This spring, my wife wrote a new book that I know will be a tremendous blessing and help to ladies. It is titled The Choice Is Yours and encourages ladies to purposefully live with a strong and joyful walk with the Lord. It will be a help to Christian ladies of all ages.

I have an “inside perspective” of the author’s life, and I know Terrie to be qualified to write such a book. Her consistent and effective walk with the Lord challenges me. Through this book, she shares how to develop and nurture a vibrant walk with God and how to make daily choices in many areas, including the following:

• Authenticity
• Faith
• Identity in Christ
• Joy
• Strength in trials
• Victorious, Spirit-filled living

It seems there is not enough material written specifically for ladies to encourage them in their walk with God. This book will be a great resource, and I’m thrilled that Terrie has written it. (more…)

One of the most exciting projects for me of this past year has been my newest book, In Desert Places. The subtitle—what happens when unlikely people in unlikely places encounter the presence of God—is actually a summary of what I have firsthand seen God do here in the desert.

Twenty-five years ago, God led our family to a small, but growing, city on the backside of the desert. By all outer appearances, this struggling church with just a handful of members was an unlikely place for spiritual growth.

When we moved to the desert, however, I found my attention especially drawn to stories in Scripture that speak of desert places. And I noticed, that God worked some of His most memorable miracles in these places that appear unlikely to us. (more…)

One hundred seventy years ago this month David Livingstone sailed for the continent of Africa. As I read the biography of Livingston this summer, I was struck by the appropriateness of the book’s subtitle: One who followed Christ. As a missionary-explorer, Livingstone’s life was spent carrying the Gospel into the deep interior of the dark continent of Africa.

Livingstone preached the Gospel in hundreds of African villages, and he saw some fruit from his labor. He couldn’t have known, however, of the fruit that would come in the generations to follow. The missionaries on African soil today are there largely because of the sacrifices Livingstone made to follow Christ through unknown paths, staggering on through fever, loneliness, and even abandonment. (more…)

For years I’ve wanted to write a book for deacons. The deacons who serve our church have been a help to me—and to our entire church family—beyond what words can describe. Their ministry is vital, and its intricacies are definitely worthy of a book.

The Ministry of a Baptist Deacon is that book—just back from press. It is the compilation of years of lessons given at deacons orientations and meetings. It is designed to be a handbook for local church deacons, equipping them as servant leaders in the church. (more…)

What do you love? What consumes your heart and your life? Whatever your answer—this is your passion.

Christ loves the church. He loved it so much that He gave His life for it. And He has commissioned the church to bring His divine plan of redemption into all the world by planting more churches. This is God’s passion.

I’m thrilled that my friend, Dr. Bud Calvert, has written God’s Passion about this very topic. Dr. Calvert is a church planter, and his church has sent out dozens of church planters. He writes on a subject with which he is well acquainted, making this manual on church planting a rich mine of truth and practical help. (more…)