Center Church
Center Church

Author: Timothy Keller

Publisher: Zondervan

Published: 2012-09-04

Total Pages: 400

ISBN-13: 0310494192

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Practical and Gospel-centered thoughts on how to have a fruitful ministry by one of America's leading and most beloved pastor. Many church leaders are struggling to adapt to a culture that values individuality above loyalty to a group or institution. There have been so many "church growth" and "effective ministry" books in the past few decades that it's hard to know where to start or which ones will provide useful and honest insight. Based on over twenty years of ministry in New York City, Timothy Keller takes a unique approach that measures a ministry's success neither by numbers nor purely by the faithfulness of its leaders, but on the biblical grounds of fruitfulness. Center Church outlines a balanced theological vision for ministry organized around three core commitments: Gospel-centered: The gospel of grace in Jesus Christ changes everything, from our hearts to our community to the world. It completely reshapes the content, tone, and strategy of all that we do. City-centered: With a positive approach toward our culture, we learn to affirm that cities are wonderful, strategic, and under-served places for gospel ministry. Movement-centered: Instead of building our own tribe, we seek the prosperity and peace of our community as we are led by the Holy Spirit. "Between a pastor's doctrinal beliefs and ministry practices should be a well-conceived vision for how to bring the gospel to bear on the particular cultural setting and historical moment. This is something more practical than just doctrine but much more theological than "how-to steps" for carrying out a ministry. Once this vision is in place, it leads church leaders to make good decisions on how to worship, disciple, evangelize, serve, and engage culture in their field of ministry—whether in a city, suburb, or small town." — Tim Keller, Core Church

Loving Your City Into the Kingdom
Loving Your City Into the Kingdom

Author: Ted Haggard

Publisher: Regal Books

Published: 1997

Total Pages: 208

ISBN-13: 9780830718733

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Loving Your City Into the Kingdom is a practitioners resource, written by practitioners. This hands-on guide brings you strategies that are working in towns and cities as churches take their communities for God. Now, for the first time, hear from those in the trenches as they tell exactly what has worked -- and what hasn't -- in terms of outreach strategies, prayer efforts, evangelistic crusades, and para-church partnerships. Co-edited by Jack Hayford and Ted Haggard, two local church pastors, this resource contains practical articles and advice on such subjects as: prayer evangelism, prayer summits, prayer walks (Marches for Jesus), spiritual mapping and warfare, cross-cultural reconciliation and networking, demographics and data-gathering, and much more.

Urban Ministry
Urban Ministry

Author: Harvie M. Conn

Publisher: InterVarsity Press

Published: 2010-01-26

Total Pages: 528

ISBN-13: 0830878874

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In this book Harvie M. Conn and Manuel Ortiz address the vital work of the urban church as they trace the history of the city around the world, examine the biblical basis for urban mission, unpack the multifaceted identity of the city and discuss particular issues and needs of urban leadership.

This Is Where You Belong
This Is Where You Belong

Author: Melody Warnick

Publisher: Penguin

Published: 2017-07-04

Total Pages: 322

ISBN-13: 014312966X

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In the spirit of Gretchen Rubin’s megaseller The Happiness Project and Eric Weiner’s The Geography of Bliss, a journalist embarks on a project to discover what it takes to love where you live The average restless American will move 11.7 times in a lifetime. For Melody Warnick, it was move #6, from Austin, Texas, to Blacksburg, Virginia, that threatened to unhinge her. In the lonely aftermath of unpacking, she wondered: Aren’t we supposed to put down roots at some point? How does the place we live become the place we want to stay? This time, she had an epiphany. Rather than hold her breath and hope this new town would be her family’s perfect fit, she would figure out how to fall in love with it—no matter what. How we come to feel at home in our towns and cities is what Warnick sets out to discover in This Is Where You Belong. She dives into the body of research around place attachment—the deep sense of connection that binds some of us to our cities and increases our physical and emotional well-being—then travels to towns across America to see it in action. Inspired by a growing movement of placemaking, she examines what its practitioners are doing to create likeable locales. She also speaks with frequent movers and loyal stayers around the country to learn what draws highly mobile Americans to a new city, and what makes us stay. The best ideas she imports to her adopted hometown of Blacksburg for a series of Love Where You Live experiments designed to make her feel more locally connected. Dining with her neighbors. Shopping Small Business Saturday. Marching in the town Christmas parade. Can these efforts make a halfhearted resident happier? Will Blacksburg be the place she finally stays? What Warnick learns will inspire you to embrace your own community—and perhaps discover that the place where you live right now . . . is home.

Gospel-Centered Ministry
Gospel-Centered Ministry

Author: D. A. Carson

Publisher:

Published: 2011-03-02

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781433527593

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D. A. Carson and Tim Keller outline their vision for the Gospel Coalition and the nature of gospel-centered ministry. A Gospel Coalition booklet.

City of Angles
City of Angles

Author: William Loving

Publisher:

Published: 2020-09-15

Total Pages: 288

ISBN-13: 9781942762706

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"Every man for himself and God against all" became the mantra of Homer V. Innes after the Great Recession killed his job. Aggrieved by his loss of status as a college-educated, white-collar man, he is about to learn what loss really looks like. Successive catastrophes rob him of nearly everything and plunge him into a spiral of despair and homelessness. So begins his epic journey through the gritty underbelly of Southern California as he searches for his missing son and tries to rebuild his life. His long, strange trip takes him across a Los Angeles that is both familiar and foreign, tragic and comic: In the course of his misadventures, he encounters a diverse and eccentric cast of urban characters, from the homeless on Skid Row, to runaways, drag queens, porn stars, and hookers, all of whom contribute to his ultimate epiphany as he seeks a place in the world and a new meaning for his life.

Loving the Way Jesus Loves
Loving the Way Jesus Loves

Author: Philip Ryken

Publisher: Inter-Varsity Press

Published: 2013-04-23

Total Pages: 224

ISBN-13: 1844749509

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Most people are familiar with the ‘love chapter’ of the Bible, 1 Corinthians 13, yet Phil Ryken still has something new to say. He draws on the earthly life and ministry of Jesus to illustrate Paul’s several statements about what love is and isn’t. These aspects of love are then illuminated chronologically through the story of Christ’s advent, teaching, miracle working, sufferings, crucifixion, death, resurrection and ascension. Jesus never does anything without love. His love is everything the love chapter says that love should be. It is patient with sinners and kind to strangers. It does not envy or boast, but offers itself in humble service. It does not insist on its own way, but submits to the Father. It is able to forgive, trust, hope and persevere. This approach highlights the crucial truth that we are able to love only because Christ first loved us in this particularly profound, very real, and transformative manner.

To Transform a City
To Transform a City

Author: Eric Swanson

Publisher: Zondervan

Published: 2010

Total Pages: 228

ISBN-13: 0310325862

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To Transform a City is a valuable guide for those who dream big about the spiritual and social changes possible for the cities and towns that surround their churches. Two visionary leaders examine the foundations, history, theology, and practical methods of community transformation.

The Tree Lady
The Tree Lady

Author: H. Joseph Hopkins

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Published: 2013-09-17

Total Pages: 36

ISBN-13: 1442487275

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Unearth the true story of green-thumbed pioneer and activist Kate Sessions, who helped San Diego grow from a dry desert town into a lush, leafy city known for its gorgeous parks and gardens. Katherine Olivia Sessions never thought she’d live in a place without trees. After all, Kate grew up among the towering pines and redwoods of Northern California. But after becoming the first woman to graduate from the University of California with a degree in science, she took a job as a teacher far south in the dry desert town of San Diego. Where there were almost no trees. Kate decided that San Diego needed trees more than anything else. So this trailblazing young woman singlehandedly started a massive movement that transformed the town into the green, garden-filled oasis it is today. Now, more than 100 years after Kate first arrived in San Diego, her gorgeous gardens and parks can be found all over the city. Part fascinating biography, part inspirational story, this moving picture book about following your dreams, using your talents, and staying strong in the face of adversity is sure to resonate with readers young and old.

The Reason for God
The Reason for God

Author: Timothy Keller

Publisher: Penguin

Published: 2008-02-14

Total Pages: 322

ISBN-13: 1101217650

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A New York Times bestseller people can believe in—by "a pioneer of the new urban Christians" (Christianity Today) and the "C.S. Lewis for the 21st century" (Newsweek). Timothy Keller, the founding pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City, addresses the frequent doubts that skeptics, and even ardent believers, have about religion. Using literature, philosophy, real-life conversations, and potent reasoning, Keller explains how the belief in a Christian God is, in fact, a sound and rational one. To true believers he offers a solid platform on which to stand their ground against the backlash to religion created by the Age of Skepticism. And to skeptics, atheists, and agnostics, he provides a challenging argument for pursuing the reason for God.