Download or read book Who Runs the Church written by Zondervan, and published by Zondervan. This book was released on 2009-05-26 with total page 322 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Churches have split and denominations have formed over the issue of church government. While many Christians can explain their church's form of rule or defend it because of its "tried and true" traditions, few people understand their church's administrative customs from a biblical perspective. Who Runs the Church? explores questions such as: What model for governing the church does the Bible provide, and is such a model given for practical or spiritual reasons? Is there room for different methods within Christianity? Or is there a right way of "doing church"? And, finally, how (and by whom) should the church be governed? Four predominant approaches to church government are presented by respected proponents: Episcopalianism - represented by Peter Toon Presbyterianism - represented by L. Roy Taylor Single-Elder Congregationalism - represented by Paige Patterson Plural-Elder Congregationalism - represented by Samuel E. Waldron As in other Counterpoints books, each view is followed by critiques from the other contributors, and its advocate then responds.

Download or read book The Church of Irresistible Influence written by Robert Lewis and published by Zondervan. This book was released on 2002-10-27 with total page 226 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Now available in paperback. The inspiring story of how a church showed God's love to a dying culture by building bridges to its neighborhood, community, and world.

Download or read book How Your Church Family Works written by Peter L. Steinke and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2006-11-20 with total page 170 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Drawing on the work of Bowen and Friedman, and on his own many years of counseling experience, Peter Steinke shows how to recognize and deal with the emotional roots of such issues as church conflict, leadership roles, congregational change, irresponsible behavior, and the effects of family of origin on current relationships.

Download or read book Organizing Love in Church written by Tim Adeney and published by . This book was released on 2012-04-14 with total page 104 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Most of us have the instinct that a church won't automatically develop a culture of love for God, his people, and his world. This book puts words to that instinct.Chapter 1 outlines the kinds of loving fellowship, discipleship, and mission we hope for in a church. Chapter 2 explores why these expressions of love generally don't 'just happen', and why some common approaches to church -- including Sunday gatherings and Bible studies -- don't necessarily foster a loving community. And chapter 3 makes some concrete suggestions for how better to promote love in church.

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 240 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 Equipped for Every Good Work written by Dan R. Dick and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2011-04-01 with total page 169 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: All scripture is inspired by God . . . so that everyone who belongs to God may be proficient, equipped for every good work. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 Equipped for Every Good Work is a four-tool process that can help you discover and develop the spiritual gifts, spirituality types, interaction styles, and working preferences of each person in your congregation. Begun in 1988, the Profile of Congregational Leadership has been used in approximately two hundred different churches of seven denominations in settings of all shapes, sizes, locations, and racial-ethnic backgrounds. Equipped for Every Good Work is not intended as a tool to help congregations assign members to jobs on committees, boards, councils, or task forces. Instead, it is a process of discovery and discussion of the gifts, graces, and abilities of the leadership core of a local congregation. It shifts the attention off of what we do and on to who we are as called, gifted, and empowered people of God. Through self-exploration and discovery, each person can gain new insights about what it means to be a disciple of Jesus Christ, and the entire congregation can grow as a faith-forming spiritual community. Leaders--A special website (equippedforeverygoodwork.wordpress.com) provides access to all the handouts, presentation materials, reference materials, and interpretive aids.

Download or read book How Your 21st Century Church Family Works written by Peter L. Steinke and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2021-11-27 with total page 157 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The first edition of How Your Church Family Works was written nearly thirty years ago, and the reach and velocity of change in the last three decades poses a new challenge for churches. Thirty years ago, churches functioned in a fairly stable environment and focused on growth an expansion. The tide has turned now, though, and supplanted increase with decline. Bowen family systems theory—on which How Your Church Family Works is based—has not changed, but its application has to be revised for the twenty-first century. How Your 21st-Century Church Family Works, the second edition of Peter Steinke’s landmark book, addresses the radically altered landscape of church sustainability with new introductory and concluding chapters bookending updates throughout the now-classic text. Core chapters of the book feature fresh examples of emotional process that are more exemplary of the current scene. One key addition is a new trigger of anxiety for churches—the change process. Change threatens the familiar and stable and suffers from negative connotations of endangering tradition. Where gradual change has been the norm for so long, churches now see a blistering pace of disruptions, some of which have forced change too early or too late, or sometimes in unproductive directions. How Your 21st-Century Church family works embraces the anxiety caused by change, transforming it from a source of anguish to a font of opportunity.

Download or read book Building a Healthy Multi Ethnic Church written by Mark DeYmaz and published by Fortress Press. This book was released on 2020-10-06 with total page 243 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Through personal stories, proven experience, and a thorough analysis of the biblical text, Building a Healthy Multi-Ethnic Church illustrates both the biblical mandate for the multi-ethnic church and the seven core commitments required to bring it about. Mark DeYmaz, pastor of one of the most proven multi-ethnic churches in the country, writes from both his experience and his extensive study of how to plant, grow, and encourage more ethnically diverse churches. He argues that the "homogenous unit principle" will soon become irrelevant and that the most effective way to spread the gospel in an increasingly diverse world is through strong and vital multi-ethnic churches. Apart from ethnically and economically diverse relationships, we cannot understand others different from ourselves, develop trust for others who are different than us, and/or love others different than ourselves. Apart from understanding, trust, and love, we are less likely to get involved in the plight of others different than ourselves. Without involvement, nothing changes, and the disparaging consequences of systemic racism remain entrenched in our culture. Surely, it breaks the heart of God to see so many churches segregated ethnically or economically from one another, and that little has changed in the many years since it was first observed that eleven o'clock on Sunday morning is the most segregated hour in the land.

Download or read book The Life of the Church written by Joe Thorn and published by Moody Publishers. This book was released on 2017-03-07 with total page 102 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What should a church do? Look at your church’s calendar and you will learn something of its mission. But how do you know it’s the mission Jesus gave? In The Life of the Church, Joe Thorn explains the mission of the church and the three rhythms for fulfilling it. The result is a simple, memorable model for church life and ministry, grounded in Scripture and aligned with historic practices. Useful for training in membership class, discipleship groups, and elder boards—and even for devotional reading—The Life of the Church is at once theological, practical, and experiential. Readers will not simply be informed, but led to a deeper conviction about their role in the body of Christ. Pastors will be equipped to refocus their ministries, and Christians to fulfill their purpose: be and make disciples. If you wonder what it means to be saved into a body of believers, why the various parts of a worship service matter, and how to engage in the world as a citizen of heaven, then The Life of the Church is for you. It answers this critical question: “Why does the church exist, and how does it shape my life?”

Download or read book Lasting Impact written by Carey Nieuwhof and published by . This book was released on 2015-05 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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. What if ...- Having the right conversations could change your trajectory?- There was more hope than you realized?- The potential to grow was greater than the potential to decline?- Your community was waiting for a church to offer the hope they're looking for?- Your best days as a church were ahead of you? Maybe the future belongs to the churches that are willing to have the most honest conversations at a critical time. That's what Lasting Impact is designed to facilitate.

Download or read book The Office of Peter written by Hans Urs Von Balthasar and published by Ignatius Press. This book was released on 2013-05-15 with total page 413 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this theological masterpiece on the ministry of the Pope (the Petrine Office) and the nature of the Church, the great Swiss theologian Hans Urs von Balthasar examines what he calls the anti-Roman attitude-a widespread hostility toward the Papacy. Unfortunately, this attitude exists even within the Catholic Church. How should we understand this? More importantly, how should we overcome it? Hans Urs von Balthasar answers these questions by providing a balanced discussion of the Papcy's place in the Church. He shows how the Office of Peter is an essential aspect of the ongoing life and mission of Christ's Church. On the one hand, the Papacy is not "above" the Church, the author insists, nor is the mystery of the Church reducible to the Papacy. On the other hand, writes von Balthasar, the Petrine ministry of the Pope is a crucial element among other indispensable, constitutive principles, which include what von Balthasar calls the Johannine and Pauline dimensions, and above all else on the Marian aspect of the Church.

Download or read book The Sending Church written by Pat Hood and published by B&H Publishing Group. This book was released on 2013 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A pastor uses examples from his own congregation to show how a church isn't really a church until it leaves the building and expands God's Kingdom in the local neighborhood and around the world.

Download or read book Transformational Church written by Ed Stetzer and published by B&H Publishing Group. This book was released on 2010 with total page 260 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: It is time to take heart and rework the scorecard. --

Download or read book The Unstuck Church written by Tony Morgan and published by Thomas Nelson. This book was released on 2017-05-16 with total page 225 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Acclaimed church leader, blogger, founder and chief strategic officer of The Unstuck Group, Tony Morgan unpacks the lifecycle of a typical church, identifies characteristics of each phase, and provides practical next steps a church can take to move towards sustained health. Think about your church for a moment. Is it growing? Is it diminishing? Is it somewhere in between? Acclaimed church leader, blogger, and founder and chief strategic officer of The Unstuck Group, Tony Morgan has identified the seven stages of a church's lifecycle that range from the hopeful and optimistic days of launch, to the stagnating last stages of life support. Regardless of the stage in which you find your church, it carries with it the world's greatest mission—to "go and make disciples of all the nations . . ." With eternity at stake the Church should be doing most everything within its power to see lives changed forever. The Church should strive for the pinnacle of the lifecycle, where they are continually making new disciples and experiencing what Morgan refers to as "sustained health." In The Unstuck Church, Morgan unpacks each phase of the church lifecycle, and offers specific and strategic next steps the church leader can take to find it's way to sustained health . . . and finally become unstuck. The Unstuck Church is a call for honest an assessment of where your church sits on the lifecycle, and a challenge to move beyond it.

Download or read book Doing Church as A Team written by Wayne Cordeiro and published by ReadHowYouWant.com. This book was released on 2011-08 with total page 290 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Doing Church as a Team, Pastor Wayne Cordeiro underscores that church numbers are insignificant when every individual is not involved. However, if the team members work together as one toward a single, clearly defined goal, anything is possible, and everyone shares in the joys and rewards of success!...

Download or read book What Is the Mission of the Church written by Kevin DeYoung and published by Crossway. This book was released on 2011-09-08 with total page 290 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Social justice and mission are hot topics today: there's a wonderful resurgence of motivated Christians passionate about spreading the gospel and caring for the needs of others. But in our zeal to get sharing and serving, many are unclear on gospel and mission. Yes, we are called to spend ourselves for the sake of others, but what is the church's unique priority as it engages the world? DeYoung and Gilbert write to help Christians "articulate and live out their views on the mission of the church in ways that are theologically faithful, exegetically careful, and personally sustainable." Looking at the Bible's teaching on evangelism, social justice, and shalom, they explore the what, why, and how of the church's mission. From defining "mission", to examining key passages on social justice and their application, to setting our efforts in the context of God's rule, DeYoung and Gilbert bring a wise, studied perspective to the missional conversation. Readers in all spheres of ministry will grow in their understanding of the mission of the church and gain a renewed sense of urgency for Jesus' call to preach the Word and make disciples.

Download or read book Models of the Church written by Avery Dulles and published by Image. This book was released on 2002-05-14 with total page 290 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: There is today a dramatic reexamination of structure, authority, dogma -- indeed, every aspect of the life of the Church is held up to scrutiny. Welcoming this as a sign of vitality, Avery Dulles has carefully studied the writings of contemporary Protestant and Catholic ecclesiologists and sifted out six major approaches, or "models," through which the Church's character can be understood: as Institution, Mystical Communion, Sacrament, Herald, Servant, and, in a recent addition to the book, as Community of Disciples. A balanced theology, he concludes, must incorporate the major affirmations of each. "The method of models or types," observes Cardinal Dulles, "can have great value in helping people to get beyond the limitations of their own particular outlook and to enter into fruitful conversation with others... Such conversation is obviously essential if ecumenism is to get beyond its present impasses." This new edition includes a new Appendix and Preface by the author.