Planting and leading a new church is not easy. There are the inevtiable setbacks and challenges that come with launching anything new. And the process will test and try a leader’s faith, as they face discouragment, loneliness, and failure. In this book, pastor and seasoned chuch leader Wayne Cordeiro speaks the truth in love, offering wisdom and insight to prepare leaders as they face the difficulties and hardships of church planting, while providing encouragement and inspiration for the journey. “Sifted” is based on Jesus’ encouragement to Peter in Luke 22 to keep his faith and minister to others from his weakness. An experienced practitioner, Wayne shares the things he wishes he’d known when he was starting a new church. With additional stories from other prominent, seasoned leaders, each chapter includes a thought provoking, challenge question to develop a heart that is surrendered to God, focused on “being and becoming” versus “doing and accomplishing.” Wayne writes about a healthy integration and balance of personal care and leadership amidst the difficulties of the church planting journey. Loneliness and discouragement are normal in church planting, but God cares more about our journey of faith and who we are becoming than our worldly accomplishments and the churches we build. Church planting is an ongoing process of surrender, personal growth and character development. The book will challenge leaders to persevere and rededicate themselves to their calling, their marriage, and their family. Instead of a “how to” book on models and methods, this is a combination of a self-assessment book that challenges leaders’ scorecards of success, encourages leaders to realize that they are not alone in what they are experiencing, and provides wisdom for the long haul to position younger leaders for a life of ministry and finish strong.

The Death of a child. Bearing the unbearable. A journey of faith. The complex questions, experiences, and emotions that accompany grief are painfully isolating. Seize this rare opportunity to intimately journey alongside a grieving mother through the first seven years of grief. Candidly confront many painful yet common struggles of grief, and reconcile shattering loss with faith in God June 8, 2017, Scott and Karen Harmening's seventeen-year-old daughter, Sarah, was killed in a tragic church bus crash outside of Atlanta, Georgia. Scott was driving behind the bus and watched helplessly as it crossed into the adjacent lane striking another vehicle, sharply overcorrected, and then flipped across the interstate. After crawling through the wreckage to get to Sarah, he frantically called Karen to tell her to pray for Sarah who was pinned beneath the wreckage. Karen and their remaining daughters prayed together and hurriedly began the three-and-a-half hour drive from Huntsville, Alabama, to Scott and Sarah; only to learn upon their arrival that Sarah had died hours before. Karen, a Christian writer and blogger, immediately began writing to process the excruciating questions, experiences, and emotions that accompany the death of a child; Sifted is the collected work of seven years of writings. With raw honesty, explore the depths of the valley of the shadow of death with her to reconcile shattering loss with faith in God. Witness the unexpectedly sweet mingling of sorrow with hope and peace. And discover, deep in the shadowed valley, a costly joy rendered by sorrow so pure and precious that it is "inexpressible and full of glory." Highlights: -One hundred entries written over a span of seven years -Each entry is a transparent account of wrestling through a specific question, experience, or struggle related to grief -Entries may be read in chronological order or topically by using the included topical index -If you are grieving-read and be encouraged you are not alone -If you love someone who is grieving-read to better understand suffering and grief -If you love stories of faith triumphing in adversity-read and be blessed Explore topics such as: -Understanding Grief -Hard Questions Like "What If?" and "Why?" -Surviving the Many Hard Days and Dates -Finding Hope -Finding Joy -Loneliness and Abandonment -Spiritual Warfare -Will It Ever Get Better?

Has the final end-time generationspoken of by Jesus and the prophetsfinally arrived? Could our generation be the one that is witnessing the beginning phases of the second coming of the Lord? If so, will you be one of the faithful Jesus finds when He calls His church to heaven? In The Sifted Generation, Pastor Michael Henderson takes a unique look at the final generation from which the true church will be sifted just prior to the days of tribulation that are coming on the entire earth. The Bible tells us the times of that generation will be perilous! Blasphemies, selfishness, rebelliousness, gracelessness, slanderous hearts, hedonistic behavior, and a lack of respect for God, His church, and His commandments will rule the day. As evidenced in the social and cultural wars around the globe, it is evident that the world is already choosing its sides. Ironically, the Bible declares that a man will arise in the last days. He will be a religious leader who will have great charisma and the uncanny ability to garner support from large sections of unbelieving humanity. Through deceptive words, promises, and the quasi miraculous, this religious leader will then persuade his followers to support one even more sinister than he. This partner in deception will pounce on the opportunity to take the reins of the world under his control. The Sifted Generation explores what life will be like on Earth just before the Lord begins the consummation of all things. The question is: When the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the Earth? (Luke 18:8). Other titles by the author are 25 Reasons to Believe, editor and co-author with Bernie Lutchman and John Snyder, and, Those Who Are Wise Will Shine! Michael also writes for the periodical, The American Church Magazine.

A cock crows as eyes lock and Peter remembers. Empty words, so many well intended promises and fixed convictions vaporize as one fisherman's noble vow sours in bitter tears. "Lord, I'm willing to go to prison and even to death with You." Jesus nods. He sees, He knows. His impact on this simple Galilean was as real as it was secure, but the work was by no means finished. How could this now crippled son of Jonah have possibly wrapped his brain around participation in Jesus's passion, that he had to be sifted like wheat? How about us? Our identification as believers with One who loved and gave Himself is more than a nod with grateful approval, a "thank you Jesus for what You've done." We too participate. Literally. Actually. Necessarily. Sifting takes a believer's personal know how and determination to the threshing floor where they are crushed and dismantled, crucified with Christ. See it as the place where even your best efforts and my highest aspirations are exposed for what they are, filthy rags! At the cross and nowhere else can we find genuine rest and consummate relief by way of brokenness that leads to surrender-life and that more abundantly.