Some churches grow rapidly, only to hit a ceiling. Other churches have experienced declining or static attendance--many of them for decades. Frustrated pastors and church leaders want growth methods that work, but without adding to pastoral fatigue. How to Break Growth Barriers argues that growth comes when effective leadership and lay-empowerment skills work hand in hand. This requires a shift of focus from the shepherd as the primary caregiver to shepherd as developer and coach of many caregivers. The authors show pastors how to communicate a vision for the future and then how to lead the congregation into the paradigms necessary for potentially limitless growth. The strategies found in this book are not only tried and true, and taken from a biblical perspective of a "harvest" vision. They're also newly updated to reflect our changing culture, including helpful charts and checklists for self-evaluation.
Learn how to pinpoint exactly what is holding your business back so you can double your turnover and profit within 2 years or less. This book enables small business owners to release rapid, dynamic growth. Including action plans which help you to overcome the barriers that may be holding your business back, and littered with case studies throughout, this book acts as a blue print for success, teaching you the key principles of a successful high-performing business.
Dr. Bill M. Sullivan began his ministry in a home mission church in Denver in 1957. His experience in breaking the 200 barrier makes this book more than a theoretical treatise. He led one of his churches through growth from less than 200 to over 700. His dissertation for the D.Min degree conferred by Fuller Theological Seminary dealt with church growth strategy, which he has developed and tested.
When You Talk, Are People Changed? Whether you speak from the pulpit, podium, or the front of a classroom, you don’t need much more than blank stares and faraway looks to tell you you’re not connecting. Take heart before your audience takes leave! You can convey your message in the powerful, life-changing way it deserves to be told. An insightful, entertaining parable that’s an excellent guide for any speaker, Communicating for a Change takes a simple approach to delivering effectively. Join Pastor Ray as he discovers that the secrets to successful speaking are parallel to the lessons a trucker learns on the road. By knowing your destination before you leave (identifying the one basic premise of your message), using your blinkers (making transitions obvious), and implementing five other practical points, you’ll drive your message home every time! “Long ago, in a galaxy far, far away…” “Once upon a time…” “In the beginning…” Great stories capture and hold an audience’s attention from start to finish. Why should it be any different when you stand up to speak? In Communicating for a Change, Andy Stanley and Lane Jones offer a unique strategy for communicators seeking to deliver captivating and practical messages. In this highly creative presentation, the authors unpack seven concepts that will empower you to engage and impact your audience in a way that leaves them wanting more. “Whether you are a senior pastor with weekly teaching responsibilities or a student pastor who has bern charged with engaging the hearts and minds of high school students, this book is a must-read.” -Bill Hybels, Senior pastor, Willow Creak Community Church “A very practical resource for every biblical communicator who wants to go from good to great.” -Ed Young, Senior pastor, Fellowship Church, Grapevine, Texas “To communicate effectively, you have to connect. Andy has been connecting with people for years, and now he’s sharing his insights with the rest of us.” -Jeff Foxworthy, Comedian Story Behind the Book Andy Stanley and Lane Jones are on staff at one of America ’s largest churches, North Point Community. Leaders of thousands of people, they regularly speak in front of large groups. They also listen to numerous speakers and know the disastrous effects of a poorly delivered message. This book is the result of their efforts to make public speaking—one of the most common fear-inducing activities known to mankind—simple, easy, and even enjoyable, so that God’s messages will readily produce the life-changing results they should.
You were born to succeed! Discover what is holding you back from moving forward in life into a joyful world of “more than enough.” Developing a breakthrough spirit is the key to overcoming all the barriers placed in front of you by financial troubles, physical limitations, family problems, emotional stress, career concerns—and yourself! These things I [Jesus] have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world (John 16:33 NKJV). Barrier Breaker is an action phrase, meaning you can do something to improve your life and circumstances. The Living God is dwelling inside you—you possess the same Spirit that heals the sick, brings power to the weak, and knows peace indescribable. You will learn how to: See yourself as God sees you—a champion! How to recognize and destroy the works of the devil. Embrace power and supernatural ability through Jesus. Ignite your faith, stir your spirit, and take your place as a Barrier Breaker! Choose to be a Barrier Breaker—and you choose to enter into God’s supernatural destiny designed uniquely for you.
How can well-meaning but sometimes ill-prepared laypeople guide the path of a church body? A leadership expert provides the secret, which lies in offering effective, practical training.
A Washington Post Bestseller Three Principles for Managing—and Avoiding—the Problems of Growth Why is profitable growth so hard to achieve and sustain? Most executives manage their companies as if the solution to that problem lies in the external environment: find an attractive market, formulate the right strategy, win new customers. But when Bain & Company’s Chris Zook and James Allen, authors of the bestselling Profit from the Core, researched this question, they found that when companies fail to achieve their growth targets, 90 percent of the time the root causes are internal, not external—increasing distance from the front lines, loss of accountability, proliferating processes and bureaucracy, to name only a few. What’s more, companies experience a set of predictable internal crises, at predictable stages, as they grow. Even for healthy companies, these crises, if not managed properly, stifle the ability to grow further—and can actively lead to decline. The key insight from Zook and Allen’s research is that managing these choke points requires a “founder’s mentality”—behaviors typically embodied by a bold, ambitious founder—to restore speed, focus, and connection to customers: • An insurgent’s clear mission and purpose • An unambiguous owner mindset • A relentless obsession with the front line Based on the authors’ decade-long study of companies in more than forty countries, The Founder’s Mentality demonstrates the strong relationship between these three traits in companies of all kinds—not just start-ups—and their ability to sustain performance. Through rich analysis and inspiring examples, this book shows how any leader—not only a founder—can instill and leverage a founder’s mentality throughout their organization and find lasting, profitable growth.
Rewire Your Brain with Truth from Scripture Have you ever felt stuck in your Christian life? Have you wondered if the abundant life Jesus promised is really available for you right here and right now? If you answered yes to either of these questions, then this book is for you. This book will help you identify the spiritual growth barriers that are keeping you stuck as well as show you the way to experience more of the abundant life: a life characterized by more love, joy, peace, and hope than you ever dreamed possible before. Ken Baugh draws us into the inner workings of the brain and the heart, which inform how we process negative and traumatic experiences, but which also can be diverted from health and wholeness by such negative experiences. How we process hard things intellectually and spiritually recalibrates us toward either health and wholeness or bitterness and defeatism. Ken helps us rewire our brains by simmering in the Scriptures that remind us whom we belong to and what God has promised us. The end result is a resilient, robust faith prepared to weather every storm and keep in step with Jesus.
