Faith News Network

Franklin, TN–Is it possible to have fun and encourage Biblical literacy at the same time? Tennessee parents Jeremy and Jennica Reis believe so and created a set of trading cards, Josiah Cards, as an alternative to fantasy trading cards. Josiah Cards teach kids about the people of the Bible using scripture. They have launched a Kickstarter campaign in order to raise the funding necessary to print, package and distribute the Josiah Cards which will come in trading packs of 1-30 or 1-60 numbered cards.

Faithful Servant LLC’s newest Newsletter, The Christian Transportation Investor, reached its third year of tracking by MarketWatch’s Hulbert Financial Digest as 2014 closed. Its model portfolios earned top-five ranking for both its one-year and three-year performance on the Hulbert Interactive website. Its one-year gain of 52.0% earned 3rd place among the 190 newsletters tracked at least one year, and its three-year annualized return of 32.2% placed it 5th against the 167 newsletters that age or more. The Wilshire 5000 Stock Index gain Hulbert Interactive cites as a performance benchmark for the market as a whole was 12.7% and 20.3% respectively for the one and three-year periods.

The International Center for Spiritual Renewal and Awakening America Alliance recently announced the availability of free resources for the Preach to Engage initiative.

A heartbreaking trend of dumbing down bible teaching often occurs in our churches when men and women with little to no teaching training lead small group Bible study classes. A new book, titled Capturing God’s Passion for Teaching examines the change that could take place if Bible teachers were trained to teach God’s Word.

Sunday School curriculum provider and church media company, Sharefaith, announces the release of ParentShare, to provide for greater involvement of parents with their children. ParentShare, a feature within the SharefaithKids app, informs parents about what their child is learning in their Sunday School curriculum, SharefaithKids. This helps the parent emphasize and reinforce those lessons throughout the week at home.

Innovo Publishing LLC released a new Christian title, Pastoral Ministry for the Next Generation, written by Jere L. Phillips. Pastoral Ministry for the Next Generation integrates contemporary issues and biblical principles. Pastors of all ages will find details for the “how to’s” of nearly every aspect of church ministry. Pastoral ministry is timeless. Certain aspects of this life and work endure through all generations until the Lord returns. Yet, the milieu of ministry constantly changes. People expect their ministers to baptize them, marry them, and bury them, but marriage in today’s culture involves questions for next-generation ministers that their grandfathers never imagined. Next-Gen ministry requires thoughtful processing of biblical foundations and contemporary applications. Dr. Jere Phillips’ extensive experience provides a biblically based, future-focused approach. This book was written for young pastors but can help ministers of any generation, especially new pastors.

Endorsements:
“…a great read for those looking to count the cost prior to their call and those trying to follow Christ in shepherding His flock.” — Ed Stetzer, president of LifeWay Research Division, editor of edstetzer.com, and lead pastor of Grace Church in Hendersonville, TN

“I wholeheartedly recommend this work.” — Steve Gaines, PhD, senior pastor, Bellevue Baptist Church, Memphis, TN

“…a blessing to any pastor of any age. I encourage all pastors to read it and heed it!” — Dr. Bob Pitman, evangelist, Muscle Shoals, AL

“You will not only appreciate the breadth of his experience when you read this book, but you will also appreciate the freshness of the vision he casts for pastoral ministry in the twenty-first century. I found the book to be thoroughly biblical, refreshingly practical, and spiritually edifying.” — Charles Fowler, senior pastor, Germantown Baptist Church, Germantown, TN

“…the go-to manual for every newly called minister of the gospel (and many ‘old hands’ as well).” — Pastor Jim Collier, Kirby Woods Baptist Church, Memphis, TN
Pastoral Ministry for the Next Generation is available now in the U.S. and internationally in paperback (ISBN: 978-1-61314-995-9), hardback (ISBN: 978-1-61314-942-3), Amazon Kindle, Barnes and Noble Nook, Apple iPad/iPhone, Google Android, and other smartphone-compatible editions.

About the Author: Dr. Jere Phillips understands ministers, having extensive experience as a pastor and church staff member, writer, denominational leader, and seminary professor.
(Source: Christian Newswire)