Showing results by author "J. D. Greear" in All Categories

Your God is too small. We like God small. We prefer a God who is safe, domesticated, who thinks like we think, likes what we like, and whom we can manage, predict, and control. A small God is convenient. Practical. Manageable. The truth: God is big. Bigger than big. Bigger than all the words we use to say big. Ironically, many today seem turned off by the concept of an awesome, terrifyingly great God. We assume that a God you would need to fear is guilty of some kind of fault. For us, thinking of God as so infinitely greater and wiser than we are and who would cause us to tremble in his presence is a leftover relic.

In Stop Asking Jesus Into Your Heart, J. D. shows that faulty ways of presenting the gospel are a leading source of the confusion. Our presentations may not be heretical, but they are sometimes misleading. The idea of "asking Jesus into your heart" or "giving your life to Jesus" often gives false assurance to those who are not saved - and keeps those who genuinely are saved from fully embracing that reality. Greear unpacks the doctrine of assurance, showing that salvation is a posture we take to the promise of God in Christ, a posture that begins at a certain point and is maintained for the rest of our lives.

Entrepreneurship can be a lonely journey. But it doesn’t need to be. God has a purpose and a plan for all those entrepreneurial dreams and creative gifts he gave you. The work you do today - the company you’ve built, the employees you work with, the customers you serve, the shareholders you report to, all of it - serves as an active part of what God wants to accomplish on earth.

What is Christianity really all about? Drawing on passages from Romans 1 to 12, J. D. Greear unpacks the essential aspects of the Christian message, showing both secular and religious people what the gospel is and how it addresses our most pertinent questions. The gospel, as he explains, is not just about life after death: it’s about reclaiming the life we’ve always yearned to live.

In 12 Truths and a Lie: Answers to Life's Biggest Questions, author and pastor J.D. Greear confidently tackles some of the most perplexing questions that Christians face. It’s not unusual to have questions about life. In fact, many of us have the same questions. How do I know if I’m going to Heaven? What’s my purpose? Why isn’t God answering my prayers? In his latest book 12 Truths and a Lie, author and pastor J.D. Greear offers scriptural insights and practical advice to help listeners navigate life’s toughest challenges.

J.D. Greear shows us how prayer was a nonnegotiable daily staple in Jesus’ life, more essential to him than eating or sleeping and, therefore, why we need to pray as well. He shows us how we can enjoy the same source of power as our Lord and the early church when we learn to "just ask" and depend on our heavenly Father as they did.

Encounter the dynamic presence of God as you learn from pastor and author J. D. Greear how to more fully experience the Holy Spirit within you. Jesus gave his disciples the audacious promise that the spirit he would send to live inside them would be even better than if he himself remained beside them. Yet how many of us consider our connection to the Holy Spirit so strong that we would call his presence in us better than Jesus himself walking by our side? If you are longing to know God in a vibrant way, Jesus, Continued... has good news for you: That's exactly what God wants.

Author and advocate Mary DeMuth urges the church she loves to rise up and face the evil of sexual abuse and harassment with candor and empathy. Based on research and survivors' stories, along with fierce fidelity to Scripture, DeMuth unpacks the church's response to sexual violence and provides a healthy framework for the church to become a haven of healing instead of an institution of judgment.

Is gospel Christianity dead? Pundits are writing the obituary of historic, orthodox Christianity, but pastor and author J. D. Greear (Gospel, Stop Asking Jesus into Your Heart) believes the postmortems are premature. Jesus promised to build his church. He said that the gates of hell would not prevail against it. The church is not going away. Along with this promise, Jesus gave clear instructions for how the church would prevail. He promised to build it on the rock of the gospel.

J.D. Greear considers Jesus’ radical call to give your life away to the greatest cause of all. To view your life from the perspective of eternity. To start making decisions now that you’ll be glad you made. It’s time to put your “yes” on the table and let God put it on the map.

When it comes to interacting with guests, churches typically gravitate toward one of two camps: the over-the-top, shock-and-awe, let-us-entertain-you approach or the oh-man, some-people-just-showed-up underwhelming experience. Each extreme has drawbacks: On one end, people become the center of the universe. On the other, hospitality is effectively ignored in deference to the "serious business" of worship. People Are the Mission proposes a healthy middle, one where guests are esteemed but the gospel is the goal.

In Hero Maker you will learn how to bring real change to your church and community by developing the practical skills to help others reach their leadership potential. Drawing on five powerful practices found in the ministry of Jesus, Hero Maker presents the key steps of apprenticeship that will build up other leaders and provides strategies for how you can activate gifts, help others take ownership, and develop a simple scorecard for measuring your kingdom-building progress.

People are leaving the church J. D. Greear pastors. Big givers. Key volunteers. Some of his best leaders and friends. And that's exactly how he wants it to be. When Jesus gave his disciples the Great Commission, he revealed that the key for reaching the world with the Gospel is found in sending, not gathering. Though many churches focus time and energy on attracting people and counting numbers, the real mission of the church isn't how many people you can gather.

When Daniel Darling was fired as spokesperson for the National Religious Broadcasters Association, it wasn't his exit that made national news—it was the way he handled it. Daniel's charitable response to those he had worked with was so radical that it made headlines. But why has kindness among Christians become so startling? In Agents of Grace, Daniel explores practical ways we can follow the Bible's command to "strive actively for peace" even in a painfully divided church, country, and world.

Most of us are familiar with the events of the first Christmas - the manger scene, shepherds watching sheep, angels singing their songs, and wise men arriving - but what if there’s more to the story? What if the birth of Jesus is actually the most significant event in all of history and can transform our lives? This evangelistic book goes beyond the birth of Jesus to look at what he did when he grew up and how he fulfilled the names given to him centuries beforehand by the prophet Isaiah.

Jesus cannot be dismissed as one in a long line of religious gurus peddling peace, fulfillment, and a better version of yourself. You Don’t Get Your Own Personal Jesus, excerpted from J.D. Greear’s book Not God Enough, captures the liberating truth that God is exactly who he says he is. God is not just a slightly better, slightly smarter version of you. He is infinite and glorious, and an encounter with him won’t just change the way you think about your faith. It will change your entire life.