PSALMS FOR A SATURATED SOUL: AN ANCIENT GUIDE TO EMOTIONAL HEALTH
Author: Alan Frow, Lead Elder of Southlands Church, Brea, CA
Maybe, like me, you’re a bundle of paradoxes. On one hand, I bear God’s image. I have a marvelous capacity to cultivate beauty, experience intimacy, invent solutions, make promises, show mercy, resist evil, build culture, and encounter wonder. On my best days, God’s glory is profoundly displayed in my life.
On the other hand, I have this inescapable sense that I don’t reflect God as I should. The mirror of my life gets smudged and tarnished. I have a dreadful capacity to corrupt beauty, shatter intimacy, create problems, break promises, exploit the vulnerable, be tempted by evil, destroy culture, and become jaded with wonder.
What do we do about the frustrating duality of our souls?
PASTORING SMALL TOWNS: HELP AND HOPE FOR THOSE MINISTERING IN SMALL PLACES
Small town life is quite different from life in a big city. There is not as much traffic. People recognize each other at the grocery store. Local sporting events carry a different cultural weight, and it may not be out of the ordinary to wait behind a tractor or get used to the smell of a nearby factory. These communities are unique, and pastoring here is an extraordinary task.
THE WISDOM PYRAMID: FEEDING YOUR SOUL IN A POST-TRUTH WORLD
We're facing an information overload.
With the quick tap of a finger we can access an endless stream of addictive information—sports scores, breaking news, political opinions, streaming TV, the latest Instagram posts, and much more. Accessing information has never been easier—but acquiring wisdom is increasingly difficult.
In an effort to help us consume a more balanced, healthy diet of information, Brett McCracken has created the “Wisdom Pyramid.” Inspired by the food pyramid model, the Wisdom Pyramid challenges us to increase our intake of enduring, trustworthy sources (like the Bible) while moderating our consumption of less reliable sources (like the Internet and social media). At a time when so much of our daily media diet is toxic and making us spiritually sick, The Wisdom Pyramid suggests that we become healthy and wise when we reorient our lives around God—the foundation of truth and the eternal source of wisdom.
IF ONLY
Author: Jennie Pollock
Life doesn’t always go the way we hope it will. Whether it’s singleness, childlessness or some other big disappointment, it’s hard to be content when life lets us down.
For many years, author Jennie Pollock has struggled to feel content. With warmth and honesty, she answers common doubts that arise when life doesn't go the way we had hoped: Is God good? Is he enough? Is he worth it?
Broken for Blessing: The underrated potential of a medium-sized multiplying church
Author: Alan Frow, Lead Elder of Southlands Church, Brea, CA
Why write a book about church planting when there are already so many good ones out there?
Because our fixation with large churches means that those under 1,000 in size generally have a vision for growth via addition rather than multiplication—despite being uniquely equipped to do so.
In the West especially, where the megachurch looms large, it is easy for small or medium-sized churches to think, “Maybe one day when I grow up and have lots of resources I'll think of multiplying, but for now, I must grow by addition.” It doesn't have to be this way.
This is the story behind Southlands Church's multiplying journey. It is the story of every small or medium-sized multiplying church. We have never felt that we’ve had enough resources to feed the crowds but we’ve wanted to be involved in Jesus’ feeding miracle. We know that ultimately Jesus, not our churches, is the Bread of Life.
Small Town Jesus: Taking the gospel mission seriously in seemingly unimportant places
Author: Donnie Griggs, Lead Elder of One Harbor Church, Morehead City, NC
Small towns are big mission fields that are almost totally neglected by modern church planters. City ministry has become, for many, the definition of godly ministry. But what about the millions of people around the world who live in small towns? This is not just a book, it is a call to take the gospel everywhere, big or small, because that’s what Jesus told us to do.