Why Church Matters

Why Church Matters

Author: Joshua Harris

Publisher: Multnomah

Published: 2011-08-16

Total Pages: 162

ISBN-13: 1601424000

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"Christians belong in churches--the only places where we can thrive and grow spiritually. In Why Church Matters, Joshua Harris makes this case with wisdom, clarity, and graciousness." --Charles W. Colson Church isn't where we go. It's who we are. We were never meant to live our faith in isolation. The church is the place God uses to grow us, encourage us, and use our gifts for His glory. In this honest, personal, and practical book, Joshua Harris shows you why it's time to say yes to church and how to find the right one for you--the place where you can fall in love with the family of God. Includes: What you miss when you miss church Ten questions to ask before you join How to get more out of the best day of the week What Readers are Saying: "This book shows the place of great honor that church holds in Christ's heart and encourages us to value what He values. I've bought multiple copies to give away." --Mike Neglia; Cork, Ireland "Josh Harris does an excellent job of addressing our impulse to church hop." --Garrett Watkins; Atlanta, Georgia "When our family was in the midst of a transition, Why Church Matters helped us find the right local church. It will do the same for you." --Andrew Hall; Ilderton, Ontario Previously published as Stop Dating the Church


Leaving the Church to Find God

Leaving the Church to Find God

Author: John Fenn

Publisher: Dog Ear Publishing

Published: 2007-03

Total Pages: 222

ISBN-13: 1598583166

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Motivated by a deep hunger for more of God, millions of Christians are leaving the traditional church to look for more freedom and fulfillment than the routine of five songs, announcements, a plea for money and a forty five minute sermon allow. They are looking for open ended, deep worship that flows with the Holy Spirit, relatable Bible study and discussion in which they may participate, and strong bonds of fellowship outside the four walls of organized church. Instead of leaving the church to fall away from God, they are leaving the church to find God. Leaving the Church to Find God offers scriptural, safe, and balanced answers tempered by real life experiences, on how to move from a traditional church structure into meetings that allow the Lord to set the agenda and where needs are met. John Fenn - I was a Christian who felt disconnected from church though I'd been actively involved nearly all my life. I was looking for answers to my desire and hunger for God to move freely, and came to realize I wasn't alone. From all walks of life and across the church spectrum people are searching for something deeper, but they don't quite know what. This is the story of how I found God moving outside the church structure that I had known, loved, and been a part of my whole Christian life. John and his wife Barbara were born in Kokomo, Indiana and began dating as teenagers when they met the Lord, and began ministering to their teenage friends. They've been in the ministry now for over thirty years, serving in various capacities including Campus Pastor, Associate Pastor, Senior Pastor, and advisor to churches and Bible schools all over the world. John also worked with Peter Wagner teaching at the Wagner Leadership Institute, serving as Canadian National Director and Education Advisor. He remains an adjunct instructor of Wagner Leadership Institute of Colorado Springs. In early 2002 John and his wife Barb, founded The Church Without Walls International of Tulsa, a house church network, emphasizing Relationship Based Christianity. He travels and teaches in all different streams of Christianity, helping churches and individuals find significance and fulfillment through Godly relationships and the discipleship process.


The Church's Book

The Church's Book

Author: Brad East

Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing

Published: 2022-04-26

Total Pages: 495

ISBN-13: 1467464961

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What role do varied understandings of the church play in the doctrine and interpretation of Scripture? In The Church’s Book, Brad East explores recent accounts of the Bible and its exegesis in modern theology and traces the differences made by divergent, and sometimes opposed, theological accounts of the church. Surveying first the work of Karl Barth, then that of John Webster, Robert Jenson, and John Howard Yoder (following an excursus on interpreting Yoder’s work in light of his abuse), East delineates the distinct understandings of Scripture embedded in the different traditions that these notable scholars represent. In doing so, he offers new insight into the current impasse between Christians in their understandings of Scripture—one determined far less by hermeneutical approaches than by ecclesiological disagreements. East’s study is especially significant amid the current prominence of the theological interpretation of Scripture, which broadly assumes that the Bible ought to be read in a way that foregrounds confessional convictions and interests. As East discusses in the introduction to his book, that approach to Scripture cannot be separated from questions of ecclesiology—in other words, how we interpret the Bible theologically is dependent upon the context in which we interpret it.


The Other Half of Church

The Other Half of Church

Author: Jim Wilder

Publisher: Moody Publishers

Published: 2020-08-04

Total Pages: 205

ISBN-13: 0802498558

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Could brain science be the key to spiritual formation? Why does true Christian transformation seem fleeting? And why does church often feel lonely, Christian community shallow, and leaders untrustworthy? For many Christians, the delight of encountering Christ eventually dwindles—and disappointment sets in. Is lasting joy possible? These are some of the questions Michel Hendricks has considered both in his experience as a spiritual formation pastor and in his lifetime as a Christian. He began to find answers when he met Jim Wilder—a neurotheologian. Using brain science, Wilder identified that there are two halves of the church: the rational half and the relational half. And when Christians only embrace the rational half, churches become unhealthy places where transformation doesn’t last and narcissistic leaders flourish. In The Other Half of Church, join Michel and Jim's journey as they couple brain science with the Bible to identify how to overcome spiritual stagnation by living a full-brained faith. You'll also learn the four ingredients necessary to develop and maintain a vibrant transformational community where spiritual formation occurs, relationships flourish, and the toxic spread of narcissism is eradicated.


Called to Be Church

Called to Be Church

Author: Anthony B. Robinson

Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing

Published: 2006-02-15

Total Pages: 308

ISBN-13: 9780802860651

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Biblical scholar Robert Wall and pastoral leader Anthony Robinson here join forces to bring the Acts of the Apostles forward to our time as a resource for congregational renewal and transformation.Featuring both careful exegetical study and exciting contemporary exposition, the fifteen chapters of Called to Be Church each first interpret the text of Acts as Scripture and then engage Acts for today's church. The book dives into many of the most vexing issues faced by the church then and now -- such issues as conflict resolution, pluralism and multiculturalism, sexuality, money, church and state, the role of the Holy Spirit, and more.Enhanced by study questions at the end of each chapter, Called to Be Church will lend itself especially well to small-group study within congregations. Pastors, lay readers, students, and ordinary believers alike will find the book helpful and inspiring.


Death of the Church

Death of the Church

Author: Mike Regele

Publisher: Zondervan

Published: 1995

Total Pages: 296

ISBN-13: 0310200067

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Our culture is changing at a dizzying rate. But the church seems to be left behind, caught in subcultural backwaters that have little or no impact on mainstream society. Based on the quantitative research of his group, Percept, Regele analyzes the forces in our culture and discusses how the church can fulfill its mission in the face of them.


The Misunderstanding of the Church

The Misunderstanding of the Church

Author: Emil Brunner

Publisher: James Clarke & Co.

Published: 2002

Total Pages: 138

ISBN-13: 9780718891336

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Brunner sees St Paul's Epistle to the Romans as 'the chapter of destiny of the Christian Church'. Here, in Luther's words, is the 'purest gospel' upon which the very existence of the Christian faith depends and from which it draws its life. Concentrated, decisive and instructive, nothing within the New Testament is more closely argued both theological and personal. Out of his years of scholarly wisdom Brunner meditates on the great Question: What is wrong with the Churches? Brunner finds an answer in thecontrast between the virile Spirit-filled fellowship of the New Testament and the institutions which are now called 'churches'. He writes in his preface: 'The title of the book, The Misunderstanding of the Church, is equivocal. Is it a question of a misunderstanding of which the Church is guilty, or of a misunderstanding of which it is the victim? Or is it that the Church itself, as such, is perhaps the product of a misunderstanding? The author is not responsible for this ambiguity; it is intrinsic in the theme itself.


Renovation of the Church

Renovation of the Church

Author: Kent Carlson

Publisher: InterVarsity Press

Published: 2013-11-21

Total Pages: 186

ISBN-13: 0830868585

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Copastors Kent Carlson and Mike Lueken tell the decade-long story of how God took their thriving, consumer-oriented church and transformed it into a modest congregation of unformed believers committed to the growth of the spirit--even when it meant a decline in numbers.


That Was The Church That Was

That Was The Church That Was

Author: Andrew Brown

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2016-07-28

Total Pages: 289

ISBN-13: 1472921658

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The unexpectedly entertaining story of how the Church of England lost its place at the centre of English public life - now updated with new material by the authors including comments on the book's controversial first publication. The Church of England still seemed an essential part of Englishness, and even of the British state, when Mrs Thatcher was elected in 1979. The decades which followed saw a seismic shift in the foundations of the C of E, leading to the loss of more than half its members and much of its influence. In England today 'religion' has become a toxic brand, and Anglicanism something done by other people. How did this happen? Is there any way back? This 'relentlessly honest' and surprisingly entertaining book tells the dramatic and contentious story of the disappearance of the Church of England from the centre of public life. The authors – religious correspondent Andrew Brown and academic Linda Woodhead – watched this closely, one from the inside and one from the outside. That Was the Church, That Was shows what happened and explains why.


The Second Coming of the Church

The Second Coming of the Church

Author: George Barna

Publisher: Thomas Nelson

Published: 1998-03-11

Total Pages: 238

ISBN-13: 1418565733

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In this "blueprint for survival," Christian sociologist George Barna evaluates the moral and spiritual decline of society and the corresponding stagnation within the Church. Using hard data, Barna unveils the status quo and argues convincingly that the Church must re-invent itself or face virtual oblivion by the mid-21st century.