Best of
Ecclesiology

2008

Church Shift Revolutionizing Your Faith Church, and Life for the 21st Century


Sunday Adelaja - 2008
    Discover how God gave him a new assignment---to evangelize the Ukraine! Here's the astounding story of the unlikely pastor of Eastern Europe's largest megachurch. Recounting his struggle against prejudice and persecution, it will inspire you to maximize your impact for Christ. 224 pages, softcover from Charisma.

Dispensationalism: Essential Beliefs and Common Myths: Revised and Updated


Michael J. Vlach - 2008
    As a basic introduction, this not only explains what Dispensationalism is in the twenty-first century, it cuts through many misrepresentations so the reader can know what this theology is about. New Chapters include: (1) “Continuity and Discontinuity in Dispensationalism”; (2) “Key Differences between Dispensationalism and Covenant Theology”; and (3) “Recommended Sources on Dispensationalism.”

Cornelius Van Til: Reformed Apologist and Churchman


John R. Muether - 2008
    This work contributes to an understanding of Van Til and his apologetic insights by placing him within the context of twentieth century developments in North American Reformed theology, including the formation of Westminster Seminary and the Orthodox Presbyterian Church, the rise of neo-evangelicalism, and the American reception of Karl Barth.

A Primer on Worship and Reformation


Douglas Wilson - 2008
    Politicians, journalists, advertisers--each of these groups (and countless others) spend their lives working to convince others that they hold the key to a better country, a better life, a better future. A Primer on Worship and Reformation proposes that true change begins, not with a process or an idea, but through faithful worship. To witness true global change—true reformation—we must first pray that we would see worship at the center of life. The truth is that when the Word is faithfully preached, even the gates of hell tremble. When the Psalms are sung, the meek inherit the earth. When the church celebrates at the Lord's Table, those who mourn are comforted. If we learn these lessons and believe them to be true, we will find that through renewed worship God brings change to every facet of our lives.

People and Place: A Covenant Ecclesiology


Michael S. Horton - 2008
    Arguing that the history of Israel and the covenant of grace provide the proper context for New Testament ecclesiology, Horton then shows how the church is constituted through the ascension of Christ, the Pentecost, and the Parousia and how it continues to live by the Word and sacraments. Horton's goal is to demonstrate the potential of a covenantal model for integrating the themes of the church as people and as place, with an urgent concern for contemporary practice.

Vatican II: Renewal Within Tradition


Matthew Lamb - 2008
    After thousands of speeches, resolutions, and votes, the Council issued sixteen official documents on topicsranging from divine revelation to relations with non-Christians. In many ways, though, the real challenges began after the council was over and Catholics began to argue over the interpretation of the documents. Many analysts perceived the Council's far-reaching changes as breaks with Churchtradition, and soon this became the dominant bias in the American and other media, which lacked the theological background to approach the documents on their own terms. In Vatican II: Renewal Within Tradition, an international team of theologians offers a different reading of the documents fromVatican II. The Council was indeed putting forth a vision for the future of the Church, but that vision was grounded in two millennia of tradition. Taken together, these essays demonstrate that Vatican II's documents are a development from an established antecedent in the Roman Catholic Church.Each chapter contextualizes Vatican II teachings within that rich tradition. The resulting book is an indispensable and accessible companion to the Council's developments, one that focuses on theology and transcends the mass-media storyline of liberal versus conservative.

In the Splendor of Holiness: Rediscovering the Beauty of Reformed Worship for the 21st Century


Jon D. Payne - 2008
    A useful resource for personal study, small groups, Sunday school and new member classes, this study encourages the recovery of worship that is unashamedly God-centered and manifestly Scriptural. Rediscover the beauty of Reformed worship for the 21st Century. Jon Payne deftly guides readers through the various parts of the worship service and explains not simply why these activities constitute Reformed worship. He also carefully delineates why Presbyterians worship the way they do. In so doing, Payne provides a clear, convincing and edifying account of historic Reformed worship. Here Christians will find great assistance for the most significant part of each week. - Dr. Darryl G. Hart; from the forward Intercollegiate Studies Institute, Wilmington, DE

The Courage to Be Protestant: Truth-lovers, Marketers, and Emergents in the Postmodern World


David F. Wells - 2008
    But to live as a true Protestant -- well, that's another matter. This book is a jeremiad against “new” versions of evangelicalism -- marketers and emergents -- and a summons to return to the historic faith, defined by the Reformation solas (grace, faith, and Scripture alone) and by a high regard for doctrine. Wells argues that historic, classical evangelicalism is marked by doctrinal seriousness, as opposed to the new movements of the marketing church and the emergent church. He energetically confronts the marketing communities and their tendency to try to win parishioners as consumers rather than worshipers, advertising the most palatable environment rather than trusting the truth to be attractive. He takes particular issue with the most popular evangelical movement in recent years -- the emergent church. Emergents, he says, are postmodern and postconservative and postfoundational, embracing a less absolute understanding of the authority of Scripture than traditionally held.The Courage to Be Protestant is a forceful argument for the courage to be faithful to what Christianity in its biblical forms has always stood for, thereby securing hope for the church's future.

Borderland Churches: A Congregation's Introduction to Missional Living


Gary V. Nelson - 2008
    The author uses the image of the church crossing over into an "in -between time", a place where faith is lived outside the walls of the church engaging the community in incarnational ways. To live in that "precarious but exhilarating place where faith and other faiths and no faith meet." Only individuals and congregations that accept this new reality will be able to carry on Christian ministry in this new cultural situation. A TCP Leadership Series title.

The Vanishing Church


Bob Pearle - 2008
    What he presents will concern you, inspire you, and lead you to make your church more what the Bible intends.

Church Membership in the Bible


Peter Masters - 2008
    This is a magnificent subject, vital to spiritual growth and blessing and also to our service for the Saviour. This book answers many questions about churches and church membership in New Testament times. Next to having a real walk with Christ and knowing the doctrines of the faith, membership of a good church has a powerful formative influence on the believer's life.

What Is a Healthy Church Member?


Thabiti M. Anyabwile - 2008
    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.

Shepherding the Flock: The Pastoral Epistles of Saint Paul the Apostle to Timothy and to Titus


Lawrence R. Farley - 2008
    Paul's epistles to Timothy and Titus contain the apostle's instructions to the pastors under his care about how they, in turn, should care for their flocks in wisdom and love. As the last epistles St. Paul wrote in anticipation of his martyrdom, they remain as a testimony to his pastoral love and as an inspiration for those in the Church, both the shepherds and the flock, to walk in holiness and love themselves.About the Orthodox Bible Study Companion SeriesThis commentary series was written for the average layperson. Working from a literal translation of the original Greek, the commentary examines the text section by section, explaining its meaning in everyday language. Written from an Orthodox and patristic perspective, it maintains a balance between the devotional and the exegetical, feeding both the heart and the mind.