Download or read book Real Church written by Larry Crabb and published by Thomas Nelson. This book was released on 2009-05-04 with total page 224 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Church as I know it usually leaves deep parts of me dormant, unawakened, and untouched. I don't much like going. So, what now?" What's happening to the Church? Why are so many people who for decades have been faithful, steady churchgoers (and others who want to start going to church but can't seem to find one that meets their needs) losing interest in even attending church, let alone getting involved? What is fundamentally wrong with the "types" of churches (Seeker, Bible, Emergent, Liberal, Evangelical) that dot the religious landscape? Larry Crabb believes it is time to rethink the entire foundation and focus of what we know today as church -- everything we're doing and are wanting to see happen. In his most honest and vulnerable book to date, the author reveals his own struggles in this area and then offers a compelling vision of why God designed us to live in community with Him and others, and what the church he wants to be a part of looks like.

Download or read book Real Good Church written by Molly Phinney Baskette and published by The Pilgrim Press. This book was released on 2014-06-16 with total page 284 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "This is a practical manual of everything our church did," says author Molly Phinney Baskette, "to reverse our death spiral and become the healthy, stable, spirited and robust community it is today—evident in the large percentage of children and young adults in our church, and a sixfold increase in pledged giving in the last decade." "Real Good Church" is a testament to Baskette's and First Church Somerville UCC's success, and a gift of hope for all churches that find themselves struggling to keep their doors open. What makes "Real Good Church" unique in the field of church growth books? It's practical. It actually tells churches what they can do—and how to do it. It offers beginning and intermediary steps for growth and renewal. Churches, no matter what situation they're in, will be able to jump in and get to work. It has a sense of humor. Baskette's easygoing, often self-deprecating writing style and approachable strategies will empower the reader and their church to revitalize itself. (If her church could do it, we can, too!)

Download or read book Future Church written by Will Mancini and published by Baker Books. This book was released on 2020-12-01 with total page 278 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Church growth models have often been long on promises and short on disciple-making. We continue to watch consistent church attendance shrink, and our desire to reach the lost is infected with a need for self-validation by growing our numbers at any cost. If we believe that God wants his church to grow, where do we go from here? What is the future of the church? Drawing from his 20 years and 15,000 hours of consulting, author Will Mancini shares with pastors and ministry leaders the single most important insight he has learned about church growth. With plenty of salient stories and based solidly on the disciple-making methods found in Scripture, Future Church exposes the church's greatest challenge today, and offers 7 transforming laws of real church growth so that we can faithfully and joyfully fulfill Jesus's Great Commission.

Download or read book Would the Real Church PLEASE Stand Up written by Susan Greenfield and published by Xulon Press. This book was released on 2007-02 with total page 130 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is a necessity for all ministers, counselors, and Christians. It is an informative resource that will help you to identify abuse in a Christian home. You will be challenged to Be the Real Church and Stand Up as you read this up close and personal account of living in an abusive environment. We can never know exactly what goes on behind the closed doors of other people's homes, but after reading Would the Real Church PLEASE Stand Up!, you will be more equipped to minister to victims of domestic violence. Maybe the victim is a neighbor, a co-worker, or a bank teller. Maybe the victim is your minister's wife. If you are in an abusive relationship, you will be encouraged and enlightened. Susan Greenfield is currently a divorced mother of two children. She works a secular job but is most passionate about ministering to battered women and educating people within the church about domestic violence.

Download or read book Analog Church written by Jay Y. Kim and published by InterVarsity Press. This book was released on 2020-03-31 with total page 223 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As our culture begins to reckon with the limits of a digital world, it's time for the church to do the same. In our efforts to stay relevant in our digital age, have we begun to move away from transcendence? Pastor Jay Kim grapples with the ramifications of a digital church, from worship and Christian community to how we engage Scripture.

Download or read book Sharpening the Focus of the Church written by Gene A. Getz and published by Moody Publishers. This book was released on 2024-10-01 with total page 354 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A timeless classic for solid grounding and renewal. Is your church adrift? Many churches are struggling to stay focused—to stay on point and hold fast to gospel essentials. Competing voices threaten to divide rather than unite and grow the church. In Sharpening the Focus of the Church, Dr. Gene Getz has written a classic, insightful, biblical treatise on church renewal. Getz focuses on New Testament principles as applied to the unique needs of contemporary culture and roots readers in the perspective of the history of the church. Discover how to sharpen your church’s focus through the lenses of Scripture, church history, and present-day needs. As you embark on this in-depth study of New Testament teaching, you will experience the power of the Word and the power of the Spirit transforming your church from the inside out. You’ll find positive, biblical solutions to the problems facing the church today, with practical advice for finding solutions to contemporary questions.

Download or read book Yeshua written by Ron Moseley and published by . This book was released on 1998-02 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Jesus was a Jew who was born, lived, and died within first-century Judaism. His lifestyle was characteristic of the Jews of that day. Since the New Testament is highly Hebraic- background, writers, culture, religion, traditions, concepts, etc.- any full understanding needs this perspective.

Download or read book Will the Real Heretics Please Stand Up written by David W. Bercot and published by Scroll Publishing Co.. This book was released on 1989 with total page 196 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book The Prodigal Church written by Jared C. Wilson and published by Crossway. This book was released on 2015-04-16 with total page 225 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Pastors want to reach the lost with the good news of Jesus. However, we've too often assumed this requires loud music, flashy lights, and skinny jeans. In this gentle manifesto, Jared Wilson—a pastor who knows what it's like to serve in a large attractional church—challenges pastors to reconsider their priorities when it comes to how they "do church" and reach people in their communities. Writing with the grace and kindness of a trusted friend, Wilson encourages pastors to reexamine the Bible's teaching, not simply return to a traditional model for tradition's sake. He then sets forth an alternative to both the attractional and the traditional models: an explicitly biblical approach that is gospel focused, grace based, and fruit oriented.

Download or read book Foolish Church written by Lee Roorda Schott and published by . This book was released on 2019-02-04 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Messy, raw, and real aren't the words most of us use when we say what's good about our churches. But what if they were? Author Lee Schott found out, serving a beautiful church inside the Iowa women's prison. A lifelong church person, she discovered more church, and greater faithfulness, in this most unlikely setting, with room for people the church has often overlooked. She shares the lessons she has learned there, with the hope that church leaders outside of prison might be inspired, equipped, and encouraged to loosen the fetters that keep our churches so closed off. We'll explore church characterized by honest relationship, protection of the vulnerable, radical welcome, and healthy boundaries. Practical application for the local church context and discussion questions for group study are included throughout. ""A renewed concern for imprisoned persons often marks times of religious revival. While Lee Schott's fine book is about a church within a women's prison, the subject is the church itself. It is a plea for congregations to move beyond an assembly of the most respectable to make room for those on the edges of respectability for whom Jesus had such an open heart."" --Lovett H. Weems, Jr., Distinguished Professor of Church Leadership, Wesley Theological Seminary, Washington, DC ""Lee's intimate conversations from 'the Well' give this writing real emotional depth and become the background for challenging questions for the church. A must read and practical process that can be implemented by a committed group of church leaders. The ministry of 'the Well' has the power to transform the ministry of the church everywhere. But beware, church growth may take on a totally different meaning."" --Bill Selby, President, Center for Pastoral Effectiveness of the Rockies ""In my forty years living at the intersection of the church and the criminal justice system, few people have taught me as much as Lee Roorda Schott. The lessons range from the distinct issues facing women in prison to the challenge of forming community in a correctional institution. But no greater lesson have I learned from her than this--and it is the central thesis of this book--that the church exists behind the prison walls, and that any theology of prison ministry that is totally missional falls short of the truth. Incarcerated people are more than just objects of outreach. They are the church, and no ecclesiology is fully orbed without them. Foolish Church makes this point clearly and thoughtfully, humanizing and giving voice to our sisters invisible to the rest of the church. Foolish Church is now required reading in my classes."" --Harold Dean Trulear, Associate Professor of Applied Theology, Howard University School of Divinity Lee Roorda Schott is a United Methodist elder and pastor of Women at the Well, a church inside the women's prison in Mitchellville, Iowa. She is a graduate of Saint Paul School of Theology and Harvard Law School and worked as a lawyer for fifteen years before becoming a pastor. She is the author of Job, in the Immersion Bible Study series (2011).

Download or read book Deep Church written by Jim Belcher and published by InterVarsity Press. This book was released on 2009-09-25 with total page 235 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: If you feel caught between the traditional church and the emerging church, read Jim Belcher. He paints a picture of an alternate, "deep" church--a missional church committed to both tradition and contemporary culture, valuing innovation in worship, arts and community but also adhering to creeds and confessions.

Download or read book Will the Real Church Please Stand Up written by James David Montgomery and published by . This book was released on 2012-08-01 with total page 252 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this challenging and thought-provoking book, author James David Montgomery points out that although churches dot almost every street corner in America, many have strayed from God's original design. He believes too many churches today stand in stark contrast to the first century church that turned the world upside down. Rev. Montgomery calls on Christians of every denomination to return to their roots and rediscover what made the early church great. He reminds us of the building-shaking, great-grace, fear-of-God-preaching, Pharisee-defying, souls-added-to-the-church-daily explosions of God's glory in the book of Acts.

Download or read book Heaven Is for Real written by Todd Burpo and published by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform. This book was released on 2016-07-11 with total page 150 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A young boy emerges from life-saving surgery with remarkable stories of his visit to heaven. Heaven Is for Real is the true story of the four-year old son of a small town Nebraska pastor who during emergency surgery slips from consciousness and enters heaven. He survives and begins talking about being able to look down and see the doctor operating and his dad praying in the waiting room. The family didn't know what to believe but soon the evidence was clear. Colton said he met his miscarried sister, whom no one had told him about, and his great grandfather who died 30 years before Colton was born, then shared impossible-to-know details about each. He describes the horse that only Jesus could ride, about how "reaaally big" God and his chair are, and how the Holy Spirit "shoots down power" from heaven to help us. Told by the father, but often in Colton's own words, the disarmingly simple message is heaven is a real place, Jesus really loves children, and be ready, there is a coming last battle.

Download or read book Becoming REAL written by Sandra T. Montes and published by Church Publishing. This book was released on 2020-05-18 with total page 161 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Follow the REAL rubric for success in starting new ministries If congregations were to look outside their doors, they may find that the people who need the good news don’t look like them and that the way to engage them is by having ministries that are REAL. REAL ministry is respectful relationships, excellence, authenticity, and love. This easy-to-understand perspective on relationships can be implemented in any setting with any group. To continue the mandate, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations,” we have to have relationships with those whom God has put in our neighborhoods. Written both in English and Spanish, each chapter contains a study guide with Bible verses and reflection questions. The author also offers real anecdotes and examples of what to do—and what not to do—so that when using the REAL rubric with any group of people, you can emulate Jesus and bring the good news to them. Church leaders wanting to be more inclusive or trying to grow in their changing neighborhood will find this book a welcome resource.

Download or read book Body Life written by Ray C. Stedman and published by Regal Books. This book was released on 1972 with total page 178 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book What Is a Healthy Church written by Mark Dever and published by Crossway. This book was released on 2024-09-26 with total page 152 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Key Traits of a Healthy Church to Develop within the Local Body What is an ideal church, and how can you tell? How does it look different from other churches? More importantly, how does it act differently, especially in society? Many of us aren't sure how to answer those questions, even though we probably have some preconceived ideas. This book answers those questions and many more. Author Mark Dever seeks to help believers recognize the key characteristics of a healthy church: expositional preaching, biblical theology, and a right understanding of the gospel. Dever then calls us to develop those characteristics in our own churches. By following the example of New Testament authors and addressing all members of the church, pastors and laity alike, Dever challenges all believers to do their part in maintaining the local church. Part of the 9Marks Building Healthy Churches series, What Is a Healthy Church? offers timeless truths and practical principles to help each of us fulfill our God-given roles in the body of Christ. Offers an Ideal Church Model: Encourages pastors and members to implement healthy church qualities within their local body Written by Mark Dever: Pastor, bestselling author, and president of 9Marks From 9Marks: Other titles in the Building Healthy Churches series include Church Discipline; Deacons; and Church Membership Replaces ISBN 978-1-58134-937-5

Download or read book The Politics of the Real written by D. C. Schindler and published by New Polity Press. This book was released on 2021-03-10 with total page 421 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Schindler shows that liberalism is wrong, not because it has simply “relegated God to the private,” but because it has inverted the world: giving us power without authority, in what becomes a closed, necessarily totalitarian, horizon. Here, nothing else can be done with the transcendent God but to find a quiet little place to keep him, harmless and out of the way. When we let God out, a cosmic hierarchy of act—of participation in Being Himself—explodes into view. And this changes everything. A true integralism, a true postliberalism, moves politics back into a cosmos that is itself analogically ordered to participation in the life of God. With The Politics of the Real, Schindler has elevated the postliberal conversation. — Andrew Willard Jones Director of Catholic Studies at Franciscan University of Steubenville and author of Before Church and State