Greear pastors. Big givers. Key volunteers. Some of his best leaders and friends. And that's exactly how he wants it to be.When Jesus gave his disciples the Great Commission, he revealed that the key for reaching the world with the gospel is found in sending, not gathering. Though many churches focus time and energy on attracting people and counting numbers, the real mission of the church isn't how many people you can gather. It's about training up disciples and then sending them out. The true measure of success for a church should be its sending capacity, not its seating capacity.But there is a cost to this. To see ministry multiply, we must release the seeds God has placed in our hands. And to do that, we must ask ourselves whether we are concerned more with building our kingdom or God's.In Gaining By Losing, J.D. Greear unpacks ten plumb lines that you can use to reorient your church's priorities around God's mission to reach a lost world. The good news is that you don't need to choose between gathering or sending. Effective churches can, and must, do both.

    But such a community can be enjoyed only when it relies on the power of God in the gospel.In The Compelling Community, pastors Mark Dever and Jamie Dunlop cast a captivating vision for authentic fellowship in the local church that goes beyond small groups. Full of biblical principles and practical advice, this book will help pastors lead their congregations toward the kind of community that glorifies God, edifies his people, and attracts the lost.

    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.

    Yet polity remains as important now as it was in the New Testament.   What then is a right or biblical polity? The contributors to this volume make an exegetical and theological case for a Baptist polity. Right polity, they argue, is congregationalism, elder leadership, diaconal service, regenerate church membership, church discipline, and a Baptist approach to the ordinances.   Each section explores the pastoral applications of these arguments. How do congregationalism and elder leadership work together? When should a church practice church discipline? How can one church work with another in matters of membership and discipline?     To be read sequentially or used as a reference guide, Baptist Foundations provides a contemporary treatment of Baptist church government and structures, the first of its kind in decades.

    Renowned spiritual writer Joan Chittister explores the sayings of the Desert Mothers and Fathers, finding wisdom from that ancient tradition that speaks to your life today. This popular introduction to a powerful source of Christian wisdom can be a companion to your own spiritual journey.

    However, most of us are less familiar with his tireless work educating seminary students for a life of pastoral ministry--a role that occupied him for most of his adult life.Anchored in a variety of influential lectures, personal letters, and major works such as The Cost of Discipleship and Life Together, this book attempts to recover a largely unexamined part of Bonhoeffer's life, exploring his philosophy and practice of theological education in his original context. It then builds on this foundation to address the drift toward increasingly impersonal educational models in our own day, affirming the value of personal, face-to-face seminary education for the health of pastors and churches.

    While seminary is helpful preparation for many of the challenges pastors face, there's far more to pastoral ministry than what can be covered in the classroom. Designed as a reference guide for nearly every situation a pastor will face, this comprehensive book by seasoned pastors Kent Hughes and Doug O'Donnell is packed full of biblical wisdom and practical guidance related to the reality of pastoral ministry in the trenches. From officiating weddings to conducting funerals to visiting the sick, this book will equip pastors and church leaders with the knowledge they need to effectively minister to their flocks, both within the walls of the church and beyond.

    

    Sheen (18951979), whose radio and television broadcasts, including Life Is Worth Living, have reached millions of homes since the 1950s. With more than thirty of his works still in print, Sheen is one of the most beloved Catholic evangelists of all time.

    Like the popularity of cruise vacations, it is obvious that the shape of the modern church is very attractive to millions of people. If you are content with what the church has become, the benefit of this book for you may be limited to its explanation of recent church history and trends. If, however, you are like the millions of others wrestling with what the church has become, this book will help you identify the cause of your queasiness and provides you with ways to overcome it. Note from the author: I recommend reading this book in community; Processing your thoughts about the church with others may uncover similar stories, or challenge your assumptions in ways reading alone never could. Ultimately, my hope is that together you will be able to discern where God is calling you—and the entire church—in the days ahead.

    It will guide you to:Discover the truth of the text according to the human author.Discern Christ in the text according to the divine author.Design your sermon with truth, goodness, and beauty.Deliver your sermon in a way that keeps attention, retention, and leads to transformation.

    The church needs spiritual revival. But reviving and strengthening the Black Church will require great wisdom and courage.  Reviving the Black Church calls us back to another time, borrowing the wisdom of earlier faithful Christians. But more importantly, it calls us back to the Bible itself. For there we find the divine wisdom needed to see all quarters of the Black Church live again, thriving in the Spirit of God. It’s pastor and church planter Thabiti Anyabwile's humble prayer that this book might be useful to pastors and faithful lay members in reviving at least some quarters of the Black Church, and churches of every ethnicity and context— all for the glory of God.

    Is this really a biblical practice? The authors show that the Bible assumes the necessity of formal church membership so that we can fulfill the commands and apply the promises given to the church. Clearly and carefully, and answering contemporary objections along the way, the authors make the biblical case that God desires the members of His heavenly kingdom to join with the earthly society that reflects itChrists body, the church.

    Unfortunately, in many churches, ministry to widows remains largely neglected and forgotten.Highlighting the Bible's recurring commands to care for widows with sensitivity and compassion, this book encourages church leaders to think carefully about how to serve the widows in their congregations and suggests practical strategies to that end. In part 1, the authors summarize the Bible's consistent teaching regarding the care of widows. In part 2, the authors offer hands-on counseling and a host of practical suggestions related to ensuring that widows receive the support and encouragement they need to thrive in the church.

    

    Bobby Jamieson describes how baptism and the Lord’s Supper transform a scattered group of Christians into a gathered local church. It traces the trajectory of a church’s birth, how gospel people form a gospel polity.   Baptism is where faith goes public. It is the initiating oath-sign of the new covenant. It is the passport of Christ’s kingdom and a kingdom citizen’s swearing-in. The Lord’s Supper is the renewing oath-sign of the new covenant, a corporate act of fellowship with Christ that binds the church into one body. Baptism confers church membership and the Lord’s Supper confirms it. Baptism confers membership; the Lord’s Supper renews it. So baptism is required for church membership like vows are required for marriage.     After building and summarizing this positive theological case for why baptism is required for church membership, the book answers objections, poses challenges to the open membership view, and applies this theological vision to the local church’s practice of baptism, the Lord’s Supper, and church membership.   Why is baptism required for church membership? Because church membership is a public affirmation of someone’s public profession of faith in Christ, and Jesus has appointed baptism as the means by which his followers publicly profess their faith in him. Why does this question matter? Because removing baptism from membership erases the line Jesus himself has drawn between the church and the world.

    Instead, across the country we find dry terrain where churches no longer can expect interested seekers--yet most of our solutions for addressing this predicament link to anxiety around our performance and personality. Rather than going back to the boardroom to cook up new techniques for a trendier church, let's ask more meaningfully rooted questions. Do we know how to be present in our neighborhoods? Do we know how to be present in community? Do we know how to be present to the in-breaking kingdom of God? There is a growing groundswell discovering that we have become uprooted and detached from each other in the way we express being the church. We need a subterranean movement that plunges below the surface into a way of being the people of God that carries an unwavering incarnational creed. Dan White Jr. uses crisp criticism, narrative theology, and tangible practices to uncover a hopeful pathway for being radically rooted in God's world. "Dan White has penned a well-written, distinctly prophetic book on incarnational mission. In it he calls us to a life beyond the standard cultural obsessions and to a faithfulness that is rendered through rootedness, abiding, witness, and service. A welcome addition to the books on prophetic missionality." --Alan Hirsch, author and activist "For too long the church has caved in to the desires of a world addicted to self-destructive speed and geographic displacement. But no longer, says White. God is seeking to re-place his people, to invite us into the radical act of stopping in a restless world, to be deeply rooted, to be witnesses to the life our world could experience if it truly surrendered to Christ. This inspiring and practical guide will help you in that monumental endeavor." --Michael Frost, author, Incarnate: The Body of Christ in an Age of Disengagement "Want a sneak peak into the future of the church in North America? Read this book. Better yet, want to join in this bold new future? Join with others and create local practices as inspired by this incredible resource. Rooted in courageous practice, White has written a pioneering guide that pinpoints the cancerous defaults of the contemporary church, while also casting a practical vision for how we can all join in God's abundant future." --Tim Soerens, coauthor of The New Parish: How Neighborhood Churches Are Transforming Mission, Discipleship, and Community "The bias toward up is powerful in church culture. As leaders, we want to be up-and-comers and eventually at the top. If our grand vision isn't realized, we pull up stakes and move on. In this fine book, White makes an impassioned case for down. 'Up-rootedness' abstracts us, but 'rootedness'--in community, place, and the unfolding work of God--is the truly radical trajectory of the church. It's difficult to imagine a more important message." --John Pattison, coauthor of Slow Church Dan White, Jr. co-planted Axiom Church when five families dove into the city of Syracuse, New York, to cultivate communities in diverse neighborhoods. He is also a church strategist with the V3 Movement, coaching cohorts from around the country through an eighteen-month missional training system. Finally, he is also cofounder of the Praxis Gathering. Dan finds deep delight in dwelling around the table with good coffee and a good conversation. He blogs at danwhitejr.com.

    If you want something more than you've been getting from church as usual, then you'll love "Beyond Church."--"Groundbreaking . . . a plea to awaken to the vibrant life and possibilities of a godly community." --"War Cry," the national magazine of The Salvation Army USA. --"A how-to manual for a meeting of Christians who listen together to what Jesus is saying, let go of self effort and give Him the freedom to work." --"Southern Spirit," the magazine of The Salvation Army Southern Territory USA --"Simms begins to share the story of his own personal search for the kind of no-hierarchal model so beautifully and organically powerful in the fellowship of the fresh gatherings in Acts and beyond. This kind of ecclesia was (and is) immediately responsive to needs, a place where everyone listens to Christ Himself and then speaks her/his insights to the 'body gathered.' Citing the historical examples of the pure but often messy model, Simms encourages this simple church practice in our own contexts." --Gloria Gaither in Bill & Gloria Gaither's "Homecoming Magazine" (Here's a link to Gloria's full review:     homecomingmagazine.com/article/gloria...

    Simple church. Organic church. Missional church. Deep church. Radical church. Transformational church. Total church. Sticky church. Tribal church. Mission-shaped church. Center church. Vertical church. Everyday church. Deliberate church. Gospel-centered church. Do we really need one more _________ church? “Yes!” says the collective of churches who consider themselves part of a growing movement called “sending church”. It has proven itself as a term that is here to stay, but the meaning of it has been sadly mistaken. Many churches who call themselves sending churches are actually far from it. Some who are familiar with the term consider it just another missional trend. Others, upon first encounter think it speaks only to missiology. Sending church desperately needs clarity.That’s precisely what this book is for. It began with a gathering of sending churches who sought to answer the question, “What is a sending church?” They came up with a lengthy definition, and we then took almost a year to flesh out that definition one word at a time according to Scripture and scholarship. The goal was not just clarity, but to send a timely word to churches about reclaiming their birthright as the leaders in the Great Commission. After all, "A Sending Church is a local community of Christ-followers who have made a covenant together to be prayerful, deliberate, and proactive in developing, commissioning, and sending their own members both locally and globally, often in partnership with other churches or agencies, and continuing to encourage, support, and advocate for them while making disciples cross-culturally."