This is a handbook for pastors, elders, and all Christians who want to see how Scripture presents the process of discipline that should operate in the Christian community. It was written in response to the various concerns that threaten to tear apart marriages, families, friendships, and congregations--concerns that call for a biblical approach to discipline that can heal fractures, restore right relationship, and ensure the health of the church. Developed around the five corrective steps found especially in Matthew 18:15-17, this book helps church leaders deal with the sorts of problems that ... View More...
While many pastoral ministry books focus on the practical duties of the pastor, few works actually consider how theological truth defines the pastor's role and responsibilities. These pragmatic ministry tools, though instructionally beneficial, essentially divorce biblical doctrine from ministerial practice. As a result, pastors' lives and ministries often lack the theological roots that provide the stability and nourishment necessary to sustain them. Pastoral Theology constructs a theological framework for pastoral ministry that is biblically derived, historically informed, doctrinally sound,... View More...
As a pastor, do you feel like you're wearing too many hats? If you're a pastor, you know the tension of balancing (or trying to) the many roles and expectations that come with leading a church. But are you able to distinguish which roles are truly essential? And can you measure how you're fulfilling them? Portraits of a Pastor features contributions from evangelical leaders like Jason Allen, Jared Wilson, Daniel Akin, and Owen Strachan on the essential roles and aspects of pastoral ministry. Together the book answers three important questions: What does it mean for the pastor to hold all nine ... View More...
Your work as a pastor can make it easy to overlook the deep needs of your own soul. These 43 questions and answers, written to reflect the format of historic catechisms, seek to provide nourishment for weary pastors in the thick of ministry. Each chapter features content designed to care for your spiritual health, feeding your mind and heart with life-giving truth aimed at helping you press on in ministry with endurance, contentment, and joy.
Today's church is essentially unequipped either experientially to enter into a building program. From concept to completion, the church will not undertake a more demanding and complicated task in terms of money, risk, and effort than it will in a building program. The proof of this can be found in the number of horror stories about church building programs. A building program needs to be run right the first time. Preparing to Build provides the process, guidelines and inspiration to execute a building program; and do so in a manner that will maximize effectiveness while protecting the pastor a... View More...
Management Essentials for Christian Ministries is a thorough examination of management principles for Christian ministries including churches, denominations, and parachurch organizations. Contributors represent a diverse denominational cross section.
Study of management principles is required coursework for seminary students today. Management Essentials for Christian Ministries represents a thorough treatment of all issues regarding church administration and functions and provides a theological grounding for organizational approaches to church management.
Biblically and practically instructs church members in ways they can labor for the health of their church. What Is a Healthy Church Member? takes its cue from Mark Dever's book What Is a Healthy Church?, which offered one definition of what a healthy church looks like biblically and historically. In this new work, pastor Thabiti Anyabwile attempts to answer the natural next question: "What does a healthy church member look like in the light of Scripture?" God intends for us to play an active and vital part in the body of Christ, the local church. He wants us to experience the local church as a... View More...
Lots of people who are involved in Christian ministry (whether paid or unpaid) find themselves having to step back from it. They have not lost their love for Christ, or their desire to serve him. But for one reason or another, they are exhausted and simply cannot carry on.Christopher Ash knows this experience all too well. As a pastor of a growing church, and then in his role training people for ministry, he has found himself on the edge of burnout a number of times, and has pastored many younger ministers who have reached the end of their tether.His wisdom has been distilled into this short, ... View More...
Ministry Nuts and Bolts provides the pastor or parachurch leader with a step-by-step guide for developing the foundation for a ministry in the twenty-first century. Veteran church planter, pastor, and seminary professor Aubrey Malphurs examines four foundational ministry concepts--values, mission, vision, and strategy&mdashand demonstrates how to develop them in local church ministry. Many seminary graduates envision ministry as ninety-five percent sermon preparation and five percent for everything else, as seminaries often neglect these keys to ministry. This essential guidebook will bring c... View More...
Have You Ever Met a Great Leader?It's incredible when someone uses their gifts to make you feel valued and inspire you to greatness. What does it take to develop that kind of heart and influence? How can you become a leader like Jesus?Join Boyd Bailey as he shows you how to mirror Jesus's heart and make a positive difference in those around you. Explore 11 common traits that mark successful leaders, and learn the keys to growth in wisdom and humility. Through practical teaching, you will find that great leadership begins when you turn your focus to God and model Him in your attitude, conversat... View More...
An Updated and Abridged Edition of Richard Baxter's Classic Text Originally written in 1656 and endorsed by generations of leading pastors as an essential book on the work of ministry, this abridged version of The Reformed Pastor presents the best of Richard Baxter's timeless advice in simple, modern language that's more accessible to a new generation of church leaders. In inspiring communications to his fellow ministers, Baxter challenged them to pursue teaching and personal pastoral ministry with an exceptional degree of faithfulness. His words were grounded in the apostle Paul's encouragem... View More...
So he shepherded them according to the integrity of his heart, and guided them by the skillfulness of his hands. --Psalm 78:72Being a pastor is an audacious calling--both a remarkable privilege and an unaccomplishable task. In general, the Bible talks about the identity of a shepherd more than the activity of a shepherd. Yet both are vital in ministry. Ezekiel 34 is God's message to pastors: His template by which our ministries will be measured. Pastoral Ministry brings together this mandate of God, the needs of the sheep, and the model of the good Shepherd to uniquely inspire and equip you to... View More...
Christ commanded the church to make disciples, to produce people who love and obey God, bear fruit, and live with joy. The crisis at the heart of the church is that we often pay lip service to making disciples, but we seldom put much effort behind doing it. For the pastor who is ready to put words into action, The Disciple-Making Pastor offers the inspiration and practical know-how to do so. Bill Hull shows pastors the obstacles they will face, what disciples really look like, the pastor's role in producing them, and the practices that lead to positive change. He also offers a six-step coachin... View More...
Thomas doubted. Peter denied. Matthew had a shady past. And most of Jesus' disciples had trouble understanding his true message and mission at times. How did Jesus take lowly fishermen and tax collectors and turn them into some of the most influential men that ever lived? And how can modern church leaders empower regular church members to meet their potential as servants of God? In Jesus Christ, Disciplemaker, Hull outlines Christ's methods in training his twelve disciples and presents a biblical pattern that emulates Christ's model for reaching the lost. By taking readers through four grow... View More...
Second chair leaders play a critical role in churches across the world. They serve in paid and unpaid capacities, and include laity, ordained clergy, bivocational, licensed local pastors and others who lead significant ministries, but who are not the lead or senior pastor. Mike Bonem, author of Leading from the Second Chair, takes that important work to the next level, with Thriving in the Second Chair. Here, Bonem points readers beyond their external circumstances to the ways they can act and think differently. He highlights ten key factors that will help second chair leaders do more than jus... View More...
LEADING FROM THE SECOND CHAIR will raise awareness of the need for strong leaders in secondary positions. It will describe the value they can bring to their organization and to primary leaders when they are serving at their full potential. It will reshape the way they view their role, with an emphasis on their own responsibility as leaders. It recognizes the unique challenges and frustrations of serving in a subordinate position and equips these leaders with the attitudes and skills that they will need to survive and thrive in this new paradigm. Because of the scarcity of resources for second ... View More...
Everything that's taught in seminary . . . all in one place Maybe you're involved in ministry but you never had the chance to go to seminary. Maybe it was many years ago and you need a refresher. Or maybe you just graduated and you don't want to forget it all. If any of these descriptions fits you, One Volume Seminary is the resource you need.This book is written by former and current faculty of Moody Bible Institute and Moody Theological Seminary. Editors Michael Boyle, Laurie Norris, and Kerwin Rodriguez combine their years of pastoral wisdom, one-on-one counseling, high-level scholarship, a... View More...
At any given time there are thousands of churches seeking a lead pastor. While a great resume, a friendly smile and a memorable sermon will convince many, what should local congregations focus on to find a new shepherd? Chris Brauns believes to find a great preacher the search must focus on God's Word and how the candidate relates to it and preaches from it. This book is a must have resource for search committees and church leaders addressing the needs of churches in the transition of pastoral leadership. It assists by approaching their responsibilities in a biblical way and providing critical... View More...
