Ordinary People Faithful God

Short personal stories on the theme of stewardship in the Christian's life to inspire and challenge us.

Radical. Crazy. Transformative and restless. Every word we read these days seems to suggest there’s a “next-best-thing,” if only we would change our comfortable, compromising lives. In fact, the greatest fear most Christians have is boredom—the sense that they are missing out on the radical life Jesus promised. One thing is certain. No one wants to be “ordinary.” Yet pastor and author Michael Horton believes that our attempts to measure our spiritual growth by our experiences, constantly seeking after the next big breakthrough, have left many Christians disillusioned and disappointed. There’s nothing wrong with an energetic faith; the danger is that we can burn ourselves out on restless anxieties and unrealistic expectations. What’s needed is not another program or a fresh approach to spiritual growth; it’s a renewed appreciation for the commonplace. Far from a call to low expectations and passivity, Horton invites readers to recover their sense of joy in the ordinary. He provides a guide to a sustainable discipleship that happens over the long haul—not a quick fix that leaves readers empty with unfulfilled promises. Convicting and ultimately empowering, Ordinary is not a call to do less; it’s an invitation to experience the elusive joy of the ordinary Christian life.

How can you walk by faith in the face of uncertainty?There's a big difference between living a life trusting in the fake stability of the world and living a life of significance with an unshakeable God. We've all gotten the wind knocked out of our sails, but it's time to keep sailing. In this study, you will learn from scripture how to:-Dig in your heels with tenacity when you feel like giving up.-Worship instead of worry when life throws you curve balls.-Quit living skin-deep by cultivating the inner beauty of trust in God.Come along with blogger, pastor's wife, and author Rachel Risner for this timely six-week journey. Walk alongside real women of the Bible through their struggles and successes, and discover how to become a woman of significance.

"It was a blessing to read all the experiences related in your book, they are moving and also inspiring. It is a good selection of God's intervention in the lives of His people showing us that He is interested in our health, just as much as He is interested in our day-to-day struggles. I observed that the purpose of His intervention is always the salvation of His people. I praise God for putting in your heart the thought of gathering these experiences and I also pray that many people will be inspired just as much as I was." Claudia Panaitescu. "This book is an inspirational series of easy-to-read personal accounts evidencing how Divine interventions were made in the lives of ordinary people. I grew up believing that God is capable of making the impossible possible. Ordinary People, Extraordinary Stories has served to amplify my faith in God's willingness to heal, provide and care for those who trust in Him today." Ainsley Stephenson "Remarkable stories of ordinary people with great faith who see extraordinary events in their day-to-day lives as they put their trust and hope in the promises of God." Rev Canon David Sherwin "From this respected elder in the Seventh Day Adventist Church, a qualified hospital nurse, midwife, and psychologist, comes a series of sixteen accounts of remarkable answers to prayer. Fifteen people, of all ages - children and elderly - experienced how God healed, provided money, and relief from crises, in impossible situations (often caused by the callousness of modern capitalism) In a series of narratives, each headed by a promise from the Bible ( from a dozen books, e.g. the Psalms, St. Matthew's gospel, and the epistles of St. Paul and St. James, we read how people over the past thirty years, in the West Indies or the U.K., were healed (e.g. Of migraine, cancer, spinal injury, epilepsy, cerebellar ataxia, dementia, and loss of sight caused by diabetes). They were rescued from lack of food, large debts (often wrongly charged to them), and the clutches of modern evils (e.g., criminal clamping of a car, or nicotine addiction) All these happy outcomes resulted from the faithful response of the LORD God to sincere and fervent prayers to Him, spoken by Christians, through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Medical treatment, partnered with individual or corporate prayer and (fasting), calm or desperate, for a few minutes, or over several years. As a retired Church of England clergyman {1979-2018} I am reminded by this book of the preaching and ministry of the late Father Trevor Dearing: he informed and inspired my wife and myself over almost five decades. I welcome, as Father Trevor would have done, this challenging catalogue of carefully, and Biblically, explained events, that demonstrate that our God is alive, loving and powerful: and equally at work in 'free' churches, such as the Seventh Day Adventists, as he is in Anglican churches. As simple believers in Jesus Christ, as Saviour, Lord, and God, we all need one another in this confusing and often cruel and dangerous 21st Century." Daniel Foot, (retired C. of E. Rector)

D. A. Carson's father was a pioneering church-planter and pastor in Quebec. But still, an ordinary pastor-except that he ministered during the decades that brought French Canada from the brutal challenges of persecution and imprisonment for Baptist ministers to spectacular growth and revival in the 1970s. It is a story, and an era, that few in the English-speaking world know anything about. But through Tom Carson's journals and written prayers, and the narrative and historical background supplied by his son, readers will be given a firsthand account of not only this trying time in North American church history, but of one pastor's life and times, dreams and disappointments. With words that will ring true for every person who has devoted themselves to the Lord's work, this unique book serves to remind readers that though the sacrifices of serving God are great, the sweetness of living a faithful, obedient life is greater still.

You don't have to be perfect to do God's work. Look no further than the twelve disciples, whose many weaknesses are forever preserved throughout the pages of the New Testament. Join bestselling author John MacArthur in Twelve Ordinary Men as he draws principles from Christ's careful, hands-on training of the original disciples for today's modern disciple, you! Jesus chose ordinary men--fishermen, tax collectors, political zealots--and turned their weakness into strength, producing greatness from people who were otherwise unremarkable. The twelve disciples weren't the stained-glass saints we imagine. On the contrary, they were truly human, all too prone to mistakes, misstatements, wrong attitudes, lapses of faith, and bitter failure. Simply put, they were flawed people, just like us. But under Jesus' teaching and touch, they became a force that forever changed the world. MacArthur takes you into the inner circle of the disciples--their selection, their training, their personalities, and their incredible impact. As MacArthur took a closer look at the lives of the twelve disciples, he found himself asking difficult questions along the way, including: Why did Jesus pick each of the twelve disciples? How did Jesus teach them everything he could in just eighteen short months? Can the lessons that Jesus taught the disciples can still influence our faith today? In Twelve Ordinary Men, you'll learn that disciples are living proof that God's strength is made perfect in weakness. As you get to know the men who walked with Jesus, you'll see that if he can accomplish his purposes through them, he can do the same through you.

It's OK to not be a "radical" Christian. Our life is not about what we do for God. It's about what he does for us. You've heard the message. "If you really loved God, you would be totally committed-do something big, sell your belongings, maybe become a missionary." Matt Redmond has preached it himself. But here he simply asks: What about the rest of us? Through stories of pastors, plumbers, dental hygienists, and stay-at-home moms, Matt finds grace and mercy in chicken fingers, classic films, and smiles from strangers. Ultimately, he convicts us of what he has learned himself... There is a God of the mundane, and our life is not about what we do for him. It's about what he does for us.

Everyday Christians need practical and accessible theology. In this handbook first published in 1890, Charles Octavius Boothe simply and beautifully lays out the basics of theology for common people. "Before the charge 'know thyself,'" Boothe wrote, "ought to come the far greater charge, 'know thy God.'" He brought the heights of academic theology down to everyday language, and he helps us do the same today. Plain Theology for Plain People shows that evangelicalism needs the wisdom and experience of African American Christians. Walter R. Strickland II reintroduces this forgotten masterpiece for today. Lexham Classics are beautifully typeset new editions of classic works. Each book has been carefully transcribed from the original texts, ensuring an accurate representation of the writing as the author intended it to be read.

They were just ordinary people--a loyal servant, a woman who desperately wanted a child, an old man who still had hope, and a young teenager who couldn't quite believe God's great love. Ordinary people who prayed extraordinary prayers to an extraordinary God. They weren't always eloquent. They weren't always the type of person you might think God would listen to. But they trusted God and his plans for their lives, and that made all the difference. Life-Changing Prayers tells their stories and shares their desperate, hopeful, and gratitude-filled prayers, inspiring and emboldening readers to ask God for the desires of their own hearts. Anyone who desires to pray life-changing prayers, as well as anyone whose prayer life has grown stagnant or nonexistent, will find here the encouragement to pray confidently and expectantly to the God who always hears--and always answers.