Audiobooks by Van Tracy

Liking Jesus: Intimacy and Contentment in a Selfie-Centered World

Liking Jesus, by New York Times bestselling author Craig Groeschel, helps readers who are desperate to take back their lives as Christ followers. Groeschel shows them how to cut through our selfie-centered world and rediscover the biblical values---such as authenticity, compassion, contentment, rest, and more---that bring us closer to Jesus.

Craig Groeschel, Van Tracy (Author), Van Tracy (Narrator)

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A Doubter's Guide to Jesus: An Introduction to the Man from Nazareth for Believers and Skeptics

A Doubter's Guide to Jesus is an introduction to the major portraits of Jesus found in the earliest historical sources. Portraits because our best information points not to a tidy, monolithic Jesus, but to a complex, multi-layered and, at times, contradictory figure. While some might be troubled by this, fearing that plurality equals incomprehensibility or unreliability, others take it as an invitation to do some rearranging for themselves, trying to make Jesus neater, more systematic and digestible. After two millennia of spiritual devotion and more than two centuries of modern critical research, we still cannot fit Jesus into a box. He is destined to stretch our imaginations, confront our beliefs, and challenge our lifestyles for many years to come. In A Doubter's Guide to Jesus listeners will find themselves both disturbed and intrigued by the images of Jesus found in the first sources.

John Dickson, Van Tracy (Author), Van Tracy (Narrator)

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Empowering Leadership: How a Leadership Development Culture Builds Better Leaders Faster

A major problem in the local church today is lack of leadership. Simply put, we have more needs than we have leaders to meet those needs. So, how do we train better leaders faster? The truth is, very few churches really have a well-thought-out leadership development plan. Growth requires continually adding healthy new leaders, who carry the church culture forward and embody its core values. Everyone knows it, but how do we achieve it? In Empowering Leadership author and leadership consultant Michael Fletcher says leaders like this can't simply be bought, nor can they be hired from someone else's leadership assembly line. Developing leaders at every level, to create an environment that attracts potential leaders, and to build better leaders faster, an organization needs more than a pipeline. It needs a culture that develops leaders organically. Finding the right kind of leaders to guide your church on a path of continual growth comes out of keeping the right focus, and that focus is not just on the leaders. In fact, as Fletcher says, It isn't about the leader. It never was about the leader. It will never be about the leader. It will always and only be about Jesus and his people. It's about the people. True leadership development includes the often messy, but necessary, interaction of life upon life. So hiring pastors and key staff roles from within the church is the very best policy-people who "breathe" the culture of the church and who have helped create the culture you want to maintain. If your church or organization needs a good leadership development structure, then you're holding the right book. Empowering Leadership details Michael's greatest insights on how to build better leaders faster by creating a leadership development culture in your church or organization-naturally, organically, continually. Empower your church or organization through great leadership. This book will show you how!

Michael Fletcher, Van Tracy (Author), Van Tracy (Narrator)

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Awaken Your Inner Hero: 7 Steps to a Successful and Meaningful Life

ENGLISH EDITION: Live the story of your life at the highest level. If you received an unexpected call to make a film about your life, would it be a captivating film, full of risk, battles, and victory? Or would it be one of those films where people leave the theater before it's finished? We've all heard great stories about famous heroes, those men and women who have gone down in history having made a difference. But what might be said about your life? Could you make it into one of those great stories? Awaken Your Inner Hero is a call to adventure, to get out of your comfort zone and take the kind of risks that will lead you to radically change the way you are living your life. Based on the "hero's journey" and on universal principles that have been used by poets, writers, and directors to create great stories, the author unveils seven steps that will help you make your deepest desires come true and develop a story worth telling. You will discover life has great things waiting for you, if you are bold enough to go after them. Beyond the routine of the day-to-day, there is a longing within you that motivates you to give everything inside of you to fulfill a purpose, to immerse yourself in your own story, to live your life with success and meaning, to awaken your inner hero.

Van Tracy, Victor Hugo Manzanilla (Author), Rene Duran, Van Tracy (Narrator)

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Divine Direction : 7 Decisions That Will Change Your Life

Craig Groeschel, Van Tracy (Author), Van Tracy (Narrator)

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Real Christian: Bearing the Marks of an Authentic Faith

The evangelical church is home to many who claim to follow Christ but who show little evidence of a truly transformed life. Todd Wilson's Real Christian: Bearing the Marks of Authentic Faith biblically defines what it means to be a true Christian, calling listeners to look at their own lives and diagnose where they aren't living authentically for God. With a prophetic voice, Wilson looks at how we deceive ourselves into thinking we are really living for God through believing the right things or doing lots of spiritual activities. In contrast, real Christians are marked by five key qualities: broken-hearted joy, a humble disposition, a readiness to acknowledge sin, an ability to live balanced and avoid legalism, and a deep spiritual hunger that drives growth. All of these qualities culminate in the single defining mark of a real Christian—love. To help in distinguishing genuine faith from counterfeit spirituality, Wilson draws upon the gospels, the writings of Paul, and the insights of theologian Jonathan Edwards to help readers understand the necessary marks of an authentic, transformed life, marks that show evidence of a new heart and bear spiritual fruit through the work of the Holy Spirit.

Todd A. Wilson, Todd A. Wilson, Van Tracy (Author), Van Tracy (Narrator)

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The God-First Life: Uncomplicate Your Life, God's Way

A simple and sustainable path to a deep and satisfying walk with Christ There are thousands of how-to books for improving various areas of life---self, relationships, finances, fitness, business, marriage, family. And there are nearly as many books written for believers offering a framework for the 'right' approach to a new life in God. What if it were possible, Pastor Stovall Weems asks,to boil it all down to one practical, un-complicated principle that would yield the vibrant, purposeful spiritual life so many are looking for? What if, in our relationship with God, we had one simple and sustainable touch point to experience a deep and satisfying walk with Christ? In The God-First Life, Weems shows that true success in our walk with God and in life in general is not an issue of need, but an issue of order. Brilliantly unpacking the simple Scripture in Matthew 6:33, Weems gives a fresh and practical perspective on what Christian 'discipleship' is about. Bringing clarity, depth, and simplicity, Pastor Weems makes clear core truths that have been misunderstood by many Christians and non-Christians alike.

Stovall Weems, Van Tracy (Author), Van Tracy (Narrator)

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Praying Circles Around Your Children

Mark Batterson shares a perfect blend of biblical yet practical advice that will revolutionize your prayer life by giving you a new vocabulary and a new methodology. You'll see how prayer is your secret weapon. Through stories of parents just like you, Batterson shares five prayer circles that will not only help you pray for your kids, but also pray through your kids. Batterson teaches about how to create prayer lists unique to your family, claim God-inspired promises for your children, turn your family circle into a prayer circle, and discover your child's life themes. And he not only tells you how, he illustrates why. As Batterson says, 'I realize that not everyone inherited a prayer legacy like I did, but you can leave a legacy for generations to come. Your prayers have the power to shape the destiny of your children and your children's children. It's time to start circling.'

Mark Batterson, Van Tracy (Author), Van Tracy (Narrator)

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Be a Circle Maker : The Solution to 10,000 Problems

How big is your God? Bigger than a positive MRI or a negative evaluation? Bigger than your secret sin or secret dream? Is He big enough to heal your marriage or your child? Pastor Mark Batterson shares powerful insights from the true story of Honi the circle maker, who prayed for miracles for God's people---and then they fell from heaven like rain. The Circle Maker will help you bring your God-given dreams into being through tenacious prayers that honor God and make the impossible come true.

Mark Batterson, Van Tracy (Author), Van Tracy (Narrator)

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Let Hope In: 4 Choices That Will Change Your Life Forever

Your past is not your past if it’s still impacting your present. Do you ever feel as though your life has become a broken record? You’re hearing the same song play over and over again? Nearly every human being on earth has likely spent some time on the carousel of pain. Whether you’re dealing with the guilt and regret of your own sinful choices, or you’re sitting in the shame of someone else’s deceitful actions, God wants to bring you healing. Pastor Pete walks us through the process of transformation, teaching us that if pain is not transformed, it will only be transferred. He reveals God’s truths in this process through the biblical accounts of Joseph and David. Pete identifies the process of changing your life by these 4 choices: Choice #1: Choosing to Transform Instead of Transfer Choice #2: Choosing to Be Okay With Not Being Okay Choice #3: Choosing to Trust Rather Than Please Choice #4: Hurt People, Hurt People, But Free People, Choose to Free People Whether you’re looking for a new beginning or just ready for a renewal in your walk with God, Pete shows us that anything is possible when you learn how to make new choices and let hope in.

Pete Wilson, Van Tracy (Author), Van Tracy (Narrator)

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All In: You Are One Decision Away From a Totally Different Life

The Gospel costs nothing. You can't earn it or buy it. It can only be received as a free gift compliments of God's grace. It doesn't cost anything, but it demands everything. It demands that we go 'all in,' a term that simply means placing all that you have into God's hands. Pushing it all in. And that's where we get stuck---spiritual no man's land. We're afraid that if we go all in that we might miss out on what this life has to offer. It's not true. The only thing you'll miss out on is everything God has to offer. And the good news is this: if you don't hold out on God, God won't hold out on you. Readers will find Batterson's writing filled with his customary vivid, contemporary illustrations as well as biblical characters like Shamgar and Elisha and Jonathan and . . . Judas. No one has ever sacrificed anything for God. If you always get back more than you gave up, have you sacrificed anything at all? The eternal reward always outweighs the temporal sacrifice. At the end of the day, our greatest regret will be whatever we didn't give back to God. What we didn't push back across the table to Him. Eternity will reveal that holding out is losing out. The message of All In is simple: if Jesus is not Lord of all then Jesus is not Lord at all. It's all or nothing. It's now or never. Kneeling at the foot of cross of Christ and surrendering to His Lordship is a radical act of dethroning yourself and enthroning Christ as King. It's also an act of disowning yourself. Nothing belongs to you. Not even you. Batterson writes, for many years, I thought I was following Jesus. I wasn't. I had invited Jesus to follow me. I call it inverted Christianity. And it's a subtle form of selfishness that masquerades as spirituality. That's when I sold out and bought in. When did we start believing that the gospel is an insurance plan? It's a daring plan. Jesus did not die just to keep us safe. He died to make us dangerous.

Mark Batterson, Van Tracy (Author), Van Tracy (Narrator)

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