Have you ever longed for a comeback? We all know what it feels like to have life disappoint us and not work out as we’d hoped. We all know what it’s like to long for something different, something better, something more. The Comeback celebrates new beginnings. It offers encouragement and perspective, and it’s for you if you feel frustrated or confused, if you’re sorrowing or in pain, if you’ve made mistakes or are grieving, if you’re disappointed or feel as though life doesn’t make sense. The good news is that God is in the business of giving fresh starts to people. He gives hope to the hopeless. Direction to the directionless. Help to those who need help. God is always good, all the time, and God’s plans will always prevail, even when our plans don’t. God already knows what the solutions are. No matter what kind of disappointment or grief or pain or trouble or heartache you encounter, God always offers a new beginning, a change of heart, or a powerful spiritual turnaround. God offers the way forward, and his pathways are always good. Your current circumstances will not get the final say in your life. God is the God of the comeback, no matter what kind of challenge you’re facing. And your story can become a great comeback story too.
Research shows that over time, most churches plateau and then eventually decline. Typically, they start strong and experience periods of growth, then stagnate and lose members. Since 1991, the North American population has increased by 15 percent while the number of "unchurched" people has increased by 92 percent. Large church houses that were filled in the 1950s and `60s now hold a fraction of their capacity. To counter this trend, authors Ed Stetzer and Mike Dodson surveyed 300 churches from across ten different denominations that recently achieved healthy evangelistic growth after a significant season of decline. What they have discovered is an exciting method of congregation reinvigoration that is shared in the new book entitled Comeback Churches. Endorsements “As a successful pastor, church planter, researcher, and advisor to thousands of churches, Ed Stetzer speaks from a wealth of experience with all kinds of churches. Now, in one volume, your church can benefit from his wisdom. This book is a winner!” —Dr. Rick Warren, author of The Purpose-Driven Life and The Purpose-Driven Church “First and foremost, it is biblical. Second, it is well researched. And third, it is immensely practical and applicable . . . this book should be in the hands of hundreds of thousands of pastors, staff, and church leaders. Simply stated, it is just that good.” —Thom S. Rainer, author of Simple Church, president/CEO of Lifeway Christian Resources “Finally, a book of practical advice that is based on research. I have seen it both ways— endless research with little advice, or, much advice with little facts. This book strikes the balance with perfection.” —Elmer Towns, Dean of Liberty University “This is the most helpful, practical book on church revitalization I’ve read this century.” —Leonard Sweet, Drew Theological School, George Fox University “Comeback Churches is more than a pep talk. It’s rooted in the ‘right stuff’ to bring a congregation out of the dismal into the vital.” —Jack W. Hayford, President, International Foursquare Churches, Chancellor, The King’s College and Seminary “No one, to my knowledge, has done the hard research, presented the facts, and offered such sound advice as Ed Stetzer and Mike Dodson… Comeback Churches is the number-one book on turning around declining and plateauing church ministry. —Gary L. McIntosh, D.Min., Ph.D., Biola University “A refreshing book by authors who know how to make research exciting and instructional. Leaders and members of non-growing evangelical churches should read this book (it wouldn't hurt mainliners either)!” —Bill Easum, Easum, Bandy & Associates
The Christian Athlete is a gospel-centered guide that assists athletes who identify as Christians and are seeking to understand how to practically apply their faith to their sport. Athletes desire—and deserve—a more substantive expression of the Christian faith in the context of sport, but they don’t know what it looks like or where to turn to learn more. Author Brian Smith shares his story as an athlete and coach, and his experience working with high-level athletes in the last decade to help readers better understand how to integrate faith and sport by: Assisting those who want a wide-angled understanding of how to live the Christian faith in the context of sports Walking through the many questions Christian athletes ask about winning, losing, injuries, practice, and everything in between Moving Christian athletes from simply having clichéd spiritual sayings decorating their bodies or t-shirts to actually living out their faith through all the opportunities their sport offers them The Christian Athlete will show readers how to live out a biblical perspective on athletics and urge them to engage in the gifts they are given to glorify God whether they are the team MVP or riding the bench.
Church growth experts Stetzer and Dodson explain why most congregations plateau and then eventually decline, and they reveal how to revive a body of believers. Readers can learn the importance of lighting a spiritual fire, intentional evangelism, making disciples, forming small groups, and then watch pews fill up again. (Church Life)
Every day, a pastor faces armies of despair, fatigue, exhaustion, and frustration. That blessed hope of a Spurgeon church has morphed into a Paul prison. Every time he looks up, there is another attack. First errors are found, then sin; doctrinal arguing leads to internal strife. The army of the nation's culture surrounds for the kill. The pastor places his baptism handkerchief on a broom handle and crawls out to surrender. Just then, he looks to the horizon to see a glorious alliance of sixty-six armies. The enemy turns in fear--many ride away, while others engage, only to be routed. The preacher had forgotten that there are more with us than against us. No matter the mess, God is with us. He has given his Spirit to move among us, and he has given us his word to defeat every attack. Grab this handbook and be encouraged; you can preach your way out of every mess.
A startling 85% of churches in the US are plateaued or declining, a trend that has been building for the past fifty years. In the face of shrinking attendance and lagging spiritual growth, pastors and church leaders are understandably discouraged and demoralized. But the first step to turning things around is hope. Church health expert Gary McIntosh offers this hope by showing church leaders the first things they need to do to make a new start for their church. God can and does restore churches to new life, even as he restores individuals. The street-smart ideas and step-by-step instructions found in this book are ones that pastors and church leaders can put to use immediately in their churches to bring about solid growth and renewed hope for the future.
Themajority of American churches are stalled or in decline. Church Come Forth is a strategic model for renewing andrevitalizing plateaued and dying churches into prevailing and growingcongregations. Todd Hudnall combines Biblical insights, church revitalizationresearch and his experience as a turnaround pastor to provide a guidebook for transformation.It is God's desire to renew His church and most church leaders will find thisplan a Godsend in effectively revitalizing their congregations. Steve Pike, Director of the Church Multiplication Network says: Three words came to mind when I read Church Come Forth by Todd Hudnall - Biblical, Practical, Real. Biblical - A book about God's Church would be useless if not filled with wisdom from God's Book! Hudnall carefully makes the Biblical case for revitalization, unpacking scripture after scripture to lay a firm foundation for why and how a drifting church can once again join God on His mission. Practical - Todd Hudnall is a seasoned and successful practitioner whose walk aligns with his talk. His counsel is based on the best research and his actual experience of applying that research. As a result, Church Come Forth is loaded with great advice that is tried and true. Real - Todd's honesty about his personal growing pains is refreshing. His diverse experience in churches small and large make his counsel relatable to every pastor. He writes as a pastor friend writing to a pastor friend. Church Come Forth is a must read for every leader of a plateaued or declining church.
We do not have to travel to some foreign country to locate the mission field. Right here, literally in our backyards, the world has come to us. The church's basic mission is to preach the gospel of the kingdom of God; this message has social and political aspects to its application. This is the fundamental responsibility of the church. This message is holistic and affects the total person. As the church develops a comprehensive and practical understanding of missions, this will propel Christians to act out their missional call. The challenge as to how to be truly missional requires those people considered to be disciples to engage their communities in their everyday lives. To capture the full essence of missions, this book introduces a process called strategic evangelism. This process serves to raise awareness by helping to clarify the nature of the structures and practices of the church relating to its missional focus, to develop a better awareness of local missions, and to introduce a process that will assist people to live out the mission by engaging their communities.
A church in deep debt with attendance down by the thousands. A college that had lapsed into a coma, its buildings in shambles, its faculty demoralized, its enrollment at rock bottom. A university facing lawsuits, scandal, and near-bankruptcy. Each situation involved different financial needs, different lost dreams, different personal wounds. But they each had one thing in common: each needed a leader who could restore hope, vision, and viability. Dr. Mark Rutland has led three institutional turnarounds over the past twenty-five years. He has seen organizations that were dying come to new life. And he knows the steps you need to take right now. How do you know what to do to help your church or organization make it, even when circumstances and personnel challenges seem too much to handle? Here are the answers. As Dr. Rutland writes in this New York Times bestseller, the true leader can say, “This book is for the rugged visionaries who see in the wreckage a hope for the future and are willing to pay the price for a relaunch.”
