IN today's modern church scene, the average ministry lasts approximately three-and-a-half years. This means an overwhelming number of ministries start out on a certain course and wind up quickly off that course within a short period of time. Many others find themselves in the quandary of having to reinvent themselves every twelve to twenty-four months. Why is this? The modern church likes to talk about getting a vision and having a vision, but discussion on how to manifest that vision is notably absent from the discussion. With a lack of training, business preparation, and equipping to...

JUNIOR high was a time of dread and wonder, all at the same time. As a transitional period, it was full of ups and downs, homework and fun, firsts, new adventures, and above all, change. Most of us look back on junior high with avoidance...but what does this transitional time in everyone's life offer us in terms of life lessons? When we are in transitional times, what can looking back help us to move forward toward the future? In All I Know About Ministry...I Learned In Junior High, Dr. Lee Ann B. Marino recounts forty experiences, stories, and encounters that proved to be powerful life...

What does it mean to be a part of God's Kingdom? While we talk about the benefits, celebrate the honor we have to be among the redeemed, what about the responsibilities? While we are quick to throw around the term "remnant" today, we do not hear nearly enough about the responsibilities we, as God's remnant, have in the participation and expansion of His Kingdom. Just as in the days of the Prophet Haggai, God is calling out to His Kingdom people, calling them to be accountable for the work they are not doing because they are busy building houses and kingdoms unto themselves. Kingdom citizens...

CHURCH doors closing. Ministries in financial ruin. Disgraced ministers, with a trail of actions falling behind them. Denominations falling apart at the foundation. Are these isolated incidents? Are they Satanic attacks, the work of the devil, who wants to destroy the church? Or is God doing something to unveil the realities of modern Christian leaders, in the hope that the church of today will turn back to Him? In Turning The Hearts Of The Leaders Toward The Father: A Journey Through The Book Of Malachi, Dr. Lee Ann B. Marino, Ph.D., D.D. looks at the way God handles the sins of the leaders...

THE book of Revelation is one of the most talked about books in history, and also one of the most misunderstood. There are a variety of ways Revelation is understood: some believe it is historical, with the whole of its contents fulfilled; some believe it is all about futuristic events that have not yet happened, but are soon coming; some believe it has happened in part, and the rest is yet to come; and the rest of people fully well acknowledge that they have no idea what the book of Revelation is about. Many avoid it in teaching, and feel that if it is not a long dramatic recitation of...

AT the current rate of HIV infection, statistics suggest one out of every two people will be infected with HIV by 2025. With such a staggering realization, the world has responded with education, information, and disease prevention. Despite expanded care and treatment for HIV and AIDS patients, most note a lack of spiritual response toward HIV and AIDS education and treatment. Patients are too often treated as a disease, rather than as people in need of healing, love, and compassion. With a lack of spiritual response, the question remains...what is the appropriate spiritual response to HIV?...

TURN on your television, visit a local congregation, sign on to a social network and odds are good you will hear from a minister that tells you God needs your money. They promise everything from new lives to new cars, and an endless flow of "prosperity." But in a world where ministers have fallen flat on their promises and prosperity seems to be real for only a few, what does God teach us about finances? What should we know about finances from a practical perspective? Join with Dr. Marino to learn the ins and outs of finances from a faith perspective and the ways that you, as a believer, can...

WHERE IS GOD? This question hallows the hearts and minds of people when disasters of any sort invade our lives, just as when the locusts invaded the lives of the Israelites in the book of Joel. Whenever bad things happen, our first course of thought is to look around and ask for deeper answers as to why it happened. While some look at natural disasters as a form of divine wrath and others try to find other explanations, has it occurred to any of us that God might be speaking to us through the different things we experience? In this unique book that transforms the experience of Joel's prophecy...

MUCH of our devotional and spiritual time is spent thinking about ways we can improve ourselves without spending time on how we can change the world around us. While the Christian world has largely fallen into political pitfalls and alliances, what should we, as Christian women, focus on in our spiritual understanding? How can we mobilize our faith as a united front to bring about lasting change, especially change that will impact the lives of women and future generations of women? So many want to make a difference, but have no idea where to start. Join Dr. Lee Ann B. Marino for one hundred...