Download or read book The Churchgoer written by Patrick Coleman and published by HarperCollins. This book was released on 2019-07-30 with total page 351 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Soon to be a an FX series starring and produced by Matthew McConaughey A LitHub Most Anticipated Book of Summer "The Churchgoer is a wonderful debut novel from a writer with more than a few tricks up his sleeve.”--Los Angeles Times A haunting debut literary noir about a former pastor’s search to find a missing woman in the toxic, contradictory underbelly of southern California. “He was finished with church, with God, with all of it. But to find the girl, he has to go back.” In Mark Haines’s former life, he was an evangelical youth pastor, a role model, and a family man—until he abandoned his wife, his daughter, and his beliefs. Now he’s marking time between sunny days surfing and dark nights working security at an industrial complex. His isolation is broken when Cindy, a charming twenty-two-year old drifter he sees hitchhiking on the Pacific Coast Highway, hustles him for a breakfast and a place to crash—two cynical kindred spirits. Then his co-worker is murdered in a robbery gone wrong and Cindy disappears on the same night. Haines knows he should let it go and return to his safe life of solitude. Instead, he’s driven to find out where Cindy went, under stranger and stranger circumstances. Soon Mark is chasing leads, each one taking him back into a world where his old life came crashing down—into the seedier side of southern California’s drug trade and ultimately into the secrets of an Evangelical megachurch where his past and his future are about to converge. What begins as an investigation becomes a haunting mystery and a psychological journey both for Mark, and for the elusive young stranger he won’t let get away. Set in the early 2000s, The Churchgoer is a gripping noir, a quiet subversion of the genre, and a powerful meditation on belief, morality, and the nature of evil in contemporary life.

Download or read book I Am a Church Member written by Thom S. Rainer and published by B&H Publishing Group. This book was released on 2013-05 with total page 96 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: It is impossible to grow to spiritual maturity by yourself. You must be connected to the other parts of the Body. This wonderful little book explains the power of belonging to a church family.

Download or read book Why Men Hate Going to Church written by David Murrow and published by HarperChristian + ORM. This book was released on 2011-10-31 with total page 257 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “Church is boring.” “It’s irrelevant.” “It’s full of hypocrites.” You’ve heard the excuses—now learn the real reasons men and boys are fleeing churches of every kind, all over the world, and what we can do about it. Women comprise more than 60% of the adults in a typical worship service in America. Some overseas congregations report ten women for every man in attendance. Men are less likely to lead, volunteer, and give in the church. They pray less, share their faith less, and read the Bible less. In Why Men Hate Going to Church, David Murrow identifies the barriers keeping many men from going to church, explains why it’s so hard to motivate the men who do attend, and also takes you inside several fast-growing congregations that are winning the hearts of men and boys. In this completely revised, reorganized, and rewritten edition of the classic book, with more than 70 percent new content, explore topics like: The increase and decrease in male church attendance during the past 500 years Why Christian churches are more feminine even though men are often still the leaders The difference between the type of God men and women like to worship The lack of volunteering and ministry opportunities for men The benefits men get from attending church regularly Men need the church but, more importantly, the church needs men. The presence of enthusiastic men is one of the surest predictors of church health, growth, giving, and expansion. Why Men Hate Going to Church does not call men back to church—it calls the church back to men.

Download or read book What Is a Healthy Church Member written by Thabiti M. Anyabwile and published by Crossway. This book was released on 2008-06-09 with total page 130 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Biblically and practically instructs church members in ways they can labor for the health of their church. What Is a Healthy Church Member? takes its cue from Mark Dever's book What Is a Healthy Church?, which offered one definition of what a healthy church looks like biblically and historically. In this new work, pastor Thabiti Anyabwile attempts to answer the natural next question: "What does a healthy church member look like in the light of Scripture?" God intends for us to play an active and vital part in the body of Christ, the local church. He wants us to experience the local church as a home more profoundly wonderful and meaningful than any other place on earth. He intends for his churches to be healthy places and for the members of those churches to be healthy as well. This book explains how membership in the local church can produce spiritual growth in its members and how each member can contribute to the growth and health of the whole.

Download or read book How to Be a Christian without Going to Church written by Kelly Bean and published by Baker Books. This book was released on 2014-06-24 with total page 249 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As many--young people especially--leave the traditional church in droves, they often still long for a genuine Christian community in which to practice their faith and share their spiritual journeys with others. They want to be faithful but struggle to find a place where they flourish. Whether they've already left the church behind or are merely considering it, readers will find here both heartfelt encouragement and practical steps for finding or creating a community of faith that honors God and offers rest, love, and communion with other believers. Author Kelly Bean broadens our definition of church to include many alternative forms of Christian community. With true stories of those who have given up on church and what they're doing now, this book is also helpful for pastors and churchgoers to help them understand why people leave the church--and what might be done to help them stay.

Download or read book Quit Going to Church written by Bob Hostetler and published by ACU Press/Leafwood Publishers. This book was released on 2012 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How did Christ imagine church and faith? Did he imagine the Sunday-Christian or the wholly immersed believer? In this book, Bob Hostetler tells readers to QUIT GOING TO CHURCH, and renew their walk of faith. What drives people to enter the doors of churches every Sunday? It could be habit, living up to expectations, a sense of duty, or even guilt. People seem to be living "churchanity" rather than Christianity. This thought provoking and "pull-off-the-gloves" book is based on the premise that much of how we think and act, a great percentage of what we do these days as church-going people, bears only a slight resemblance to the way of Jesus and "the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints" (Jude 1:3). With titles like "Quit Going to Church" and "Quit Sharing Your Faith," each chapter issues an eyebrow-raising challenge, showing how many of us have misunderstood even distorted the Good News of Jesus and replaced Christianity with something else.

Download or read book The Lost Message of Paul written by Steve Chalke and published by SPCK. This book was released on 2019-06-20 with total page 240 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: We have misunderstood Paul, badly. We have read his words through our own set of assumptions. We need to begin with Paul's world view, to see things the way he saw them. - What if 'original sin' was never part of Paul's thinking? - What if the idea that we are saved by faith in Christ, as Luther argued, was based on a mistranslation of Paul's words and a misunderstanding of Paul's thinking? 'Over the centuries,' writes Steve Chalke, 'the Church has repeatedly failed to communicate, or even understand, the core of Paul's message. Although Paul has often been presented as the champion of exclusion, he was the very opposite. He was the great includer.' Steve Chalke MBE is a Baptist minister, founder and leader of the Oasis Charitable Trust, and author of more than 50 books.

Download or read book What If I Don t Feel Like Going to Church written by David Gundersen and published by Crossway. This book was released on 2020-06-05 with total page 36 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Many new believers have questions about what it means to live as a Christian in the context of a local church, and pastors are looking for resources to pass along to their congregations to help them think biblically about the Christian life. 9Marks Church Questions is a series that seeks to provide ordinary Christians with sound and accessible biblical teaching by answering common questions Christians have about church life. Each volume offers biblical answers and practical applications with the goal of nurturing healthy church practice and commitment. This booklet motivates Christians to still go to church even when they feel like it will be unsatisfying, unhelpful, or just plain awkward by helping them discern their feelings, ask for help, and rediscover the power of being present at their church's gathering.

Download or read book Why I Am a Member of the Church of Christ written by Leroy Brownlow and published by . This book was released on 2001-01-01 with total page 192 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Twenty-five Bible-based reasons for his choice of church affiliation.

Download or read book At Your Best written by Carey Nieuwhof and published by WaterBrook. This book was released on 2021-09-14 with total page 241 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “A perceptive and practical book about why our calendars so rarely reflect our priorities and what we can do to regain control.”—ADAM GRANT “Carey’s book will help you reorganize your life. And then you can share a copy with someone you care about.”—SETH GODIN You deserve to stop living at an unsustainable pace. An influential podcaster and thought leader shows you how. Overwhelmed. Overcommitted. Overworked. That’s the false script an inordinate number of people adopt to be successful. Does this sound familiar: ● Slammed is normal. ● Distractions are everywhere. ● Life gets reduced to going through the motions. Tired of living that way? At Your Best gives you the strategies you need to win at work and at home by living in a way today that will help you thrive tomorrow. Influential podcast host and thought leader Carey Nieuwhof understands the challenges of constant pressure. After a season of burnout almost took him out, he discovered how to get time, energy, and priorities working in his favor. This approach freed up more than one thousand productive hours a year for him and can do the same for you. At Your Best will help you ● replace chronic exhaustion with deep productivity ● break the pattern of overpromising and never accomplishing enough ● clarify what matters most by restructuring your day ● master the art of saying no, without losing friends or influence ● discover why vacations and sabbaticals don’t really solve your problems ● develop a personalized plan to recapture each day so you can break free from the trap of endless to-dos Start thriving at work and at home as you discover how to be at your best.

Download or read book Love Your Church written by Tony Merida and published by The Good Book Company. This book was released on 2021-06-01 with total page 140 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How to grow in love for your church. God calls us to be "devoted to one another in love" (Romans 12:10). What does this look like for us today? How can we be the kind of church member who makes a real difference? This engaging book by Tony Merida explores what church is, why being part of it is exciting, and why it’s worthy of our love and commitment. He sets out eight privileges and responsibilities of a church member: to belong, to welcome, to gather, to care, to serve, to honour, to witness and to send. As we see how wonderful it is to belong to God’s family and be a part of his amazing witness to both the earthly and the heavenly realms, we’ll grow in our love for and commitment to our local church. This is a great book for every churchgoer to read, whether they’re new or have been attending for some time but need re-energising with God’s vision for the local church. With a discussion guide at the end of the book, Love Your Church is also a great resource for small groups.

Download or read book The Church goer written by Joseph Leech and published by . This book was released on 1850 with total page 262 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Going to Church in Medieval England written by Nicholas Orme and published by Yale University Press. This book was released on 2021-01-01 with total page 497 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An engaging, richly illustrated account of parish churches and churchgoers in England, from the Anglo-Saxons to the mid-sixteenth century Parish churches were at the heart of English religious and social life in the Middle Ages and the sixteenth century. In this comprehensive study, Nicholas Orme shows how they came into existence, who staffed them, and how their buildings were used. He explains who went to church, who did not attend, how people behaved there, and how they--not merely the clergy--affected how worship was staged. The book provides an accessible account of what happened in the daily and weekly services, and how churches marked the seasons of Christmas, Lent, Easter, and summer. It describes how they celebrated the great events of life: birth, coming of age, and marriage, and gave comfort in sickness and death. A final chapter covers the English Reformation in the sixteenth century and shows how, alongside its changes, much that went on in parish churches remained as before.

Download or read book Giving and Stewardship in an Effective Church written by Kennon L. Callahan and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 1997-08-25 with total page 147 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This complete guide to giving and stewardship sheds new light on solid financial resources, one of the 12 keys to building an effective church. Here is a practical plan for the growth and development of giving and stewardship in your congregation, complete with action worksheets that advance the progress of the plan over four years.

Download or read book To Be Or Not to Be a Church Member written by Wayne Mack and published by . This book was released on 2007-08-22 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Should you commit yourself to membership in a local church? Isnt just being a Christian enough? Anyhow, where does the Bible say that we have to become members of a churchwhy cant I just attend and get involved? These are very important questions that demand an answer, especially in the casual age that were living in. Dr. Wayne Mack brings his years of experience as a Bible teacher, pastor and counselor to this very controversial topic. His answers are straightforward and clear: YES! You must become a church member if youre to be obedient to Our Lord Jesus Christ and the clear teaching of the New Testament. NO! Being a lone wolf Christian is not enough, per se; you must join with a local body of believers in a church that teaches sound doctrine. NO! You cannot just attend and get involved without the benefit of church membership; you must have church elders that can guide you, and that you must submit to. Dr. Mack thus argues conclusively and clearly for church membership.

Download or read book What Is a Healthy Church written by Mark Dever and published by Crossway. This book was released on 2007 with total page 130 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Guides both pastors and members to recognize key characteristics of a healthy church and then challenge each person to do his or her part in developing those characteristics in the local church body.

Download or read book Different Under God written by Terence Chong and published by Institute of Southeast Asian Studies. This book was released on 2013 with total page 194 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “Different under God is the first substantial, comprehensive and scientific analysis of Christianity in Singapore, covering religious, social and political attitudes. This survey by Terence Chong and Hui Yew-Foong will be enthusiastically welcomed by todays sociologists and historians in the future. An important and timely contribution to the sociology of religion and to the study of Singapore.” —Bryan S. Turner, Presidential Professor of Sociology, the Graduate Centre, the City, University of New York, USA “This is a landmark study of Christianity in Singapore that is sorely needed today, not only to confirm many scholarly guesses, but also to dispel public stereotypes of Christians as homogeneously sheep-like or militant. Scholars and Singaporeans beware, Terence and Yew-Foong have started a fire that will enliven public discourse on religion and society for years to come.” —Daniel P.S. Goh, Assistant Professor of Sociology, National University of Singapore “Analysing individual and discussion-group responses from churchgoers in both mainline denominations and independent churches, this study grapples with a number of highly-relevant, even sensitive issues in contemporary Christianity: issues of moral values and attitudes (including those on sexuality and sexual orientation), money and giving, organizational belonging, governance, and others. While some of the findings and conclusions may reinforce broad perceptions of Christianity and churches in Singapore, others were quite eye-opening. Also useful for researchers, the study contains important data on respondents socio-economic backgrounds. All in all it is a most welcome scholarly contribution, and I expect that it will be a well-cited resource for future scholarship.” —Robbie B.H. Goh, Professor of English Literature, National University of Singapore