Doing Church as a Team


Wayne Cordeiro - 1998
    Drawing from his experiences in pioneering and pastoring highly successful churches in Hawaii, Cordiero inspires and instructs others on fulfilling the Lord's desire that His church work together.

Unlimiting God: Increasing Your Capacity to Experience the Divine


Richard Blackaby - 2008
    Some choose to ignore them. God's power and love have no limits. So why do Christians put limits on their relationship with Him? We could be pursuing greater knowledge, experiencing deeper intimacy, and abiding in freer joy... and yet we routinely settle for mediocrity in our spiritual lives. But if you are ready to explode your self-imposed limits, Dr. Richard Blackaby can guide you through powerful and passionate insights revealed in this new book. By contrasting mediocrity with the spirituality of the great "heroes of the faith," Dr. Blackaby shows you that you need not settle for less than God intends for you. God can do extraordinary things through ordinary people like you...but only when you allow Him to enlarge your spiritual capacity and overcome your self-imposed limits. "I hope this book inspires you to aim for a new level of walking with God. I want you to reach heights in your spiritual life that you never dreamed were possible, to experience God working through your life in a powerful new dimension, to hear words from God that will dramatically change your life and your world. I want to help you blow past any limitations you have set for yourself in your Christian life." --Dr. Richard Blackaby

Telling the Truth: The Gospel as Tragedy, Comedy, and Fairy Tale


Frederick Buechner - 1977
    A fresh, creative look at the underlying meaning of the Gospels that stresses the many dimensions of God's relationship to humanity.

From Social Media to Social Ministry: A Guide to Digital Discipleship


Nona Jones - 2020
    Yet studies have shown that 65% of churches in America are either declining or plateauing in attendance. Many of those who tell you they attend church aren't actually showing up.Many today are actively searching for a church experience, but they are doing their search digitally. Long before they set foot in your building, they've "experienced" your digital presence online. Most churches see social media as a means of getting people to attend programs and services, for getting "butts in the seats." But Nona Jones, who facilitates Facebook's relationships with faith-based non-profits, believes there is far more untapped potential for churches to utilize social media, transforming it into social ministry. Social media focuses on driving people to a building for one to two hours of interaction each week. Social ministry focuses on helping people mature in Christ the other 168 hours of the week. And while social media is about marketing and attracting people to your church, social ministry is about life-long discipleship in a digital age.

The Shepherd Leader: Achieving Effective Shepherding in Your Church


Timothy Z. Witmer - 2010
    Too many church leaders perceive of themselves as a "board of directors" when the Bible is clear that they are to know, feed, lead, and protect the flock entrusted to their care.

The Training of the Twelve: Timeless Principles for Leadership


Alexander Balmain Bruce - 1979
    A complete exposition of how Christ prepared His twelve disciples.

Who Stole My Church?: What to Do When the Church You Love Tries to Enter the Twenty-First Century


Gordon MacDonald - 2008
    They are bewildered by the changes, and are dropping out after thirty, forty, or fifty years in a congregation. It's a crisis!In this fictional story, pastor and author Gordon MacDonald uses topical examples and all-too-familiar characters to reassure readers that it is possible to embrace change, and to demonstrate how that change can actually be a positive influence in their church. The church, he says, has always been in a state of change; it has been changing for the last two thousand years. It is time to embrace that change and use it further the Kingdom of God

True Community: The Biblical Practice of Koinonia


Jerry Bridges - 1985
    Some of the topics you will find in this book are: Renew your bonds of love with other believers. Participate in the partnership of the gospel. Contribute your spiritual gifts to help others. Share your possessions according to God's plan.

The Sin of Certainty: Why God Desires Our Trust More Than Our "Correct" Beliefs


Peter Enns - 2016
    This is not just an intellectual conviction, he contends, but a more profound kind of knowing that only true faith can provide.Combining Enns’ reflections of his own spiritual journey with an examination of Scripture, The Sin of Certainty models an acceptance of mystery and paradox that all believers can follow and why God prefers this path because it is only this way by which we can become mature disciples who truly trust God. It gives Christians who have known only the demand for certainty permission to view faith on their own flawed, uncertain, yet heartfelt, terms.

Just Walk Across the Room: Simple Steps Pointing People to Faith


Bill Hybels - 2006
    It has nothing to do with methods and everything to do with taking a genuine interest in another human being. All you need is a heart that's in tune with the Holy Spirit and a willingness to venture out of your "Circle of Comfort" and into another person's life. Just Walk Across the Room brings personal evangelism into the twenty-first century. Building on the solid foundation laid in Becoming a Contagious Christian, Bill Hybels shows how you can participate in the model first set by Jesus, who stepped down from heaven 2,000 years ago to bring hope and redemption to broken people living in a fallen world. Now it's your turn. Your journey may not be as dramatic, but it can have a life-changing impact for someone standing a few steps away from you--and for you as well, as you learn the power of extending care, compassion, and inclusiveness under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. The highest value in personal evangelism is cooperating with the Spirit, says Hybels. This means playing only the role you're meant to play--walking when the Spirit says to walk, talking when he says to talk, and falling silent when he suggests that you've said enough. Hybels encourages you to "live in 3D" ... Developing friendships Discovering stories Discerning appropriate next steps ... as a means of learning to understand the Holy Spirit's promptings. With fresh perspectives from his own reflections and experiences collected during his most recent decade of ministry, Bill Hybels shows with convincing and inspiring clarity the power of this personal, richly relational approach to evangelism. The stakes are high. The implications are eternal. And you may be only a conversation away from having an eternal impact on someone's life--if you will just walk across the room.

From Weakness to Strength: 8 Vulnerabilities That Can Bring Out the Best in Your Leadership (PastorServe Series)


Scott Sauls - 2017
    Sauls shares his own stories and those of other leaders from Scripture and throughout history to remind us that we are human, we are sinners, and we need Jesus to help us thrive as people and leaders.   For Christian leaders—both inside and outside of the church—weaknesses that are left unchecked can lead to a downfall that is both public and painful. They want to lead with character and live like Jesus, but ambition, isolation, criticism, envy, anticlimax, opposition, restlessness, and insecurity can get in the way. From Weakness to Strength provides leaders with tools to draw near to Jesus and stay encouraged and hopeful, even (and especially) when sin and struggle get in the way.

Disciples Are Made Not Born: Helping Others Grow to Maturity in Christ


Walter A. Henrichsen - 2002
    But what is a disciple? And how are we to "make"them?Based on decades of experience, this book explains and illustrates the processof disciple-making that Jesus taught and modeled. First published in 1974, itspractical, biblical approach has revolutionized the ministry of hundreds ofthousands of Christians as they learned how to multiply themselves in the livesof others.Disciple-making is challenging, to be sure. But as we are faithful to Christ'sGreat Commission, we'll experience the fulfillment that comes from being faithfulto the life mission to which God has called us.

Church Zero: Raising 1st Century Churches out of the Ashes of the 21st Century Church


Peyton Jones - 2013
    What happened to the Western church? Why are we losing the generation under thirty and reaching so few nonbelievers? In Church Zero, Peyton Jones examines one of our biggest problems: squeezing our leaders into a mold that cuts their hair and drains away their commando strength. Scripture lays out a leadership model that worked explosively in the first century. When properly understood, Christ’s model can help your church live the way it was meant to live, truly making a difference in your community. Church Zero gives the blueprints for how the Western church might start rebuilding from the ground up. What would tomorrow look like if we had to restart from a biblical ground zero? Church Zero will help us once again become a radical, dangerous people who cannot be ignored.

Gaining by Losing: Why the Future Belongs to Churches That Send


J.D. Greear - 2015
    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.

Unleash!: Breaking Free from Normalcy


Perry Noble - 2012
    But too often the things of our past--fear, anger, bitterness, worry and doubt--hold us back. Rather than focusing on the reality of who Christ is and what he has done for us, we allow ourselves to be identified by all the things we aren't. But we are not who our past says we are, and we are not who the enemy says we are. We are who God and his Word say that we are.Pastor Perry Noble challenges all followers of Christ to make a bold move by fully embracing the exciting adventure God has called us to. Are you ready to unleash all the life he has created you to live? Join Perry on this journey as he digs into the major barriers holding people back and shows how Jesus calls and equips his followers to experience a life most of us never dreamed possible.