Resource Books

Sorted by Author below. Click here for books by Sifted Category.

When the Pastor Is Your Husband: The Joy and Pain of Ministry Wives 
By: Donna Bordelon Alde    An illuminating look at the joys and challenges of being a pastor’s wife. Drawing on surveys from more than 7,000 women, Alder’s well-researched guide provides encouragement, support, and practical help for those who are engaged in the often difficult life of a ministry spouse. Discover how to deal with expectations, loneliness, discouragement, and more.

Leading with a Limp
By: Dan B. Allender, PhD

Running on Empty: Contemplative Spirituality for Overachievers
Breaking the Rules: Trading Performance for Intimacy with God
Both By: Fil Anderson

In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day
By: Mark Batterson  What if the seemingly messy pieces of your life were actually strategically positioned by God?  What if you’ve actually been in the right place at the right time every time? In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day will help you make sense of your past. You’ll begin to connect the dots to see clearly how God has been preparing you for the future. With a God’s-eye perspective, you’ll soon be thanking Him – even for lions, pits, and snowy days.

The Circle Maker: Praying Circles Around Your Biggest Dreams and Greatest Fears
By: Mark Batterson  According to Pastor Mark Batterson in his book, The Circle Maker, ‘Drawing prayer circles around our dreams isn’t just a mechanism whereby we accomplish great things for God. It’s a mechanism whereby God accomplishes great things in us.’ Do you ever sense that there’s far more to prayer, and to God’s vision for your life, than what you’re experiencing? It’s time you learned from the legend of Honi the Circle Maker—a man bold enough to draw a circle in the sand and not budge from inside it until God answered his prayers for his people. What impossibly big dream is God calling you to draw a prayer circle around?

Church Structure that Works: Turning Dysfunction into Health
By: Bill Blanchard   Some of the biggest challenges that pastors and church leaders face are rooted in a non-biblical church structure. These challenges lead to low morale and discouragement, and they can drain enthusiasm and kill vision faster than almost anything else. This book shows you how to build an effective biblical church structure so that troubling dysfunction can be transformed into a healthy environment.

It’s Personal 
Surviving and Thriving on the Journey of Church Planting
By: Brian Bloye, Amy Bloye   It’s Personal is a look into the personal lives of church planters and their families. Brian and Amy Bloye write as church planting veterans and discuss the challenge of balancing family and ministry, knowing your calling, launching the church, dealing with spiritual warfare, growth and change, leading staff, being authentic, maintaining spiritual vitality, building lasting friendships, and thriving while planting a new church.  Coming April 2012 as part of the Exponential Series.

Sifted
Pursuing Growth through Trials, Challenges, and Disappointments
By: Wayne Cordeiro,  with Francis Chan & Larry Osborne   Based on Jesus’ encouragement to Peter in Luke 22 to keep his faith and minister to others in his weakness, Wayne Cordeiro shares the difficulties and hardships of planting and leading new churches while providing wisdom and inspiration for the journey. Coming April 2012 as part of the Exponential Series.

Leading on Empty: Refilling Your Tank and Renewing Your Passion  
By: Wayne Cordeiro  Are your leadership responsibilities so overwhelming that you’re running on fumes? Don’t let burnout get the best of you! Drawing on his own experience, Cordeiro shows you how to keep your tank from running dry. Discover how to achieve proper balance, get back in touch with your life, allow God to re-energize you, and more.

I Surrender All: Rebuilding a Marriage Broken by Pornography
By: Clay Crosse & Mark Tabb  Dove Award-winning artist Clay Crosse and his wife, Renee, share their personal story of his struggle with pornography and how they rebuilt their marriage.

Living in a Glass House: Surviving the Scrutiny of Ministry and Marriage
By: Donald Harvey, Gene Williams Is your marriage buckling under the stress of ministry? Does your spouse resent the intrusions on family time? Are your kids rebelling against unrealistic standards of conduct imposed on them? The glass house of ministry leaves no place to hide. The high visibility of you and your family affects everyone in the household. Survival begins with accepting the fact that there is no escape. Yes, people are watching–but that’s okay. Donald Harvey and Gene William give you insights on having a successful ministry and focusing on a healthy, happy relationship with your spouse and your kids. Your glass house can be a crystal palace!

Defying Gravity: How to Survive the Storms of Pastoral Ministry 
By: Daniel Henderson  Satan is good at clipping pastors’ wings in order to defeat Christ’s church. How can you protect yourself? Equipping you to avoid temptations and traps, Henderson instructs you on nine key gauges to keep you soaring! Discover the strength of spiritual intimacy, stabilizing factor of biblical identity, empowerment of a healthy family life, and more. 224 pages, softcover from Moody.

Who You Are When No One’s Looking: Choosing Consistency, Resisting Compromise 
By: Bill Hybels   Originally published in 1987, Hybels’s bestseller is now updated with a new introduction, a chapter on character, and a discussion guide. Considering courage, discipline, vision, endurance, and love, Hybels shows us that integrity counts most when it might not seem to matter; and that—with God’s guidance—we can reflect the person of Christ without wavering.

My Struggle, Your Struggle – Breaking Free from Habitual Sin
By: David Erik Jones
An honest and straight forward look at sexual addiction and the deliverance that can come. This book chronicles a pastor’s walk to freedom sharing insights learned through his personal struggle with porn and reveals how God has redeemed his sinful past. The lessons learned are shared in brief but informative chapters that provide a wealth of information for anyone who is ready to break free.

Sifted: God’s Scandalous Response to Satan’s Outrageous Demand 
By: Rick Lawrence  Have you ever been so shaken, beaten, and agitated by life that you feel like you’re falling apart? Why does God allow us to be sifted like wheat? Drawing on Luke 22:31–32, Lawrence explores the agonizing trials that devastate us, the good God who allows them, and the beauty they ultimately reveal in us.

The Furious Longing of God
By Brennan Manning

QBQ! The Question Behind the Question: Practicing Personal Accountability at Work and in Life  
By: John G. Miller  Succinct, insightful, and practical, QBQ! The Question Behind the Question provides a method for putting personal accountability into daily action, which can bring astonishing results: problems get solved, barriers come down, service improves, teamwork grows, and people adapt to change.

Stepping Up: A Call to Courageous Manhood
By:  Dennis Rainey

Renewal for the Wounded Warrior: A Burnout Survival Guide for Believers
By: R. Loren Sandford  Refreshingly candid and down to earth, longtime renewal leader R. Loren Sandford provides a life preserver for anyone struggling with burnout. Far from a formulaic approach, Loren discusses the successive stages of woundedness and burnout and plumbs the depths of what is often referred to as “the dark night of the soul.”

Emotionally Healthy Spirituality: Unleash a Revolution in Your Life in Christ
By: Peter Scazzero  The Christian faith is supposed to produce deep, positive changes. So why doesn’t it? Pastor Scazzero did some digging and discovered a bottom line truth: It’s impossible to be spiritually mature while remaining emotionally immature. Here he reveals seven steps to transformation that will help you live a life of authenticity, awareness, and hunger for God. 240 pages, softcover from Nelson.

Five Ministry Killers and How to Defeat Them: Help for Frustrated Pastors
By: Charles Stone   What Frustrates You in Ministry? You probably began your ministry believing you’d make a kingdom difference. That dream may now seem elusive. Perhaps you wonder if it’s time to move on, or out.  Before pastors reach burnout and leave the ministry, they experience frustration and disappointment in ministry. Charles Stone, a veteran pastor, helps his fellow pastors understand and meet the challenges, regaining hope and energy to continue in their calling.

Margin
By: RIchard A. Swenson, MD

Throw It Down: Leaving Behind Behaviors and Dependencies That Hold You Back 
By: Jud Wilhite  What’s holding you back?  You can experience the freedom and peace you desire. Throw It Down is filled with proven principles and inspirational stories from people who now experience wholeness after years of destructive behavior. Learn how to deal with your past and take hold of your chance to be free.

Torn: Trusting God When Life Leaves You in Pieces 
By: Jud Wilhite  You may be experiencing a time of such darkness that you wonder if you will ever find “normal” again or look toward the future with hope. In Torn, Jud explores your questions as well as God’s answers-and God’s mysteries. With a pastor’s heart, he looks with you at practical ways to fight for joy, deal with anger and depression, and make the million tiny decisions that add up to a life committed to God even when your heart is broken.

Hope After Betrayal: Healing When Sexual Addiction Invades Your Marriage
By: Meg Wilson  Written from firsthand experience, this amazingly open book offers hope and healing for women who have been hurt by their husband’s sexual addiction.