Church Life
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Growing The Church
$16.86Whether you are the pastor of a newly formed church that is just beginning its journey or the pastor of a well established church that simply needs a new direction, Pastor Dave Ford’s Four Step Plan for Growth will work for you. Specifically designed for small churches, this program will show you how to develop the four core ministries every church needs to succeed: Prayer, Discipleship, Follow-Up, and Outreach! By creating these four cornerstones, pastors will be ready for exponential growth in their church size and higher levels of influence in their community. After twelve years of being Senior Pastor at World Harvest Community Church in New Berlin, Wisconsin, Pastor Dave Ford has taken the techniques that have proven to be successful in his church and put them together in a program designed to help pastors grow their congregations. Be prepared for the blessings this program will bring to your church!
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Discovering Church Life Student Edition (Student/Study Guide)
$26.65Discovering Church Life is a 24-lesson series designed to teach believers the foundational truths concerning life in the local church, the corporate church, and the Kingdom of God. This series, based on biblical principles, covers the major events in the believer’s life, from initial repentance, grace and baptism to progressive spiritual growth and finding God’s will through scriptural truths. This study book will assist believers in building community with a spirit of harmony and commitment toward a local church. It can be used as a church membership course, a new believer’s series, or a small group study.
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7 Strategic Changes Every Church Must Make
$26.65Author Mark Conner reveals seven strategic changes that every church must make to remain relevant and progressive in today’s culture. These shifts – from inreach to outreach, from events to relationships, from consumers to contributors, from local to kingdom – will transform your church into a powerful force in the 21st Century.
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Discovering Church Life Teacher Edition (Teacher’s Guide)
$33.31Discovering Church Life is a 24-lesson series designed to teach believers the foundational truths concerning life in the local church, the corporate church, and the Kingdom of God. This teacher edition of the study series shows the group leader how to assist believers in building community with a spirit of harmony and commitment toward a local church. Along with the student edition, it can be used as a church membership course, a new believer’s series, or a small group study.
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Distinctively Baptist Church
$19.11So many Baptist today have forgotten what it means–beyond the mode of baptism–to be Baptist. They have forgotten their heritage. Countless Baptist forebears bought and wrote that heritage with their blood. It is not so much whether or not we remember and honor their names; what is important is whether we honor the legacy they left us. A Distinctively Baptist Church explains how historically Baptist beliefs can and should shape the way a church functions; the study questions and downloadable teaching guide offer churches a means to work through how their Baptist heritage will shape their life and witness.
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Re Mission
$26.23In this innovative and radical book, postmodern mission and New Testament studies collide. Andrew Perriman examines the mission ofthe earliest church in its historical context and argues that our context is very different and so our mission cannot simply be a matter of doingexactly what the earliest church did. The key question at the heart of the book is, How do we shape a biblical theology of mission for apostbiblical church?Controversially, Perriman maintains that the eschatological crisis faced by the early church the coming judgment on the enemies that opposed Gods people has now passed with the collapse of the Roman Empire.Eschatology, says Perriman, is about temporary transitions from oppression to deliverance in the history of the people of God.However, creational disorder is with us all the time. The postmodern church does not face an eschatological crisis but a creational crisis. Amissiology that is oriented towards a new creation is far more relevant to us now than a missiology oriented, as it was in most of the New Testament, towards rescue from opposition and persecution.
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Rebuilding Jerusalem
$29.95While everyone has a basic religious impulse, the Church has seemingly ‘lost the hearts’ of the English people. This did not happen suddenly. This book examines what happened, why, and how the natural human response to religion can be rekindled.
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Deafening Sounds Of Silent Tears
$15.99Caring For Life is a charity that began in a Baptist church in Leeds and for twenty years has provided vulnerable young adults with the stability they need to rebuild their broken lives. It has nationally unrivalled success rates in preventing re-offending (85 per cent) and in obtaining long-term settled accommodation (98 per cent). Its focus, as its name suggests, is not on quick fixes, but lifelong support that makes the love of Jesus tangible for some of the most damaged young people. Some of the stories of abuse and deprivation in this book are a shocking indictment of today’s affluent society, but dedicated pastoral care has produced many miracles of transformation. This is an inspiring account of faith in action, answered prayer, and the gospel being practiced, rather than preached. It is essential reading for all churches and agencies who work with the marginalized.
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Perfect Pastor : Understanding And Relating To The Life And Work Of A Pasto
$36.23The Perfect Pastor? by D. Thomas Owsley, D.Min., is an engaging new book about the realistic, humorous, and poignant life experiences of a fictional pastor. More than just a wonderful story, the book is a tool for church members and pastors alike. It equips laypeople with the insights to relate to and support their pastor while providing pastors with a solid understanding for how to address the various expectations of church members. Dr. Owsley draws upon four decades of church experience, as both a member and pastor, to clarify the biblical requirements, roles, and responsibilities of a pastor. He taps into this wisdom to reveal what the Bible illuminates as a healthy, balanced relationship between pastor and church members. Through compelling anecdotes and profound observations, The Perfect Pastor? improves relationships between church members and their pastors and drives both groups to a greater proximity to God’s purposes.
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Cultivating Prayer And Intercession In The Local Church
$16.65Cultivating Prayer And Intercession In The Local Church is a dynamo in a small package. From his years of experience, personal and corporate observation, and mentoring of prayer warriors, layers of revelation and clear understanding open before the discerning reader. Wave upon wave of anointed illustration, interspersed with plentiful Scripture proofs, combine to sweep one into the stream of intercession which is the writer’s passion. Far from dry, this brief but powerful treatise resonates with true devotion and an infectious spirit of the joy of prayer.
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Disciple Making Church (Expanded)
$21.23Newly updated and revised for 2007 with new Foreword by E. Stanley Ott, President of Vital Churches Institute. New cover design, resource list and index.
Christianity Today says “The Disciple Making Church is a call to evalutate the way we live and minister.”
The Christian Century magazine calls The Disciple Making Church “An excellent resource for pastors and congregations seeking to reclaim formation and discipleship as central to their life and purpose.”
This modern day classic helps congregations to transform program-oriented churches into disciple making churches.
The story of the transformation of a large suburban congregation from one relying on the latest and greatest new programming to a ministry dedicated to making disciples of Jesus.
Glenn McDonald was the busy pastor of a large and growing congregation in the suburbs of Indianapolis when, late one night, a single question launched a journey that changed every facet of life at Zionsville Presbyterian Church. As a lengthy board meeting was about to wrap up, a board member asked, “How long would it take for someone who visits our church to learn about his or her need for Jesus and to find out what to do about it?”
After a long and hollow silence, a profound transformation began. All “canned programs” for ministry???along with a focus on the “ABCs” of attendance, building and cash???went by the boards as everything about the church was examined in the light of Christ’s charge to “go forth and make disciples.”
The Disciple Making Church divides the transformation in two parts: Six Discipling Relationships and The Six Marks of a Disciple. McDonald weaves vivid scriptural insights and the wisdom of scholars with the experiences of his own congregation and others, and distills it all into one helpful, valuable, enjoyable book. His enthusiasm for the “exhilarating freedom” of the disciple’s life is infectious.
If you’ve ever wondered if the “busy-ness” of many of today’s churches isn’t what Christ was talking about, this book will have a lasting impact on you and your walk with the Lord.
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Sunday School Movement
$43.73From a historical point of view Sunday schools have immense significance. In the nineteenth century Sunday schools were part of general educational provision and represented the Christian philanthropic impulse to provide a basic education to the population at large and at low cost. In this book a range of experts assess different aspects of the history of the Sunday school movement. Contributors include Clyde Binfield, Faith Bowers, John Briggs, Grayson Ditchfield, Hugh McLeod, Stephen Orchard, Jack Priestley, Geoffrey Robson, and Doreen Rosman.
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Heart Of A Great Pastor
$23.00The Heart of a Great Pastor salutes pastors everywhere–those wanting to take a fresh look at their ministries, as well as those just starting out. As the baton is passed to the “new breed of pastors,” there is a great need to help them count the cost of serving Christ and equip them with the tools, wisdom, and encouragement from those who have gone before them. H.B. London, Jr., and Neil B.Wiseman bring their experiences and heart to pastors for such a task.To the “new breed,” they ask: Do you have a mentor? Have you examined your unique call and place in society? Do you have buy-in from your spouse and children? Do you spend as much time in the Word and study as you do in the entrepreneurial pursuits of your ministry? Do you genuinely love people? Do you really understand how invested God is in you and how important it is for you to make it?Here is help for young pastors and their mentors to stay strong personally while taking churches to the edge of creative, imaginative newness for Christ while remaining safely anchored to the abiding and adventuresome gospel.
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Thank God Im Not A Pharisee Or Am I
$19.98Thank God I’m Not A Pharisee…Or Am I? … leads us to the reality that we all have tendencies toward legalism, self righteousness, and judgementalism. This book will bring you to the realization that we are all in the same boat, we all need to live under grace and forgiveness, and we all need to extend grace and forgiveness to our fellow believers. This book is really a Pharisee prevention program providing clear guidelines for how NOT to be self-righteous. You won’t be the same after you’ve read it! WWW.REALITYCHECKRESOURCES.COM “Drawing on his rich experience in both church leadership and the market place, John Elzinga exposes those traits and attitudes that keep us from serving God effectively in our relationship and callings–and he offers us wise guidance in pointing us to the path of “grace-full” living.” Richard J. Mouw, PhD President and Professor of Christian Philosophy Fuller Theological Seminary “This is a great book for all who want to avoid the trap of using God’s power and truth to manipulate and control others from a self-constructed pedestal made of sorry doctrine.” Stephen Arterburn, Founder of New Life Ministries
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Jesus Has A Cousin
$13.73Jesus Has a Cousin is a powerful book that talks about something on the Lord’s heart. The Lord is in a cleaning mode and the church is His target. The word for this hour is repent! This book will lead the church back to simplistic truths about our faith. It reveals John the Baptist’s true purpose, as well as his importance to the church today. Jesus Has a Cousin is a book for our time. This book will help us prepare our hearts for the next move of God, which requires a true purity of heart to receive it. Whether you are just beginning a relationship with Jesus or have walked with the Lord for years, you need to read this book.
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What On Earth Is The Church For
$22.48David Devenish believes that the church exists as a means of taking the gospel message to every people group. He believes that the church is very much at the center of God’s
purposes, and in this book presents the church, not as a static pastoral community, but as a vibrant, active body totally committed to world mission.David investigates the importance of church planting to reach the nations and looks at Church-based mission and how to make local churches “missional” in both thinking and
practice.Set within a framework of the Kingdom of God, David demonstrates what the “Kingdom down to earth” really implies for Church-based Kingdom social action. Finally, David examines the culture and contextualization of social action along with some of the dangers and difficulties of apostolic mission, before asking the fundamental
question, “Who will go?”Add to cartin stock within 3-5 days of online purchase
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Wonder Of Worship
$28.73Worship is ground zero for spiritual warfare and affects every part of the believer’s life. The Wonder of Worship defines true, acceptable worship, its real purpose, and the three things necessary for worship to occur. Starting with the basics of what it means to worship God in spirit and truth, The Wonder of Worship discusses the relationship of the Christian’s private worship and public worship experiences. In the process it explores the practical side of worship, worship preparation, and even the format for public worship. Ultimately, worship that is pleasing to God does not depend on the contemporary believer’s worship practices or preferences. It all comes down to the Person of worship. Jesus is the One who makes true worship a wonder to enjoy, now and in eternity. He is the Wonder of Worship.
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Wonder Of Worship
$18.73Worship is ground zero for spiritual warfare and affects every part of the believer’s life. The Wonder of Worship defines true, acceptable worship, its real purpose, and the three things necessary for worship to occur. Starting with the basics of what it means to worship God in spirit and truth, The Wonder of Worship discusses the relationship of the Christian’s private worship and public worship experiences. In the process it explores the practical side of worship, worship preparation, and even the format for public worship. Ultimately, worship that is pleasing to God does not depend on the contemporary believer’s worship practices or preferences. It all comes down to the Person of worship. Jesus is the One who makes true worship a wonder to enjoy, now and in eternity. He is the Wonder of Worship.
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Hearts To Heaven And Tempers Raise
$14.49Like a favourite TV comedy series, Reg Frary returns with another collection of all-too believable stories about anarchy and revolt waiting to break out in the choirstalls. They may look angelic in their robes, and may (on rare occasions) even sound like angels, but it’s a dirty game keeping one step ahead of the vicar’s trendy ideas and the choir director’s aspirations to dictatorship. It all necessitates frequent councils of war down at the Dog and Duck after practice…
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Welcome Pastor : Building A Productive Pastor Congregation Partnership In 4
$16.18A 40-day devotional guide to help churches with new pastors strengthen their relationships with God and one another. Much time, effort, and prayer goes into selecting a new pastor. However many pastors get off to a poor start because the members of the congregation and the new pastor don???t have an effective means for getting to know each other.
This study helps congregations and pastors get off on the right foot and build a successful partnership that starts strong and endures. A poorly begun pastor-congregation relationship results in hurt and frustration, eventually lurching to a miserable conclusion. Churches invest a lot into finding a pastor, and this book will help make sure your church gets the relationship off to a great start.
Getting a new pastor off to a good start is critical to the over 100,000 churches facing changes in leadership each year. This 40-day congregation-wide study provides the foundation for a successful ministry partnership.
“Welcome Pastor” is the first book to offer a clear, simple process for building a successful partnership between a new pastor and a congregation. Its combination of devotional readings and dialogue is easy and pleasurable to read without being simplistic or trite.
People Who Will Benefit From This Book
Congregational Group Study
Pastors and Church Leaders
Pastoral Search Committees
Denominational Leaders
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Revival : Gods Proven Method Of Awakening His Church
$18.73God longs to send a nationwide revival wherever He finds a people totally obedient to His will and given to desperate prayer. Revival-God’s Proven Method of Awakening His Church is the result of the author being deeply touched by God for revival, which led to his becoming involved in the awakening experienced in central India in 1969. In this study you’ll find examples of God’s response to the prevailing prayer of His people in the Old and New Testaments, in church history, and in Europe, Asia, and America, as well as His work in the lives of individuals, churches, and colleges in America and large areas of many nations-all of which have been changed by the work of His Spirit. In answer to God’s promise in 2 Chronicles 7:14, “If my people will…I will…,” Christians in India prayed and God answered. Even so, our hearts resonate with Habakkuk, as he prayed, “In this time of our deep need, begin again to help us, as you did in years gone by” (LB).
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Church After Christendom
$29.99How will the western church negotiate the demise of Christendom? Can it rediscover its primary calling, recover its authentic ethos and regain its nerve?If churches are to thrive-or even survive-disturbing questions need to be confronted and answered. In conversation with Christians who have left the church and with those who are experimenting with fresh expressions of church, Stuart Murray explores both the emerging and inherited church scenes and makes proposals for the development of a way of being church suitable for a post-denominational, post-commitment and post-Christendom era. With chapters on mission, community and worship, Church After Christendom offers a vision of church life that is healthy, sustainable, liberating, peaceful and missional.
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Job Descriptions And Duties For Church Members And Workers
$22.48This material was produced around the general theme of outlining the duties and responsibilities of Christian people who live for and serve God. It takes the form of a manual to provide guidance in Christian living and service. The content is divided into two parts: (1) duties of church and Sunday workers, and (2) suggestions for the development of Christian character and conduct. Job descriptions for each church program are supplied.
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Gospel Driven Church
$29.99Charismatic renewal has at the core of its ideology an aspiration for revival. This is a laudable aspiration, but in recent years, in the absence of a largescale evangelistic impact, it has encouraged a faddist mentality among church leaders.
The Gospel-Driven Church documents this development and the numerous theological and pastoral distortions that take place when genuine revival fervor transmutes into revivalism. Moreover, Stackhouse aims to show how a retrieval of some of the core practices of the church, such as preaching, sacraments, the laying on of hands, and prayer is essential at this crucial stage in the trajectory of the renewal movement in the United Kingdom. He commends to church leaders a recovery of these means of grace – including Spirit baptism – as a way of keeping the church centered on the gospel rather than mere pragmatic concerns about size and numbers.
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Natural Church Development And Cell Church
$19.98I have embraced the NCD (Natural Church Development) paradigm. Why should I adopt the Cell paradigm? Research comparing NCD scores of cell churches and non-cell churches showed cell churches overall averaged significantly higher (59) in all areas than non-cell churches (45). I have embraced the Cell paradigm. Why should I adopt the NCD paradigm? NCD is a powerful tool God is using worldwide to help churches grow in both quality and quantity. How can these two paradigms be successfully and powerfully integrated? “Les Brickman, an expert in the cell church strategy, has understood how NCD and cell church fit like a glove. Dr. Brickman is the first author to connect NCD to cell church in an in-depth way, which he describes in these pages. This groundbreaking book will explain how NCD and cell church can work together to grow healthy, God-pleasing churches that glorify Jesus and advance the kingdom.” – Joel Comiskey –
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Can We Do That
$14.99Andy Stanley and Ed Young–two of America’s most innovative church leaders–put their minds and hearts together to deliver one of the most dynamic tools for ministry this year. In this book you will find twenty-four exciting practices to help your church communicate Christ to the world–without compromising who and what God has called you to be. In this practical book you’ll learn things like how to partner with current church attenders to reach the unchurched, how to create a place where kids can take their parents to learn, how to provide real community through small groups, and much more.
Not only will this book tell you what has worked in North Point Community and Fellowship Church, but will inspire you to identify and create the best practices for your own ministry as you reach out to those in your community and church who are searching for solid answers to the most important questions of life. –This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.Add to cartin stock within 3-5 days of online purchase
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Power Of Asset Mapping
$50.00Asset mapping isn’t a new system or theory. It’s a way of thinking, a doorway into an “open-sum” perspective rooted in the Bible and common experience. The Power of Asset Mapping, by long-time community developer Luther K. Snow, shows congregational leaders how to help a group recognize its assets and the abundance of God’s gifts and to act on them in ministry and mission.
Congregations will find the book easy to read and immediately useful. Leaders can begin with the tested Quick and Simple Asset Mapping Experience to strengthen and inspire any group in the congregation in as little as an hour. Futher tips, techniques, stories, and lessons drawn from the experience of diverse congregations will help readers discover how asset mapping works. Finally, Snow provides lessons about why asset mapping strengthens faith and community.
With Snow’s guidance, readers will find new, positive energy to break out of the negative cycles of need, dependency, and inaction that sometimes trap congregations. As they experience asset mapping, they will learn how God empowers us. Snow shows us how to turn over control and open ourselves to the unexpected and amazing gifts of God. Foreword by John McKnight and Jody Kretzmann
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Health And Wellness Ministry In The African American Church
$18.73Edwin H.Hamilton, M.D., D.Min., writes this provocative book introducing and establishing throughout the Black Church a program of Preventive Health Education through a Health and Wellness Ministry. Riggins R. Earl, Jr., Ph.D., noted theologian/philosopher, writes an insightful introduction based on Booker T.Washington’s teachings. The prevailing spiritual thought embodies I Corinthians 6:19: “Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit?” A three-part Model-in-Ministry design comprises the Minister of Health and Wellness-Preventive Health Education and Community Health Outreach. These are explained for Health Ministers and laity alike. The ministry’s theological foundation is presented succinctly. The planning of the Ministry and The Community Health Fair is clearly explained. The summary and conclusions give precise points regarding the ministry. Empowering course outlines for the Health and Wellness Ministry give concise pathways for any church to use for Health Ministry establishment. A chapter on Water and two of the author’s sermons from the Hampton University Ministers’ Conference are included in this new edition.
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Body Builders : Strengthening The Church Through Physical Emotional Mental
$18.73How are you treating God’s temple? Gluttony and its resulting effect, obesity, are literally killing Americans.We live lives of excess, proud of the fact that we are “fat and happy.” However, when we’re struggling with gluttony, laziness and obesity, our confidence and energy are stripped, our ministry is hindered, and our lives are cut short.Things must change! In Body Builders, Leslie Nease takes you on a personal journey through her life, while weaving important, encouraging scriptures throughout the text. In this moving story you will learn how to boldly face such issues as: Gluttony and obesity Confidence Laziness Procrastination Balance Food as fuel, not friend or foe Friendships Correction Listening to God’s voice Living a life of excess Aerobics Training with weights Body Builders offers scriptural advice, honest support and creative ideas to help you claim back the body God intended for you to have. It’s time for some “Cross”Training! “…Body Builders gave me a charge! It’s amazing how Leslie pulled together physical, mental, spiritual and emotional fitness with a Biblical foundation.” – Bob Blashke, 27-year missionary to West Africa and author of Quest for Power “What a great book! Body Builders shows you how to be completely fit through the power of the CROSS.” – Linda Smith, creator of Fit Praise and Reebok Aerobic Silver Medalist
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Lifetime Of Church
$38.73A Lifetime of Church chronicles the author’s deep involvement in two very different churches. The church of his youth was maintained by a strict social order and a set of predominant customs and traditions. From his earliest memories the author recounts what it was like to grow up in this conservative context, while it brought misery to his mother and was the life passion of her father. A series of extraordinary events culminated in the author becoming a lay minister in this church as a young adult. At the same time, a personal Bible study brought about a new set of beliefs. Following a long and agonizing spiritual struggle, the author helped found an independent community Bible church. For thirteen years the author served this church as the senior pastor, reared his family, operated a community pharmacy, and learned a lot about faith and life.
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Prophetic Song : Gateway To Glory
$19.36God is releasing a new sound in the church worldwide-prophetic song. Prophetic song is spontaneous, given fresh by the Holy Spirit. It is powerful, releasing an atmosphere of God’s presence in the church. It is intimate, drawing us into face-to-face and heart-to-heart encounters with God. This book is broken into four main parts. Part One centers on the sound of many waters, which is released when believers in the church mingle their voices in free worship. Part Two focuses on David and his legacy of prophetic song lyrics in the book of Psalms. Part Three deals with the gift of prophecy in song. And Part Four tells how to give prophetic song its place in the church. Prophetic Song: Gateway to Glory will help pastors, prophets, worshipers, and intercessors fulfill their roles in the new sound God is releasing worldwide in His church.
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Inspirations From Above
$21.23Your church sign can be an awesome ministry in itself. Inspirations From Above gives instruction on how to make your sign ministry successful. The author shares his hands-on experience in the sign ministry, providing more than 1,200 proven “attention-getting” sayings that minister to the soul.
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Broken Cisterns
$18.73Broken Cisterns is a forthright and honest look at the true state of affairs in the Church, with radical conclusions and urgent appeals for change. It is a prophetic insight into what is wrong and what can be done, coming out of the author’s lifetime of dealing with traditional Christianity. Taken from Jeremiah 2:13, the author contends that the Church has made the same mistake as ancient Israel in forsaking God, the “fountain of living waters,” and building “broken cisterns” to take His place. It is not too late to change, and the Bible tells us how.
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Preparing The 21st Century Church
$26.23Phenomenal power! Explosive growth! Genuine community! Can the church in America, twenty-one centuries later, really experience what we read about in the Book of Acts? Les Brickman shows you why the answer is a resounding, “Yes … if.” Whether a church planter just beginning, a seasoned pastor, or a church leader, you will be challenged to the core, both by the questions and the answers you hold in your hands. Are you willing to spend the necessary time to prepare a wineskin able to release your vision from God? Are you prepared to pay the price so you can embrace His destiny for your ministry and church? Journey with Dr. Brickman and come to understand what values, lifestyle, and activities will have to change for you to experience what they experienced, and beyond. “How to” books on church growth and cell ministry too often miss the critical preparation so vital to releasing God’s life through the Church. Informative and theological, yet practical and prophetic, Preparing the 21st Century Church will cause you to reconsider the whole way you “do church,” even “cell church.”
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21 Positive Principles For A Powerful 21st Century Church
$19.36The author, Dr. Dennis Davis, builds the thesis of this book on the premise that there are irrefutable, undeniable laws, both moral and physical, that govern the universe. He contends that these God-establiched laws cannot be broken. They can be denied, but not broken, as the law will always remain intact. He also contends that God has established “laws” that guide the growth, success, and future of the Church, and that when one operates within the framework of these laws (principles), there will be a natural consequence of both numerical and spiritual growth.
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Cell Groups And House Churches
$11.75Are small groups new? This book provides a historical backdrop to much of what is happening in cell groups and house churches today. It points us to valuable lessons which the modern church can learn from history.
Examine how cell groups and house churches developed in the centuries since the Reformation. Explore the writings and practices of the Reformers such as Luther and Bucer, as well as the Pietists, Moravians, Methodists and others. These writings show clearly that when God moves in restoring His church, there is a renewal of small groups to aid discipleship and growth into holiness, often resulting in a greater concern for reaching the lost.
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Way The Church Ought To Be
$22.48Have you ever wondered? What is the Christian church? Is it a building, or is it much more? How should the church operate? What kind of leadership do we need, and where do we find them? How should we view spiritual gifts? Should we accept and use them or reject them for being too divisive? Should we evangelize or wait for God to do the job? Who is part of the church? How do we join? Do we sign a membership book, take a class, or are we automatically a part of the Christian church because we are Americans? Is there a blueprint hidden away somewhere that can help us discover the answers to these questions? Take heart- God’s blueprint for the Christian church is not hidden in some ancient medieval monastery or buried in a mysterious cave guarded by mythical beasts, but is found on the pages of the Bible. Anyone who cares to investigate can read those pages and will discover how God wants His church to be. The Way the Church Ought to Be was written to speak clearly to the following simple truths: God has a blueprint (pattern) that reveals how His church should be. God meant for His blueprint to be acknowledged and followed. Those who build their churches in disregard for that blueprint are building upon the sand. Those who build their churches according to God’s blueprint will experience His blessings, power, and favor. The Way the Church Ought to Be is a simple manual on how Jesus Christ builds His church. Hopefully it will become a source of blessing for believers who are seeking a genuine move of the Holy Spirit in our day.
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Way To Grow
$23.68Nothing is more important for ministry today than small groups. (George Gallop, Jr., a Christian who conducts polls on political and religious matters, quoted in chapter one of this book.)
Lavin is quick to point out that this book is not merely about numerical growth. It is about nurturing spiritual growth, which in itself is a dynamic that leads to growth in numbers.
Use this publication as a workbook. The chapters each end with fascinating questions for consideration and group discussion.
Dr. Lavin offers five different kinds of group structures for discipleship development. Each is fully explored, offering the reader or study participant the opportunity to determine which style best fits their group. He also lists five essentials that must be present for any group to function effectively.
Lavin has had over 35 years of experience in the ministry, during which time he has refined the methods that are most successful in leading people to commitment and discipleship. This book is filled with fascinating anecdotes and stories that have grown out of his experience with congregations where impressive growth has taken place.
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Called To Witness
$16.18The Number one priority for many parishes at the present time needs to emphasize moving he new member and/or new Christian from loyalty to the local organization to faithfulness in discipleship … This work is an attempt to look at the evangelism side of that fellowship call. (from the Foreword)
Jerry L. Schmalenberger offers insight to all congregations seeking to grow. “Called To Witness” offers a blend of three themes. These are: parish program emphasis, church growth methodology and disciplining. In addition, the author provides a helpful critique of the church growth movement.
Chapters focus on:
Reclaiming the witness
Congregational witness
Multicultural witness
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Leading Beyond The Walls
$27.99Good pastoral leadership is not a “by the numbers” proposition. It is a matter of heart and soul, of devoting the whole self to the vision God gives for the congregation in which one serves. Yet neither is it purely intuitive; it requires hard, careful thinking about the directions and details of the path down which God calls. When Adam Hamilton became pastor of the United Methodist Church of the Resurrection, its membership consisted of himself and his family. Ten years later the church averages between five and six thousand worshipers per weekend. Throughout this remarkable period, Hamilton learned many serious lessons about both the broad visions and the specific details of pastoral leadership. Bringing a depth of analytical skills often lacking in visionary leaders, in this book he goes beyond simply telling the story of Church of the Resurrection. He shares the questions that he learned to ask about the largely unchurched population to which Church of the Resurrection has reached out. Further, he demonstrates what he learned by listening to the answers to these questions, and how doing so has made possible a number of strategically crucial decisions the church has made. One of those crucial decisions was to make more traditional forms of worship and praise the center of the congregation’s life. The result is that the example of Church of the Resurrection offers pastors and church leaders (especially those in mainline denominations) the realization that they need not completely change their liturgical and theological identity in order to reach out to the unchurched. Drawing on his own experience, as well as the detailed research on the characteristics of highly successful congregations he undertook during a sabbatical leave, Hamilton offers pastors and other church leaders solid, substantive thinking on steps that congregations can take to become centers of vibrant outreach and mission.Also available in:Adobe Ebook 9780687026753Microsoft Ebook 9780687027491
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Soul Of Wit
$20.99A delicious collection of the very best of wit, satire and humorous quotations about the Church, its clergy,the people who put up with them – and vice versa. Spanning the centuries from Chaucer to the present day, it is a glorious send tip of the human foibles that so often ger in the way when the Church tries to live up to its calling. Many familiar figures from literature and letters arc inducted, but there arc endless surprises and novelties too, making The Soul of Wit not only a book to give great pleasure, but an essential resource for speakers, writers and preachers too.
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Truths That Build
$17.99Truths That Build provides 14 foundational principles that Dick Everson calls the “Truths That Build A Premier Church.” Each principle explains what every Christian should focus on and gives practical insight to Christian living. These Truths That Build will encourage the reader who puts them into practice and ultimately strengthen the local church.
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Relational Refugees : Alienation And ReIncorporation In African American Ch
$25.99Children imitate behaviour and learn values from the adults who care for them. In the absence of relationships or healthy, clearly transmitted values, children flounder. They are, one could say, relational refugees. Those in ministerial leadership positions likewise need someone to imitate or learn from, a type of mentor. This nemesis or copying of behavior, ideas, attitudes, lives, examples, and ministries of significant others has a long legacy in the African-American community.
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Move Your Church To Action
$25.99What’s preventing your church from blossoming with purpose and a sense of mission? In order to pinpoint the problem, you must first know what questions to ask. Hunter, radio host of The Church Doctor, offers clear, practical guidance for diagnosing common congregational difficulties and putting your flock back on the road to recovery.
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Personality Type In Congregations
$43.33Among books that link spirituality and personality type, few address ways type can be used in a congregation, and none of them covers as many areas as this work. As Coordinator of Religious Issues, Association for Psychological Type, the author explores ways that church leaders may work more effectively with type; enhance teamwork in their congregations; assist people in finding satisfying ministries and developing their spiritual lives.
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Firestorm : Preventing And Overcoming Church Conflicts (Reprinted)
$24.00According to one survey, as many as one third of all congregations have suffered conflicts severe enough to result in the firing or forced resignation of one or more of their pastors. Ron Susek, who has firsthand experience of the lasting effects of church controversy and has ministered to churches in turmoil, offers a detailed portrait of how events can often spiral out of control–not unlike the flames of a wildfire.
Firestorm describes the six successive phases through which conflicts generally pass. In each phase, Susek identifies the tensions that tend to develop, explains how they are compounded if left unresolved, and offers practical, spiritual guidance for pastors and congregational leaders.
The book also explains the spiritual, social, and psychological causes of conflict; the most appropriate means for dealing with controversy in its various stages; and what can be done in the firestorm’s aftermath to restore faith and hope.
A detailed plan of action is included.
If you think that God fell into good fortune the day you committed your wonderful leadership skills to his work and that the two of you are building a masterpiece of a church that will stand until the Lord returns, then don’t bother reading this book. Enjoy your illusion while it lasts.
If, on the other hand, you have been in the ministry long enough to know that your church could blow into a firestorm of conflict despite your best efforts and that it demands a constant vigil to keep the temperature set at spiritually warm, not destructively hot, then this book may be of some assistance.
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Common Task
$26.99Christian mission takes place today in teh context of a pluralistic world, one in which the adherents of the various religious traditions are increasingly aware of and in dialogue with one another. What is needed now, argues Thangaraj, is an understanding of Christian mission that has for its starting point a moral imperative shared by all the world’s religions. The author finds this common task in what he calls the mission of humanity: those obligations to one another and the world which all humans share.
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Central Thoughts On The Church In The 21st Century
$16.76First Thoughts: An Introduction – Thomas E. Clifton
Chapter 1. Being There In The Community Of Faith: Beyond Barna And Egonomics-James Hines
Chapter 2. High Church, Low Church: Which Way Is Worship Going? -Mike Graves
Chapter 3. The Watered Garden: Discipleship And Stewardship In Tomorrow’s Churches -Larry McKinney
Chapter 4. Changes And Challenges: The Church And Missions At The Turn Of The Century – Robert E. Fulop
Chapter 5. The Great Commission: Still Relevant For The 21st Century – Russel A. Jones
Chapter 6. The New Testament: How Will We Interpret It For The 21st Century? -David May
Chapter 7. Multiple Interpretations Of The Biblical Text: Why Should The Church Listen? – Judith A. Todd
Chapter 8. Ministering In A Digital Age: Electronic Tools For Research And Church Administration -Donald E. Keeney
Chapter 9. Spiritual Formation: The Journey Toward Wholeness – Molly T. Marshall
Chapter 10. Theology And Ethics: Commending Faith In A Postmodern World – David WheelerAdditional Info
On the brink of a new century and surrounded by vast cultural changes, faculty members of Central Baptist Theological Seminary offer their unique perspectives to help the churches transition into the 21st century. Each contributor looks at the 21st century through the lens of a specific discipline and points us to issues and questions that will shape self-understanding of clergy and laity alike.Contributors to the work are: Thomas E. Clifton, Robert E. Fulop, Mike Graves, James Hines, Russel A. Jones, Donald E. Keeney, Molly T. Marshall, David May, Larry McKinney, Judith A. Todd, and David Wheeler.
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Starting Small Groups
$22.99In Starting Small Groups: Building Communities That Matter, Jeffrey Arnold discusses small groups and details step-by-step the method for designing a small-group ministry to fit a congregation’s unique situations. Adapted from a workbook format that allows each congregation to identify its own particular needs and character, this resource includes ways to plan, envision, and strategize for the formation of small groups.
The author looks at significant issues related to designing or revamping a small-group ministry, including group types; group structure; leadership training and support; marketing; recruiting people into groups; answering the why, when, how, and what of groups; and evaluating so that positive changes can be continually made. Ending each chapter is a series of workbook-style questions. The answers to these questions form the structure and content of each church’s unique ministry design. While individuals, committees, and churches work their way through the questions, they may consult the sample strategy contained in an appendix at the end of the book.
The writing style employed in this resource is simple, graphic, and easy to read. It is written so that both laypersons and pastors will be comfortable using it. Stories abound so that a process that may seem difficult comes to life in these pages.
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Who Comes In The Name Of The Lord
$25.99In Who Comes in the Name of the Lord?, Harold J. Recinos advances the thesis that God has already prepared a future for mainline churches in Christ at the margins of society. That margin is the barrio — a contemporary Nazareth — judged by society as inferior, worthless, and productive of nothing good.
Drawing on the biblical witness, Recinos develops a perspective that shows that God identifies with those who are poor, marginal, weak, and lowly in society. God’s option for the lowly, he asserts, takes the form of incarnation in Jesus of Nazareth. God-in-Jesus is enfleshed in the history of an unimportant place known as Nazareth of Galilee. Nazareth, an inferior and worthless place, supports God on its barrio streets. Far from the Temple, on the town roads and with fisher-folk, Jesus first reveals in a fresh way the God of the poor and lowly.
The cultural role of mainline Christians, argues Recinos, is not to be guardians of society; rather, mainline Christians and their churches are to shape and amend their culture in response to the work of God in human history. That work is imaged by feasting with the uninvited people who are kept isolated from mainstream society, yet presuppose the reality of God. Thus, Recinos argues for a missional ecclesiology suggesting that local congregations are instruments of a sacred love that renews the world of uninvited guests and forgotten people. The true church, he says, does not meet the anguished cry of people at the margins of life with silence but with dikaioma (“a just action”) which assures shalom. The author then suggests several ways the local church can announce the reign of God and peace with justice, beginning in the barrio.
“Once again, Harold Recinos opens up the gospel for us from the perspective of the barrio, and in particular of those recent immigrants who have arrived at the barrio as refugees from situations of unspeakable violence and dehumanization. This is a hard-hitting book about a hard-hitting Jesus. Not recommended for those who are looking for a soft, other-worldly word of inspiration. But certainly required reading for any who wish to be faithful to Jesus in our contemporary society!” –Justo L. Gonzalez
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2 Cities Of God A Print On Demand Title
$21.99The chapters of this book offer informed perspectives on a “theology of the world,” exploring the question How does/should the church relate to the secular world? The standard dogma of the 1960s was Let the world set the agenda! Such a perspective has often caused the American church merely to reflect, rather than to inform and lead, the society in which it lives. Surely, say the authors of this volume, it must be the other way around.
Using the biblical image of the earthly city and the heavenly city, Robert Benne, Carl E. Braaten, Robert W. Jenson, Gilbert Meilaender, Christopher R. Seitz, Anthony Ugolnik, George Weigel, and Robert L. Wilken discuss such subjects as natural law, politics, the academy, economics, and marriage. Each essay boldly asserts that the church’s most faithful service in the world begins and ends with her life in the communion of the triune God. The first task of the church is to be true to her own self as the Body of Christ in the world. As such the church is a sign and agent of the heavenly city within and for the earthly city.
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Downtown Church : Heart Of The City
$22.99Many in our day think that it is no longer possible to have big, strong,vital, influentail, mission-minnded downtown congregation. Those who predict the end of downtown churches will point to the suburbanization of Anglo populations, the erosion of inherited institutuinal loyalties, the decline of public transportations, the lack of interest by a younger generation in Sunday evening worship, the deterioration of central city public school systems, the fear of crime, the closing of downtown department stores along with the rise of shopping malls, and so on.
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Where Resident Aliens Live
$20.99Stanley Hauerwas and William H. Willimon return with spirited offensive strategies for feisty resident aliens. A resident alien knows who the enemy is, and here is a guide to the Christian initiation, practice, and discipline that is required for a people at war with the world.
Some Christian liberals think that resident aliens are sectarian, and that they wish to withdraw from engagement with the world. God forbid! The book is thus full of stories of resident aliens who have been baptized, trained, and conditioned — like Marines in boot camp — to be new citizens and find a new home in the distinctly Christian community.
Some Christian conservatives want a “to do” list that lays out the program for becoming a congregation or small group of resident aliens. Or perhaps they want a list of beliefs that might be defended. You won’t find that here, for these desires are what ails the disestablished church. A list of options and choices, or an elective program for “wannabe” resident aliens, is an accommodation to the false god of freedom. Resident aliens are imitated and understood by telling their stories, by enfleshing their practices in the narrative that becomes part of the unfolding Christian story.
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Hard Living People And Mainstream Christians
$22.99If you can’t stand four-letter words, you shouldn’t read this book. This book contains expletive language used by hard living people, so that readers will better understand the hard living culture and discover ways to minister within it. “Through stories of hard-living people and pastors who minister with them, Tex Sample challenges mainline churches to break the yoke of middle-class captivity and join with the Christ who lives among the poor and marginalized. The book is inspirational, analytical, and practical in its treatment of an issue too long ignored by contemporary church leadership.” – Kenneth L. Carder, Resident Bishop, Nashville Area, The United Methodist Church
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44 Questions For Church Planters
$25.99Answers the question “Why start new churches?” and shows how to reverse the decline of new church development. Schaller offers tested advice based on more than thirty years of working with leaders responsible for developing new churches.
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To Spread The Power
$28.99“This book uses the lessons of the past more effectively than any I have yet read on evangelism and the expansion of Christianity. The book is not theory. It gives practical strategies for action. The church that follows its proposal is bound to grow.”
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