The government model you choose will determine your church's destiny. Some churches foster an environment of harmony, stability, and leaders who feel energized. Other churches are plagued by disunity, conflict, lack of growth, and leaders who feel alone and overwhelmed. How do you ensure your church is on a path to fruitful ministry? Tom Lane is one of the foremost authorities on church government. He has more than 30 years as a ministry leader and a foundational guide at both Trinity Fellowship Church in Amarillo, Texas and Gateway Church in Dallas/Ft. Worth, Texas. Ministries across America have relied on Tom's wisdom and experience as a board member or governing elder. He teaches with a warm relational style and an unwavering moral authority. Foundations of Healthy Church Government will help you: Develop an enduring, biblical model of governance for your church. Replace time-wasting and internal strife with harmony and accountability. Avoid power struggles among leadership before they start. Reignite church growth and membership. Move your church staff and vision from confusion to unity. Turn a potential battleground into fertile ground for ministry.

The church is said to be a mystery according to Colossians 1:25,26 "Whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfill the word of God; Even the mystery which hath been hidden from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints: " What is this Mystery - this is something that was hidden in the past during the Old Testament period but now in the New Testament it is revealed to us. This mystery is that the Gentiles should be partakers with the Jews in the gospel and be in the same church. This Book Teaches Everything a Believer of Christ should know about Church the Ekklesia.

Updated to include a new chapter about the influence of social media and the Internet—the 20th anniversary edition of Bowling Alone remains a seminal work of social analysis, and its examination of what happened to our sense of community remains more relevant than ever in today’s fractured America. Twenty years, ago, Robert D. Putnam made a seemingly simple observation: once we bowled in leagues, usually after work; but no longer. This seemingly small phenomenon symbolized a significant social change that became the basis of the acclaimed bestseller, Bowling Alone, which The Washington Post called “a very important book” and Putnam, “the de Tocqueville of our generation.” Bowling Alone surveyed in detail Americans’ changing behavior over the decades, showing how we had become increasingly disconnected from family, friends, neighbors, and social structures, whether it’s with the PTA, church, clubs, political parties, or bowling leagues. In the revised edition of his classic work, Putnam shows how our shrinking access to the “social capital” that is the reward of communal activity and community sharing still poses a serious threat to our civic and personal health, and how these consequences have a new resonance for our divided country today. He includes critical new material on the pervasive influence of social media and the internet, which has introduced previously unthinkable opportunities for social connection—as well as unprecedented levels of alienation and isolation. At the time of its publication, Putnam’s then-groundbreaking work showed how social bonds are the most powerful predictor of life satisfaction, and how the loss of social capital is felt in critical ways, acting as a strong predictor of crime rates and other measures of neighborhood quality of life, and affecting our health in other ways. While the ways in which we connect, or become disconnected, have changed over the decades, his central argument remains as powerful and urgent as ever: mending our frayed social capital is key to preserving the very fabric of our society.