Mark Oestreicher
Christian Living
“One of my life values is that uniqueness is better than conformity, firmly believing (though I realize this is strong) that conformity only leads to death. My work with church leaders shows me that healthy thriving churches are not only places of diversity, but they love that about themselves. A Fellowship of Differents will feel like a commendation to churches who already live in this tension, and like a loving and prophetic intervention for those who wrongly worship the god of sameness.”
Church Leadership & Ministry
“I have quite literally never read a youth ministry book anything like this: full of history, story, theological articulation, and implication. Absolutely fascinating.”
Counseling, Grief & Mental Health
“I don't normally think of grief and beauty cozying up with one another. But that's the indelible impression this gorgeous book imprinted on my heart and mind. Slevcove—with sometimes startling vulnerability and relentless authenticity—opens up her journey into and through grief, shining a light on something far, far better than simple platitudes or greeting card perk pills. This book reveals truth. And it's the best kind of truth, messy and heart-wrenching and full of the potency of new life.”
Arts & Literature
“I remember when the 'What Would Jesus Do?' tsunami almost completely engulfed all of us who worked with teenagers. Suddenly, we felt compelled to provide an answer to that impossible question. Problem was: most of us didn't really have a clue what Jesus would do, really. And any honest reading of the Gospels reveals that his disciples didn't know what Jesus would do either. Coffee with Jesus steps into that same tension, responding with plucky, snarky and occasionally awkward honesty. We don't really know the full answer to 'What Would Jesus Say?' But I'd sure like it to be close to the Jesus in these panels.”
Church Leadership & Ministry
“I regularly find that parents want help but don’t know where to find the good stuff. So much parenting advice is fear-based and impractical. But Jonathan’s gift to us is that he writes to parents from the intersection of hopeful parenting and practical ideas.”
Church Leadership & Ministry
“In an era of drive-by, short-term missions, David Livermore brings reconstruction. He does not merely suggest cultural sensitivity; he helps us deconstruct and build something new—a pathway to cultural intelligence that can guide us to be citizens of the kingdom of God while being proactively engaged as neighbors in the world.”
Everything You Want to Know about Jesus
Christian Living
“We have some seriously jacked-up ideas about who Jesus was and is, and what he did and does. Pete and Ben...[will] lead you on a casual, blunt, and even whimsical road rally through...well...everything you need to know about Jesus. (Well, you know...read the subtitle.)”
Church Leadership & Ministry
“I genuinely want the teenagers I work with to develop Christlike character. (I desire this in my own life as well.) But that’s not because I want them to be good girls and boys who grow up to be well-behaved church members; my motivation is that I want teenagers to experience vitality and a glorious partnership with Jesus in his redemptive work in the world. Faith Beyond Youth Group provides rails to run on with research, theological insight, and plenty of practical ideas, bringing to life what some might wrongly think of as a rusty relic of the past.”
Marriage, Family & Relationships
“Calling this book practical is an almost-ridiculous understatement: it’s a bounty of creative starters for deep conversations between teenagers and parents! There are plenty of helpful, theoretical parenting books on the market; but Jonathan’s book isn’t merely one to think about, it’s a gift to be used.”
Evangelism & Missions
“Let me read anything Brian McLaren writes, and I’ll be thinking in new ways immediately. Brian speaks with more practical clarity than any author I know who’s engaging the postmodern discussion. And just as he did with A New Kind of Christian, the dialogical approach in More Ready Than You Realize will pull you along and put meat on the bones of this critical discussion.”
Marriage, Family & Relationships
“So many books on this topic are written by people who don’t actually interact with real teenagers. But McKee is a practitioner first, a frontline youth worker with current and regular interactions with Christian teenagers wrestling with the intersection of their faith and their sexuality. Never condescending to teenagers or parents, Jon brings his blunt and honest writing style to a subject I wish more parents were talking about with their teens.”
Presence-Centered Youth Ministry
Children & Youth
“Wow. Talk about stirring the pot! Mike King gets way out on some beautiful and truthful thin ice, naming many of the closely held wrong assumptions and faulty practices of modern youth ministry. Then he crosses to the other side of this thin ice, and suggests a path forward. Congrats to Mike, and to anyone willing to thoughtfully consider the ideas in this book!”
Children & Youth
“In a youth ministry world where what normally passes for new is really recycled stuff from the 70s and 80s, Efrem Smith stands out: he's an original thinker. Sure, people have thrown around the word holistic for a while, but Efrem shows us how to implement a real-life ministry that truly is just that.”
Children & Youth
“I love it when I discover an area in my youth ministry practice or thinking where I was wrong. This is God's ongoing revelation to me, peeling back misconceptions and malpractices, causing growth in my life and practice of youth ministry. Amanda Drury's book winsomely confronted me and conclusively helped me rediscover a critically important aspect of adolescent spiritual formation that I—along with thousands of my youth ministry peers—had gradually relegated to the youth ministry storage closet in the basement of the church. Time for a course correction; time for growth; time for testimony.”
Shaping the Journey of Emerging Adults
Discipleship & Christian Education
“When it comes to young adults, the American church seems to be stuck between handwringing ("Why are there no twentysomethings in our church?") and finger pointing ("Why don't those people grow up?"). Neither of these responses are particularly helpful. Thankfully, Sundene and Dunn sidestep this lose-lose response and suggest a relational approach, not a program. Shaping the Journey of Emerging Adults is praxis at its best: well-researched and theologically informed, yet real-world practical.”
Children & Youth
“I find that missions are consistently the best and the worst programs we offer in youth ministry. The potential for transformation and kingdom impact is palpably real, but the hidden curriculums of self-actualization, pity and judgment, and tourism too often turn what could be beautiful and good into a narcissistic mush. How wonderful to have a research-based guide to avoiding the worst of what short-term missions can be, and leaning into the best.”
Church Leadership & Ministry
“Youth workers have always known that the impact of divorce on kids was substantially deeper than pop culture would want us to believe, and now thankfully Root tells us why this is true. Reading Children of Divorce felt like sitting with Root--precariously, uncomfortably--in the three-way intersection of history, psychology, and theology.”
They Like Jesus but Not the Church
Evangelism & Missions
“A wonderful bridge between the real-world orthopraxy of the emerging church and the “we want to learn and understand” posture of all healthy church leaders. Dan clearly has his finger on the pulse of twentysomethings outside the church.”
Marriage, Family & Relationships
“As a lifelong youth worker, I'd always suspected that parenting teenagers wasn't easy; but after the fits and starts, joys and anxieties of parenting two of my own, I'm convinced that parenting teenagers is the single most difficult task in the universe. But like most difficult tasks, parenting teens can be immeasurably rewarding. What we all need—and what Jim Burns provides in this helpful book—is a wise traveling companion.”
NOTE: Only includes books currently in our catalog; not necessarily a complete list.
Help! I'm a Junior High Youth Worker!
Children & Youth
Marriage, Family & Relationships
Children & Youth
Children & Youth
Wild Truth Bible Lessons--Pictures of God 2
Children & Youth
Wild Truth Journal-Dares from Jesus
Bible Studies & Devotionals
Church Leadership & Ministry
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