Church Life
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Economic Empowerment Through The Church
$24.99Add to cartThe Kingdom of God is not only spiritual — it is intensely practical. The church today must move beyond its traditional role if it is to truly fulfill its mission. It can no longer respond only to spiritual needs and speak only to people’s hearts. The church is called to be a force for change in the world, especially where the needs are greatest: the inner-city neighborhoods where crime, violence, and unemployment are the order of the day. Economic Empowerment Through the Church is a practical book that shows churches how to become a force for revitalization in their community by means of “economic empowerment”– by becoming involved in the everyday, economic life of their communities. It shows churches how to structure themselves, how to avoid tax problems, what businesses they can operate without jeopardizing their tax-exempt status, and step-by-step guidelines for implementing ancillary operations such as real estate, day care centers, drug abuse rehabilitation centers, housing projects, and others. The book includes checklists that help churches avoid missing crucial steps, as well as sample documents and forms.
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African American Church Growth
$20.99Add to cartAfrican American Church Growth offers 12 principles for prophetic ministry. Stewart contends that it is precisely the prophetic consciousness which appeals to many blacks of the post-civil rights era, and that emphasis on the prophetic will help bring the black church out of the disillusionment of a “post-civil rights malaise.”
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Sunday Morning Readers Theater Cycle B
$15.95Add to cartA fresh look at scripture, a new presentation of the gospel, a deeper communication for God’s truths — this is what church drama has to offer.
“Sunday Morning Readers’ Theater, B,” offers nineteen skits for use during the church year. Each skit’s performance falls between five and 10 minutes with the exception of readings for major church days.
“What I hope to do is to help people see the gospels, Jesus and the other scripture passages with new vision, unclouded by familiarity,” writes Pamela Urfer of these readings.
This series provides one more form of worship designed to unfold the meaning of the lectionary readings, either as a replacement or a supplement to the sermon. The style varies from comic to tragic and the skits are set in both biblical and modern times.
Readings include the Sundays of Advent and Lent, Christmas Eve/Day, Martin Luther King Sunday, Ash Wednesday, Holy Week selections, Pentecost Sunday, All Saints’ Sunday, and Reformation Sunday.
This is a three-book series. It closely follows the Revised Common, Lutheran, Episcopal, and Roman Catholic lectionaries. -
Moral Fragments And Moral Community
$18.00Add to cartFrom the publisher: Western society today lives from community fragments and moral fragments alone, and these fragments are being destroyed more quickly than they are being replenished. Larry Rasmussen assesses the long-term reasons for this situation and then proposes the forms and tasks that churches can undertake to help mend and improve civil society. This book, which had its origin in the Hein/Fry Lectures in 1991–92, functions both as an assessment of the moral climate in America today and also as a proposal for the church in contemporary society
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Unleashing The Scripture
$23.99Add to cartThis provocative critique of the uses and abuses of Scripture in the American church shows how liberal (historical-critical) and fundamentalist (literal) approaches to biblical scholarship have corrupted our use of the Bible. Hauerwas argues that the Bible can only be understood in the midst of a disciplined community of people, where the story is actually lived out by dedicated practitioners.
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Inside The Mind Of Unchurched Harry And Mary
$22.99Add to cartInside the Mind of Unchurched Harry and Mary isn’t a book of theory. It’s an action plan to help Christians relate the message of Christ to the people they work around, live with, and call their friends.
Using personal experiences, humor, compelling stories, biblical illustrations, and the latest research, Lee Strobel helps Christians understand unbelievers and what motivates them.
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Energizing The Congregation
$25.00Add to cartENERGIZING THE CONGREGATION, images that shape your church’s ministry. This study suggests that there are many appropriate ways for congregations to be in mission. The authors conclude that churches are revitalized by claiming the symbols that best articulate self-identity. Thus, churches gain the knowledge to build on their strengths and address their weaknesses. Dudley and Johnson describe five images of churches relationships to their communities over time: the survivor, prophet, pillar, pilgrim and servant styles, which are found in a wide variety of congregations and situations.
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Church Confident
$21.99Add to cartKeck shows how the church is suffering from malaise brought on by oversecularization in aspects of church life including worship, theology, ethos, and communication.
This penetrating clarion call to renewal cuts through the conventional ideological labels of “liberal” and “conservative.” Keck argues with passion that mainline churches today must neither pretend to be culturally triumphant nor whimper in fear. Rather, the church has grounds to be confident about its proper nature and mission.
Keck envisions a renewed church that has recovered a sense of what is basic to its nature and purpose–restoring the praise of God to the center of worship.
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How To Attract And Keep Active Church Members
$28.00Add to cartThis book is a study of church growth and membership retention. The author argues that if a church is to survive, it must concentrate on keeping its current members as well as attracting new ones. He interviews people from six hundred churches of various sizes and reviews the causes of membership decline and retention in those churches. Smith addresses the assimilation of new members, congregational vitality and church growth, and conflict management and its impact on membership retention.
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After Christendom : How The Church Is To Behave If Freedom Justice, And A C
$23.99Add to cartLiberal/conservative and modern/postmodern concepts define contemporary theological debate. Yet what if these categories are grounded in a set of assumptions about what it means to be the church in the world, presuming we must live as though God’s existence does not matter? What if our theological discussion distracts us from the fact that the church is no longer able to shape the desires and habits of Christians? Hauerwas wrestles with these and similar questions constructing a theological politics necessary for the church to be the church in the world. In so doing, he challenges liberal notions of justice and freedom.
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Manual For Acolytes
$14.95Add to cartThis manual is designed to describe those duties expected of one as the server. Server means one who assists-the terms acolyte, crucifer, and thurifer (as used in this manual) apply to specific responsibilities. No manual can be complete, inasmuch as the custom or use of each parish church varies.
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Shaped By The Bible
$15.99Add to cartShaped by the Bible offers sound information about the ways congregations are formed and reformed by the biblical message and the living Word. William Willimondiscusses the ways Scripture can form us, reform us, and challenge us, as well as the ways we hide from, close our ears to, and evade the Bible’s claims on us.
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Prewrath Rapture Of The Church
$26.99Add to cartCONTENTS
PART 1: JESUS IS COMING
1. The Tension And Anguish Surrounding A Consideration Of The Timing Of The Rapture
2. The Ultimate Absolute Of History
3. The Options Of “When” Laid Out
4. The Conflict That Makes It Necessary
5. But First The Counterfeit
6. The Background That Must Be Understood
7. The Question That Had To Be Answered
8. And What Of The Tribulation Period?
9. And Then The Day Of The Lord
PART 11: THE DAY OF THE LORD
10. Cosmic Disturbance
11. Elijah Must Appear First
12. The Day Of His Wrath
13. The 144,000 And A Great Multitude No Man Could Number
14. The Last Trump
15. The Apostasy And The Man Of Sin
PART III: THE PREWRATH RAPTURE
16. The Coming And The End
17. Kept From The Hour
18. Are Pretribulation Rapture Arguments Really Unanswerable?
19. The Prewrath Rapture: Why This View Now?
20. The Prewrath Rapture: Catalyst For Holy Living
Benediction
Notes
Scripture Index
About The AuthorAdditional Info
For thirty years a confirmed pretribulationist, he now believes that the Church will have to endure the persecution of the Antichrist: “God never promised Hs children immunity from the trials of this godless world or the assault of the Antichrist. He did promise, ‘greater is he [the Holy Spirit] that is in you, than he that is in the world’ (1 John 4:4). ” In view of the fact that Christians will not escape all of the oppression of the “Tribulation” period, Rosenthal urges godly living in light of a clear understanding of the last days so that we will be prepared for Satan’s intense opposition. Rosenthal does, however, believe that the Church win escape the wrath of God, which will be poured out beginning with the opening of Revelation’s seventh seal sometime during the second half of the “Tribulation” period. “For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Thess. 5:9). -
Justification The Article By Which The Church Stands Or Falls
$15.00Add to cartIn Part I, Braaten assesses Luther’s view of justification and its subsequent interpretation by orthodoxy, by Calvin, by Ritschl and Harnack, by Tillich, and by Barth. In Part II, the discussion turns to ecumenical dialogues on justification and the relation of the doctrine to evangelization, to the distinction between law and gospel, to pastoral care, and to the church’s involvment in secular issues.
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People In The Presence Of God
$26.99Add to cartIs there one correct way for the people of God to worship him? It turns out that Scripture offers many models and forms for worship, all of which are acceptable but not necessarily appropriate or functional in a particular setting. Barry Liesch, a professor of music at Biola University, helps his readers to grasp that fact and it’s implications for worship in the church today. This is a one-of-a-kind book for many kinds of readers in all kinds of churches. It offers biblical perspective, historical awareness, musical and artistic sensitivity, authentic reverence, and creative stimulation for worship leaders, church musicians, study groups, pastors, worship committees, and a host of others who are interested in appreciating and renewing worship according to biblical models. Within each of the twenty chapters the author shares many suggestions for enhancing and transforming worship in the church today. Not only does he present the various biblical models and offer a wealth of suggestions, he takes up some of the major concerns of worship leaders, planners, and participants — concerns such as the role of music, uses of symbolism, the appropriateness of dance, modes of celebration, expressions of reverence, and many others.
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Church Leadership : Following The Example Of Christ
$32.99Add to cartAs the body of Christ, the church is basically an organism, not an organization. This fact is full of implications for the way the church organizes itself and the way leadership functions in the church. No book on church leadership has become as controversial as this one. Nor is there a book that spells out so clearly the scriptural implications of the present rule of Christ in the church and the calling of church leaders to be, first of all, servants. This is must reading for pastors, elders, church staff members, and students preparing for ministry in the church.
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44 Ways To Increase Church Attendance
$21.99Add to cartAre you still suffering over the sight of empty pews? Have your efforts been more than exhaustive in expanding your congregation? Have you maximized your brainstorming potential for bringing in new members?
If you have reached what appears to be your limit, then no longer fret, 44 Ways To Increase Church Attendance can open the doors of both your church and mind. With proven techniques for building a body for Christ, church leaders can increase their membership and then free themselves to focus on other important missions for God. Schaller’s suggestions will energize leaders and put their churches on the road of abundance.
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Congregation Stories And Structures
$22.00Add to cartThe power of narrative or story in shaping Scripture, proclamation, and the individual Christian has been studied extensively in recent years. This ground-breaking volume shows the power of narrative at work in the congregation and equips church leaders to discover the unique language and shared stories of their own community of faith. Dr. James Hopewell, who died in 1984, had learned as a missionary in Africa to analyze story as a formative element in community life. This posthumously published study applies the methods of a cultural antropologist to American church life. Unlike some who are cynical and despairing about congregational life in this country, the author finds it a “thick gathering” – a complex but hopeful blend of myths and meaning that give significance to every activity, regardless of how trivial it may seem. He affirms that “even a plain church on a pale day catches one in a deep current of narrative interpretation and representation by which people give sense and order to their lives”.
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Handbook Of Church Discipline
$14.99Add to cart11 Chapters
Additional Info
This is a handbook for pastors, elders, and all Christians who want to see how Scripture presents the process of discipline that should operate in the Christian community. It was written in response to an urgent need. In order to help church leaders deal with the sorts of problems that require the church to respond with discipline, the author has developed the book around the five steps of corrective discipline found especially in Matthew 18:15 — 17. Because there is not merely one kind or one stage of discipline, church leaders must learn how to discern. And once the right discernment has been made, then the right action can follow. This is a simple and very readable little handbook. The influence it can and should have on the church is, however, quite profound -
Outgrowing The Ingrown Church
$12.99Add to cart1. The Ingrown Church Leader: God’s Call To Faith And Repentance
2. The Ingrown Church: God’s Call To Faith And Repentance
3. The Local Church: Its Missionary Character
4. The Local Church: Its Missionary Authority
5. The Local Church: God’s Glory Its Missionary Motive
6. The Welcoming Local Church
7. The Praying Local Church
8. The Pastor As A Pacesetter
9. Preaching By Faith: God’s Missionary Fire
10. Equipping For The Harvest Field
11. Opening A Window Of Opportunity: Diaconal Witness
12. Small Groups For Outreach176 Pages
Additional Info
This is a book for pacesetters — church leaders who desire to help their churches break free of the things that turn them in on themselves and keep them from being outward-looking and outward-moving communities of Jesus Christ. The ingrown church is a common phenomenon. It is the “norm” for contemporary evangelical and Protestant churches. But ingrownness is a pathology. It can destroy the vital spiritual health of a church. It must, therefore, be combated with the norms of Scripture. And that is why this book was written. Outgrowing the Ingrown Church is a masterful mix of biblical principle, objective analysis, and personal experience. It traces the author’s own growing awareness of the problem of ingrownness in his calling as a pastor, seminary professor, and evangelist/missionary. In his own discovery of the power and presence of God he discovered the tendency of the church to live by its own power and resources. This is a book written to help change churches by changing the individuals who read it. It offers one an unparalleled challenge to be evaluated, revitalized, and then used by God for the work of ministry. Thus it is a book not merely for pastors, but for the whole body of Christ. “I have never been as excited about any book concerning church growth as when I read this book . . . . (His biblical) principles, if followed, transform individual lives and then lead to a movement within a church to change the whole congregation,” writes John Guest in the foreword. -
Survey Of Israels History (Revised)
$44.99Add to cartSince its first publication in 1970, A Survey of Israel’s History has established itself as a popular and useful text in Bible colleges and seminaries. This revision by David O’Brien, which brings A Survey of Israel’s History up to date, is certain to add to its value and continue its popularity. A chapter on the Intertestamental Period has been added. Numerous line-maps, charts, and diagrams help to clarity details. An extensive chronological chart provides an overall summary of names and dates. Authoritative, thoroughly biblical, factually sound, and movingly human — A Survey of Israel’s History will prove enormously helpful to the student of the Bible, and to anyone in search of a definitive history of the chosen people.
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How To Mobilize Church Volunteers
$14.99Add to cartThis insightul, practical book by Marlene Wilson , and international authority on volunteerism, will help you answer questions about volunteers in the church. This new book for all churches points out common problems, establishes management principles, answers questions, and offers a plan to turn the volunteer challenge into a reality.
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Tithing : Call To Serious Biblical Giving
$19.99Add to cartR. T. Kendall believes that all Christians are called to tithe. What is more, he is convinced that the church would be revitalized and the world transformed if all Christians did begin to tithe. Dr. Kendall combines this bold claim with biblical, theological, and practical implications of tithing. Tithing is sometimes regarded as threatening, but it emerges in this book as both challenging and inspiring. Numerous exciting testimonies are told, all demonstrating in individual lives the principle that underlies tithing. “You cannot outgive to the Lord.”
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Christian Church : Biblical Origin Historical Transformation And Potential
$26.00Add to cartWith thoroughness and clarity, Hans Schwarz presents a historical and systematic understanding of the church its worship and piety, its traditions and doctrines, its forms and structures. This skilled assessment outlines the impact of the church today and analyzes its prospects for the future.
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Multiple Staff And The Larger Church
$22.99Add to cartLarger churches are different – in expectations, in performance, in staffing, and in use of lay volunteers. Their unique differences require special handling. And that’s what this first-of-its-kind book is all about. The author helps the leaders of larger churches understand the special characteristics of larger churches, and helps members of multiple staffs see their rle and the context of that role more clearly. Special emphasis is given to the role of the senior minister, the role of the associate minister, and to their relationship with one another.
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Active Spirituality : A Guide For Seekers And Ministers
$26.00Add to cartA practical guidebook for the inquiring layperson seeking a holistic, intelligent look at the spiritual life, and for the pastor or religious professional seeking a systematic framework and spiritual practices to re-ignite the flame of faith. Groff explains what it means to believe and what to do after you say you believe-through a unique integration of spirituality and service, heart and mind, and various faith traditions. Explore five spiritual disciplines: community, solitude, learning, service, and vocation. Great for study groups.
