Raising A Hero

From the beloved #1 New York Times best-selling author of If You Give a Mouse a Cookie Max is a determined puppy with a lot to learn on his adventure of becoming a life-changing friend and helper. Dogs are trained to do lots of things, like open doors, turn on lights and even help take off someone’s shoes. Max’s puppy raiser, Sam, takes him everywhere; on the bus, to puppy kindergarten, and even to restaurants. But it’s tough staying underneath the table when the french fries smell so good! Discover the fun and important ways Max earns his special yellow vest as he gets ready to help someone in need of a true hero. "A good message excellently illustrated." (Picture book. 4-8) - Kirkus Reviews

How can you move beyond youth group? You already know that youth ministry is about much more than Sunday night Bible study and lock-ins. It's about changing the lives of youth and empowering young heroes to change their world. In this book Efrem Smith provides you with a model for holistic ministry that addresses all the needs of youth--body, soul and spirit. Powerful stories from Smith's urban multiethnic context shape the content of Raising Up Young Heroes. He shows how the fashion, music and lifestyle of the hip-hop culture are permeating youth culture and how you can enter that culture to help your youth meet Jesus. The principles that are the foundation of Raising Up Young Heroes are designed to serve the whole body of Christ. So whatever your own youth group context, you can benefit from the Smith's rich storehouse of experience and his huge heart for today's youth.

Families with boys often find the world reacts to them in mock horror. Even though parents love their sons, privately they admit that boys can be a handful to raise--they are boisterous, competitive, reckless, distractable. The challenge of wills between parent and son starts early, and the quest to civilize young bulls may seem hopeless some days. Yet believers know that God has given them children as a gift of heaven, specially chosen for their particular families and marked as a blessing. If that's so, why does it seem so hard? How can we prepare these boys to serve God when it's all we can do to make it through another day? Isn't there a better way? Raising Real Men: Surviving, Teaching and Appreciating Boys shows the answer is emphatically yes. Written by the parents of six boys, Raising Real Men provides hope and encouragement to families with sons. Starting from the premise that God made boys to become men, Hal and Melanie Young offer Biblical principles and tested, practical ideas for training the manly virtues that can drive parents and teachers up the wall. This is a practical guide to equipping the hearts and minds of boys without breaking or losing your own. "...earthy, realistic, humorous, and scriptural ..." -- Douglas Wilson, author, Future Men "This is just what the doctor ordered for parents who want to raise capable Christian men of character." -- John Rosemond, author, Parenting By The Book

Once upon a time, there was a nice boy and his name was Gideon. He lived in a nice house, and he had nice parents and lots of toys. But Gideon wasn't satisfied. He wanted to be a hero. You know, a hero, with his name on the front page of the newspaper. That sort of thing. So how does anyone get to be a hero, anyway? Heroes have to be strong. Heroes have to be brave. Heroes have to be clever. Don't they? With wry humor, Florence Parry Heide and Chuck Groenink explore how we choose our idols in a witty story that leaves it to readers to decide the real nature of heroism. Plus, this is the fixed format version, which looks almost identical to the print edition.

Living in a culture saturated with media messages focused on fame, wealth, and beauty, it’s easy for today’s youth to rely on these external messages for guidance. As parents and role models, our natural instinct is to protect and shield our youth from these negative messages and attitudes. Unfortunately, this mode of thinking has encouraged the growing epidemic of youth helplessness. In Raising Everyday Heroes, award-winning author Dr. Elisa Medhus tackles this growing social phenomenon and inspires parents to raise tomorrow’s everyday heroes. With its blend of humor and practical guidance, Raising Everyday Heroes Redefines heroism Recognizes the inner hero and potential greatness in all children Empowers parents to raise heroic children

At a time when we are all asking questions about identity, grief, and how to stand up for what is right, this book by the author of A Thousand Questions will hit home with young readers who love Hena Khan and Varian Johnson—or anyone struggling to understand recent U.S. history and how it still affects us today. Yusuf Azeem has spent all his life in the small town of Frey, Texas—and nearly that long waiting for the chance to participate in the regional robotics competition, which he just knows he can win. Only, this year is going to be more difficult than he thought. Because this year is the twentieth anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, an anniversary that has everyone in his Muslim community on edge. With “Never Forget” banners everywhere and a hostile group of townspeople protesting the new mosque, Yusuf realizes that the country’s anger from two decades ago hasn’t gone away. Can he hold onto his joy—and his friendships—in the face of heartache and prejudice?

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 provide strategies for how you can: activate the gifts of those around you help others take ownership of their mission develop a simple scorecard for measuring your kingdom-building progress With rich insights from the Gospels, Hero Maker is packed with real-life ministry stories ranging from paid staff to volunteer leaders--from established churches to new church plants. Whether you lead ten people or ten thousand, Hero Maker will not only help you maximize your leadership impact; but, in doing so, you will also help shift today's church culture to a model of reproduction and multiplication. Chicago pastor and church planter Dave Ferguson and award-winning writer Warren Bird make a compelling case that God's power and purpose are best revealed when we train and release others to further advance the Kingdom of God. By becoming a hero maker and investing in others, you can join a movement of influencers that are impacting thousands of people around the world. Everybody wants to be a hero, but few understand the power of being a hero maker.