Download or read book Compassion written by Joshua Mack and published by . This book was released on 2015-08 with total page 64 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Compassion is the emotion most frequently attributed to Jesus. Its important! Using Jesus and Paul as examples, Joshua Mack shows us how to be compassionate without sacrificing truth.

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 Reaching and Teaching written by M. David Sills and published by Moody Publishers. This book was released on 2010-04-01 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Most Christians know and understand that we are to seek to reach the lost around the world. Yet, Christ's command to us is more specific and calls us to a higher standard of involvement with the peoples of the world. He has called the church to make disciples of all people groups and to teach them to observe all He commanded us (Matthew 28:18-20). In recent years mission agencies and missionaries have increasingly shifted away from discipleship and teaching toward an emphasis upon evangelism and church planting—many to the exclusion of any other field activity. While evangelism and church planting are essential components of a biblical missions program, they are not sufficient for the complete task to which we have been called. Reaching and Teaching examines the task Christ gave in the Great Commission and redefines the task of missions from that which is currently prevalent. It surveys missions strategies and methodologies that have increasingly replaced Christ’s Great Commission instructions even as they have sought to fulfill it. It is a clarion call to return to the biblical task of reaching and teaching the nations for Christ’s sake.

Download or read book Evangelism written by J. Mack Stiles and published by Crossway. This book was released on 2014-04-16 with total page 130 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Christians often struggle to know where to start when it comes to telling others about God, Jesus, sin, and salvation. In this short book, J. Mack Stiles challenges us to view evangelism as something we do together instead of something we do alone, helping churches cultivate a culture of evangelism that goes beyond simply creating new programs or adopting the latest method. The seventh volume in the 9Marks: Building Healthy Churches series, this book will help Christians joyfully embrace evangelism as a way of life as it equips them to share their faith with those who don't yet know Jesus. Part of the 9Marks: Building Healthy Churches series.

Download or read book The Power of Everyday Missionaries written by Clayton M. Christensen and published by Deseret Book. This book was released on 2013-01-01 with total page 152 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

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 Uncomfortable written by Brett McCracken and published by Crossway. This book was released on 2017-09-15 with total page 228 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Does your church make you uncomfortable? It’s easy to dream about the “perfect” church—a church that sings just the right songs set to just the right music before the pastor preaches just the right sermon to a room filled with just the right mix of people who happen to agree with you on just about everything. Chances are your church doesn’t quite look like that. But what if instead of searching for a church that makes us comfortable, we learned to love our church, even when it’s challenging? What if some of the discomfort that we often experience is actually good for us? This book is a call to embrace the uncomfortable aspects of Christian community, whether that means believing difficult truths, pursuing difficult holiness, or loving difficult people—all for the sake of the gospel, God’s glory, and our joy.

Download or read book The Character of Leadership written by Jeff Iorg and published by B&H Publishing Group. This book was released on 2007-06-01 with total page 242 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Seminary president Jeff Iorg believes that character, and character development, are essential foundations for effective leaders. In The Character of Leadership, he writes about how God ever shapes character in the life of every leader, and in relation, how continual spiritual formation is a process to which every good leader must pay close attention. Iorg puts insightful chapter-long emphasis on nine important character-shaping qualities that help readers in “becoming the leader God intends me to be rather than doing the leading God intends me to do.” The nine qualities are: Integrity, Security, Purity, Humility, Servanthood, Wisdom, Discipline, Courage, and Passion. Endorsements: Rick Warren, author of The Purpose-Driven Life "Jeff Iorg defines lasting leadership as character, not capacity or competency. The making of a great leader is built on what God intends you to be rather than doing the leading God intends for you to do. His purpose is first and foremost to shape you into the image of Jesus, the greatest leader of all time." James T. Draper, Jr., president emeritus, Lifeway Christian Resources "An enormous contribution to the critical area of ministry and leadership. A must read for every ministry that strives for excellence. I recommend it without reservation." J. Robert White, executive director, Georgia Baptist Convention "Iorg is imminently qualified to write this volume on leadership . . . the chapters on integrity and purity are very much needed in our times and worth the investment of your time."

Download or read book Church Planting Movements written by V. David Garrison and published by WIGTake Resources. This book was released on 2007 with total page 374 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: David Garrison, PhD University of Chicago, defines Church Planting Movements as rapidly multiplying indigenous churches planting churches that sweep across a people group or population segment. Garrison's Church Planting Movements: How God Is Redeeming a Lost World signaled a breakthrough in missionary church planting. After the publication of Garrison's book in 2004 it became impossible to talk about missions without referencing Church Planting Movements. Church Planting Movements examines more than two-dozen movements of multiplying churches on five continents. After presenting these case studies, Garrison identifies ten universal elements present in each movement. He then broadens the circle of examination to identify a further ten common characteristics, factors identified in most, but not all, of the movements. He concludes his examination with a list of "Seven Deadly Sins," i.e. harmful practices that stifle or impede Church Planting Movements. Important for evangelical readers, the author returns to his findings to see how they stand up to the light of Scripture. What he discovers is that Church Planting Movements are much more consistent with the New Testament lay-led house-church movements that swept rapidly through the Mediterranean world in the face of hostile opposition than today's more sedentary professional institutionalized Christianity. Learn more about Church Planting Movements from the book's website: www.ChurchPlantingMovements.com.

Download or read book Missions written by Andy Johnson and published by Crossway. This book was released on 2017-08-15 with total page 130 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Every local church should be engaged with global missions, even if most individuals in the church aren't called to go overseas. But what does this engagement actually look like? How can local churches train, send, and support missionaries well? Unpacking principles from the Bible and applying them in the context of real life in a local church, this new book in the 9Marks: Building Healthy Churches series is filled with practical steps and advice for supporting missionaries, forming international partnerships, sending short-term teams, and engaging with the nations here at home. This book casts a vision for the local church as the engine of world missions—for the joy of all people and the glory of God.

Download or read book From Dependence to Dignity written by Brian Fikkert and published by Zondervan. This book was released on 2015-05-12 with total page 336 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The church of Jesus Christ finds itself at a very unique moment in history. The average Christian living in the “economically advanced countries” enjoys a level of prosperity that has been unimaginable for most of human history. At the same time, over 2.5 billion people in the Majority World (Africa, Asia, and Latin America) live on less than $2 per day, with many of these people being Christians. Ironically, it is amongst the “least of these” in the Global South that the global church is experiencing the most rapid growth. All of this raises profound challenges to the global church. How can churches and missionaries in the Majority World effectively address the devastating poverty both inside their congregations and just outside their doors? How can churches in the economically advanced countries effectively partner with Global South churches in this process? The very integrity of the global church’s testimony is at stake, for where God’s people reside, there should be no poverty (Deuteronomy 15:4; Acts 4:34). For the past several decades, microfinance (MF) and microenterprise development (MED) have been the leading approaches to poverty alleviation. MF/MED is a set of interventions that allow households to better manage their finances and start small businesses. From remote churches in rural Africa to the short-term missions programs of mega-churches in the United States, churches and missionaries have taken the plunge into MF/MED, trying to emulate the apparent success of large-scale relief and development organizations. Unfortunately, most churches and missionaries find this to be far more difficult than they had imagined. Repayment rates on loans are low and churches typically end up with struggling programs that require ongoing financial subsidies. Everybody gets hurt in the process: donors, relief and development agencies, churches and missionaries, and--most importantly—the poor people themselves. This book explains the basic principles for successfully utilizing microfinance in ministry. Drawing on best practice research and their own pioneering work with the Chalmers Center, Brian Fikkert and Russell Mask chart a path for churches and missionaries to pursue, a path that minimizes the risks of harm, relies on local resources, and enables missionaries and churches to minister in powerful ways to the spiritual and economic needs of some of the poorest people on the planet. The insights of microfinance can play a tremendous role in helping to stabilize poor households, removing them from the brink of disaster and enabling them to make the changes that are conducive to long-term progress. Moreover, when combined with evangelism and discipleship, a church-centered microfinance program can be a powerful tool for holistic ministry—one that is empowering for the poor and devoid of the dependencies plaguing most relationships between churches in economically advanced countries and churches in poor nations.

Download or read book Let the Nations be Glad written by John Piper and published by Inter-Varsity Press. This book was released on 2020-05-21 with total page 370 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 'Mission is not the ultimate goal of the church. Worship is. Missions exist because worship doesn't. Worship is ultimate.' John Piper's contemporary classic draws on key biblical texts to demonstrate that worship is the ultimate goal of the church and that proper worship fuels missionary outreach. Piper offers a biblical defence of God's supremacy in all things, providing a sound theological foundation for missions. He examines whether Jesus is the only way to salvation and issues a passionate plea for God-centredness in the missionary enterprise, seeking to define the scope of the task and the means for reaching 'all nations'. Let the Nations Be Glad! is a trusted resource for missionaries, pastors, church leaders, youth workers, seminary students, and all who want to connect their labours to God's global purposes. This third edition has been revised and expanded throughout and includes new material on the 'prosperity gospel'.

Download or read book Grace Defined and Defended written by Kevin DeYoung and published by Crossway. This book was released on 2019-04-17 with total page 85 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Christians love to celebrate grace, but often talk about it in vague generalities. But such an important biblical concept ought to be clearly defined so it can be consistently defended. In this book, best-selling author Kevin DeYoung points modern readers back to an old document originally written to do just that. Warmly pastoral and broadly accessible, this book introduces readers to the Canons of Dort, a 17th-century work summarizing the central doctrines of the Christian faith. Widely regarded as a key pillar of the Reformed tradition, the Canons of Dort stand as a faithful witness to God's grace—offering a depth of understanding that the church still needs today. In three concise sections—covering history, theology, and practical application—DeYoung explores what led to the Canons and why they were needed, the five important doctrines that they explain, and Dort's place in the Reformed tradition today.

Download or read book When Missions Shapes the Mission written by David A. Horner and published by B&H Publishing Group. This book was released on 2011-05-02 with total page 278 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Why are more churches not engaged in practical, substantial ways of taking the gospel to the nations?" When Missions Shape the Mission unpacks a statistical study of traditionally evangelical churches that reveals their anemic level of commitment to the biblical mandate of making Christ known around the world. Veteran pastor David Horner makes the data easy to understand, challenging other pastors to radically assign their best leadership and resources to missions as he looks at where the church is today, how it got there, and where we must go from here: "Let's dream a godly dream. What if you committed to step up and lead your church in the pursuit of becoming a mission-focused church? Then, what if you invited ten of your pastor friends to join you in the effort—and each of them did the same? What would happen to the available missions force beginning right here in the West?"

Download or read book Breaking the Missional Code written by Ed Stetzer and published by B&H Publishing Group. This book was released on 2006 with total page 260 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The authors provide expert insight on church culture and church vision casting, along with case studies of successful modern missional churches.

Download or read book Missionary Movement in Christian History written by Andrew F. Walls and published by Orbis Books. This book was released on 2015-03-31 with total page 421 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Paul the Missionary written by Eckhard J. Schnabel and published by InterVarsity Press. This book was released on 2010-01-28 with total page 519 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Drawing on his monumental scholarly study Early Christian Mission (Volume 2), Eckhard J. Schnabel's gives us an overview of Paul's missionary practices, strategies and methods, and then weighs contemporary evangelical missiology and practice in light of Paul.