Church Ministry

How Christ Came To Church is an enlivening spiritual autobiography that grew out of a beleaguered pastor's dream. This dream was the seminal event out of which blossomed a complete change in Gordon's approach to ministry and a vivid transformation in his parishioners.

How do we live out the message of Jesus in today’s ever-changing culture? The church is facing its greatest challenge - and its greatest opportunity - in our postmodern, post-Christian world. God is drawing thousands of spiritually curious “imperfect people” to become his church - but how are we doing at welcoming them? No Perfect People Allowed shows you how to deconstruct the five main barriers standing between emerging generations and your church by creating the right culture.

Ministry Makeover examines the decline within the church, especially the United Methodist Church (UMC), and some causes for this decline. It calls for a reforming of United Methodist structure and polity by drawing more attention to the value of the bi-vocational model of ministry and a re-visitation of the Wesleyan/United Brethren view and historical perspective.

Casey Sabella invested 15 years of his life serving a dynamic church that blossomed to several satellite locations throughout his state. Many people came to Christ, experiencing an extraordinary life change. His church acquired land and built a center for boys while publishing a national newspaper to invite people to well-attended seminars featuring popular authors and teachers. For two years, the church sponsored four days of meetings in the civic center in the capitol city.

The church began as a discipleship movement known as “The Way”. Despite the best of intentions, church as we know it in the West is unknowingly blocking discipleship multiplication - which we must have to accomplish the Great Commission. It’s time for the church in the West to be in The Way, without being in the way.

Every week a terrorist attack, riot, or political scandal makes the headlines - and we feel the world around us shaking again. We struggle to separate truth from biased statements and hope from naïveté. We wonder how we got here and where these uncertain days will take us. One of the world’s top investigative reporters, John S. Dickerson, addresses this post-truth, post-Christian society in Hope of Nations. Hope of Nations shows us how and why the world is changing, where those changes will lead, and what it looks like to live like Christ in today’s society.

Spiritual writer, theologian, and philosopher Jesuit Fr. Robert Spitzer tackles the topic of recognizing and overcoming spiritual evil. His focus is the human heart. His goal: our moral and spiritual transformation, which leads to true peace and genuine happiness. The book is divided into two main parts: the realities of God's goodness and of spiritual evil, and recognizing and overcoming diabolical tactics, which range from temptation and deception to the Deadly Sins.

Researchers have uncovered the following three trends: First, distrust of institutions, including the church, is at an all-time high. Second, young people raised in the church are leaving at alarming rates and not returning. Third, loneliness and social isolation are at pandemic levels. What’s the connection? It appears that an entire generation is starving for the very thing the church is called to provide but has chosen to look for it elsewhere. Why is this happening?

In Sticky Church, author and pastor Larry Osborne makes the case that closing the back door of your church is even more important than opening the front door wider. He offers a time-tested strategy for doing so: sermon-based small groups that dig deeper into the weekend message and tightly velcro members to the ministry. 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.

What should a Christian say when confronted with today's burning political questions? How can a person of faith use the Bible as a resource when navigating controversial cultures issues? Skyline Church pastor James L. Garlow presents Well Versed, the ultimate Scripture-based guide for Christians looking for answers, reassurance, and resources on the issues of today. Topics include Israel, social justice, sexual identity, debt, taxes, abortion, bioethics, the role of government, war, Islam, entertainment, and more.

The goal of the church should be simple—share the gospel to the ends of the earth. But in our highly politicized age, Christians can tend to place earthly political and social agendas over God's spiritual mission of the church. In Empowered Witness, author Alan D. Strange examines the doctrine of the spirituality of the church, making a clear distinction between the functions of the church and other institutions.

In A Change of Allegiance, Taylor takes the listener on a moving journey through the Scriptures, Christian history, and his own life's story demonstrating the incompatibility of Christianity and war. Ultimately, Taylor challenges his listener to consider where their allegiance really lies.

Take control of your own mind with positive thinking, and reach new levels of victory with this daily plan to help fight negativity from Lakewood Church pastor and best-selling author Joel Osteen. These daily readings, prayers, and insightful thoughts will inspire you start thinking about yourself the way God does. Start using this life-changing audiobook and you'll learn how to tune out the negativity, tune into your calling, and begin living the wonderful plans God has made for you.

Christian organizations have come to be known mostly for what we're against. 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.

God called. He wants his church back. Many Christians have begun to recognize that God desires his church to function as an organism rather than an organization. After over 11 years of experience founding and facilitating a house church, author Keith Giles shares the insights he developed in the trenches. Filled with practical, real-world examples of how to plant and nurture an organic gathering, listeners will find a wealth of information to help them bring Jesus back to the forefront of every meeting.

Longtime Christian journalist, researcher, and ministry leader Rick Lawrence believes that the driving force propelling the church into irrelevance is its propensity reduce Jesus. Deeply researched and comprehensively sourced, Editing Jesus, explores the 8 ways the Jesus of the contemporary church has been edited to fit the spirit of the age. Lawrence writes on:

You've probably noticed.... Churches aren't growing. Young adults are walking away. Volunteers are hard to recruit. Leaders are burning out. And the culture is changing faster than ever before. There's no doubt the church is in a moment in history for which few church leaders are prepared. You can look for answers, but the right response depends on having the right conversation. In Lasting Impact, Carey Nieuwhof leads you and your team through seven conversations that will help your church grow and have a lasting impact.

In this provocative new contribution to public theology, world-renowned theologian Miroslav Volf (named "America's New Public Intellectual" by Scot McKnight on his Jesus Creed blog) and Matthew Croasmun explain that the intellectual tools needed to rescue us from our present malaise and meet our new cultural challenge are the tools of theology. A renewal of theology is crucial to help us articulate compelling visions of the good life, find our way through the maze of contested questions of value, and answer the fundamental question of what makes life worth living.

Do you want to reignite your passion for the local church and see your congregation live out the Great Commission by growing and making disciples? If so, implementing the revolutionary Intentional Growth Planning™ operating system will benefit you, your church, and your community! Just as laptops and smart phones have an operating system, the church needs a biblically based operating system where its various programs and activities can effectively plug in to.

Many leaders like the concept of having a team. Unfortunately, some church leaders function more as an owner rather than a team member. Seventy helps church leaders fulfill their role in building, developing, and working with teams. It offers insights into the challenges of doing ministry as a team and practically addresses how to overcome these challenges. If you care about the church, believe in apostolic ministry—following the apostles’ example—and want to experience the book of Acts in the 21st century, this book is for you. Everyone needs a team.