Part of the 9Marks Building Healthy Churches series.

    Attention spans are dwindling, noise levels are increasing, and we can't seem to find time for real relationships.The answer to such social fragmentation can be found in small groups, and yet the majority of small groups--at least in the traditional sense--are often not the intentional, transformational community we really want and need. Somehow we need to get our groups off life support and into authentic community.Pastor Brad House helps us to re-imagine what gospel-centered community looks like and shares from his experience leading and reproducing healthy small groups. With wisdom and candor, House challenges us to think carefully about our own groups and to take steps toward cultivating communities that are able to glorify Jesus, bless one another, and participate in the mission of God.

    The local church is the engine of world missions. But where should a church begin?Churches don't need a complicated missions program. They need the Bible and the wisdom to know how to apply it. This book points to Scripture and offers practical steps for training and supporting missionaries, forming international partnerships, sending short-term teams, and engaging the nations both at home and abroad.Part of the 9Marks: Building Healthy Churches series.

    Fascinating accounts of how God enabled the people of different pagan cultures to understand the meaning of the Gospel.

    The pastor of a dying church doesn't need to be told it is dying; he needs to find the way forward--and he needs hope.Author and pastor Andrew Davis offers readers the lessons he's learned in his own journey of leading church transformation, including- keeping Christ's ownership of the church central- being humble- choosing your battles wisely- empowering godly men to join in leadership- making prayer a priority- focusing on the Word- and moreChurch decline is not inevitable. Revitalize gives pastors the spiritual support they long for and the practical advice they need to turn their churches around and position them for greater health in the future.

    Gain an insight into the work of the pastor. It is based on the thesis that the pastor, being the shepherd of the flock, feeds the flock upon God?'s Word; the bulk of pastoral work is therefore through the ministry of the Word. This edition includes biographical information by Frank Lyall.

    Stearns' journey there took much more than a long flight to Africa. It took answering God's call on his life, a call that tore him out of his corner office at one of America's most prestigious corporations--to walk with the poorest of the poor in our world."The Hole in Our Gospel" is the compelling true story of a corporate CEO who setaside worldly success for something far more significant, and discovered the full power of the gospel of Jesus Christ to change his own life. He uses his journey to demonstrate how the gospel--the whole gospel--was always meant to be a world changing social revolution, a revolution that begins with us.ECPA 2010 Christian Book of the Year Award Winner!"Read this compelling story and urgent call for change--Richard Stearns is a contemporary Amos crying 'let justice roll down like waters....' Justice is a serious gospel-prophetic mandate. Far too many American Christians for too long a time have left the cause to 'others.' Read it as an altar call." --Eugene H. Peterson, translator of The Message, Professor Emeritus of Spiritual Theology, Regent College, Vancouver, BC"Rich Stearns calls us to exhilarating obedience to God's life-altering, world-changing command to reflect his love to our neighbors at home and globally. The Hole in Our Gospel is imbued with the hope of what is possible when God's people are transformed to live radically in light of his great love." --Gary Haugen, President & CEO, International Justice Mission"Richard Stearns is quite simply one of the finest leaders I have ever known.... When he became president of World Vision I had a front row seat to witness the way God used his mind and heart to inspire thousands.... His new book, The Hole In Our Gospel will call you to a higher level of discipleship.... Now is the time...Richard Stearns has the strategy...your move!" --Bill Hybels, Founding and Senior Pastor, Willow Creek Community Church, South Barrington, IL"Rich Stearns has given us a book that makes absolutely clear what God hopes for and expects from each of us.... He reminded me of my personal responsibilities and the priority I must give them and also where life's true rewards and fulfillment are to be found." --Jim Morris, former executive director, United Nations World Food Program"World Vision plays a strategic role on our globe. As the largest relief organization in the history of the world, they initiate care and respond to crisis. Rich Stearns navigates this mercy mission with great skill. His book urges us to think again about the opportunity to love our neighbor and comfort the afflicted. His message is timely and needed. May God bless him, the mission of World Vision and all who embrace it." --Max Lucado, author of 3:16--The Numbers of Hope, Minister of Writing and Preaching, Oak Hills Church, San Antonio, TX"With passionate urging and earnestness, Rich Stearns challenges Christians to embrace the whole Gospel of Jesus Christ by embracing the neediest and most vulnerable among us. After reading the moving stories, the compelling facts and figures, and Stearns' excellent application of scripture and his own experiences at World Vision, you will no doubt be asking yourself: What should I do?" --Chuck Colson, Founder, Prison Fellowship

    I don't much like going. So, what now?"What's happening to the Church? Why are so many people who for decades have been faithful, steady churchgoers (and others who want to start going to church but can't seem to find one that meets their needs) losing interest in even attending church, let alone getting involved? What is fundamentally wrong with the "types" of churches (Seeker, Bible, Emergent, Liberal, Evangelical) that dot the religious landscape? Larry Crabb believes it is time to rethink the entire foundation and focus of what we know today as church -- everything we're doing and are wanting to see happen. In his most honest and vulnerable book to date, the author reveals his own struggles in this area and then offers a compelling vision of why God designed us to live in community with Him and others, and what the church he wants to be a part of looks like."

    Oscar Thompson's classic book on evangelism, Thompson shows Christians how to spread the love and good news of Christ by building and repairing personal relationships. Too often the only kind of evangelism encouraged is the preaching to strangers, anonymous crowds, and foreign countries. This book hits readers where they live, teaching them that the most effective way to witness is through a simple plan of meeting the needs of close family first, then friends, and then all others.Published post-humously, this book is a living testament of the brilliance of Oscar Thompson and his innovative method. It will be a perfect guide to lifestyle evangelism for church study groups, conferences, and the classroom.

    At any given time there are thousands of churches seeking a lead pastor.  While a great resume, a friendly smile and a memorable sermon will convince many, what should local congregations focus on to find a new shepherd?  Chris Brauns believes to find a great preacher the search must focus on God's Word and how the candidate relates to it and preaches from it. This book is a must have resource for search committees and church leaders addressing the needs of churches in the transition of pastoral leadership.  It assists by approaching their responsibilities in a biblical way and providing critical help in key practical matters.  From the initial formation of a search committee to the final terms of agreement with the new pastor, Brauns shows you how to "major on the majors" and away from subjective approaches of evaluating candidates and their sermons.  Great also for pastors or pastoral students to know how to prepare, the book includes such practical tools as interview questions for candidates and the top mistakes search committees make.

    Some struggle to redefine these categories and some seek to reclaim them, while others reject them outright, with or without providing new terms to guide us forward.But words and their meaning matter; our confusion has a cost. Competing priorities pressure us to stretch our mission definitions as wide as they can go, releasing our people to creatively engage in service of every description. Some churches turn away from traditional mission efforts all together, giving preference to local service and evangelism while outsourcing any cross-cultural effort to those who surely must be more effective than we would be.As an unfortunate result of these tendencies, many of our churches lack a coherent, compelling sense of what we're all about as we engage with the world. And if we lose our scriptural moorings, how far will our missions efforts drift?Matthew Ellison and Denny Spitters call us to refocus our gaze on the gospel and the Great Commission. They assert that thinking must come before doing and shape our world mission practices and priorities. When Everything Is Missions is for church and ministry leaders and all who look to clarify their own answers to questions like these:What is the mission of God? What is the mission of the Church? Is every Christian a missionary?

    After traveling the globe and speaking to thousands of churches worldwide, Paul David Tripp has discovered a serious problem within pastoral culture.He is not only concerned about the spiritual life of the pastor, but also with the very community of people that trains him, calls him, relates to him, and restores him if necessary.Dangerous Calling reveals the truth that the culture surrounding our pastors is spiritually unhealthy--an environment that actively undermines the wellbeing and efficacy of our church leaders and thus the entire church body.Here is a book that both diagnoses and offers cures for issues that impact every member and church leader, and gives solid strategies for fighting the all-important war that rages in our churches today.

    Churches and individual Christians typically have faulty assumptions about the causes of poverty, resulting in the use of strategies that do considerable harm to poor people and themselves. Don't let this happen to you, your ministry or ministries you help fund! A must read for anyone who works with the poor or in missions, When Helping Hurts provides foundational concepts, clearly articulated general principles and relevant applications. The result is an effective and holistic ministry to the poor, not a truncated gospel."Initial thoughts" at the beginning of chapters and "reflection questions and excercises" at the end of chapters assist greatly in learning and applying the material. A situation is assessed for whether relief, rehabilitation, or development is the best response to a situation. Efforts are characterized by an "asset based" approach rather than a "needs based" approach. Short term mission efforts are addressed and economic development strategies appropriate for North American and international contexts are presented, including microenterprise development.Now with a new preface, a new foreword, and a new chapter to assist in the next steps of applying the book's principles to your situation, When Helping Hurts is a new classic!

    He writes, "I hope to show that atonement theology must be social theory if it is going to have any coherence, relevance or comprehensibility at all." There are no small thoughts or cramped plot lines in this vision of the deep-down things of cross and culture. While much is recognizable as biblical theology projected along Pauline vectors, Leithart marshals a stunning array of discourse to crack open one of the big questions of Christian theology. This is a book on the atonement that eludes conventional categories, prods our theological imaginations and is sure to spark conversation and debate.

    We hardly ever think of it as world-changing--and neither does society. Yet this is exactly what the first-century ekklesia was.In these vital, eye-opening pages, bestselling author Ed Silvoso takes you back to the first days of the church. Digging into Scripture, he shows how the New Testament church--devoid of buildings, professional clergy, and religious freedom--was able to transform the hostile, pagan places into which it was born and set in motion a process that changed the world forever.Even more, Silvoso offers a roadmap back to becoming the ekklesia Jesus called his church to be. In the midst of the social, economic, political, and moral chaos in our world today, we possess the hope that people and nations so desperately need--and we can become the revolutionary, transformational, life-giving voice Jesus called us to be.A new, in-depth curriculum kit--which features a DVD with 12 brand-new teaching sessions, a group guide for both leaders and participants, and a copy of the book--is also available. Expounding on the book's dynamic teachings, each kit contains everything you need to equip your group to transform the world around them.