Book picks similar to
Growing a Church by David K. Bernard
ministry
christian
leadership
pentecostal
The Episcopal Handbook, Revised Edition
Tobias Stanislas Haller - 2015
Still providing helpful and insightful information about theEpiscopal ethos with a certain amount of whimsy and complete accessibility, this revision maintains the best features of the original work, but adds an update and an expansion on the church today.In addition to updating out-of-date references and correcting a few inaccuracies, the revision highlights Episcopal diversity—including more women and people of color in the biographical material—as well as focusing more on Episcopalians rather than Anglicans. Some new illustrations are included as well.Some material originally presented in tabular form has been adapted into a more accessible narrative format. This includes new sections on church governance, the origins of religious belief, and a capsule summary of church history. The glossary has also been expanded.The goal is to provide a book suitable for a wide range of uses and settings: for Sunday schools, confirmations, inquirer classes—and for everyone from visitors to vestries. The revision brokers an incredible compendium of information in an informal, user-friendly, and accessible format.For lifelong Episcopalians, newcomers, and those wishing to sample and explore thebeliefs and organization of the denomination.
Why I Am Still Surprised by the Power of the Spirit: Discovering How God Speaks and Heals Today
Jack Deere - 2020
At twenty-seven, he became a professor of Old Testament Exegesis and Semitic Languages at Dallas Theological Seminary. He started and pastored an influential church in Ft. Worth, Texas. He taught his church and his students that God no longer gave the "miraculous gifts of the Spirit" or spoke outside the pages of Scripture.After teaching seminary for ten years, a bestselling author shocked Deere when he told him that he not only believed God was regularly healing people today, but that he had seen undeniable miracles in answer to his prayers. For the next four months, Deere studied every healing story in the New Testament. This time he came to those stories with the open mind of a scholar, completely at home in the original languages of the Bible, not as a gullible student swallowing the prejudices of his teachers. At the end of those four months, Deere was convinced, against his will, that God was still healing and speaking just as he had done in the New Testament.Deere and his wife Leesa began to pray for people in their church and witnessed dramatic, documented healings.In Why I Am Still Surprised by the Power of the Spirit, Deere demonstrates that the Scriptures teach that God is healing and speaking today just as he did 2000 years ago. He tells documented stories of modern miracles. He explains the nature of spiritual gifts, defines each spiritual gift, offers sound advice on discovering and using the gifts in church today. He shows how all of this part of God's way of deepening our friendship with him.A modern classic, Surprised by the Power of the Spirit was published twenty-five years ago, and in that book Deere claimed that he would live long enough to see the majority of conservative evangelicals come to believe in all the gifts of the Spirit. That has come true. The theological landscape has changed dramatically. Nearly completely rewritten, this new edition still offers that proof but has about seventy percent new material on the practical matters of experiencing and using spiritual gifts. For example, anyone who prays regularly for the sick will encounter demonic power. Demons pop up all over the Synoptic Gospels. There are two new chapters on ministering to the demonized. There is much confusion on what it means to be filled with the Spirit today. Deere takes three chapters to examine every use of "filled with the Spirit" and "full of the Spirit" in the New Testament to show why and how God still fills his servants with the Holy Spirit. There are many new stories of God's power, even walking on water and multiplying food. Deere also introduces the newest literature defending and explaining the gifts of the Spirit. All this and more continues the book's legacy for a new time.
Evangelism by Fire: Keys for Effectively Reaching Others With the Gospel
Reinhard Bonnke - 2011
In Evangelism by Fire he lays out the principles necessary for effective evangelism, showing how God operates through anyone who is willing to follow His plan. The Gospel is as vital today as it was when Jesus walked the shores of the Sea of Galilee, and nations urgently need the life-giving message of the cross right now. Filled with biblical principles, prophetic messages, and personal examples, Evangelism by Fire will inspire you to bring the focus of your life and ministry back to the Great Commission.
Follow Me: A Call to Die. A Call to Live.
David Platt - 2013
As a result, churches today are filled with people who believe they are Christians . . . but aren’t. We want to be disciples as long as doing so does not intrude on our lifestyles, our preferences, our comforts, and even our religion.Revealing a biblical picture of what it means to truly be a Christian, Follow Me explores the gravity of what we must forsake in this world, as well as the indescribable joy and deep satisfaction to be found when we live for Christ.The call to follow Jesus is not simply an invitation to pray a prayer; it’s a summons to lose your life—and to find new life in him. This book will show you what such life actually looks like.
And We Are Changed: Encounters with a Transforming God
Priscilla Shirer - 2003
When God meets you, His presence, power, and love should transform your life—forever.Using the compelling biblical accounts of the children of Israel, Ruth, Mary, Martha, and Lazarus, author Priscilla Shirer shows you what happens when you meet God, the obstacles that keep you from changing, and the ways to experience a miraculous transformation in your life.Jesus' death not only saves us and secures heaven for us, it is the power by which we can live a victorious Christian life here on earth. So if you've ever wondered what it means to truly encounter God, take the next step... and be forever changed.
Anchor Man: How a Father Can Anchor His Family in Christ for the Next 100 Years
Steve Farrar - 1997
Instead, it's your privilege to lead your family-and influence succeeding generations-for a century...or more.Anchor Man presents the high calling of fatherhood, the traits of a Christian father, the adventures that await him as he interacts with his children, and the significance of his role as a good family man. Steve Farrar presents these roles and responsibilities in a way any man wanting to increase his understanding of his place in the family, and our society, can put into action every day.Anchor Man encourages, exhorts, and demonstrates with biblical concepts how to raise a godly family and how to anchor that family in Christ for the next one hundred years. Farrar's unique teaching style blends humor and practicality with the tools fathers need to become all that God intended them to be as the leaders of their families."When a man gets serious about following Christ with his whole heart," Farrar says, "God desires to not only pour out His blessing on that man, but on his children, and his children's children.
The New Spirit-Controlled Woman
Beverly LaHaye - 2005
Readers will discover how temperaments impact...being singlebeing marriedlove lifecommunicationministryThe New Spirit-Controlled Woman shows readers that God loves them, that He has wonderful plans for them, and that He provides the power and drive needed to fulfill His will.
God's Lavish Grace
Terry Virgo - 2004
This concise survey of the impact and outworking of God's grace in the life of the believer will revitalize the most threadbare faith.
How To Hear God's Voice Easily And Effectively
Adam Houge - 2014
He shows us the Father’s will on a constant basis and leads us down every path of righteousness. But how can we be led by Him unless we understand His voice? How can we understand His voice unless we take the time to sensitize ourselves to it? In this book you’ll learn how to understand God’s voice and the various ways He speaks to you. You’ll learn how to discern God’s will and how to apply it to your life. Through practicing the principles outlined in this book you’ll gain a more fulfilling relationship with God as you learn how to effectively communicate with Him.
Becoming a Man of Unwavering Faith
John Osteen - 2011
For the moments of struggle and temptation that every man faces, and the times in life when he feels surrounded and under attack, John's message is profoundly simple-those moments are precisely the time for an unwavering faith. In this book, John schools today's believers in seven qualities of unwavering faith:1. It hears and sees what the world cannot see or hear.2. It prays earnestly even though it has already heard the answer.3. It is strong when there is no evidence of the answer.4. It always says, "Go Again!"5. It goes on when there's just a little evidence.6. It believes for the big when it sees the little.7. It begins with nothing but ends up doing mighty things for God.Osteen also provides principles for those times when faith doesn't seem to be working. Becoming a Man of Understanding Faith is a guidebook to stronger faith, from a man who spent a lifetime testing its limits.
Rooting for Rivals: How Collaboration and Generosity Increase the Impact of Leaders, Charities, and Churches
Peter Greer - 2018
And all too often, that includes being against each other. But amid growing distrust of religious institutions, Christ-centered nonprofits have a unique opportunity to link arms and collectively pursue a calling higher than any one organization's agenda.Rooting for Rivals reveals how your ministry can multiply its impact by cooperating rather than competing with others, modeling Christlike love and generosity in the process. Peter Greer and Chris Horst explore case studies illustrating the power of collaborative ministry. Writing with vulnerability, they also share their own failures and successes in moving toward a kingdom mindset. In Rooting for Rivals you'll discover the key to revitalizing your ministry and making an enduring difference in the world.
Better Together: How Women and Men Can Heal the Divide and Work Together to Transform the Future
Danielle Strickland - 2020
And it seems no one knows what to do. While it is good for women to expose their pain, what often happens is that they immediately blame the person at the other end of it, which sets up a never-ending cycle of accusations, denial, avoidance, and ultimately devastation for everyone involved.This moment of discovery should not signal the end but instead become an opportunity to create a different world where men and women are better together.Better Together is a beacon of hope in a challenging storm. It’s where thoughts can be rechanneled and hope rekindled as author Danielle Strickland offers steps toward a real and workable solution. Her premise is that two things are needed for change:1) imagine a better world, and2) understand oppression.Understanding how oppression works is an important part of undoing it.Danielle says, “I refuse to believe that all men are bad. I also refuse to believe that all women are victims. I don’t want to be just hopeful, I want to be strategically hopeful. I want to work toward a better world with a shared view of the future that looks like equality, freedom, and flourishing.”
Simply Jesus: Why he was, what he did, why it matters
Tom Wright - 2011
Modern critical biblical scholarship often points out how the church's teachings about Jesus have become encrusted with tradition so that it is hard to see what the core documents--the New Testament--really say about him. Now, with the insight of 200 years of modern critical scholarship and assuming an audience that includes both the well-churched and the non-churched, how should the church present the story and identity of the central personality of their faith, Jesus of Nazareth? Many people will be surprised at the story they hear.
Corporate Worship: How the Church Gathers as God's People
Matt Merker - 2021
For some, it’s a warm-up for the sermon. For others, it’s a “me-and-Jesus” moment. What is the biblically informed way to view corporate worship?In this book, Matt Merker shows that corporate worship is the gathering of God’s people by his grace, for his glory, for their good, and before a watching world. He offers biblical insights and practical suggestions for making worship what it truly is meant to be: a foretaste of God’s people worshiping together for eternity in the new creation.
Jesus: The Way, the Truth, and the Life
Marcellino D'Ambrosio - 2020
Anchored in the life of Christ as presented in the Gospels, it explores the entirety of Jesus life who he is, what he is really like, what he taught, what he did for our salvation, and what this means for us as Catholics today.This study shows, in a simple way, how Jesus, the Incarnate God, is both fully divine and fully human his intimacy with the Father, his revelation of the heart of the Father, and his extraordinary influence on his disciples, his followers, and even his enemies.Most importantly, this encounter with Christ will inspire and empower you to center your entire life in him as you come to know and love him in an ever-deeper and more intimate way.