Jay Charles has narrated 13 audiobooks on Listento.it by 12 authors, with an average listener rating of 4.6★ across 26 ratings. The most-rated is God's Power to Change Your Life.
The Life You've Always Wanted
Summary
Ignite a deeper, more vibrant relationship with God that impacts not just your spiritual life, but every aspect of your daily life. John Ortberg calls listeners back to the dynamic heartbeat of Christianity - God's power to bring change and growth - and reveals how and why transformation takes place. The Life You've Always Wanted offers modern perspectives on the ancient path of the spiritual disciplines. But it is more than just a book about things to do to be a good Christian. It's a road map toward true transformation that starts not with the individual, but with the person at the journey's end - Jesus Christ. As with a marathon runner, the secret to finishing a race lies not in trying harder, but in training consistently - training with the spiritual disciplines. The disciplines are neither taskmasters nor ends in themselves. Rather, they are exercises that build strength and endurance for the road of growth. The fruit of the Spirit - joy, peace, kindness, etc. - are the signposts along the way. Paved with humor and sparkling anecdotes, The Life You've Always Wanted is an encouraging and challenging approach to a Christian life that's worth living - a life on the edge that fills an ordinary world with new meaning, hope, change, and joy.
©1997, 2002 John Ortberg (P)2002 Zondervan
God's Power to Change Your Life
Summary
"In the years I have been a pastor," writes Rick Warren, "the number one question I'm asked is, 'Rick, why can't I change?'" People want to change - but they're stuck. Here's how to get unstuck. Drawing simple but powerful truths from the Bible, this book gives you practical guidance for specific types of change, and it links you up with the power to actually make the changes you long to make. This is no pie-in-the-sky theory. It's what redemption is about, and it's founded on the resurrection power of Jesus himself. Power that cancels your past and sets you free to get on with life. Power to conquer your problems. Power to change. The first two chapters help you lay the foundations for change. Then, taking you inside the Scriptures, Rick Warren guides you step by step through 10 different areas. Do you want to: Become a more joyful person? Cultivate a peaceful life in this uptight world? Be a kinder, more gracious individual? Replace self-indulgence with self-control? Experience what the truly "good life" is all about? You can! All of the above and more are covered in plain, straightforward language. As you apply the truth of God's word by the power of his spirit, your life will change. You'll move out of your rut - and get on track with God's wonderful purposes for your life.
©2006 Rick Warren (P)2006 Zondervan
Boundaries with Teens
Summary
Establish wise and loving limits that make a positive difference in your teen, in the rest of your family, and in you. The teen years: relationships, peer pressure, school, dating, character. To help teenagers grow into healthy adults, parents and youth workers need to teach them how to take responsibility for their behavior, values, and lives. From best-selling author and counselor Dr. John Townsend, Boundaries with Teens is the expert insight and guidance you need to help your teens take responsibility for their actions, attitudes, and emotions and gain a deeper appreciation and respect both for you and for themselves. With wisdom and empathy, Dr. Townsend applies biblically based principles for the challenging task of guiding your children through the teen years. Using the same principles he used to successfully raise two teens, he shows you how to: Deal with disrespectful attitudes and impossible behavior in your teen Set healthy limits and realistic consequences Be loving and caring while establishing rules Determine specific strategies to deal with problems, both big and small Discover how boundaries make parenting teens better today! Plus, check out Boundaries family collection of books dedicated to key areas of life - dating, marriage, raising young kids, and leadership. Workbooks and Spanish editions are also available.
©2006 John Townsend (P)2006 The Zondervan Corporation
Everybody's Normal Till You Get to Know Them
Summary
Normal? Who's normal? Not you, that's for sure! No one you've ever met, either. None of us are normal according to God's definition, and the closer we get to each other, the plainer that is. Yet for all our quirks, sins, and jagged edges, we need each other. Community is more than just a word; it is one of our most fundamental requirements. So how do flawed, abnormal people such as ourselves master the forces that can drive us apart and come together in the life-changing relationships God designed us for? In Everybody's Normal Till You Get to Know Them, teacher and best-selling author John Ortberg zooms in on the things that make community tick. You'll get a thought-provoking look at God's heart, at others, and at yourself. Even better, you'll gain wisdom and tools for drawing closer to others in powerful, impactful ways. With humor, insight, and a gift for storytelling, Ortberg shows how community pays tremendous dividends in happiness, health, support, and growth. It's where all of us weird, unwieldy people encounter God's love in tangible ways and discover the transforming power of being loved, accepted, and valued just the way we are.
©2003 John Ortberg (P)2003 Zondervan
Disappointment with God
Summary
Philip Yancey has a gift for articulating the knotty issues of faith. In Disappointment with God, he poses three questions that Christians wonder but seldom ask aloud: Is God unfair? Is he silent? Is he hidden? This insightful and deeply personal book points to the odd disparity between our concept of God and the realities of life. Why, if God is so hungry for relationship with us, does he seem so distant? Why, if he cares for us, do bad things happen? What can we expect from him after all? Yancey answers these questions with clarity, richness, and biblical assurance. He takes us beyond the things that make for disillusionment to a deeper faith, a certitude of God's love, and a thirst to reach not just for what God gives, but for who he is.
©1988 Philip Yancey (P)2008 Zondervan
Justifiable Means
Summary
This rape case is different from most: the victim is more than willing to testify and there's ample evidence to put the suspect behind bars. But one thing gnaws at Detective Larry Millsaps - young and beautiful Melissa Nelson knows too much about the evidence needed to convict her attacker. Millsaps's investigation unearths the suspect's brutal track record, but also some stunning revelations about Melissa's own past. Caught in a deadly conflict between the ironies of the law and the demands of his Christian convictions, the detective finds himself protecting Melissa - even as evidence mounts that could imprison not only an inhuman criminal, but also the woman Millsaps has come to love.
©1996 Terri Blackstock (P)1996 Zondervan Publishing House
Reaching for the Invisible God
Summary
"How do I relate to a God who is invisible when I'm never quite sure he's there?" (Philip Yancey) Life with God doesn't always work out like you think it should. High expectations slam against the reality of personal weaknesses and unwelcome surprises. And the God who, you've been told, wants a personal relationship with you may seem remote, emotionally unavailable. Is God playing games? What can you count on this God for? How can you know God? This relationship with a God you can’t see, hear, or touch - how does it really work? Reaching for the Invisible God offers deep, satisfying insights to the questions you are sometimes afraid to ask. Honest and deeply personal, here is straight talk on Christian living for the listener who wants more than pat answers to life's imponderables. Ultimately, Yancey shifts the focus from your questions to the One who offers himself in answer. "A brilliant book. It is both profound and simple, the best blend, in my view. Simple is neither shallow, nor simplistic. The sections on doubt and God's 'absence' are classics." (Rick Warren, pastor and author, The Purpose Driven Life)
©2000 Philip Yancey (P)2000 The Zondervan Corporation
The Purpose-Driven Church
Summary
Every church is driven by some controlling force: tradition, finances, programs, events, personalities, or even the building itself. But author and pastor Dr. Rick Warren, the founder of Saddleback Valley Community Church in California, believes that a church can only be truly healthy if it becomes "purpose-driven," built around the 5 goals Jesus stated in the New Testament. Dr. Warren's illuminating work outlines a proven 5-part strategy that will enable your church to become warmer through fellowship, deeper through discipleship, stronger through worship, broader through ministry, and larger through evangelism. By shifting the focus away from church-building programs, Dr. Warren emphasizes a people-building, inclusive process that will allow your church to grow without compromising its message and mission.
©1999 Rick Warren (P)1999 Zondervan
God's Answers to Life's Difficult Questions
Summary
Life's difficult questions have answers - answers from the Bible that can change your outlook and your life. Rick Warren takes you inside the Scriptures to see what they reveal about 12 of the most pressing questions people ask. They are questions you yourself either have been asked or most likely will ask. This book provides simple, straightforward answers you can begin to apply right away to move past your worst sticking points and enjoy a life of purpose, peace, and significance.
©2006 Rick Warren (P)2006 Zondervan
The Edge of Honor
Summary
A man's duty...a woman's passion...The Edge of Honor cuts both ways. In this sweeping novel of the Vietnam War at sea and on the homefront, Lieutenant Brian Holcomb, smart, ambitious, honorable, and up for promotion, discovers that his ship - the USS John Bell Hood - hides a dangerous secret. What Brian does about it may end his career, or threaten the lives of hundreds.A fully-imagined tale of passion, adventure, and betrayal, The Edge of Honor features a cast of characters whose public vows and private motives drive the plot.
©1995 P. T. Deutermann (P)2009 Brilliance Audio, Inc.
Dangerous Church
Summary
Dangerous churches should be the norm. Church leaders and church people alike shrink back from danger because we want safety. Jesus said that he's overcome the world and its troubles. Dangerous churches put everything on the line for the one thing that matters most: reaching lost people. It's dangerous not to be a dangerous church. This book is less about methods or even the message of God, but about a church that risks everything it has to reach lost people. Living Hope was birthed eight years ago and has grown from five families to 5,000 attendees, grown from one to 19 services on many campuses, and baptized 5,000 people along the way. A dangerous church sees what "only God" can do when it acts upon what the church is supposed to be. It risks everything to reach people. God wants us to live on the edge of our margin when it comes to mission and methods. So much of Living Hope's journey has been going back to the Book of Acts and trying to live authentically with the givens of who they were, where they were, and what they had to work with. They learned to abandon agendas and short-sighted human plans, especially ones that copied what other churches were doing. That's when they found God's blessing. "We went from being a good church to being a God-honoring church," the author reports. Drawing insight from the book of Acts, this book unfolds the very personal journey of a pastor, and then his entire church, when they finally began to live a dangerous faith. The transition had a dramatic impact on the pastor's life and marriage, as well as on the congregation and its outreach. It opened a new sense of mission and incredible spiritual fruitfulness. The pastor is not only a radically different person today, but the entire church has become an atmosphere that values taking dangerous steps of faith. It will lead Christ's followers to become risk-takers who change the world through a revolution that begins with a dangerous grace.
©2011 John Bishop (P)2011 Zondervan
Sticky Faith
Summary
Sticky Faith delivers positive and practical ideas to nurture within your kids a living, loving faith that lasts a lifetime. Research indicates that almost half of high school seniors drift from their faith after graduation. Struck by this staggering statistic, and recognizing its ramifications, the Fuller Youth Institute (FYI) conducted the "College Transition Project" in an effort to identify the relationships and best practices that can set young people on a trajectory of lifelong faith and service. This easy-to-listen-to guide presents both a compelling rationale and a powerful strategy to show parents how to actively encourage their children’s spiritual growth so that it will stick with them into adulthood and empower them to develop a living, lasting faith. Written by Fuller Youth Institute Executive Director Dr. Kara E. Powell and youth expert Chap Clark - authors known for the integrity of their research and the intensity of their passion for young people - Sticky Faith is geared to spark a movement that empowers adults to develop robust and long-term faith in kids of all ages. Further engage your family and church with the Sticky Faith Guide for Your Family, Sticky Faith curriculum, and Sticky Faith youth worker edition. Sticky Faith is also available in Spanish as Cómo criar jóvenes de fe sólida.
©2011 Chap Clark, Kara E. Powell (P)2011 Zondervan
For the City
Summary
Within 10 years, nine out of 10 people will claim "no religious affiliation". Many of these people will live in urban areas. Church leaders must learn how to effectively engage in ministry with this urban core, a group that includes both the poor and marginalized as well as the wealthy and influential. This book will guide you in developing a philosophy of ministry that can lead to restoration and renewal in your city. Matt Carter and Darrin Patrick explain the biblical, theological, and historical foundations of ministry within the urban core, and how to plant churches where the gospel is not only faithfully preached and shared but also brings substantial benefits to those living in the community. For the City relates the wisdom gleaned from years of serving their cities for the sake of God's kingdom. Carter and Patrick practically equip church leaders and Christians to look at their city as a mission field where individuals and churches can faithfully proclaim the gospel and live out the reality of a community changed and transformed by its message.
©2011 Matt Carter, Darrin Patrick, Joel A Lindsey (P)2011 Zondervan