Showing titles in Church & Church Leadership

Dr. Tony Evans inspires you to broaden your perspective of Christian stewardship. In this encouraging and challenging book, you will learn that stewardship includes how you manage all that God has given you - your time, your talents, and your treasures - to advance God's kingdom and bring him glory.

Can God stir revival by his Holy Spirit, even in our culture today? Do we really believe he can? In a day of diminished expectations, A God-Sized Vision: Revival Accounts That Stretch and Stir recounts global examples of prior revivals, beginning with the Reformation and the Great Awakenings. It continues with the Welsh and Azusa Street revivals and those that occurred simultaneously in Asia, followed by the East Africa Revival of the 1930s.

Anyone who serves God will discover sooner or later that the great hindrances he has in the Lord's work is not others but himself. He will discover that his outward man (soul) is not in harmony with his inward man (spirit). Both tend to go toward two opposite directions from each other. He will also sense the inability of his outward man to submit to the inner control of his regenerated spirit. His greatest difficulty lies in his outward man, which hinders him from using his spirit.

On the day of Pentecost following the resurrection of Christ and His ascension back to the Father in heaven, the Holy Spirit fell upon the 120 of Christ's followers who were gathered together in the upper room of a house in Jerusalem, resulting in the formation of the body of Christ and the birth of the church. And these Spirit-filled believers immediately began to glorify God and to testify concerning the Lord Jesus. Furthermore, through their testimony 3,000 more souls were added to the church on that very same day. All this marked the beginning of the church of God on earth. Within that ...

When Jesus thought about the church, what did he imagine? Most churches are small, and rightly so. With power being redistributed in our time, networks of smaller enterprises are both growing and thriving. The yearning for participation and empowerment has us all looking for versions of church that make room for everyone. Perhaps, after all our hand wringing and insecurity about the size of our churches, we have missed the point. Microchurches can be strong, beautiful, accessible, and potent portraits of just what Jesus had in mind, if not for all time, at least for ours.

A Just Mission examines evangelical mission from the perspective of the receiver, highlighting areas of weakness and naming injustices. Unveiling the negative impact of Western mission on the global church, Haddis addresses how white supremacy infiltrates and subverts mission organizations' good intentions, disrupting grassroots missions and local leadership development. Weaving together theology and Scripture with stories from people of color and diaspora groups, A Just Mission offers hope that the mission and message of Jesus can indeed become good news for all.

Respected church consultant, founder and CEO of Church Answers, and author of several church leadership books Thom S. Rainer shows how the trend of low church attendance is slowly undermining churches and sending many to the grave. With this leadership parable, Thom illustrates the five key dysfunctions that plague congregations and block healthy church growth. He demonstrates why church leaders need to pay more attention to core issues like unbelief, membership, and dedication to evangelism.

For five hundred years, Latina/o culture and identity have been shaped by their challenges to the religious, socio-economic, and political status quo, whether in opposition to Spanish colonialism, Latin American dictatorships, US imperialism in Central America, the oppression of farmworkers, or the current exploitation of undocumented immigrants. Christianity has played a significant role in that movement at every stage. Robert Chao Romero, the son of a Mexican father and a Chinese immigrant mother, explores the history and theology of what he terms the "Brown Church."

The Charismatic Renewal is an international movement that has made inroads into the Catholic Church and numerous Protestant denominations. The Renewal comes with promises of miracles and spiritual wonders, and participants have long attested to supernatural phenomena taking place as a result of Charismatic practices. However, there is a dark side to the Renewal, and many of the teachings presented by its defenders are incompatible with historical Christianity. In this book, we take a journey through the history of the Renewal, starting with its ancient roots.

In this book, Tony Merida highlights how in-person Sunday gatherings are central to God’s plans and to our faith and joy. He reminds believers of their privileges as citizens of heaven, members of God’s family, and stones in God’s temple.

You've probably noticed.... Churches aren't growing. Young adults are walking away. Volunteers are hard to recruit. Leaders are burning out. And the culture is changing faster than ever before. There's no doubt the church is in a moment in history for which few church leaders are prepared. You can look for answers, but the right response depends on having the right conversation. In Lasting Impact, Carey Nieuwhof leads you and your team through seven conversations that will help your church grow and have a lasting impact.

Pastor, it’s time to turn down the noise and focus on what matters. Today’s pastoral world is packed with books, conferences, and seminars teaching you different techniques for being an all-star pastor, growing your church quickly, and changing the world. But the key to true success is much harder and much simpler. Pastors are called to be faithful, to have exemplary character, and to love Jesus. Without faithfulness, their ministry ends up harming others rather than helping them. Churches need pastors with sound doctrine and a sound life.

Every Christian wants to grow into the person God made him to be. Every Christian has a healthier, more spiritually mature version of herself in mind. Every Christian looks upon the future's horizon and imagines a relationship with God ever-increasing in vibrancy and strength. Mason King expands your thinking beyond basic spiritual practices (which typically emphasize what you must do) into a more holistic picture of what a full and flourishing life with God can look like when it is cultivated well (focusing instead on who you might become).

The Bible describes the church as a kind of family. Those who believe in Christ are sisters and brothers in the faith, whether they live at the same time or are separated by centuries. For that reason, believers today need to know our family members who have come before and shaped our beliefs and practices now. In Know the Theologians, professors and authors Jennifer Powell McNutt and David W. McNutt introduce the most significant thinkers in the church's history.

This kingdom leadership playbook promises to catapult you to the next level of your career, profession, business, or ministry. Learn how to build your faith in God and understand his perfect plan for your life. Your faith was never meant to be separated from your work or business life. Using both scripture and personal stories, Bill Winston will show you how God is restoring this unbeatable team of kings and priests to advance his kingdom and transform the marketplace through the superior principles of faith and fruitfulness.

We tend to think of Advent as the season of anticipation before Christmas—and while it is that, it's also much more. Throughout its history, the church has observed Advent as a preparation not only for the first coming of Christ in his incarnation but also for his second coming at the last day. It's also about a third coming: the coming of Christ to meet us in our present moment, to make us holy by his Word and Sacrament. Priest and writer Tish Harrison Warren explores all three of these "comings" of Christ and invites us into a deeper experience of the first season of the Christian year.

While many churches talk about discerning calling and engaging in mission, very few are structured to make this their ministry focus. Underground Church is a new vision for the church rooted in its biblical mission to share the love of God and serve the poor. Sanders explores how to make structural changes, how to think about leadership, how to fund ministries, and how to truly engage people in God's mission. Filled with creative insights, he explains what it means to center the mission of the church around the callings of individuals to outward ministry.

Jesus told his followers, “Go and make disciples of every nation,” but a lot of us stop before we start―because we feel like we don’t have what it takes. But Jesus didn’t ask spiritual superstars to make disciples. He invited ordinary people into the adventure of following Him. Jessie Cruickshank learned how to be a disciplemaker in the wilderness. When she connected her training in outdoor adventure ministry with her Harvard degree in neuroeducation, God showed her a pathway for ordinary disciples of Jesus to experience profound spiritual growth.

In The Darkening Age, Catherine Nixey tells the little-known - and deeply shocking - story of how a militant religion deliberately tried to extinguish the teachings of the Classical world, ushering in unquestioning adherence to the 'one true faith'. The Roman Empire had been generous in embracing and absorbing new creeds. But with the coming of Christianity, everything changed. This new faith, despite preaching peace, was violent, ruthless and intolerant. And once it became the religion of empire, its zealous adherents set about the destruction of the old gods.

We live in a time when things are tough for a lot of folks. The boomers are beginning to feel anxiety as they move toward retirement. Many people are facing financial pressure and are up to their ears in debt. We are having to care for both our kids and our parents. The pace of life, and the demands of life, just keep getting more intense. And for many, these tough times bring life crises.