Churchianity Lite
Author: Douglas C. Vest
Publisher: Xulon Press
Published: 2007-12
Total Pages: 198
ISBN-13: 1604772395
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Christianity Lite
Author: Glen Berteau
Publisher: Charisma Media
Published: 2013-01-08
Total Pages: 243
ISBN-13: 1621362272
DOWNLOAD EBOOKJesus didn’t come to make our normal, selfish, sinful lives a little better. He came to radically transform life as we know it. This narrow way—the way of grace-inspired obedience—is the only way to find the real Jesus, real meaning, real hope, and a life where we’ll really live!
Mere Churchianity
Author: Michael Spencer
Publisher: WaterBrook
Published: 2010-06-01
Total Pages: 242
ISBN-13: 0307459187
DOWNLOAD EBOOKHave you left the church in search of Jesus? Studies show that one in four young adults claim no formal religious affiliation, and church leaders have long known that this generation is largely missing on Sunday morning. Hundreds of thousands of “church leavers” have had a mentor and pastor, however, in Michael Spencer, known to blog readers as the Internet Monk. Spencer guided a vast online congregation in its search for a more honest and more immediate practice of Christian faith. Spencer discovered the truth that church officials often miss, which is that many who leave the church do so in an attempt to find Jesus. For years on his blog Spencer showed de-churched readers how to practice their faith without the distractions of religious institutions. Sadly, he died in 2010. But now that his last message is available in Mere Churchianity, you can benefit from the biblical wisdom and compassionate teaching that always have been hallmarks of his ministry. With Mere Churchianity, Spencer’s writing will continue to point the disenchanted and dispossessed to a Jesus-shaped spirituality. And along the way, his teachings show how you can find others who will go with you on the journey.
The Culturally Savvy Christian
Author: Dick Staub
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Published: 2008-09-09
Total Pages: 258
ISBN-13: 0470344032
DOWNLOAD EBOOKIn The Culturally Savvy Christian—his incisive critique of contemporary culture and religion—Dick Staub concludes that though it is influential, American popular culture is generally superficial (diversionary, mindless, and celebrity-driven) spiritually delusional (moralistic, therapeutic, and deistic) and soulless (sustained not by art, craft, and ideas, but by the mad pursuit of profit—propped up by marketing and technology). Similarly American Christianity has devolved into its own mindless, diversionary, and celebrity-driven superficiality. Because humans are created in God's image with spiritual, intellectual, creative, moral, and relational capacities, we long for more, yet the true seeker faces the lose-lose alternatives of a soul-numbing culture and a vacuous Christianity-lite. The renaissance we need in both faith and culture will originate in a deep spiritual renewal that restores God's image in us and creates a new breed of culturally savvy, thoughtful creatives who rekindle the spiritual, intellectual, and creative legacy of Christians as enrichers of culture.
Centered-Set Church
Author: Mark D. Baker
Publisher: InterVarsity Press
Published: 2022-01-18
Total Pages: 178
ISBN-13: 1514000954
DOWNLOAD EBOOKIs there an alternative to the church's impulse to either obsess over boundaries or erase them completely? Building on the work of Paul Hiebert, Mark D. Baker provides a unique manual for understanding and applying the vision of a "centered" church, charting a new path for congregations and leaders to grow in authentic freedom and dynamic movement toward the true center: Jesus himself.
Christian Education and the Emerging Church
Author: Rev. Dr. Wendi Sargeant
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
Published: 2015-07-24
Total Pages: 232
ISBN-13: 1498204317
DOWNLOAD EBOOKAll signs point to Christian education having lost its theological location and prominence in the life of the Western Protestant church. The Emerging Church movement, as an intentionally postmodern approach to ministry in the contemporary context, may, however, offer insights to reinterpret Christian education. This significant movement in today's church gives Christian education a new interpretive framework that is theologically located at an intersection of doxology and doctrine. In her examination of postmodern faith formation, Wendi Sargeant explores the importance of the Christian worshipping community as the most appropriate setting for Christian education. Practitioners and students will benefit from the ready-to-use teaching and learning matrix, and all those with interest in the formation of faith in themselves and others will draw much from the way Sargeant situates worship as the basis for enhancing Christian formation and ethos.
Smuggling Jesus Back into the Church
Author: Andrew Fellows
Publisher: Inter-Varsity Press
Published: 2022-10-20
Total Pages: 167
ISBN-13: 1789743443
DOWNLOAD EBOOKWhat’s gone wrong with the church? If you’ve been feeling that something vital has gone missing from our spiritual lives, you’re not alone. But from scandals involving celebrity preachers, to busy programmes that have little sense of God and struggling to find time to pray, what is it that lies behind the church is crisis? Is it possible that we’ve forgotten to put Jesus at the centre of everything? And if so, what can do we about it? In Smuggling Jesus Back into Church Andrew Fellows shows us with a sharp eye how secularism has reshaped church culture, changing the way many Christians and churches live and worship without being noticed. Both provocative and practical, he challenges us to live with radical Christ-like distinctiveness - distinctiveness that requires both reformation by the church and revival by the Holy Spirit. Timely and prophetic, Smuggling Jesus Back into Church is essential reading for anyone concerned about the effects of secularism on Christianity and modern church culture, or for anyone who struggles with Church and wants to understand why. Filled with passion and vision, it will point you back towards Jesus and revitalise your understanding of what Christian discipleship should be. It’s time to remember what lies at the heart of our faith. It’s time to smuggle Jesus back into church and back into the centre of our lives.
Developing a Significant Church
Author: William T. McConnell
Publisher: WestBow Press
Published: 2014-07-21
Total Pages: 173
ISBN-13: 1490837264
DOWNLOAD EBOOKFor fifty years, a parade of writers has labored to show declining churches the route to new growth. Bill McConnell, from extensive experience and wise reflection, has written one of the most interesting and useful books of the type. As this book is read by church leadership teams (not by the pastor alone), it will catalyze the turnaround of several thousand local churches, at least. Dr. George G. Hunter III, Distinguished Professor of Evangelization, Asbury Theological Seminary Bill McConnell is a delightful writer, and this book is as easy to read as it is substantive in its content. It is intelligent, intuitive, and informed. There is no substitute for wisdom born of experience and perseverance, and that wisdom is found here. Full of practical insights and suggestions, this book also provides a window into Bills personal journey as a successful leader of congregational transformation. Dr. Dick Hamm, author, coach-consultant, partner of The Columbia Partnership, and past president and general minister of The Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) Although not textbooks, I wish Bill McConnells books could be required reading for all mainline denominational churches. As a successful pastor and an advisor to many churches, McConnell writes from a wealth of experience that is immensely practical and applicable. All church leaders and pastors who wish to move their churches forward toward a healthy and exciting future should get this book. Margo Woodworth, Retired Executive Director of Net Results, Inc. Dr. Bill McConnell is a native of Louisville, Kentucky, has served in the church for over forty years, and is a church transformation consultant and Christian leadership coach. He speaks in many venues around the nation on the subject of church transformation. He is a graduate of Eastern Kentucky University, Asbury Theological Seminary, and Kingsway Theological Seminary.
Perspectives on Church Government
Author: Daniel L. Akin
Publisher: B&H Publishing Group
Published: 2004
Total Pages: 370
ISBN-13: 080542590X
DOWNLOAD EBOOKThe models of church government discussed are the Plural Elder-led Congregational model, the Single Elder-led Congregational model, the Democratic Congregational model, the Episcopal model, and the Presbyterian model.
52 Lies Heard in Church Every Sunday
Author: Steve McVey
Publisher: Harvest House Publishers
Published: 2011-02-01
Total Pages: 257
ISBN-13: 0736940340
DOWNLOAD EBOOKCould many churchgoing Christians be getting a diluted Christianity—one that diminishes the loving, giving, personal God who provides the believer everything in life? Author Steve McVey passionately but unwittingly taught from the pulpit the very lies he now exposes. Forthrightly but humbly, he shows how pastors and churches can end up distorting scriptural truths because of their preconceptions. Opening up the Scriptures freshly, Steve examines typical problems such as Leaving out half of the truth: “Becoming a Christian means having your sins forgiven.” (We also are made alive!) Using “shorthand” that promotes an unbiblical view: “Our sins are under the blood of Jesus.” (Far better, they’ve been taken away!) Confusing our role with God’s: “Salvation is giving your life to Christ.” (More important, He gives His life to us!) Readers will see that God’s undiluted truth is always best...and brings a fulfilling, close relationship with Him.
