A pastor's responsibilities are unique, demanding that he nurture his own spiritual life as well as that of the people in his care. Derek Prime and Alistair Begg provide practical advice for both the spiritual and practical aspects of pastoral ministry. Topics include prayer, devotional habits, preaching, and specific ministry duties.

    When he retired forty years later, it was nearing 20,000.Though Bob's ministry was a clear success, he'd be the first to say it wasn’t perfect. In After 50 Years of Ministry he shares why. He reflects on the best of what he’s learned—sometimes the hard way—about ministry and leadership, like how to:Respond to criticismProtect your marriageStop comparing yourself to other pastorsHandle a staff moral failurePrioritize preaching in your scheduleBuild trust with your eldersMake the best use of downtimeHilarious, warm, and full of great stories and illustrations, After 50 Years of Ministry is sage advice from a faithful servant of God. If you are in leadership of any kind, don’t miss this chance to learn from one of the best.

    It's a strategy that enabled Osborne's congregation to grow from a handful of people to one of the larger churches in the nation—without any marketing or special programming. Sticky Church tells the inspiring story of North Coast Church's phenomenal growth and offers practical tips for launching your own sermon-based small group ministry.Topics include:Why stickiness is so importantWhy most of our discipleship models don’t work very wellWhy small groups always make a church more honest and transparentWhat makes groups grow deeper and sticker over timeSticky Church is an ideal book for church leaders who want to start or retool their small group ministry—and velcro their congregation to the Bible and each other.

    Should preachers ask for a public response in evangelistic meetings?

    Despite his top-rank status, Tony’s list of responsibilities still included killing cockroaches whenever a freaked out co-worker spotted one in the building. That’s where this unconventional, unforgettable book on church leadership begins.Morgan’s point is that great leaders don’t have to do everything. The key is to play from your strengths while building a team that manages around your weaknesses.Written in a relaxed style similar to marketing guru Seth Godin, Killing Cockroaches’ 142 offbeat, on-target entries will delight and energize church leaders. Chapter titles include “10 Easy Ways to Make Your Church Services More Boring” (creative services), “Action Speaks Louder than Advertising” (meeting people’s physical needs), and “The Power of Simple” (eliminating noise).

    Now with an all-new look, this repackaged version continues to advance the mission of the first release. Mentoring young leaders as they face the unique issues of a changing world has been pastor and bestselling author Andy Stanley’s passion for more than a decade. Here he shares material from his leadership training sessions, developed to address essential leadership qualities such as character, clarity, courage, and competency. This is the perfect guide for any new leader—or for the mentor of a future leader! Straight Talk to Tomorrow’s Leaders Five characteristics mark the man or woman who will shape the future. -Courage -Clarity -Competence -Coachability -Character Drawing on two decades of experience mentoring a rising generation, seasoned visionary Andy Stanley shows how to: -Discover and play to your strengths -Harness your fears -Leverage uncertainty -Enlist a leadership coach -Maintain moral authority “Capable men and women will eventually catch, pass, and replace the current generation of leaders,” says Stanley. “Embracing these essentials, you will not only excel in your personal leadership, but also ensure a no-regrets experience for those who choose to follow you.” “ Andy Stanley ’s The Next Generation Leader will equip the messengers to stand a little taller with a vision of hope and promise as they engraft these timeless principles into their daily lives.” —Dan T. Cathy, president and CEO, Chick-Fil-A Corporation “It’s obvious that what Andy Stanley has to say in The Next Generation Leader comes straight from the gut of someone who is in the leadership game and is winning at it.” —Bill Hybels, senior pastor, Willow Creek Community Church “ Andy Stanley offers a fresh perspective on ageless truths that will be of enormous benefit to today’s leaders and to future generations.” —Patrick S. Flood, chairman and CEO, HomeBanc Mortgage Corporation Story Behind the BookAndy Stanley, the senior pastor of the North Point Ministries campuses with a cumulative congregation of more than twenty thousand, admits he has one single, core passion. He lives to train and mentor young leaders to be the best they can be! He sees the “next gen” need for quality Christian resources on leadership and wrote this book entrenched in leadership himself, desiring to guide the up-and-coming young men and women who will shape our future.

    The question goes like this: "Look, I've read your book, and it expresses what I have always thought about Christian ministry. But as I kept reading, I had this sinking feeling that what actually happens in our church is still a long way from the kind of disciple-making ministry vision you outline and that I believe in. So my question is this: What can we do about it? How can we shape the whole culture of our church around disciple-making?" In "The Vine Project", Marshall and Payne provide a roadmap and resources for this sort of church-wide culture change. The book guides your ministry leadership team through a five-phase process for growth and change, with biblical input, practical ideas, resources, case studies, exercises and projects along the way. You will be helped to: • clarify and sharpen your convictions (Phase 1) • reform your own personal life to express these convictions (Phase 2) • honestly evaluate every aspect of your current church (or ministry) culture (Phase 3) • devise some key plans for change and put them into effect (Phase 4) • keep the momentum going and overcome obstacles (Phase 5). "The Trellis and the Vine" proposed a "ministry mind-shift that changes everything". "The Vine Project" shows how that mind-shift can and must shape every aspect of what you are doing as a congregation of Christ's people to make disciples of all nations. For more information and help in working through 'The Vine Project', as well as additional resources, templates, videos, case studies, the PDF of the Team Manual, and much more, visit thevineproject.com (a website is run by Colin Marshall and the team at Vinegrowers.)

    Dr. Timothy Paul Jones gives easy-to-understand answers to popular questions on the Bible's reliability and accuracy.

    For this very end, God has established elders and deacons, members, and congregational authority. This primer on church structure connects the different offices of the church to one another and to the glory of God. In the Church Basics Series, trusted church experts write practical, trustworthy resources on issues like Church Discipline, Church Leadership, the Lord's Supper, and Baptism that every pastor can hand every church member.

    Eugene Peterson, well known as "a pastor's pastor," here speaks words of wisdom and refreshment for pastors caught in the busyness of preaching, teaching, and "running the church." In The Contemplative Pastor Peterson highlights the often-overlooked essentials of ministry, first by redefining the meaning of pastor through three strengthening adjectives: unbusy, subversive, andapocalyptic. The main part of the book focuses on pastoral ministry and spiritual direction "between Sundays": these chapters begin with poetic reflections on the Beatitudes and then discuss such themes as curing souls, praying with eyes open, the language of prayer, the ministry of small talk, and sabbatical--all with engaging, illustrative anecdotes from Peterson's own experience. The book ends with several meaning-full poems that pivot on the incarnation, the doctrine closest to pastoral work. Entitled "The Word Made Fresh," this concluding section is a felicitous finale to Peterson's discerning, down-to-earth reflections on the art of pastoring.

    Throughout, Allen compares Paul's methods to modern missionary methods; he concludes by suggesting some ways the apostolic method might be usefully employed today.

    Addressing mission, evangelism and social justice, two pastors draw readers to the Bible's teaching on some contentious matters.   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.

    Weirsbe. Tyndale House Pub., Inc.,1986

    In many churches, the primary objective of the church discipleship of people into mature followers of Jesus has been outsourced to programs and large-scale efforts to train and teach. But is that happening? Are people growing in spiritual depth and missional determination?Twenty-five years ago, the leaders of Randy Pope s rapidly growing church took serious stock of their own spiritual development and realized all of them had benefitted from a personal discipleship relationship that had helped them grow in their faith and discover where God was calling them to service. As a church, they decided to make personal discipleship their do-or-die aim: applying one person s real life to another s to accomplish something far bigger than that single life. Perimeter calls their approach life-on-life missional discipleship and Insourcing tells their story.Randy Pope writes for church leaders who recognize the value of discipleship and need practical ideas for reorienting church ministries around personal discipleship. Readers will be encouraged that a wide scale personal discipleship program is attainable for any church."

    It sets forth workable principles for dynamic, cross-centered leadership. Now available in paperback.