Church Life
Showing 351–400 of 530 results
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Healthy Congregations : A Systems Approach
$30.00Add to cartIn this sequel to How Your Church Family Works, Steinke takes readers into a deeper exploration of the congregation as an emotional system. Learn ten principles of health, how congregations can adopt new ways of dealing with stress and anxiety, how spiritually and emotionally healthy leaders influence the emotional system, factors that could put your congregation at risk, and more.
The same content you’ve come to rely on in an exciting new format.
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Divorce And Remarriage In The Church
$24.00Add to cartWill God allow me to divorce my abusive husband?
Would it be a sin if I remarried?
Divorce and remarriage are major pastoral issues facing every church. Yet when we turn to Scripture for guidance, we often hear conflicting messages about its teachings.
David Instone-Brewer shows how, when properly understood, the New Testament provides faithful, realistic and wise guidance of crucial importance and practical help for the church today.
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No Se Admiten Personas Perfect – (Spanish)
$19.99Add to cartThe church is facing its greatest challenge – and its greatest opportunity – in our post-modern, post-Christian world. God is drawing thousands of spiritually curious “imperfect people” to become his church – but, how are we doing at welcoming them? This book shows you how to deconstruct the five main barriers standing between emerging generations and your church by creating the right culture. The book offers inspiring stories of real people once far from God and practical ideas that can be applied in any church.
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Transforming Evangelism : The Wesleyan Way Of Sharing Faith
$14.00Add to cartTraditional views of evangelism are often intimidating and push the limits of personal comfort, leaving the job of reaching out to new and searching Christians for the professionals – the clergy of the church. Knight and Powe show how this basic misunderstanding is contrary to John Wesley’s view of evangelism, which welcomed into the faith, part of the transformation of their lives includes Christ’s teaching, which is to help the evangelized to become welcomed in the faith.
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Emergent Theology For Emerging Churches
$30.00Add to cartExplaining that an emergent theology is messianic, revelational, kingdom-coming and eschatological, this book adresses many of the concerns of those looking for a church that is contemporary, yet true to the gospel.
If you wrestle with the challenges that face the church in these “postmodern” days, you will benefit from this book.
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Exiles : Living Missionally In A Post Christian Culture (Reprinted)
$24.00Add to cartExiles: Living Missionally in a Post-Christian Culture presents a biblical, Christian worldview for the emergent church-people who are not at home in the traditional church or in the secular world. As exiles of both, they must create their own worldview that integrates their Christian beliefs with the contemporary world. Exiles seeks to integrate all aspects of life and decision-making and to develop the characteristics of a Christian life lived intentionally within emerging (postmodern) culture. It presents a plea for a dynamic, life-affirming, robust Christian faith that can be lived successfully in the post-Christian world of twenty-first century Western society. This book will present a Christian lifestyle that can be lived in non-religious categories and be attractive to not-yet Christians.
Such a worldview takes ecology and politics seriously. It offers a positive response to the workplace, the arts, feminism, mystery and worship. Exiles seeks to develop a framework that will allow Christians to live boldly and courageously in a world that no longer values the culture of the church, but does greatly value many of the things the Bible speaks positively about. This book suggests that there us more to being a Christian than meets the eye. It explores the secret, unseen nooks and crannies in the life of a Christian and suggests that faith is about more than church attendance and belief in God. Written in a conversational, easy-to-read style, Exiles is aimed at church leaders, pastors and laypersons and seeks to address complex issues in a simple manner. It includes helpful photographs and diagrams. -
Treasures For The Transformed Life
$20.99Add to cartTransformational Spiritual Development
The book, Treasures of the Transformed Life offers an appealing theme for your members – Satisfying Your Soul’s Thirst for More. It offers your congregation the broad benefits of deepening well-rounded spiritual growth. Their newly enhanced connection to God and to each other will help them to view everything with a new perspective. As a result, all areas of their Prayers, Presence, Gifts, and Service can be improved.These 40 days of daily readings embrace:
Desiring a Better Life
Experiencing Meaningful Prayer
Building the Church as a Team
Finding New Ways to Serve
Unleashing Generous Giving
Living the Transformed Life
40 DAYS OF TRANSFORMATION
A Spiritual Growth Resource for Christians and Congregations
Whether it is used for personal study, a class lesson plan, or in a congregation-wide 40-day reading program, this book aids ongoing transformation by building –MORE
More Strength
More Participation
More Ownership
More Service
More Teamwork
More Commitment
More Gratitude
More Generosity -
Life Scripts For The Church Volume 3 Holiday
$24.99Add to cartThis is the third in a series of volumes, each containing 24 skits of brilliant, insightful, often comedic material ideal for performance during church services, specifically geared to the major holidays. Does not require huge casts or highly experienc
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Life Scripts For The Church Volume 2
$24.99Add to cartThis is the second in a series of volumes, each containing 24 skits of brilliant, insightful, often comedic material ideal for performance during church services. Does not require huge casts or highly experienced players — most skits use 2-6 performers,
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Life Scripts For The Church Volume 1
$24.99Add to cartThis is the first in a series of volumes, each containing 24 skits of brilliant, insightful, often comedic material ideal for performance during church services. Does not require huge casts or highly experienced players — most skits use 2-6 performers, m
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Divine Agenda : A Last Day Message To The Church
$16.99Add to cartThere is much to be done before the close of the Church Age. Many have confused busyness with My work, My Spirit work. I have a plan, an ordered list of things that must be done, A Divine Agenda!” This is no ordinary book. Dr. Stephens shares a message given her by the Holy Spirit. Your spirit will bear witness as you discover the seven critical things on His agenda that every believer must know. Individually and corporately, the Holy Spirit instructs His Body, “See to it that you do these things”: First and Foremost, Love, Love, Love Trust Me – I Am Your Source Discern the Spirit of Division Among You Do Not Neglect Your Work Set the Captives Free Replace Fear With Peace Sow Into My Kingdom Each critical “must do” is addressed in a separate chapter as Stephens shares personal insights, visions, dreams, revelations, and encounters with angels and demons. These augment the Spirit’s message as they attest to His faithfulness to guide, bless, chastise, and deliver His children from evil. In this book you will also discover ten practical ways to overcome fear. Key points at the end of each chapter make A Divine Agenda an excellent source for private devotions or group study
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Jesus Has A Cousin
$10.99Add to cartJesus 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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Multi Site Church Revolution
$22.99Add to cartHow multi-site churches increase their evangelistic impact. Rather than pouring millions of dollars into constructing new buildings, churches of all sizes are learning new ways to take church to the streets, reaching people in new ways. They extend into gyms and multipurpose rooms, or across town into theaters, schools, and empty warehouses. From the suburbs to urban and rural settings, churches are discovering the advantage of becoming “one church, with many locations.” This book from a new publishing partnership between Zondervan and Leadership Network called the Leadership Network Innovation Series tells the story of this revolution and explains the multi-site ministry approach as a way of serving a variety of target groups and target communities. Through in-the-trenches examples from more than fifty different multi-site churches, it highlights a wide variety of creative approaches and identifies the primary reasons multi-site churches succeed-as well as how they overcome common snags. Written in an extremely practical style, this book guides churches to answer the question, “How could God use our church if we were open to joining this ‘revolution’?”
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Resurrecting Excellence : Shaping Faithful Christian Ministry
$24.99Add to cartChristians are of two minds about excellence. We commend excellent teaching, seek out excellent health care, and celebrate excellence in the arts. When a Christian life or congregation is described as excellent, however, we suspect that ambition or success may be getting the better of us.
Resurrecting Excellence aims to rekindle and encourage among Christian leaders an unselfish ambition for the gospel that shuns both competition and mediocrity and rightly focuses on the beauty, power, and excellence of living as faithful disciples of the crucified and risen Christ. Drawing on ancient traditions and on contemporary voices, L. Gregory Jones and Kevin R. Armstrong offer both a theology of excellence and compelling portraits of pastors, lay leaders, and congregations that embody “a more excellent way.”
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Balancing Acts : Obligation Liberation And Contemporary Christian Conflicts
$13.95Add to cartAmerican congregations are more divided than ever over a broad range of theological and social issues — and this book outlines an innovative way to understand and address these difficult conflicts. Balancing Acts introduces readers to the two major spiritual themes that animate life in America today — obligation and liberation — and discusses how most Christians align themselves with one of these attitudes. One group focuses on the obligations of religious life and seeks moral clarity, while the other tends to see religion as a liberation movement and stresses God’s love for the oppressed of the earth.
The ability to strike a balance between these competing camps is the key to managing tension in the church and in the larger community — and Balancing Acts provides readers with the tools to find and nurture Christian unity in the face of political, cultural, and theological diversity. Whether the issue is women in ministry, presidential politics, immigration, homosexuality, or war, this book demonstrates how common ground can be found by people of faith who are willing to perform a balancing act between obligation and liberation.
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Called To Be Church
$31.99Add to cartDescription: Called to be Church seeks to introduce Acts to a congregation of faithful readers. It includes such topics as Christian community, the Holy Spirit and the life of the Church, the conversion of Saul to become the great missionary to the Gentiles, the Gospel to a multicultural church as particularly related to the ministry of Peter, the challenge of change, and a host of other topics that stem from the study of the book of Acts.
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Basic Business Principles For Growing Churches
$10.95Add to cartPastors are schooled in theology and ministry, but few receive training in the fine points of church administration. Learning how to handle a congregation’s finances “on the job” can be a harrowing experience. Yet efficiently managing your church’s business affairs is a key element in keeping current members satisfied with their pastoral leadership — and in attracting the new members you need for your church to grow in size and influence.
In Basic Business Principles For Growing Churches, Arnold Cirtin shares expertise gained from more than four decades of corporate and academic experience. He provides a clear and helpful primer for pastors with limited training in business administration on such practical topics as accounting, fiscal management, and marketing.
This is an indispensable book for pastors of small- and medium-sized churches (who typically are also their congregations’ principal financial officers), as well as for church treasurers, trustees, and other financial board members. When you follow the guidelines in Basic Business Principles For Growing Churches, your church will be fiscally responsible, managed efficiently, and able to maximize its growing stewardship of God’s resources.
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Cruciform Church : Becoming A Cross Shaped People In A Secular World (Anniversar
$19.99Add to cartThis new edition of The Cruciform Church finds Churches of Christ at a quite different place than they were sixteen years ago when the book was first released. On the one hand, our culture is more clearly post-modern and post-Christian. All of the Christian players today are finding themselves cultural outsiders, much like the earliest Christians. We are waking up to the reality that we are in a missionary situation in our own culture, and this is forcing us (slowly, by fits and starts) to rethink our priorities and our mission. On the other hand, Churches of Christ themselves are engaging more and more in the kind of healthy theological rethinking that this book called for back in 1990. Many congregations are shedding the sectarian or exclusivist outlook, gaining new appreciation for their heritage, refocusing on the central doctrines of the faith, and entering into serious dialogue about carrying out the mission of God in this new time…Perhaps this new edition can continue to provide stimulus and guidance as the adventure continues. Toward that end, this edition contains a new chapter, “Last(ing) Things,” that seeks to show the close relationship between eschatology and discipleship, between one’s view of the coming kingdom of God and the cruciform life.” – From Allen’s Preface to the Revised Edition
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Whats Theology Got To Do With It
$30.00Add to cartTheology can be a loaded word for mainline Protestant congregations. It often suggests the dogmatic or implies fault lines for conflict. But when unleashed from its narrow academic sense, “theology” offers a powerful way to get at many of the issues that impact the health and vitality of congregations.
Anthony Robinson carefully defines theology as the “core convictions” that help members of a congregation understand their common perspective and shared identity. Theology is the foundational Christian experience, the wisdom that both forms and transforms lives. Rather than avoiding theology, congregations should openly express their beliefs and values to clarify their purpose, argues Robinson. Instead of trying to define the boundaries of belief, a “center-set” congregation will zero in on a reasonably clear core faith.
He examines the problems that occur when congregations are reluctant to focus on theology and are unsure of their beliefs. They risk having a weak identity with nothing at stake. They risk being little more than an exclusive social club. Absent core convictions, structure replaces Spirit, indirection replaces healthy dialogue, and agendas replace leadership.
Central to the book is the notion that Christianity is a revealed religion apart from our own personal preferences. The Bible as Scripture offers a doorway to God and a critical unifying narrative. The Trinity, as a powerful metaphor, provides a balanced approach to fulfilling a congregation’s purpose. Core convictions about God as creator, the person and work of Jesus, and the Holy Spirit are crucial to a congregational vitality.
Too many mainline Protestant churches are theologically “underfunded.” Congregations are strengthened when what they believe backs what they do. Indeed, theology, it turns out, has everything to do with it.
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Christian Woman Set Free
$14.95Add to cartSeventeen hundred years is enough! Edwards leads the call to vanquish the inequality of women in the kingdom of God. His weapons of revelation? History, the Greek language, and his own witness of women in churches who are free.
The author challenges Christian ministers to take up the cause of eliminating inequality in the church and dare to discover what happens in the body of Christ when all members function.
The author goes to the root of our present-day Bible translations and lays the axe to the centuries-old tree of mistranslation. You will be shocked to discover that the King James Version does not say what the original Greek text said about women in Paul’s letters (and neither do most other Bible translations).
This book brings to light the mindset that has held both women and men prisoners of misconceptions through the centuries. Reading The Christian Woman…Set Free liberates the reader of any doubt regarding a woman’s place in the kingdom of God. (You will be awed as you see that the greatest friend of women in all of human history, the Lord Jesus Christ, broke all the rules of his day in regard to the treatment of women.)
Best of all, what makes The Christian Woman…Set Free unique is that it is not based on theory, nor is it an intellectual treatise. It is a revolutionary document forged on the anvil of the author’s experiences in daily church life. Edwards writes from a matrix where equality is a way of life and full participation in the church is the territory of both men and women. Edwards give you the practical how-to of the way to experience this freedom in your gathering. There are testimonies in the book of women who experience freedom to share in all the functions of the church. In their churches there is no specific leader, but all are joint leaders.
The Christian Woman…Set Free is a fast paced, high-energy book that takes dead aim at the very foundation of our present-day mindset concerning women and men in church life.
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Wonder Of Worship
$22.99Add to cartWorship 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
$14.99Add to cartWorship 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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Clergy Burnout : Recovering From The 70 Hour Week And Other Self Defeating
$23.00Add to cart1.Painful Pastoring
2.Burnout And Codependence
3.Personalities And Codependence
4.The Church And Codependence
5.Holiness And Spirituality
6.Becoming Gospel-centered
7.Developing Spiritual Maturity
8.Regaining Balance
9.Stretching And Bridging
10.Knowing The Boundaries
11.Becoming Empowered
12.Un-trashing The TempleAdditional Info
In this highly accessible book, Fred Lehr clarifies the nature and practice of clergy codependence. In short, insightful, and highly readable chapters, filled with many examples and stories from his own life and those he has counseled, Lehr identifies the typical forms codependence takes in the life and ministry of clergy:1.the chief-enabler, the one who keeps things functioning;
2.the scapegoat, the one on whom everything’s blamed when it goes wrong, the one who’s responsible;
3.the hero, the example, the pure and righteous one;
4.the lost child, the one no one really knows or cares about;
5.the rescuer, the one who saves the day, makes the visit, fixes the problem, makes everything all right again;
6.the mascot, the cheerleader, the one who offers comic relief, brings down the tension level after a heated discussion. -
Hearts To Heaven And Tempers Raise
$14.49Add to cartLike 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
$12.95Add to cartA 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
Seminaries: Teaachers and Students -
New Perspectives On Breaking The 200 Barrier
$12.99Add to cart1. What Are Choice Points?
2. Common Choice Points
3. A Choice Point Growth Strategy
4. The 200 Barrier
5. Spiritual Preparations
6. Planning
7. Implementing
8. Leading
9. Conclusion: You Can!Additional Info
Your church can rise from its plateau and Break The 200 Barrier!New Perspectives On Breaking The 200 Barrier is directed to both the pastor and the layperson and offers insights and strategies that will help your church move beyond the average and into the extraordinary. Based on current church trends, new research, and years of experience, strategist Dr. Bill Sullivan returns to the topic of his earlier work, Ten Steps To Breaking The 200 Barrier (1988), and revisits the challenges churches face when trying to grow beyond an attendance of 200. This time he focuses on how the decisions of the congregation affect the church as a whole. He stresses why it is important to train the people, as well as the pastor and church leaders, to understand and accept the changes that come with growth and the desire to expand Christ’s kingdom.
New Perspectives On Breaking the 200 Barrier will help your church:
* Examine the decisions made toward church growth and understand how to make better choices
* Develop a strategy for dealing with tacit assumptions that remain fixed and unresponsive to change without placing all of the responsibility on the pastor
* Focus on prayer and faith with new insight
* Recognize that the gate of change is locked on the inside and it is the congregation that holds the key -
Revival : Gods Proven Method Of Awakening His Church
$14.99Add to cartGod 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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New Testament Church And Its Ministries
$12.99Add to cartNew Testament Church And It Ministries lays out God’s plan for the church’s construction and His concern for the active involvement of every member in their ministry and calling. Emphasizing the function of the members, each of the five-fold ministries is defined and developed in the context of its function in the Body of Christ..
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Drama Of Dance In The Local Church
$13.49Add to cartWhat is liturgical dance? And where does it come from? Does it have any scriptural foundation? These are relevant questions discussed in The Drama of Dance in the Local Church, which looks at liturgical dance and its place in the worship service. Liturgical dance has been acknowledged by many in the religious community as a way to assist individuals and church bodies in enhancing the worship experience. This book is for anyone who wishes to explore their gifts through drama and dance, as well as those who are still struggling with the idea of dance in the church. It is designed to help readers understand the great significance a liturgical dance ministry can have on the church. It will help familiarize church leaders and parishioners with scriptures that support dance ministries.
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Loving The Church
$9.99Add to cartDeveloping a healthy, loving congregation begins with a clear understanding of the nature of the church. Loving the Church addresses the different attitudes and ideas associated with the visible church. Larry McKain shows you how to develop a new vision for your community of faith and helps you discover a renewed passion for Christ and His kingdom.
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Power To Be Free
$14.99Add to cartAre you one of the millions of believers who has gathered with other believers in churches or homes across the land to discover your purpose? Have you wondered how to move from discovering your purpose to fulfilling it?
You’ll need power to do that, you know. And there is power in a life guided by the Spirit of Christ.
College professor and author Frank Moore leads you in this quest of discovering the power to live in freedom. This 40-day adventure will launch you into the powerful life in Christ you’ve longed for.
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Understanding Church Growth (Revised)
$34.99Add to cartAuthor Donald A. McGavran is considered a founder of the Church Growth Movement in America. In this 3rd edition of his standard work, McGavaran analyzes the causes, methods and strategies for successful church growth both in America and abroad.
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Becoming Conversant With The Emerging Church
$24.99Add to cartA perceptive evaluation of the new “emerging church” movement showing how we must not only interact with a fast-changing culture but also have our vision and practice of ministry shaped by biblical theology with Scripture as the norm.
From the Back Cover
A careful and informed assessment of the “emerging church” by a respected author and scholar
The “emerging church” movement has generated a lot of excitement and exerts an astonishingly broad influence. Is it the wave of the future or a passing fancy? Who are the leaders and what are they saying?The time has come for a mature assessment. D. A. Carson not only gives those who may be unfamiliar with it a perceptive introduction to the emerging church movement, but also includes a skillful assessment of its theological views. Carson addresses some troubling weaknesses of the movement frankly and thoughtfully, while at the same time recognizing that it has important things to say to the rest of Christianity. The author strives to provide a perspective that is both honest and fair.
Anyone interested in the future of the church in a rapidly changing world will find this an informative and stimulating read.
D. A. Carson (Ph.D., University of Cambridge) is research professor of New Testament at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Illinois. He is the author of over 45 books, including the Gold Medallion Award-winning book The Gagging of God, and is general editor of Telling the Truth and Worship by the Book. He has served as a pastor and is an active guest lecturer in church and academic settings around the world.
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How To Hit The Ground Running
$28.95Add to cartNeal O. Michell The quick-start program described in this book is designed for the new rector or pastor who wants to “hit the ground running.” It is also designed for principal lay leaders who will be instrumental in the transition to new leadership. The program takes the new pastor, vestry, or other leadership bodies from one month prior to the new leader’s arrival through the first eighteen months afterward. Organized in a user-friendly workbook format, this guide gives step-by-step suggestions on how the sometimes stalled and directionless period of transition in a faith community can be made dynamic and purposefula time of true congregational development.
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Postindustrial Promise : Vital Religious Community In The 21st Century
$30.00Add to cartTales of demise and decline have come to characterize news on the state of religion and congregations in America. In The Postindustrial Promise, author Anthony Healy finds that the changes in religious life and among congregations are being misunderstood. Instead of seeing the changes as the result of the presumed aspects of postmodern life-individualism, the collapse of social groups, and the scrapping of tradition-Healy sees what has occurred as a postindustrial transformation, in which an economy based on manufacturing has been replaced by one based on corporate and consumer services. This transformation has changed what we value and how we live, as well as how we work. It has also changed congregations and religious life, but not necessarily in the way that many people think.
Contrary to the stories of decline, Healy finds that in this time of postindustrial dislocation people are again putting down religious roots. Congregations are making it possible for people to reconnect with the stories and traditions of previous generations and have become the places in society where the reembodying of religious and cultural narratives is taking place. Different from the postmodern script, this postindustrial explanation leads us to fresh insights into the change that has occurred among religious bodies, their congregants, and their communities.
This book provides pastors, lay leaders, teachers, scholars, and seminarians with a solid grounding in the basic aspects of the postindustrial transformation and offers direction to help religious leaders develop responsive and viable places of ministry, mission, and program in this time of change
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Silent Words Loudly Spoken
$12.95Add to cartLike a miniature billboard, the church sign offers an unparalleled opportunity to promote God’s kingdom beyond the walls of the congregation. Thousands of cars pass each day with potential readers of its content, so the church sign has the potential to be a powerful pulpit from which silent words are loudly spoken, communicating brief but significant messages of God’s love to a spiritually thirsty world.
Silent Words Loudly Spoken provides a wealth of fresh and inspiring messages that will maximize the impact of your church sign. With more than 700 uplifting, thought-provoking statements conveniently formatted to easily fit most church signs, it contains enough material to last several years. A humorous but pithy “Ten Commandments for a Good Church Sign” offers plenty of specific nuts-and-bolts advice for making the most of this powerful but sometimes overlooked ministry tool:
* Phrases should be short enough and letters large enough for effortless drive-by reading.
* Messages should be changed regularly, especially date-specific ones.
* “In-house” announcements better suited for the church bulletin should not be wasted on a disinterested public.
* Give the gift of a positive, inspirational message; negative statements turn off those the church wants to attract.
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Body Broken : Answering Gods Call To Love One Another
$10.99Add to cartFor those brave writers who attempt to dispense spiritual wisdom from their own experiences, each sentence can be fraught with peril. Those who traffic in their own experiences of God for a public audience run the risk of disclosing too much or too little-having too many answers to be convincing, or not enough to satisfy the hungry reader. What saves Episcopal layman and veteran spiritual writer Benson’s autobiographical musings from becoming routine is his willingness to share his struggles with a specific issue: why is the fellowship of believers broken into so many competing parties? Benson’s desire to understand, respect and honor the faith of other Christians is a powerful force here, animating that which otherwise might have seemed mundane. Reflecting on how difficult it is for even those bound by a mutual faith to seek a common scriptural understanding, Benson comments: “We are not called to explain the Christ; we called to follow the Christ. We are not called to build walls that keep his friends apart from each other; we are called to build the kingdom together.” Alternatively tender, sad, regretful and joyous, Benson offers his tales with the honesty of a man who doesn’t pretend to have all the answers. He brings to the topic a profound, if chastened, sense of God’s presence in his daily life and relationships. Benson’s passion will appeal to many readers seeking a well-crafted meditation on a topic that has persistently bemused Christians of all denominations.
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World Calling : The Churchs Witness In Politics And Society
$30.00Add to cartThomas Ogletree has devoted much of his career to exploring the significance of Ernst Troeltsch’s seminal work, The Social Teaching of the Christian Churches. The articles in The World Calling use a Troeltschian lens to explore fundamental issues underlying any Christian social witness in the context of American democratic institutions.
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Comunion Y Comunidad Introducc – (Spanish)
$22.99Add to cart“La vida en comunidad es lo mas esencial de la espiritualidad cristiana, y es la esencia misma del reino de Dios… La espiritualidad cristiana consiste en un nuevo modo de relacionarnos en amor, pues es precisamente esto lo que claramente distingue a la comunidad creyente de cualquier otra comunidad humana”. Al definir asi la espiritualidad cristiana, el Dr. Cassese derriba el obsoleto paradigma que intentaba buscar la perfecta relacion con Dios a traves del aislamiento, de la pura relacion personal e individual con Dios. En particular porque en realidad es en la comunidad donde la espiritualidad se realiza, se prueba, se evalua, crece y se perfecciona. Este libro, por lo tanto, nos ayudara a comprender y vivir la espiritualidad desde la vida cotidiana en comunidad, desde la inter-relacion e inter-accion con nuestros hermanos y hermanas, desde la inmersion profunda en la vida misma.
ENDOSO AL LIBRO COMUNION Y COMUNIDAD
Por Roberto Amparo Rivera, PhD
La iglesia como institucion tradicionalmente ha reflejado en la practica las tendencias y valores de la sociedad en que se desenvuelven. Por eso no es de maravillarse encontrar hoy dia creyentes individualistas y congregaciones que son mas grupos de individuos que comunidades integradas. A pesar de que el amor de Dios, que supuestamente distingue la comunidad, “no busca lo suyo”, los miembros de estas iglesias se preocupan mas de sus propios intereses que del bienestar comunitario. En este estado de cosas, el libro Comunion y comunidad, de Giacomo Cassese, es un grito de alerta y una invitacion a recobrar el sentido comunitario de la fe cristiana.
Hay una opinion generalizada de que la cultura occidental es cada vez mas espiritualista. En este contexto, la espiritualidad se mide en terminos de practicas esotericas de meditacion, ayuno, contemplacion de la naturaleza y lecturas de documentos misteriosos de religiones orientales. La contraparte cristiana percibe la espritualidad solo en su dimension vertical; “el alma en relacion con Dios”, mientras que el resto de la vida no hace ninguna aplicacion a las relaciones diarias con los semejantes.
En marcado contraste, Cassese define espiritualidad como un estilo de relacionarse y de vivir en comunidad. Para los cristianos, afirma el autor, espiritualidad conlleva vivir la vida en su plenitud y con proposito. Solo en la comunion con Cristo nos entendemos como personas de comunidad. Y es a partir de la persona de Crist
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Evaluating The Church Growth Movement
$26.99Add to cart“The church growth movement (CGM) has stirred debate ever since it was first introduced by Donald McGavran in the 1960s. By the 1980s it attracted enough attention to merit the publication of around 580 church growth books. Many churches experienced significant growth applying these principles. But during the 1990s critics questioned the movement and its theological underpinnings. Nevertheless, interest in the movement continues in the 21st century. It’s a movement that can’t be ignored. This Counterpoints Church Life book presents five viewpoints on the CGM from national church leaders from a diverse denominational, theological, and geographical representation. The five perspectives include: * Effective evangelism view: Church growth effectively confronts the culture (Elmer Towns) * Gospel in our culture view: Church growth does not effectively engage the culture (Craig Van Gelder) * Centrist view: Church growth has been culturally insightful but theologically superficial (Charles Van Engen) * Reformist view: Church growth has not developed a balanced intertwining of theological reflection, cultural analysis, historical perspective, and practical strategy (Gailyn Van Rheenan) * Renewal view: Church growth must come from the inside out being a community of faith focusing on kingdom issues (Howard Snyder) Not only do the five main contributors respond to each other’s positions, but another chapter gives the responses and views of three nationally known pastors for whom church growth is not an academic discipline but a matter of hands-on daily involvement. The book intends to make a valuable contribution to the church by bringing together conflicting views so all perspectives are heard and readers can make their own informed conclusions. The book’s introduction by Gary McIntosh shows why this is a movement that can’t be ignored. He gives a helpful brief overview of the history of this movement that celebrates its fiftieth anniversary in 2005. Each chapter includes discussion questions enabling readers to use this book in small group and classroom settings.”
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When Better Isnt Enough
$28.00Add to cartMany sociologists and a growing number of church scholars have noted that we live in a time of transition-from the modern era to the postmodern. Whenever a shift of this magnitude occurs, it leaves all of life, including the church, in flux. We instinctively strive to stabilize the situation by re-establishing what has worked in the past. Increasingly, however, congregations are finding that the same old things done harder or better don’t seem to make a difference.
Author Jill Hudson argues, “We must identify new criteria for success, and perhaps even for faithfulness, and hold ourselves accountable to them.” Approaching the postmodern era as a tremendous opportunity, Hudson identifies 12 characteristics by which we can measure effective ministry for the early 21st century.
Based on those 12 criteria, Hudson has created evaluation tools, “an early measuring stick” to help congregations evaluate their work in this new era. Not everything of the past is ineffective and best discarded, she says, nor will everything we try in the future be successful. But by faithfully listening for God’s guidance and carefully evaluating progress using Hudson’s tools, looking at the ministry of the whole people of God as well as that of the professional staff, congregations can improve their ministry, help members and staff grow in effectiveness, deepen a sense of partnership, and add new richness to the dialogue about the congregation’s future.
Jill Hudson makes us face the hard reality that the world has changed, but the church hasn’t. This gap can create a problem when assessing the effectiveness of church leadership. Practical and easy to read and understand, this book will prove an effective new tool in assisting pastors to lead today.-Mike Regele
Our kicking and screaming aside, the postmodern church beckons, and Jill Hudson provides guidance and information to equip us for this enormous ministry challenge.-The Rev. Christine Shiber
