J. Mahaney)
6. The Fruits of Justification (I) (Robin Boisvert)
7. The Fruits of Justification (II) (Robin Boisvert)

As a wonderful user-friendly-bonus each chapter has application questions at the end. This will be an excellent opportunity for parents to engage their teens about the content. In addition, this will be an outstanding family devotion resource for you to walk through the wonders of the gospel together.

Here are the application questions from chapter one:

1. What’s your single biggest fear?
2. An understanding of our great salvation is the perfect remedy for two common ailments. What are they? (Page 4)
3. Have you ever blamed God when something went wrong?
4. How do you handle anxiety and stress?
5. Is there any area where Satan consistently accuses you?
6. Glance back at the Super Bowl story on page 5. How does this affect your understanding of Romans 8:29-30?
7. How did you respond to Question #4 on page 9?
8. It’s too easy to keep theology locked up in our brains rather than letting it influence our behavior. What effect will this chapter have on your daily life?

In addition, there are book recommendations at the end of each chapter to further serve you as a discipler for Christ. Here are the recommendations from Chapter One:

1. God’s Words: Studies of Key Bible Themes by J.I. Packer
   (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1981)
2. The Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan (various editions
   available, including an inexpensive Penguin Classic)
3. Romans by John Stott (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity
   Press, 1995)
4. Still Sovereign by Thomas R. Schreiner and Bruce A.
   Ware, eds. (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 2000)

Share

Checkout some of our training videos on our YouTube Channel

Free Counseling Advice via Twitter

Free Counseling Advice via Weekly eBlast

Checkout Counseling Solution’s Membership Training Site

From the Mark Waltz blog

Skills are skills. Christ-follower or not. That’s why I’ve never understood the choice some Christians make to find a “christian plumber”, “christian roofer”, or a “christian surgeon.” Skills are skills. You can be a Christ-follower and be a poor plumber, a rotten roofer or a scary surgeon. Skills are skills.

Before Michael Franzese was transformed by God’s grace, he was among the best at what he did. He made money. Lots of money. He was a successful businessman – with the mob. Michael had… and has skills.

That’s why I think you should read Michael’s latest book, I’ll Make You An Offer You Can’t Refuse (Thomas Nelson). If you run a business, lead people, want to be successful in life, or want to better navigate a difficult financial climate, read Michael’s book. Michael has skills.

Read entire article HERE

Checkout some of our training videos on our YouTube Channel

Free Counseling Advice via Twitter

Free Counseling Advice via Weekly eBlast

Checkout Counseling Solution’s Membership Training Site

Theological soundness and shelf life are two wonderful bookends for a worthy book and Shepherding a Child’s Heart (SCH) is a regular recipient of both accolades.

I first read SCH in the late nineties as a requirement for my MA Counseling Program. This was before our current 7-year old was born. Therefore, I was reading this book because I had to, rather than reading it for immediate application.

surprised by God!

God changed my mind about the stated purpose of this book and I began to make immediate, specific and practical application to my life. The application was not for my future kids. God, in his providential mercy, began to affect my heart. This book was not only for me, but it was about me.

My life story began to unfold from its pages. Tedd Tripp brought clarity to my childhood and how those early shaping influences had conformed me to the person I am today.

He also gave me hope that I was not bound to some kind of genetic, familial or cultural determinism, but by the power of the Gospel I could be changed from those early childhood shaping influences and could be progressively transformed into deeper and more comprehensive Christlikeness.

It is one of those rare books that communicates bible truths so well that in a small way it imitates the bible by showing me a mirror where I can see more clearly who I really am and what I can be.

my primary criticism of the book

If I could rename the book I would call it Shepherding a Person’s Heart rather than Shepherding a Child’s Heart because it really does not matter what age you are or whether you have children.

The point and focus of the book has immediate application for any reader regardless of their season of life.

God did a wonderful work in my heart through the reading of this book as I learned to put into practice the following truths:

• The foundation for change must be rooted in the Gospel. This starting point will affect my ending point.
• You never ask if you are worshiping, but who or what are you worshiping.
• There have been many shaping influences in my life that have oriented me in very specific ways.
• My goal and primary focus must be toward God rather than anything else.
• The starting place for change is not external behavior, but my heart.
• Correction is not primarily about the parent or the child, but about God.
• The event of salvation is not the goal as much as the nurturing process toward salvation and beyond.

There are many more truths, practicums, warnings and encouragements in Tedd’s book that make it a must read for anyone. I also recommend you read it slowly rather than “just another book to get through.” Every now and then God gives us a book that stands the test of time because of its grounded theology and practical wisdom.

Shepherding a Child’s Heart is such a book.

Tedd’s little brother, Paul, has written the companion book for parents of teenagers, called Age of Opportunity. I have read this book as well and have found this tandem of books to be essential in child-rearing.

This post is the last in a series of posts on troubled teens. To read the previous posts in this series, click on any of the links below.

• Troubled Teens: Truth & Myth, 1.0
• Troubled Teens & Dads Who Lead Poorly, 2.0
• Troubled Teens & The False Continuum, 3.0
• Ricky & Lucy: the tale of two rebellious teens, 4.0
• Rebel Teens: Telling Mom the Truth, 5.0
• Rebel Teens Rebel Because They Are Rebels, 6.0
• Rebel Teens: Caution to the Counselor, 7.0
• Rebel Teens & The New Fix It Guy, 8.0
• Is There Hope for My Rebel Teen? 9.0
• Kid Help is Here, 10.0

Checkout some of our training videos on our YouTube Channel

Free Counseling Advice via Twitter

Free Counseling Advice via Weekly eBlast

Checkout Counseling Solution’s Membership Training Site

Bruce Ware has a new book out that will serve us parents as we disciple our kids.

You can get a look at it through the Desiring God Website.

Thank you Bruce for your diligence as well as your affection for His Church!

Checkout some of our training videos on our YouTube Channel

Free Counseling Advice via Twitter

Free Counseling Advice via Weekly eBlast

Checkout Counseling Solution’s Membership Training Site

Several years ago I read this book by Jeffrey Satinover, M.D. on homosexuality. It is by far the best treatment I have come across in my studies. Here is part of a review of this book by National Review:

THIS book is must reading for the millions who, thinking themselves compassionate, have recently come to endorse homosexuality as a legitimate alternative expression of man’s sexual nature. Dr. Satinover’s approach to the question is intriguing because he is, at once, a psychiatrist, a man with an unusual interest in the science that underlies his practice, and intensely religious. This is a clinician who speaks like a highly sophisticated Old Testament prophet and rejects morality based on Freud as fraudulent. He uses “the politics of truth” to refer both to honest science and to God’s word.

The book is divided into two parts, the first being a lengthy scientific inquiry into what we mean when asserting that a behavior is genetic, innate, or biologically determined. Granting that all behavior is biologically based in the sense that without our biological selves there would be no behavior, Satinover intends to educate us as to the difficulty of determining the cause of any particular behavior. He argues convincingly that the more complex behaviors, including sexual orientation, must be the result of a network of interactions involving several biological factors and those of the social environment, beginning with the family. Consider the case of your favorite basketball player: Only the right genes make possible the requisite height and agility, but lacking a society to nurture the child, invent the game, and prompt the desire to play, there will be no basketball player. Read more of the review HERE.

Purchase the book from Amazon HERE.

In This Series:

• Mailbag: God, Gays, Christians & Me
• Homosexuality and the Politics of Truth
• The Gay Guy Said, “I was born this way!”
• Will Gays Go to Heaven?
• A Lesbian Walked Into My Office
• I Dated a Lesbian

Checkout some of our training videos on our YouTube Channel

Free Counseling Advice via Twitter

Free Counseling Advice via Weekly eBlast

Checkout Counseling Solution’s Membership Training Site

I recently received a comment on one of my blog posts from Dennis Gundersen and as I was reading it I was reflecting on God’s kindness to me through his writings. He has written a book called Your Child’s Profession of Faith.

It is the best book I have read on the subject of discerning your child’s salvation and walking them through their profession of faith. It is a powerful and insightful book. It also is thin, which is a plus for us busy parents. Dennis has done well in serving the local church by putting his thoughts in a book.

One of my guest bloggers James Naisang was so encouraged by Dennis’ book that he put together this blog post for me: How Can I Know My Kid Is Saved?

Thank you Dennis for your good work! To find out more about Dennis Gundersen you can link to him here.

Other Helpful articles to help you think through what it means to be a Christian

1. Your Child’s Profession of Faith, by Dennis Gundersen
2. How Can I Know My Kid is Saved, by James Naisang
   
3. I Prayed: Therefore I Am … a Christian

Checkout some of our training videos on our YouTube Channel

Free Counseling Advice via Twitter

Free Counseling Advice via Weekly eBlast

Checkout The Christian Counselor Resource Center

Some of my readers were asking for free book resources. I sent them to the Sovereign Grace Ministries website. There are 9 free eBooks that you can download in PDF format. No strings attached. I’ve read them all and would highly recommend them to you.

Here’s the link to Free eBooks!

Here’s the list: How Can I Change? – Why Small Groups? – Disciplines for Life – The Rich Single Life – This Great Salvation – Am I Called? Discerning the Call to Ministry – Missiology: Entering the Field of the Lord – Polity – Serving and Leading the Local Church – Sovereign Grace and the Glorious Mystery of Election

A question from a reader: If you could have the Bible and only one other book or could only afford to buy one book before the end of 2008 to read which book would you buy?

Umm…this is a good question. It has been asked over the years by many and is usually interesting to read how folks would answer the question. I’d love to see how others would answer this question.

My first response: I’m not sure.

My second response: My choices change from year to year, from season to season, from suffering under God’s sovereignty to suffering under God’s sovereignty. In ’88 I would have said something different from my thoughts in ’98. And today my thoughts are quite different from a decade ago.