Church Life
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Servants Heart : Tips For The Associate Minister
$19.36If you are a minister serving under a senior pastor or a lay leader in the church contemplating greater service in the Kingdom, you may be facing frustration about the direction of the ministry God has given you. You know that God has placed something within you, but you are having trouble finding out exactly how to openly express this inward passion. Well, this book will help you find the direction you need.
In A Servant’s Heart, Pastor Kenneth Kemp explores the ways an associate minister-one who serves under a senior pastor-can be effective in the role of a subordinate leader. Having served many years in this role himself, Pastor Kemp sees the role of the associate minister as being integrally important to the ministry of the church, rather than just a temporary position to occupy until something better comes along. He prepares the associate minister with practical advice from the basics of accepting the Master’s call to speaking to social issues to dealing with frustration. Each chapter presents a review of an important ministerial development concept, followed by a sermonic presentation to illustrate that concept. You will be a better preacher, leader, member, and servant if you read and adhere to these practical tips for the associate minister
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Help It Still Hurts
$29.98When the relationship between the pastor and the congregation is good, the hope of the congregation is that the pastor never leaves from serving the church. The reality of the Scripture and life reveals that serving a church forever is not possible. Transition is an inevitable phenomenon.
Cynthia Hinson Graham remembers being sad as a child when her pastor did not return to church after his illness. She recalls, “The church never came together as a family to talk about what happened or how they felt.” Forty years later, the senior pastor at her church announced his retirement, but offered no guidance “for the church family to come together and process their reactions or responses to the impending transition.”
In this study, Hinson Graham examines how a congregation deals spiritually and emotionally with the loss of its long-time pastor, as well as how the exiting pastor should prepare for his or her departure. She focuses on five independent African-American churches, which are significant because they were led by a single senior pastor, rather than by a board of governance or denominational order.
During her research, Hinson Graham explored the answers to four core questions: What were the spiritual and emotional responses to the transition of a long-term pastor? How were congregants able to express these feelings? What mindsets were most common when faced with the transition? And what, if any, processes were followed to ease the transition for the church body?
The author acknowledges the logical concern with the reasons for the current pastor’s departure and the uncertainty concerning the incoming pastor, but these are before and after issues. The emotional and spiritual well-being of church members during the transition, however, is of concern here. In a clear and approachable voice, Hinson Graham cites extensive biblical precedents for managing such matters.
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Underground Church
$20.00The Chinese house church is one of the most misunderstood and controversial subjects in Christian world missions today. Many questions about it abound, such as…
*How did it start?
*How does it work?
*How is it led?
*Why does it continue to experience revival?
*Is it necessary, now that China has extended religious freedoms?Much of the confusion is caused by the Chinese government, which deceives journalists and foreign missionaries with promises of religious freedom that are never kept.
The truth is, the house churches of China are growing at a phenomenal rate. Never in the history of the world have so many people in such a short time left one belief system for another without a hostile revolution. Lives in China are being transformed daily by the gospel of Jesus Christ and the display of His miraculous power.
The Underground Church demystifies the Chinese house church movement, with real-life examples and personal testimonies from Chinese Christians. The movement’s unique characteristics-both good and bad-are addressed, as well as how they have led to the church’s astonishing growth.
Be amazed at what God is doing in China!
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Operation Of The Gifts And Ministry Of The Holy Spirit
$21.86As the world marches to the rhythm of prophetic eventualities, and the imminent return of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, the church’s responsibility to the world is to appropriate the power of the Holy Spirit in their daily walk, so that world is drawn to seek Christ. Without the Holy Spirit, the Church is powerless in this present world. Lost souls will have no light to draw them to the way of truth. The Operation of The Gifts and Ministry of the Holy Spirit looks at The Promised Gift and the Church’s response.
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Church Shouldnt Suck The Life Out Of You
$15.99Using humor and frank honesty, Pastor Jim Minor describes how his own street outreach organization transformed from a vibrant, God-infused ministry into a conventional, safe church that almost sucked all the passion for ministry right out of him. Then, Jim explains how he got his passion back again.
Who is this book for?
*Pastors and ministry leaders who have lost their focus and have grown to resent the ministries to which they have been called
*Those in the pews who have lost the spark of their passion for God and find themselves merely going through the motions and “playing church”
*Non-churchgoers who stay away because they don’t want any part of a dry, lifeless religion that doesn’t make any difference in the world
If you identify with any of those categories, this book is for you!
Let Jim Minor cast a vision for what church can be. Discover that it’s possible to venture beyond the church walls, to interact with the lost and hurting, and to watch God do miracles in people’s lives. And in the process, church might even become fun and fulfilling once again.
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Exploring Christian Theology The Church Spiritual Growth And The End Times
$23.52Dallas Seminary Professors Make Basic Theology Accessible for All
Theology doesn’t have to be complicated. In this book, trusted Dallas Seminary professors present a concise systematic theology that distills the essential spiritual truths in a way that makes sense to readers–students, lay people, and pastors. Here are introductions, overviews, and reviews of key tenets of orthodox protestant evangelical doctrines. The book also includes an annotated list of key applicable Bible texts, a quick-paced story of doctrine throughout church history, heresies or distortions to be aware of, and more.
Exploring Christian Theology is useful for discipleship, catechism, membership training, preview or review of doctrine, or quick personal reference. It can also be used by ministry training programs, Bible colleges, or seminaries as an introductory primer to orient students in preparation for a more in-depth study of theology.
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Birmingham Revolution : Martin Luther King Jrs Epic Challenge To The Church
$16.99From time to time prophetic Christian voices rise to challenge our nations “original sin.” In the twentieth century, compelled by the Spirit of God and a yearning for freedom, the African American church took the lead in heralding the effort. Like almost no other movement before or since, Christian people gave force to a social mission. And, remarkably, they did it largely through nonviolent actions. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.s words and historic efforts as the Moses of this civil rights movement stand out as perhaps the most significant instance of a modern Christian leader acting in a prophetic role to instigate political change. In many ways “The Letter from Birmingham Jail” stands at the center of that movement. In this book African American journalist Edward Gilbreath explores the place of that letter in the life and work of Dr. King. Birmingham Revolution is not simply a work of historical reflection. Gilbreath encourages us to reflect on the relevance of King’s work for the church and culture of our day. Whether its in debates about immigration, economic redistribution or presidential birth certificates, race continues to play a role in shaping society. What part will the church play in the ongoing struggle?
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Transition Movement For Churches
$15.99The Transition Town Movement is a fast growing social movement with hundreds of local groups which aims to prepare communities for the impact of peak oil and climate change. Many Christians are involved already, but this is the first book to equip local churches to engage with the movement towards greater simplicity.
It provides:
* the main tenets of Transition
* a theological vision of the Church as a Transition movement by showing the commonalities that already exist
* signs that the movement is grounded in the visionary and prophetic
* examples of green Church initiatives and Transition projects
* suggestions of how to incorporate Transition ideas into worship and pastoral practice and policy
* ways to build bridges and partnerships between church communities and Transition communitiesAdd to cartin stock within 3-5 days of online purchase
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Disunity In Christ
$20.99Despite Jesus’ prayer that all Christians “be one,” divisions have been epidemic in the body of Christ from the beginning to the present. We cluster in theological groups, gender groups, age groups, ethnic groups, educational and economic groups. We criticize freely those who disagree with us, don’t look like us, don’t act like us and don’t even like what we like. Though we may think we know why this happens, Christena Cleveland says we probably don’t. In this eye-opening book, learn the hidden reasons behind conflict and divisions. Learn: Why I think all my friends are unique but those in other groups are all the sameWhy little differences often become big sources of conflictWhy categorizing others is often automatic and helpful but can also have sinister side effectsWhy we are so often victims of groupthink and how we can avoid itWhy women think men are judging them more negatively than men actually are, and vice versaWhy choices of language can actually affect unity With a personal touch and the trained eye of a sociologist, Cleveland brings to bear the latest studies and research on the unseen dynamics at work that tend to separate us from others. Learn why Christians who have a heart for unity have such a hard time actually uniting. The author provides real insight for ministry leaders who have attempted to build bridges across boundaries. Here are the tools we need to understand how we can overcome the hidden forces that divide us.
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God Me And Being Very Old
$35.99Death and dying are a constant presence in the life and work of care homes. Residents stay, on average, around 20 months (nursing homes) or 36 months(residential/social care homes/assisted living) and die there. The care home is therefore the setting for the last major event of each residents life. Yet these experiences of the very old at the close of their lives have received remarkably little attention either in practice or in research. Nor have churches and theologians given their oldest members anything like the concern for their spiritual wellbeing that they give to the young. The heart of this book will aim to give voice to something similar from some of the oldest old as they reflect on their pilgrimage of faith from the perspective of extreme old age (over 90). In particular the authors explore what this perspective has to say to the other members of their faith communities, particularly in terms of the things that are seen as being of importance and value. The particular significance of reflections arising from the experience of approaching death will be explored. This is one area where religious thinking is often out of step with contemporary imagery and language.
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Making Disciples In The 21st Century Church
$18.68More than a decade ago, Bill Hull wrote The Disciple Making Pastor. Hull criticized America’s Sunday attendance strategies as being totally inadequate and emphasized the need to make disciples. I resisted Hull’s teaching, thinking he lacked church growth insight. At that time, I primarily judged church growth success by how many were seated in a church in the worship service.
Yet now I applaud the concept of growing a church from the inside out and measuring success by disciples made and sent forth. The only command, in fact, of Christ’s great commission was to make disciples. The rest of the verbs in Matthew 28:18-20 are not in the command form but are actually participles. Jesus literally said, “having gone, make disciples.” (Matt. 28:18).
We know that the goal of the Christian life is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever. While this is God’s ultimate plan, does he have a particular purpose for the cell-based church? I’ve been wrestling with this question for the past twenty-two years. This question confronts me every time I coach a pastor or pastors. In preparation for coaching, I ask myself, “What is my principal objective in helping this pastor?” “Where am I guiding this church?” “What am I trying to do?”
This book answers these questions.
I’ve come to the conclusion that the primary goal of cell ministry is to make disciples who make disciples. Christ’s last command to his disciples was for them to repeat the process and to reproduce new disciples. But how were they supposed to do that?
We in North America and the Western world often project our own cultural bias into Christ’s great commission (Matthew 28:18-20). Most discipleship books, in fact, assume that discipleship is an individualistic endeavor–between me and God. And yes, there is an important individual aspect (e.g., personal devotions, etc.). Yet in Matthew 28, Jesus was talking to a group of disciples. He wanted them to follow his example by making disciples in a group. Jesus molded twelve disciples in a group and then sent them house to house.
The early church followed Christ’s pattern by making disciples through the house churches that periodically celebrated together in public worship. In 2 Timothy 2:1-2, Paul tells Timothy to continue the discipleship process by passing on the pure gospel message to faithful men and women. Even though the term “disciple” is later replaced by words such as “brothers/sisters,” “Christians,” and “saints,” the concept remain
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Global Member Care 2
$34.10Global Member Care: Crossing Sectors for Serving Humanity, the latest book from the O’Donnells, is part of
an ongoing effort to help a diversity of colleagues keep current with a globalizing world and the global field
of member care. This second volume in the Global Member Care series encourages readers to connect and
contribute to various international sectors on behalf of mission/aid workers and humanity. The book’s 35
chapters include a wealth of practical resources: guidelines, codes, resolutions, perspectives, principles,
case examples, videos links, human rights instruments, and more. Get ready to venture into the heart of
global issues and opportunities-from the trenches to the towers and everything in between!Add to cartin stock within 3-5 days of online purchase
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Evangelize Or Fosselize
$14.99Truly, there is nothing so tragic, so hard, and so icy as a fossilized church or Christian. Nothing can keep the Christian warm, fresh, and alive like evangelism. Soulwinning is a safeguard against a dead, barren orthodoxy. That the church’s expansion depends upon her evangelism is the testimony of the ages. Failing to save, she cannot survive. A lack of evangelism, ultimately, will lead to extinction.
Renowned Bible teacher Dr. Herbert Lockyer examines the call, the methods, the obstacles, and the challenge of bringing the gospel to a lost and hurting world. When the Holy Spirit enables men and women of God to offer their lives for the sake of the Lord Jesus and to turn the world upside down, it is the greatest adventure of all time!
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Doing Member Care Well
$54.10This book explores how member care is being practiced around the world to equip sending organizations as they intentionally support their mission/aid personnel. The information provided includes personal accounts, guidelines, case studies, worksheets, and practical advice from all over the globe.
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More Screams Different Deserts
$23.51More Screams, Different Deserts is another invitation to join Sue on her adventures in cross-cultural living and biblical studies that have helped her along the way. With twenty-seven years of experience in cross cultural ministry, Sue realizes that joy and perseverance are essential for thriving in life and ministry. Her stories and insights encourage women to look to Jesus, our only hope wherever we live. Stories, ranging from one corner of the world to another, include discovering a forgotten museum,
protecting her children from chocolate, visiting a camel market, and meeting wild pigs on a nighttime walk. God has been her refuge, and his Word held her steady when all she really wanted to do was run away and hide. Questions and resources at the end of each chapter will help readers think through personal application and find additional help.Add to cartin stock within 3-5 days of online purchase
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Missional Quest : Becoming A Church Of The Long Run
$17.99Introduction: Before The First Step
Part I: Fostering A Missional Mindset
1. The Starting LinePart II: Fostering A Missional Posture
2. Stop And Go
3. AD 30 All Over Again
4. Won’t You Be My Neighbor
5. Home, Work And God’s Mission
6. Where Everybody Knows Your Name
7. Launching Pads
8. Follow The Follower
9. Have A Great Trip
Appendix
EndnotesAdditional Info
When Christ calls people, he invites them on a journey-a journey taken together in community. We have reached a point in history, however, when we think of the church as a fixed place where isolated individuals show up, consume a Christian message, drink some coffee, and get on with their lives. The times demand, and the gospel proclaims, that we recover our identity as a church that is a people on a quest for the kingdom of heaven, formed intimately by a loving God and called onto a long journey for the sake of our neighbors and our world. In The Missional Quest you’ll learn how to take your church on a long run, and how to sustain yourselves and one another along the way, through the power of God for the sake of the world.Add to cartin stock within 3-5 days of online purchase
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Environmental Missions : Planting Churches And Trees
$29.40Environmental Missions defines an emerging category in missions, one that takes seriously
both the mandate to evangelize the world and the responsibility of caring for God’s good earth.Lowell Bliss was a traditional church planting missionary in India when his best Hindu friend there died of malaria. This was just one of the events that led him to reexamine the politically charged term “environment,” understanding it now as simply “that which surrounds those we love, those for whom Jesus died.” In other words, the church is called to reach not only vulnerable people but the space in which they live and breathe.
Pointing to the narrative of Scripture and the history of missions, Bliss shows us that the gospel of Jesus Christ is good news for the whole creation, that we must unite two traditionally separate endeavors to fulfill the entirety of God’s commission, and that the challenge of the environmental crises of our day is also one of our greatest opportunities to reach the least reached with the love of Christ.
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No Continuing City
$62.34Alan Tippett’s publications played a significant role in the development of missiology. The volumes in this series augment his distinguished reputation by bringing to light his many unpublished materials and hard-tolocate
printed articles. These books-encompassing theology, anthropology, history, area studies, religion, and ethnohistory-broaden the contours of the discipline.As a gift to Edna and the children on the occasion of their golden wedding anniversary, Tippett completed his autobiography, ironically just months prior to his death. Containing personal reflections on his childhood and later
mission experiences in the South Pacific, relationship with Donald McGavran and the founding of the School of World Mission, and retirement years in Australia, No Continuing City is the inside story. These are Tippett’s Personal reflections that can be found in no other publication.Add to cartin stock within 3-5 days of online purchase
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Dying To Grow
$14.99Never before have we seen the church degenerate at such a rapid pace. This is largely due to the church pursuing congregational growth instead of kingdom growth. The church is dying because our growth isn’t based on strategies to reach the lost with the gospel. The time to change is now, we can’t wait any longer. People’s eternities are at stake.
What is your church’s priority? Are you more concerned with filling your building or furthering the Kingdom? This book will challenge you to evaluate just how important gospel-based evangelism is to you and your church, and call on you to restore an intentional evangelism strategy within the body. Hell will tremble when churches once again make evangelism the central theme of their strategy.
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Encounters With Orthodoxy
$30.00When author and theologian John P. Burgess first travelled to Russia, he was hoping to expand his theological horizons and explore the rebirth of the Orthodox Church since the fall of Communism. But what he found changed some fundamental assumptions about his own tradition of North American Protestantism. In this book, Burgess asks how an encounter with Orthodoxy can help Protestants better see both strengths and weaknesses of their own tradition. In a time in which North American Protestantism is in decline-membership has now fallen to below 50% of the population-Russian Orthodoxy can help Protestants rethink the ways in which they worship, teach, and spread the gospel. Burgess considers Orthodox rituals, icons, saints and miracles, monastic life, and Eucharistic theology and practice. He then explores whether and how Protestants can use elements of Orthodoxy to reform church life.
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1 Corinthians 1-9 Challenging Church (Student/Study Guide)
$8.99Introduction
Why Study 1 Corinthians?
Timeline
1. Count Your Blessings – 1 Corinthians 1 V 1-9
2. Unite In “foolishness” – 1 Corinthians 1 V 10 – 2 V 16
3. Unite As God’s Community – 1 Corinthians 3
4. Recognise Real Ministers – 1 Corinthians 4
5. Don’t Go Soft On Sin – 1 Corinthians 5 – 6
6. Let Your Calling Count – 1 Corinthians 7
7. Use Your Rights – 1 Corinthians 8 – 9
Leader’s GuideAdditional Info
Even today, Jesus is still a figure of intense interest and admiration for millions. But then there’s His church. Church is a boring topic for most, and a reluctantly fulfilled duty for many.And we can understand why. Churches say they have the best news in the world, that they have the answer to our problems, that they are God’s embassies on earth; and yet churches are made up of people like you and me, who are grumpy, irritable, unfaithful, selfish, and worse.
And as that is sadly true of churches today, so it was of the church in Corinth. It was young, it was full of life, and it was just as full of problems. What would God say to such a challenging church? What did they need to be excited by, to listen to, to learn?
Use this seven-study guide to open up the first nine chapters of the letter of 1 Corinthians, to hear what God said to His church in Corinth, and what God still says to His church today.
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Listen Up : A Practical Guide To Listening To Sermons
$3.99Seven Ingredients For Healthy Sermon Listening:
1. Expect God To Speak
2. Admit God Knows Better Than You
3. Check The Preacher Says What The Passage Says
4. Hear The Sermon In Church
5. Be There Week By Week
6. Do What The Bible Says
7. Do What The Bible Says Today – And Rejoice!
How To Listen To Bad Sermons
7 Suggestions For Encouraging Good PreachingAdditional Info
Why on earth does anyone need a guide on how to listen to sermons? Don’t we simply need to ‘be there’ and stay awake? Yet Jesus said: ‘Consider carefully how you listen.’ The fact is, much more is involved in truly listening to Bible teaching than just sitting and staring at the preacher.Christopher Ash outlines seven ingredients for healthy listening. He then deals with how to respond to bad sermons – ones that are dull, or inadequate, or heretical. And finally, he challenges us with ideas for helping and encouraging our Bible teachers to give sermons that will really help us to grow as Christians.
* Where does the authority of a Bible teacher come from?
* Why is Bible teaching offensive?
* Why is it important to hear Bible teaching in church?
* How can we actually enjoy Bible teaching more?These (and more) are the questions answered by this practical guide, which includes effective, hands-on suggestions for implementing each idea. All with the aim of helping us learn how to listen properly, so that through His word, God will make us more and more Christ like.
‘We give Listen Up to all our new members’ – Mark Dever, Senior Pastor, Capitol Hill Baptist Church
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See Know And Serve The People Within Your Reach
$22.99In See, Know and Serve, Tom Bandy shows how the transition between Christendom and Post-Christendom is unfolding at different speeds and with different twists in diverse regions and places, and that this development makes standardizing ministry practices, or using collections of “best practices,” unsuccessful in growing God’s mission. Bandy presents startlingly new ways to view congregations and communities, enabling leaders to understand the people within their reach on a granular level. The author demonstrates with real-world examples how organizations can translate this information into practical strategies and tactics. The book includes helpful charts and diagrams, making the material surprisingly easy to digest and share. This important, groundbreaking and convicting book lays out with depth and clarity a pioneering new way forward for every church and every mission-focused organization. Bandy shows how we can see the people in our communities with unparalleled clarity, so that we can serve them-fulfilling our mission-effectively.
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Triumph Of Christianity
$15.99Celebrated religious and social historian Rodney Starktraces the extraordinary rise of Christianity through its most pivotal andcontroversial moments to offer fresh perspective on the history of the world’slargest religion. In The Triumph of Christianity, the author of God’sBattalions and The Rise of Christianity gathers and refines decadesof powerful research and discovery into one concentrated, concise, and highlyreadable volume that explores Christianity’s most crucial episodes. The uniqueformat of Triumph of Christianity allows Stark to avoid densechronologies and difficult back stories, bringing readers right to the heart ofChristian history’s most vital controversies and enduring lessons.
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Balkars Of Southern Russia And Their Deportation 1944 57
$19.98The deportation of entire ethnic groups of the North Caucasus region of southern Russia was an immense operation of the Soviet government during World War II. The Balkarians, or Balkars, were forcibly taken from their native homelands and deported to distant lands within the Soviet Union. They remained in exile for thirteen years. The third generation of Balkars since that horrible experience continues to live in the shadow of the atrocities committed against their people. This book applies comprehensive research to the facts of the deportation. More importantly, it examines lingering resentments and current sentiments of the Balkarians through extensive personal interviews with those who experienced the deportation.
Indelible events are often stamped into the consciousness of a nation. These events shape individuals, and often entire societies, in the way they view social, cultural, political, ethical, and especially spiritual realities.
In Karen’s many interviews woven throughout the book, we learn of several Balkarians who come to faith because of the Deportation, such as Ibrahim Gelastanov. Ibrahim recounts his memories about the deportation years. He cried as he recalled the details of his mother’s death within twenty-four hours of arriving in a special settlement where she died of starvation. Ibrahim tells of the horrors of his capture, the fifteen-day train ride, the forty-eight-hour boat ride, the twenty-four-hour walk to an unknown destination, and the starvation and indignities that he suffered. But Ibrahim always attributes his deportation as the means to his salvation into God’s family. He was the first Balkarian Christian, and he remained the lone Balkar Christian for thirty-six years.
The tiny region of Balkaria is tucked into the largest mountain range of Europe, the Caucasus Mountains, in southern Russia. The Balkarians live in the shadow of unthinkable cruelty by the Stalin regime, the deportation of their entire people group. The deportation was concealed until the late twentieth century due to the secrecy of communism. It was also hidden behind the terrors that occurred in Europe during World War II. The Balkars have suffered greatly in the last century, and they desperately need the peace of God in their hearts. This book will bring awareness to the Caucasus peoples and bring more involvement in promoting the work of the Gospel in this unstable area to the unreached peoples.
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My Mothers Sons
$25.87My Mother’s Sons provides a thoughtful model for how Western Christian workers can respectfully negotiate sexual boundaries and norms in Muslim contexts. Westerners are inclined to impose their own culturally shaped notions of gender equality and justice on non-egalitarian communities, alienating the very people they are seeking to serve. The author draws on his own research among Pakistani Pashtuns, intercultural theory, and exegesis of Christian and Islamic sacred texts to show that it is possible to work for transformational change without offending those who live within a patriarchal system.
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Developing Indigenous Leaders
$25.87Every movement is only one generation from dying out. Leadership development remains the critical issue for mission endeavors around the world. How are leaders developed from the local context for the local context? What is the role of the expatriate in this process? What models of hope are available for those seeking further direction in this area, particularly in mission to the Buddhist world of Asia? To answer these and several other questions, SEANET proudly presents the tenth volume in its series on practical missiology, Developing Indigenous Leaders: Lessons in Mission from Buddhist Asia.
Each chapter in this volume is written by a practitioner and a mission scholar. The ten authors come from a wide range of ecclesial and national backgrounds and represent service in ten different Buddhist contexts of Asia. With biblical integrity and cultural sensitivity, these chapters provide honest reflection, insight, and guidance.There is perhaps no more crucial issue than the development of dedicated indigenous leaders who will remain long after missionaries have returned home. If you are concerned about raising up leaders in your ministry in whatever cultural context it may be, this volume will be an important addition to your library.
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Worship And Mission For The Global Church
$54.10This book offers theological reflection, case studies, practical tools, and audiovisual resources to help the global church appreciate and generate culturally appropriate arts in worship and witness. Drawing on the expertise and experience of over one hundred writers from twenty countries, the volume integrates insights from the fields of ethnomusicology, biblical research, worship studies, missiology and the arts.
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Writing Exceptional Missionary Newsletters
$19.98Writing Exceptional Missionary Newsletters shows anyone who writes personal ministry newsletters how to captivate readers. This revised edition offers more ideas for better online communication like e-mail and Facebook. It shows how to increase your letter’s impact and provides tips for how often to send your newsletters, e-newsletters, and posts. It is for seasoned and new missionaries, church leaders, mission organizations, mission boards, and any person encouraging missionaries to communicate well.
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Faith Seeking Understanding
$21.16How does the Christian faith help us see into the true nature of life more clearly? Why do people suffer? Where do we come from? What does Jesus have to say to a changing world? What can we learn from great mission pioneers about seeking truth at the cutting edges of human knowledge? Faith Seeking Understanding explores such questions. Notable Christian thinkers such as Philip Yancey, Alvin Plantinga, Rodney Stark, Allan Chapman, Don Richardson, Yuan Zhiming, and more, share powerful insights that help answer the deepest questions people face in the twenty-first century from the perspective of Christian faith. Inspired by the lives and accomplishments of Ralph D. Winter and Paul Brand, this book seeks to apply the curious, open-minded, and compassionate spirit these Christian leaders exhibited to key contemporary questions in science, history, philosophy, theology, and comparative religion. The reader will gain a fresh appreciation for the intellectual challenges of the Christian faith, and some of most fascinating and sometimes controversial ways in which those challenges are being met.
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Christianity And Animism In Melanesia
$22.34Four approaches to gospel and culture. In this book, Kenneth Nehrbass examines the interaction between traditional or animistic religion (called kastom) and Christianity in Vanuatu. First, he briefly outlines major anthropological theories of animism, then he examines eight aspects of animism on Tanna Island and shows how they present a challenge to Christianity. He traces the history of Christianity on Tanna from 1839 to the present, showing which missiological theories the various missionaries were implementing. Nehrbass wanted to find out what experiences in the lives of the islanders distinguished those who left traditional religion behind from those who held on to it. In the end, he contends that there are twenty factors of gospel response and cultural integration that determine whether an animistic background believer will be a mixer, separator, transplanter, or contextualizer.
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Frontline Women : Negotiating Cross Cultural Issues In Ministry
$25.87Frontline Women is a collection of writings on women’s issues from those who have had mission field experience. Each author has special interest and expertise in the area in which he or she has written.
In the past we have failed to understand the significance of gender in mission work. Though women have historically been the majority in mission service, they have not been allowed much say in policies or strategizing. This book deals with gender differences in many areas of life and how that affects service to God in mission work. Women’s God-given gifting is meant to complement that of men and needs to be recognized, appreciated, and made use of in the day-by-day functioning of missions. In some mission agencies changes are being made in regard to women’s role and care. In this edition the authors have updated and added new information from their research and experience.Add to cartin stock within 3-5 days of online purchase
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Why We Belong
$25.00Denominations. The mention of the word is often enough to spark strong reactions, regardless of whether one is for or against them. This hopeful new volume, made up of contributions from 8 prominent evangelical leaders, argues for the importance of denominations, highlighting their significant strengths while acknowledging potential weaknesses. Contributors from a variety of backgrounds (Anglican, Presbyterian, Baptist, Pentecostal, Lutheran, and Methodist) share their own personal stories related to why they identify with a particular tradition and yet still maintain a robust sense of Christian unity across denominational lines. Far from merely highlighting differences, this book celebrates the unity that believers enjoy in the gospel for the purpose of fostering productive dialogue and increased understanding within the fragmented landscape of modern evangelicalism.
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Wide Welcome : How The Unsettling Presence Of Newcomers Can Save The Church
$36.66While most churches offer ‘new member classes’ and genuinely seek to welcome visitors, too often the end result is a rush to assimilate the newcomer into formal membership and all of the invitations to participation in committees, choirs, or fellowship groups that go along with it.
In Wide Welcome, Jessicah Krey Duckworth presents the stark differences between the established congregation, which cares for current members and congregational identity, and the disestablished one, intentionally equipped to facilitate the encounter between new and established members. By intentionally extending the time of newcomer inquiry and allowing their questions, insights, and experiences to reverberate through the entire congregation both they and the church are changed. Wide Welcome does far more than point out the faults and weaknesses in current practice. Duckworth intentionally lays out possible designs for newcomer welcome that are local and particular.
At a time when only nine percent of North American Mainline congregations actively and intentionally facilitate newcomer faith formation, Wide Welcome is an essential and timely book.
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People For His Name
$23.51In world missions, the author proposes, the local church is the biblical sending body through which missionaries serve. The author places emphasis upon the practical outworking of the mission responsibilities of the local church as well as its relationship to mission agencies, missionary personnel, and Christian schools.
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Come And See
$21.16The mission of the Church is to introduce the person of Christ to individual human beings who by faith enter into communion with God. This does not involve adapting information to a particular context, but rather establishing the context prescribed by God for the presence of Christ wherever we happen to be among the peoples of the world. Contextualization, then, creates a new invitational core context which is host to the presence of the divine person. This is defined with the help of the gifts of ecclesial Tradition, which enables conditions that facilitate communion, and which thus helps us engage the world.
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Expectations And Burnout
$19.98Missionary women have high expectations when they respond to God’s call; of themselves, their mission agencies, host cultures, churches, co-workers, and even of God. These expectations are often times impossible to fulfill and can lead to mental and physical exhaustion. Eighty percent of missionary women feel they have come close to burnout, whether they were married or single, traditional or tent making, new or experienced. In Expectations and Burnout: Women Surviving the Great Commission, Sue provides research and surveys from the field while Robynn lends her own personal experiences to demonstrate how burnout can happen and how God can bring life from ashes. Join them as they explore how to develop realistic expectations and yet maintain faith in our sovereign God who continues to accomplish the impossible.
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Rethinking Hindu Ministry
$16.45Hindu traditions are diverse and complex. Simple summaries of Hindu beliefs and practices lack appreciation for the allure which captivates Hindus themselves. This collection of papers from seasoned practitioners observes Hindu traditions and Hindu ministry from new angles, introducing new perspectives on ministry in Christ’s name that are relevant far beyond the Hindu world. Broad conceptual pictures are presented along with detailed practical advice and introductions to remarkable Hindus who surrendered to Christ and wrestled with the meaning of following Him in their Hindu families. This is the first book to turn to for pointers on sharing Christ with Hindus.
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Profiles Of African American Missionaries
$35.28In 2010, the U.S. Census Bureau shows that there are 42 million people who identify themselves as African-Americans. Of the 42 million, there are an estimated 20million who self-identify as Christians. Of this number, very few leave the United States and go to other countries as missionaries. The reasons for the absence of African-American missionaries are varied and in some respects understandable, yet we are all called to be engaged in the Great Commission.
Profiles of African-American Missionaries features the few who have answered the call. This collection of stories shares the lives and contributions of several African-American missionary pioneers dedicated to reaching the lost for the sake of Christ. Readers will be inspired by the commitment of these missionaries who devoted their lives to the foreign fields, with the full knowledge that God would be with them always as Christ promised. You will be challenged to take a look at your own life and consider a response to our Lord’s command to make disciples.Add to cartin stock within 3-5 days of online purchase
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5 Things You Can Do To Understand The Bible Better
$14.98The Bible may be the best-selling book of all time, but for all its sales, its content remains widely unknown. According to polls only about half of adults in the United States can name one of the four
Gospels, or knew that Genesis was the first book of the Bible.
Many people feel intimidated by the idea of reading the Bible with understanding that feeds and stregthens faith. Zach McIntosh provides basic knowledge of the purposes and themes of the Bible, and reminds us that the easiest way to understand the Bible better is to read it.
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Get Their Name Workbook
$15.99Power-boost your team’s capacity to share faith without anxiety!
Most churches and Christians target the wrong people with “evangelism” efforts. The model we use no longer works because it is passive, too polite, and focused in the wrong direction. We are not making new disciples, not adding significantly to Christ’s transformation of the world. But there is hope and practical help for churches who are ready to take a new approach. Get Their Name by Bob Farr, Kay Kotan, and Doug Anderson outlines that hope and help.The Get Their Name Workbook provides the critical next step. Church leaders can use this resource with their teams, small groups, and staff to power-boost the book’s ideas in their own church context. The workbook is formatted to function as an individual study, too.
The Get Their Name Workbook:
-Creates conversation starters for group discussion or personal reflection
-Poses powerful questions, which can lead to honest and authentic reflection and evaluation
-Encourages group participants to process the information together, increasing understanding and commitment
-Stimulates calls to action, increasing the likelihood of real and sustainable change in the congregationAdd to cartin stock within 3-5 days of online purchase
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Elephant In The Church
$19.99A church can be a dangerous place. The perils may be so obvious, they become “elephants” standing in the fellowship hall, lurking in the sanctuary, ready to spring into the pastor’s study, and tromp out of the choir room. The word “elephant” stands for an obvious truth or issue that is ignored or unnamed-a blind spot. Yet we allow elephants to occupy a large amount of space in the minds and hearts of those that tiptoe around them. Discussing common blind-spots of congregations and church leaders, the authors provide examples and illustrations for how to stop these “elephants” from ruining a ministry.
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Literacy Bible Reading And Church Growth
$22.34The story of Christianity from apostolic times to the present reveals that in virtually every country of the world a Bible-reading laity was an important factor in the growth of the church, both numerically and spiritually. The importance of the Bible in actual history is a challenge to the church today.
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Life Changing Leadership (Reprinted)
$15.99Discover the keys to unlocking success in life and ministry. Everyone is looking for that edge, the key that will unlock success in life and ministry. The “edge” is Christ and he has given us keys that will open doors to divine encounters and strategies leading to successful leadership. Amply supported by Scripture and lessons from other successful leaders, this book closely outlines what it takes to be a successful leader in a lukewarm, confused, compromising, religious atmosphere. It defines the functions and responsibilities of leadership teams and offers insight into different leadership styles, as well as the unique temptations and challenges that face a ministry leader. Leaders will discover how Scriptures establish the necessity of God as the head of church government. They will learn how to choose qualified leaders and learn practical ways to train them. Life-Changing Leadership will help strengthen leaders and give them strategies for building and motivating teams by setting and executing team goals that support creativity and faithfulness.
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Who Is The Church
$43.33Many congregations today are beset by fears, whether over loss of members and money, or of irrelevancy in an increasingly pluralistic society. To counter this, many congregations focus on strategy and purpose-what churches “do”-but Cheryl Peterson submits that mainline churches need to focus instead on “what” or “who” they are-to reclaim a theological, rather than sociological, understanding of themselves.
To do this, she places the questions of the church’s identity and mission into a conversation with the primary ecclesiological paradigms of the past century: the neo-Reformation concept of the church as a “word event” and the ecumenical paradigms of the church as “communion.” She argues that these two paradigms assume a context of cultural Christendom that no longer exists-focused on the church that is gathered-rather than the missional church that is sent out.
Peterson suggests instead that we understand the church as a people created by the Spirit to be a community, and that we must claim a narrative method to explore the church’s identity-specifically, the story of the church’s origin in the Acts of the Apostles. Finally, here is a way of thinking of church that reconciles the best of competing models of church for the future of mainline Protestant theology.
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Dear Children : A Letter From God To The Church Through The Scriptures
$33.26What is the “best” church? And which contemporary church leader is the most correct? If God’s Word does not change, does this mean that our faith should also remain unchanged from generation to generation? How should Christians feel about non-believers and-more importantly-how should we respond to the world’s direction when it appears to be against Scripture? Does God even talk to the church anymore? This book is a letter from God. It is addressed to His people-God’s Church-and it is not founded on “traditional” Christianity. It is founded upon God’s Word, the Scriptures. We know that judgment begins at the house of God, and this letter is written for the purpose of allowing God’s people to begin preparing for the judgment that is coming, and for the new age, an age that has already begun.
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Troubled Minds : Mental Illness And The Churchs Mission
$22.991. My Family’s Story
2. Mental Illness Is Mainstream
3. Suffering People
4. Coping
5. Church Life
6. Ministry Life
7. Persistent Stigma
8. What Churches Can Do
9. What God Does
Resources For Ministry To The Mentally IllAdditional Info
Mental illness is the sort of thing we dont like to talk about. It doesnt reduce nicely to simple solutions and happy outcomes. So instead, too often we reduce people who are mentally ill to caricatures and ghosts, and simply pretend they dont exist. They do exist, howeverstatistics suggest that one in four people suffer from some kind of mental illness. And then theres their friends and family members, who bear their own scars and anxious thoughts, and who see no safe place to talk about the impact of mental illness on their lives and their loved ones. Many of these people are sitting in churches week after week, suffering in stigmatized silence. In Troubled Minds Amy Simpson, whose family knows the trauma and bewilderment of mental abuse, reminds us that people with mental illness are our neighbors and our brothers and sisters in Christ, and she shows us the path to loving them well and becoming a church that loves God with whole hearts and whole souls, with the strength we have and with minds that are whole as well as minds that are troubled.Add to cartin stock within 3-5 days of online purchase
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Church Worth Getting Up For
$18.99A growing number of people seem to be answering this question with, “No, your church isn’t worthy my time or effort!” While research identifies a disturbing exodus from church life by all age groups and young people in particular, many churches continue to maintain the status quo. Can we do no better? Are we too afraid to confront the realities of living in today’s world? Have we failed? This book will help you create a church worth getting up for.
In the book Chuck Gutenson helps us hear from eight church leaders including: Deb Hirsch, Al Hirsch, Mike Slaughter, Nadia Bolz-Weber, Chris Seay, Greg Boyd, Olu Brown, and Doug Pagitt. Each has a “successful” church. Learn what characteristics they have in common.
We all want to be a part of something meaningful-something or someone who will change our lives for the better. The Church has to find new ways to encourage, nurture, guide, inspire, and motivate people to find their true source in Jesus Christ. Jesus is worth getting up for. Help people find in your church a means to experience the source of their deepest desires.
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Relational Pastor : Sharing In Christ By Sharing Ourselves
$20.99When is the last time you asked yourself hard questions about why you were pursuing certain relationships in your ministry? Could it be that the end game for many of us is not relationship per se but loyalty, adherence, even submission? The sheep in our flock become the means to our end: pastoring becomes less about the people of God and more about maintenance of the status quo-and, if we are willing to recognize it, the elevation of our pastoral status. Here practical theologian Andy Root dissects relational ministry as we have come to understand it and searches for the seed of a more wholesome, more pastoral understanding of the relationships for which God has prepared the church: the place where, when two or more are gathered in his name, Christ is present.
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