The Equipper's Guide to Every-Member Ministry
Title | The Equipper's Guide to Every-Member Ministry PDF eBook |
Author | R. Paul Stevens |
Publisher | Regent College Publishing |
Pages | 208 |
Release | 2000-07 |
Genre | Religion |
ISBN | 9781573831529 |
Stevens shows how churches today can be faithful to the New Testament model of every-member ministry. Specifically he focuses on how the laity can teach and learn the Bible, conduct small groups, pastor the sick and hurting, lead worship, evangelize neighborhoods and more. (Evangelism)
Christian Ministry: Every member a minister
Title | Christian Ministry: Every member a minister PDF eBook |
Author | |
Publisher | Global Ministries & Relief |
Pages | |
Release | |
Genre | |
ISBN | 1935298755 |
What Should I Do Now That I'm a Christian?
Title | What Should I Do Now That I'm a Christian? PDF eBook |
Author | Sam Emadi |
Publisher | Crossway |
Pages | 31 |
Release | 2020-02-27 |
Genre | Religion |
ISBN | 1433568136 |
Many new believers have questions about what it means to live as a Christian in the context of a local church, and pastors are looking for resources to pass along to their congregations to help them think biblically about the Christian life. 9Marks Church Questions is a new series that seeks to provide ordinary Christians with sound and accessible biblical teaching by answering common questions Christians have about church life. Each volume offers biblical answers and practical applications with the goal of nurturing healthy church practice and commitment. This booklet teaches new Christians the why and how of 7 steps they should take once they believe in Jesus, turning to the Bible for the blueprint for how to thrive as a follower of Jesus.
Still Time to Care
Title | Still Time to Care PDF eBook |
Author | Greg Johnson |
Publisher | Zondervan |
Pages | 304 |
Release | 2021-12-07 |
Genre | Religion |
ISBN | 0310116066 |
At the start of the gay rights movement in 1969, evangelicalism's leading voices cast a vision for gay people who turn to Jesus. It was C.S. Lewis, Billy Graham, Francis Schaeffer and John Stott who were among the most respected leaders within theologically orthodox Protestantism. We see with them a positive pastoral approach toward gay people, an approach that viewed homosexuality as a fallen condition experienced by some Christians who needed care more than cure. With the birth and rise of the ex-gay movement, the focus shifted from care to cure. As a result, there are an estimated 700,000 people alive today who underwent conversion therapy in the United States alone. Many of these patients were treated by faith-based, testimony-driven parachurch ministries centered on the ex-gay script. Despite the best of intentions, the movement ended with very troubling results. Yet the ex-gay movement died not because it had the wrong sex ethic. It died because it was founded on a practice that diminished the beauty of the gospel. Yet even after the closure of the ex-gay umbrella organization Exodus International in 2013, the ex-gay script continues to walk about as the undead among us, pressuring people like me to say, "I used to be gay, but I'm not gay anymore. Now I'm just same-sex attracted." For orthodox Christians, the way forward is a path back to where we were forty years ago. It is time again to focus with our Neo-Evangelical fathers on care--not cure--for our non-straight sisters and brothers who are living lives of costly obedience to Jesus. With warmth and humor as well as original research, Still Time to Care will chart the path forward for our churches and ministries in providing care. It will provide guidance for the gay person who hears the gospel and finds themselves smitten by the life-giving call of Jesus. Woven throughout the book will be Richard Lovelace’s 1978 call for a "double repentance" in which gay Christians repent of their homosexual sins and the church repents of its homophobia--putting on display for all the power of the gospel.
Brothers, We are Not Professionals
Title | Brothers, We are Not Professionals PDF eBook |
Author | John Piper |
Publisher | B&H Publishing Group |
Pages | 320 |
Release | 2013 |
Genre | Business & Economics |
ISBN | 1433678829 |
John Piper pleads with fellow pastors to abandon the professionalization of the pastorate and pursue the prophetic call of the Bible for radical ministry.
I Am a Church Member
Title | I Am a Church Member PDF eBook |
Author | Thom S. Rainer |
Publisher | B&H Publishing Group |
Pages | 96 |
Release | 2013-05 |
Genre | Religion |
ISBN | 1433679736 |
It is impossible to grow to spiritual maturity by yourself. You must be connected to the other parts of the Body. This wonderful little book explains the power of belonging to a church family.
Liberating the Laity
Title | Liberating the Laity PDF eBook |
Author | R. Paul Stevens |
Publisher | Regent College Publishing |
Pages | 184 |
Release | 2002-03 |
Genre | Religion |
ISBN | 9781573830126 |
Every church has far more work than any one person can do. Even a team of professionals is not enough. The New Testament solution was for every member to be a minister. Though the priesthood of all believers was a key idea in the Reformation, it is little practised today. Following secular models, churches usually organize around the clergy, who are paid by the laity to do the ministry. Paul Stevens argues that, according to Scripture, the primary task of a Christian leader is not to do the work but to equip the saints to do it. Exploring new options for pastors, tentmakers and laypeople, this book provides structures and strategies to best equip all the saints for ministry.