Marketing the church is hot. For many church leaders, marketing might even be the first article of their creed, which goes something like this: We believe that our church determines its identity and mission through the tactics of marketing strategies. Theologians Kenneson and Street offer a thoughtful and provocative protest, with a foreword from Stanley Hauerwas. The authors expose the theological presuppositions that inform the marketing project. . . and help us to see that the marketer's presumption that form can be separated from content of the gospel betrays an understanding of the gospel that cannot help betraying the gift that is Christ. The authors propose an alternative, constructive account of the church's mission and purpose that is not based on exchange of value but on reminding us that the gospel is always a gift - a gift that makes impossible any presumptions that there can be an exchange between human beings and God that is rooted in the satisfaction of our untrained needs. The cross and resurrection challenge the world's understanding of what our needs should be.

It's one thing to market cars and deodorant and hamburgers. It's another thing, says Doug Webster, to market Jesus and the gospel. Standing up to a spate of books and seminars that urge churches to model their mission on Madison Avenue methods, Webster sounds an urgently needed wake-up alarm. Selling Jesus is a hard-hitting book that shows how Jesus is more than a product to be hawked, how seekers are more than a matter of meeting "felt needs." But Selling Jesus doesn't merely challenge. It moves beyond penetrating criticism to the next step, suggesting faithful and powerful alternatives to marketing the church. Selling Jesus is a necessary book for those who are beginning to wonder if evangelism and missions really aren't synonymous with product promotion.

Over 90 percent of all Christian churches in the United States have fewer than 200 members. While they vary in shape, size, ethnicity, and denomination, they have one thing in common: the desire to grow. So why is it that some churches fail to grow for years, while other congregations in the same community increase exponentially? The problem, says church marketing authority Richard Reising, is that most churches should not be doing promotion. Instead, they should focus on the preparation that will make members eager to invite others. In ChurchMarketing 101®, he demystifies basic marketing principles for the church, evaluates them against biblical principles, and illustrates how simple changes can remove roadblocks that hinder members from reaching out. Reising's simple yet insightful approach will be invaluable to pastors and ministry leaders from churches of all denominations and styles.

With many evangelical churches being subscribed to pragmatic rather than scriptural patterns for worship this book calls for the Church to return to its scriptural roots.

Scholar and pastor Matthew Barrett retraces the historical and biblical roots of the doctrine that Scripture alone is the final and decisive authority for God's people. God's Word Alone is a decisive defense of the Bible as the inspired and inerrant Word of God. Revitalizing one of the five great declarations of the Reformation—sola Scriptura—Barrett: Analyzes what the idea of sola Scriptura is and what it entails, clarifying why the doctrine is truth and why it's so essential to Christianity. Surveys the development of this theme in the Reformation and traces the crisis that followed resulting in a shift away from the authority of Scripture. Shows that we need to recover a robust doctrine of Scripture's authority in the face of today's challenges and why a solid doctrinal foundation built on God's Word is the best hope for the future of the church. This book is an exploration of the past in order to better understand our present and the importance of reviving this indispensable doctrine for the Christian faith and church today. —THE FIVE SOLAS— Historians and theologians have long recognized that at the heart of the sixteenth-century Protestant Reformation were five declarations, often referred to as the "solas." These five statements summarize much of what the Reformation was about, and they distinguish Protestantism from other expressions of the Christian faith: that they place ultimate and final authority in the Scriptures, acknowledge the work of Christ alone as sufficient for redemption, recognize that salvation is by grace alone through faith alone, and seek to do all things for God’s glory. The Five Solas Series is more than a simple rehashing of these statements, but instead expounds upon the biblical reasoning behind them, leading to a more profound theological vision of our lives and callings as Christians and churches.