Jim's bookshelf: all en-US Wed, 07 Aug 2024 19:23:47 -0700 60 Jim's bookshelf: all 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg <![CDATA[The Passionate Preaching of Martyn Lloyd-Jones (A Long Line of Godly Men Profile)]]> 28327782 188 Steven J. Lawson 1567696384 Jim 0 4.22 The Passionate Preaching of Martyn Lloyd-Jones (A Long Line of Godly Men Profile)
author: Steven J. Lawson
name: Jim
average rating: 4.22
book published:
rating: 0
read at: 2017/05/07
date added: 2024/08/07
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]]> <![CDATA[Word-Centered Church: How Scripture Brings Life and Growth to God's People]]> 32332796 192 Jonathan Leeman 0802415598 Jim 5 4.38 2017 Word-Centered Church: How Scripture Brings Life and Growth to God's People
author: Jonathan Leeman
name: Jim
average rating: 4.38
book published: 2017
rating: 5
read at: 2017/08/07
date added: 2023/07/27
shelves:
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]]> <![CDATA[Blue Ocean Strategy, Expanded Edition: How to Create Uncontested Market Space and Make the Competition Irrelevant]]> 21413976 287 W. Chan Kim 1625274491 Jim 0 4.19 2004 Blue Ocean Strategy, Expanded Edition: How to Create Uncontested Market Space and Make the Competition Irrelevant
author: W. Chan Kim
name: Jim
average rating: 4.19
book published: 2004
rating: 0
read at: 2016/12/27
date added: 2020/11/01
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]]> Robert Chapman: A Biography 728062 210 Robert L. Peterson 0936083271 Jim 4 4.55 1995 Robert Chapman: A Biography
author: Robert L. Peterson
name: Jim
average rating: 4.55
book published: 1995
rating: 4
read at: 2019/01/07
date added: 2019/01/07
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This was a good biography about a 19th century preacher most people have never heard of! From the book: “This servant of God was sound in doctrine and right in attitude. Love touched all his actions and this love sprang from his devotion to Christ. God has, in Robert Chapman, given us an example of a man who lived out the Christian life.�
]]> <![CDATA[The Silk Roads: A New History of the World]]> 30689343
Frankopan realigns our understanding of the world, pointing us eastward. It was on the Silk Roads that East and West first encountered each other through trade and conquest, leading to the spread of ideas, cultures and religions. From the rise and fall of empires to the spread of Buddhism and the advent of Christianity and Islam, right up to the great wars of the twentieth century--this book shows how the fate of the West has always been inextricably linked to the East.

Also available: The New Silk Roads, a timely exploration of the dramatic and profound changes our world is undergoing right now--as seen from the perspective of the rising powers of the East.]]> 647 Peter Frankopan 1101912375 Jim 0 4.17 2015 The Silk Roads: A New History of the World
author: Peter Frankopan
name: Jim
average rating: 4.17
book published: 2015
rating: 0
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date added: 2019/01/07
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]]> Sinatra 100 25498675
From inciting bobby-soxer riots and achieving teen idol status in the 1940s to the incredible recording career, the film career, the Rat Pack and Las Vegas, Sinatra 100 has the unseen photographs (and the iconic ones) as well as a rare trove of memorabilia and ephemera―over half of it never before published. With a majority of the text based on unpublished personal interviews and conversations with Frank Sinatra and his friends, family, and colleagues, Sinatra 100 unparalleled in its scope and depth. It’s the ultimate Sinatra gift, both for the fans who think they’ve seen it all and those just discovering this inimitable artist. 400+ illustrations in color and black-and-white]]> 288 Charles Pignone 0500517827 Jim 0 4.48 2015 Sinatra 100
author: Charles Pignone
name: Jim
average rating: 4.48
book published: 2015
rating: 0
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date added: 2019/01/07
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]]> <![CDATA[Insights on James, 1 & 2 Peter]]> 21556320 Insights on James, 1 & 2 Peter, part of the 15-volume Swindoll’s Living Insights New Testament Commentary series, draws on Gold Medallion Award–winner Chuck Swindoll’s 50 years of experience with studying and preaching God’s Word. The series combines Chuck’s deep insight, signature easygoing style, and humor to bring a warmth and practical accessibility not often found in commentaries.

Each volume combines verse-by-verse commentary, charts, maps, photos, key terms, and background articles with practical application. The newly updated volumes now include parallel presentations of the NLT and NASB before each section. This series is a must-have for pastors, teachers, and anyone else who is seeking a deeply practical resource for exploring God’s Word.]]> 384 Charles R. Swindoll 1414393784 Jim 0 sermon-prep 4.82 2010 Insights on James, 1 & 2 Peter
author: Charles R. Swindoll
name: Jim
average rating: 4.82
book published: 2010
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2018/09/18
shelves: sermon-prep
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Steal Away Home: Charles Spurgeon and Thomas Johnson, Unlikely Friends on the Passage to Freedom]]> 27777757
Johnson, an American slave, born into captivity and longing for freedom--- Spurgeon, an Englishman born into relative ease and comfort, but, longing too for a freedom of his own. Their respective journeys led to an unlikely meeting and an even more unlikely friendship, forged by fate and mutual love for the mission of Christ.

Steal Away Home is a new kind of book based on historical research, which tells a previously untold story set in the 1800s of the relationship between an African-American missionary and one of the greatest preachers to ever live.]]> 304 Matt Carter 1433690659 Jim 5 4.33 Steal Away Home: Charles Spurgeon and Thomas Johnson, Unlikely Friends on the Passage to Freedom
author: Matt Carter
name: Jim
average rating: 4.33
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2017/08/19
date added: 2018/01/04
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]]> <![CDATA[Inventing the "Great Awakening"]]> 1390799

The Great Awakening, however dramatic, was nevertheless unnamed until after its occurrence, and its leaders created no doctrine nor organizational structure that would result in a historical record. That lack of documentation has allowed recent scholars to suggest that the movement was "invented" by nineteenth-century historians. Some specialists even think that it was wholly constructed by succeeding generations, who retroactively linked sporadic happenings to fabricate an alleged historic development. Challenging these interpretations, Lambert nevertheless demonstrates that the Great Awakening was invented--not by historians but by eighteenth-century evangelicals who were skillful and enthusiastic religious promoters. Reporting a dramatic meeting in one location in order to encourage gatherings in other places, these men used commercial strategies and newly popular print media to build a revival--one that they also believed to be an "extraordinary work of God." They saw a special meaning in contemporary events, looking for a transatlantic pattern of revival and finding a motive for spiritual rebirth in what they viewed as a moral decline in colonial America and abroad.


By examining the texts that these preachers skillfully put together, Lambert shows how they told and retold their revival account to themselves, their followers, and their opponents. His inquiries depict revivals as cultural productions and yield fresh understandings of how believers "spread the word" with whatever technical and social methods seem the most effective.]]> 320 Franklin T. Lambert 0691086915 Jim 2 3.39 1999 Inventing the "Great Awakening"
author: Franklin T. Lambert
name: Jim
average rating: 3.39
book published: 1999
rating: 2
read at: 2017/08/31
date added: 2017/08/31
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]]> <![CDATA[Biblical Preaching: The Development and Delivery of Expository Messages]]> 18008135 Praise for the Second Edition:

Named "One of the 25 Most Influential Preaching Books of the Past 25 Years" by Preaching Magazine

"[An] outstanding introduction to the task of preparing and presenting biblical sermons. More than any other book of the past quarter century, Biblical Preaching has profoundly influenced a generation of evangelical preachers."--Preaching

]]> 256 Haddon W. Robinson 0801049121 Jim 5 4.17 1980 Biblical Preaching: The Development and Delivery of Expository Messages
author: Haddon W. Robinson
name: Jim
average rating: 4.17
book published: 1980
rating: 5
read at: 2017/08/14
date added: 2017/08/14
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]]> <![CDATA[Collateral Damage: My Journey to Healing from My Pastor and Father’s Failure (Practical Shepherding)]]> 34481658 In Collateral Damage, Carroll, now a pastor himself, presents the specific ways in which God has worked in his life during and since that time - healing wounds, revealing sin, and restoring life. This is a highly practical book, showing the gospel as the power of God to save, to restore, and to heal.]]> 112 James B. Carroll 1527100030 Jim 5 3.73 Collateral Damage: My Journey to Healing from My Pastor and Father’s Failure (Practical Shepherding)
author: James B. Carroll
name: Jim
average rating: 3.73
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2017/08/05
date added: 2017/08/05
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]]> <![CDATA[George Whitefield: America's Spiritual Founding Father]]> 29563671
"The most authoritative yet readable book on the eighteenth century’s greatest preacher."—Marvin Olasky, World Magazine

"Kidd’s theologically sympathetic approach gives the book a depth that a more detached treatment might not: He misses none of the biblical allusions that peppered Whitefield’s utterances, and he is an excellent guide through the tangled doctrinal controversies that dogged Whitefield’s career."—Barton Swaim, Wall Street Journal

In the years prior to the American Revolution, George Whitefield was the most famous man in the colonies. Thomas Kidd’s fascinating biography explores the extraordinary career of the most influential figure in the first generation of Anglo-American evangelical Christianity, examining his sometimes troubling stands on the pressing issues of the day, both secular and spiritual, and his relationships with such famous contemporaries as Benjamin Franklin, Jonathan Edwards, and John Wesley.
Ěý
Based on the author’s comprehensive studies of Whitefield’s original sermons, journals, and letters, this excellent history chronicles the phenomenal rise of the trailblazer of the Great Awakening. Whitefield’s leadership role among the new evangelicals of the eighteenth century and his many religious disputes are meticulously covered, as are his major legacies and the permanent marks he left on evangelical Christian faith. It is arguably the most balanced biography to date of a controversial religious leader who, though relatively unknownĚýthree hundredĚýyears after his birth, was a true giant in his day and remains an important figure in America’s history.]]> 344 Thomas S. Kidd 0300223587 Jim 5 4.16 2014 George Whitefield: America's Spiritual Founding Father
author: Thomas S. Kidd
name: Jim
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2014
rating: 5
read at: 2017/08/05
date added: 2017/08/05
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]]> <![CDATA[Looking for a New Pastor: 10 Questions Every Church Should Ask]]> 32611774 176 Frank Page 1433644517 Jim 0 3.29 Looking for a New Pastor: 10 Questions Every Church Should Ask
author: Frank Page
name: Jim
average rating: 3.29
book published:
rating: 0
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date added: 2017/06/22
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]]> <![CDATA[Surprise the World: The Five Habits of Highly Missional People]]> 26486465 Christians are called to be a witness for Christ in daily life, to surprise people around us with the good news of the gospel. Yet putting that mission into regular practice can seem overwhelming. Author Michael Frost, a renowned expert on evangelism, offers refreshingly simple tactics to make evangelism fulfilling, exciting, and effective.

Surprise the World teaches clear and practical tools for making evangelism part of your daily life. This short and easy read covers the BELLS method, along with thought-provoking questions and prompts for applying each habit. You’ll learn about each of the five Ideal for personal use or training groups on evangelism, the inspiring lessons in this book will transform your view of evangelism in daily life.

“A timely wake-up call for believers. A concise and helpful encouragement to those seeking to live on-mission in their communities.� ―Ed Stetzer, author and pastor

“Eminently doable, entirely practical, and exceptionally effective!� ―Felicity Dale, author of An Army of Ordinary People

“If every believer developed a lifestyle that included these 5 habits, I’m convinced a great spiritual awakening would take place.� ―Al Engler, mission director of Nav Neighbor]]> 144 Michael Frost 1631465163 Jim 1 4.10 2014 Surprise the World: The Five Habits of Highly Missional People
author: Michael Frost
name: Jim
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2014
rating: 1
read at: 2017/06/20
date added: 2017/06/20
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]]> <![CDATA[Removing the Stain of Racism from the Southern Baptist Convention: Diverse African American and White Perspectives]]> 32611758 Ěý]]> 240 Kevin Jones 1433643340 Jim 5 4.04 2017 Removing the Stain of Racism from the Southern Baptist Convention: Diverse African American and White Perspectives
author: Kevin Jones
name: Jim
average rating: 4.04
book published: 2017
rating: 5
read at: 2017/06/19
date added: 2017/06/19
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A thought-provoking and necessary book for Southern Baptists and the wider Evangelical community.
]]> George Whitefield 22615083 1232 Arnold A. Dallimore 0851517307 Jim 3 4.43 1993 George Whitefield
author: Arnold A. Dallimore
name: Jim
average rating: 4.43
book published: 1993
rating: 3
read at: 2017/06/17
date added: 2017/06/17
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Long, redundant, and somewhat hagiographical. Despite that, it was well worth reading to spur a longing for God to bring another Great Awakening.
]]> <![CDATA[Discerning Your Call to Ministry: How to Know For Sure and What to Do About It]]> 28592803
Discerning Your Call to Ministry will help you know the difference. A tool for seminary students, pastors-in-training, and even current pastors, it serves to confirm or prompt deep thought about the calling to ministry through 10 probing questions, Pastoral dropout rates are high, and seminary admission rates are declining—signs that many of us don’t quite know what we’re signing ourselves up for. Author Jason Allen, a former pastor and the president of North America’s fastest growing seminary, gives readers a better picture of the calling. Presenting a series of diagnostic questions informed by Scripture, church history, and his own experience, he helps those seeking ordination or ministry positions make confident decisions about their service to God, one way or the other.]]> 160 Jason K. Allen 0802414664 Jim 5 4.24 Discerning Your Call to Ministry: How to Know For Sure and What to Do About It
author: Jason K. Allen
name: Jim
average rating: 4.24
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2017/05/25
date added: 2017/05/25
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]]> Why Join a Small Church 6498245 64 John Benton 1845504070 Jim 4 4.00 2008 Why Join a Small Church
author: John Benton
name: Jim
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2008
rating: 4
read at: 2017/05/24
date added: 2017/05/24
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]]> <![CDATA[Who Were the First Christians?: Dismantling the Urban Thesis]]> 30089635
In Who Were the First Christians? , Thomas Robinson shows that scenario simply does not work. But where does the solution lie? Were there many fewer Christians in the Roman world than we have thought? Was the Roman world much more urbanized? Or, is the urban thesis defective, so that the neglected countryside must now be considered in any reconstruction of early Christian growth? Further, what was the makeup of the typical Christian congregation? Was it a lower-class movement? Or was it a movement of the upwardly mobile middle-class? Arguing that more attention needs to be given to the countryside and to the considerable contingent of the marginal and the rustic within urban populations, this revisionist work argues persuasively that the urban thesis should be dismantled or profoundly revised and the growth and the complexion of the early Christian movement seen in a substantially different light.]]> 312 Thomas A Robinson 0190620544 Jim 4 3.40 Who Were the First Christians?: Dismantling the Urban Thesis
author: Thomas A Robinson
name: Jim
average rating: 3.40
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2017/05/24
date added: 2017/05/24
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Interesting counter argument to the prevailing understanding that early Christianity was primarily urban.
]]> <![CDATA[The Benedict Option: A Strategy for Christians in a Post-Christian Nation]]> 31625593 In a radical new vision for the future of Christianity, NYT bestselling author and conservative columnist Rod Dreher calls on American Christians to prepare for the coming Dark Age by embracing an ancient Christian way of life.

The light of the Christian faith is flickering out all over the West, and only the willfully blind refuse to see it. From the outside, American churches are beset by challenges to religious liberty in a rapidly secularizing culture. From the inside, they are being hollowed out by the departure of young people and a watered-down pseudo-spirituality. Political solutions have failed, as the triumph of gay marriage and the self-destruction of the Republican Party indicate, and the future of religious freedom has never been in greater doubt. The center is not holding. The West, cut off from its Christian roots, is falling into a new Dark Age.

The bad news is that the roots of religious decline run deeper than most Americans realize. The good news is that the blueprint for a time-tested Christian response to this decline is older still. In The Benedict Option, Dreher calls on traditional Christians to learn from the example of St. Benedict of Nursia, a sixth-century monk who turned from the chaos and decadence of the collapsing Roman Empire, and found a new way to live out the faith in community. For five difficult centuries, Benedict's monks kept the faith alive through the Dark Ages, and prepared the way for the rebirth of civilization. What do ordinary 21st century Christians -- Catholic, Protestant, and Orthodox -- have to learn from the teaching and example of this great spiritual father? That they must read the signs of the times, abandon hope for a political solution to our civilization's problems, and turn their attention to creating resilient spiritual centers that can survive the coming storm. Whatever their Christian tradition, they must draw on the secrets of Benedictine wisdom to build up the local church, create countercultural schools based on the classical tradition, rebuild family life, thicken communal bonds, and develop survival strategies for doctors, teachers, and others on the front lines of persecution.

Now is a time of testing, when believers will learn the difference between shallow optimism and Christian hope. However dark the shadow falling over the West, the light of Christianity need not flicker out. It will not be easy, but Christians who are brave enough to face the religious decline, reject trendy solutions, and return to ancient traditions will find the strength not only to survive, but to thrive joyfully in the post-Christian West. The Benedict Option shows believers how to build the resistance and resilience to face a hostile modern world with the confidence and fervor of the early church. Christians face a time of choosing, with the fate of Christianity in Western civilization hanging in the balance. In this powerful challenge to the complacency of contemporary Christianity, Dreher shows why those in all churches who fail to take the Benedict Option aren't going to make it.]]> 262 Rod Dreher 0735213291 Jim 0 3.76 2017 The Benedict Option: A Strategy for Christians in a Post-Christian Nation
author: Rod Dreher
name: Jim
average rating: 3.76
book published: 2017
rating: 0
read at: 2017/05/22
date added: 2017/05/22
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]]> <![CDATA[Biblical Church Revitalization: Solutions for Dying & Divided Churches (Practical Shepherding)]]> 30798150 Biblical Church Revitalization calls us to an intentional commitment to church revitalization in the face of dying and divided churches.]]> 136 NULL NULL NULL NULL 1781917663 Jim 5 4.48 Biblical Church Revitalization: Solutions for Dying & Divided Churches (Practical Shepherding)
author: NULL NULL NULL NULL
name: Jim
average rating: 4.48
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2017/05/17
date added: 2017/05/17
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]]> <![CDATA[The Death of Expertise: The Campaign Against Established Knowledge and Why It Matters]]> 26720949 As Tom Nichols shows in The Death of Expertise, there are a number of reasons why this has occurred-ranging from easy access to Internet search engines to a customer satisfaction model within higher education. The product of these interrelated trends, Nichols argues, is a pervasive distrust of expertise among the public coinciding with an unfounded belief among non-experts that their opinions should have equal standing with those of the experts. The experts are not always right, of course, and Nichols discusses expert failure. The crucial point is that bad decisions by experts can and have been effectively challenged by other well-informed experts. The issue now is that the democratization of information dissemination has created an army of ill-informed citizens who denounce expertise.

When challenged, non-experts resort to the false argument that the experts are often wrong. Though it may be true, but the solution is not to jettison expertise as an ideal; it is to improve our expertise. Nichols is certainly not opposed to information democratization, but rather the enlightenment people believe they achieve after superficial internet research. He shows in vivid detail the ways in which this impulse is coursing through our culture and body politic, but the larger goal is to explain the benefits that expertise and rigorous learning regimes bestow upon all societies.]]> 272 Thomas M. Nichols 0190469412 Jim 0 3.76 2017 The Death of Expertise: The Campaign Against Established Knowledge and Why It Matters
author: Thomas M. Nichols
name: Jim
average rating: 3.76
book published: 2017
rating: 0
read at: 2017/05/16
date added: 2017/05/16
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]]> <![CDATA[Small Town Mission: A Guide for Mission-Driven Communities]]> 30268258 140 Aaron Morrow 0692712828 Jim 0 4.00 Small Town Mission: A Guide for Mission-Driven Communities
author: Aaron Morrow
name: Jim
average rating: 4.00
book published:
rating: 0
read at: 2017/05/01
date added: 2017/05/01
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]]> Gift of Christmas 15343889 Book by Austin, E. L. 0 E.L. Austin 0801001498 Jim 0 read-in-2017 4.50 Gift of Christmas
author: E.L. Austin
name: Jim
average rating: 4.50
book published:
rating: 0
read at: 2016/12/27
date added: 2016/12/27
shelves: read-in-2017
review:

]]> <![CDATA[From the Library of Charles Spurgeon: Selections From Writers Who Influenced His Spiritual Journey]]> 13777867 More than 100 years after his death, Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834-1892) is still known as the Prince of Preachers. It is estimated that he spoke to ten million people in his lifetime. A British Baptist pastor, he remains highly influential among Christians of many denominations. In his writings and sermons he often warmly alluded to writers and their works. The selections in this volume touch on areas of importance and interest to today's readers. This book belongs in every pastor's and thinking Christian's library.]]> 398 James Stuart Bell 0764208616 Jim 0 4.37 2012 From the Library of Charles Spurgeon: Selections From Writers Who Influenced His Spiritual Journey
author: James Stuart Bell
name: Jim
average rating: 4.37
book published: 2012
rating: 0
read at: 2016/12/27
date added: 2016/12/27
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]]> <![CDATA[Engaging with God: A Biblical Theology of Worship]]> 590806 317 David G. Peterson 0830826971 Jim 0 4.04 1992 Engaging with God: A Biblical Theology of Worship
author: David G. Peterson
name: Jim
average rating: 4.04
book published: 1992
rating: 0
read at: 2016/12/27
date added: 2016/12/27
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]]> <![CDATA[On Guard: Preventing and Responding to Child Abuse at Church]]> 22980232 224 Deepak Reju 1939946514 Jim 0 to-read 4.56 2014 On Guard: Preventing and Responding to Child Abuse at Church
author: Deepak Reju
name: Jim
average rating: 4.56
book published: 2014
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2016/12/27
shelves: to-read
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]]> <![CDATA[One Nation Under God: How Corporate America Invented Christian America]]> 22928900 The provocative and authoritative history of the origins of Christian America in the New Deal era

We’re often told that the United States is, was, and always has been a Christian nation. But in One Nation Under God, historian Kevin M. Kruse reveals that the belief that America is fundamentally and formally Christian originated in the 1930s.

To fight the “slavery� of FDR’s New Deal, businessmen enlisted religious activists in a campaign for “freedom under God� that culminated in the election of their ally Dwight Eisenhower in 1952. The new president revolutionized the role of religion in American politics. He inaugurated new traditions like the National Prayer Breakfast, as Congress added the phrase “under God� to the Pledge of Allegiance and made “In God We Trust� the country’s first official motto. Church membership soon soared to an all-time high of 69 percent. Americans across the religious and political spectrum agreed that their country was “one nation under God.�

Provocative and authoritative, One Nation Under God reveals how an unholy alliance of money, religion, and politics created a false origin story that continues to define and divide American politics to this day.]]> 384 Kevin M. Kruse 0465049494 Jim 0 to-read 3.93 2015 One Nation Under God: How Corporate America Invented Christian America
author: Kevin M. Kruse
name: Jim
average rating: 3.93
book published: 2015
rating: 0
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date added: 2016/12/27
shelves: to-read
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]]> <![CDATA[The Pastor's Ministry: Biblical Priorities for Faithful Shepherds]]> 22574113 192 Brian Croft 0310516595 Jim 0 4.23 2015 The Pastor's Ministry: Biblical Priorities for Faithful Shepherds
author: Brian Croft
name: Jim
average rating: 4.23
book published: 2015
rating: 0
read at: 2016/12/27
date added: 2016/12/27
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]]> <![CDATA[Developing a Theology of Planning]]> 18995869
In this eBook, among other learnings you'll discover:

> Why leaders resist planning
> What happens when you do ministry without a plan
> Why planning is biblical
> The characteristics of good planning
> How good planning benefits your leadership

Like previous eBooks written by Tony Morgan, this resource can be read in about 30 minutes, but it's designed to promote conversation and next steps. In other words, consider reading and talking about the content and the discussion questions with your team.

Ministry requires stewardship. We have to be wise stewards of the mission God has called us to engage. That's why healthy churches embrace healthy planning. We must plan before we build.]]> 35 Tony Morgan 0988950847 Jim 2 3.79 Developing a Theology of Planning
author: Tony Morgan
name: Jim
average rating: 3.79
book published:
rating: 2
read at: 2013/12/06
date added: 2016/09/09
shelves:
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If you question the need for planning, this little ebook might be for you. Otherwise, it simply states the obvious without ever discussing the process of planning.
]]> Thoughts for Young Men 27757740 'I remember reading this address recently, having not read it for decades, and being struck once again by the timelessness of Ryle's approach. If I did not know any better I could have easily concluded that it has been written only yesterday!'

Thoughts for Young Men is practical, spiritual, and lively. Abounding in advice and good sense, it is still as relevant and helpful in the twenty-first century as it was when it was first published in 1865.]]> 75 J.C. Ryle 1848716524 Jim 5 4.69 1886 Thoughts for Young Men
author: J.C. Ryle
name: Jim
average rating: 4.69
book published: 1886
rating: 5
read at: 2016/05/13
date added: 2016/05/13
shelves:
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Make this book part of your personal discipleship of young men.
]]> <![CDATA[How Your Church Family Works: Understanding Congregations as Emotional Systems]]> 49292 146 Peter L. Steinke 1566993296 Jim 1 3.92 1993 How Your Church Family Works: Understanding Congregations as Emotional Systems
author: Peter L. Steinke
name: Jim
average rating: 3.92
book published: 1993
rating: 1
read at: 2015/08/17
date added: 2015/08/17
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The author describes the church according to unbiblical (even anti-biblical) psychological categories. For example, to encourage church leaders to promote congregational health he says, "Focus on self, not others," and "Focus on strength, not weakness." I do not recommend this book.
]]> <![CDATA[Three Central Issues in Contemporary Dispensationalism: A Comparison of Traditional & Progressive Views]]> 272860 346 Herbert W. Bateman IV 0825420628 Jim 2 3.39 1999 Three Central Issues in Contemporary Dispensationalism: A Comparison of Traditional & Progressive Views
author: Herbert W. Bateman IV
name: Jim
average rating: 3.39
book published: 1999
rating: 2
read at: 2015/08/13
date added: 2015/08/13
shelves:
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]]> <![CDATA[The Minister's Salary: And Other Challenges in Ministry Finance]]> 25238878 126 Art Rainer Jim 4 3.91 2015 The Minister's Salary: And Other Challenges in Ministry Finance
author: Art Rainer
name: Jim
average rating: 3.91
book published: 2015
rating: 4
read at: 2015/08/01
date added: 2015/08/01
shelves:
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While this little book certainly won't make pastors experts on their personal finance, it will at least help them know what they need to know and seek advice on. I found it very helpful.
]]> <![CDATA[Side by Side: Walking with Others in Wisdom and Love]]> 23236706 176 Edward T. Welch 1433547112 Jim 4 4.21 2015 Side by Side: Walking with Others in Wisdom and Love
author: Edward T. Welch
name: Jim
average rating: 4.21
book published: 2015
rating: 4
read at: 2015/07/02
date added: 2015/07/02
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]]> <![CDATA[The Pastor and Counseling: The Basics of Shepherding Members in Need (9Marks)]]> 23236697 160 Jeremy Pierre 1433545128 Jim 5 4.30 2015 The Pastor and Counseling: The Basics of Shepherding Members in Need (9Marks)
author: Jeremy Pierre
name: Jim
average rating: 4.30
book published: 2015
rating: 5
read at: 2015/06/28
date added: 2015/06/28
shelves:
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Fantastic primer on pastoral counseling. It takes a daunting task and makes it accessible to "regular" pastors.
]]> <![CDATA[United: Captured by God's Vision for Diversity]]> 18167395 What’s the view from where you worship—racially diverse or racially monochrome?

On the Last Day every tongue and tribe will be represented in the glorious chorus praising God with one voice. Yet today our churches remain segregated. Can we reflect the beauty of the last day this day?

United will inspire, challenge, and encourage readers to pursue the joysĚýof diversity through stories of the author's own journey and a theology of diversity lived out.

It’s time to capture a glimpse of God’s magnificent creativity. In the pages of United, Trillia Newbell reveals the deeply moving, transforming power of knowing�really knowing—someone who is equal yet unique. As we learn to identify in Christ rather than in our commonalities, we begin to experience the depth and power of gospel unity.]]> 160 Trillia J. Newbell 0802410146 Jim 5 3.89 2014 United: Captured by God's Vision for Diversity
author: Trillia J. Newbell
name: Jim
average rating: 3.89
book published: 2014
rating: 5
read at: 2015/06/26
date added: 2015/06/26
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Best book I've read all year. HIGHLY recommend!
]]> <![CDATA[The Prodigal Church: A Gentle Manifesto against the Status Quo]]> 23236696 This book is not a reactionary diatribe.
This book is a gentle manifesto against the status quo.

In The Prodigal Church, Jared Wilson challenges church leaders to reconsider their priorities when it comes to how they -do church- and reach people in their communities, arguing that we too often rely on loud music, flashy lights, and skinny jeans to get people in the door.

Writing with the grace and kindness of a trusted friend, Wilson encourages readers to reexamine the Bible's teaching, not simply return to a traditional model for tradition's sake. He then sets forth an alternative to both the attractional and the traditional models: an explicitly biblical approach that is gospel focused, grace based, and fruit oriented.]]> 240 Jared C. Wilson 143354461X Jim 3 4.34 2015 The Prodigal Church: A Gentle Manifesto against the Status Quo
author: Jared C. Wilson
name: Jim
average rating: 4.34
book published: 2015
rating: 3
read at: 2015/06/21
date added: 2015/06/21
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Started slow. Finished strong. Worth pressing through to the end.
]]> <![CDATA[Forward: 7 Distinguishing Marks for Future Leaders]]> 23492929 208 Ronnie W. Floyd 1433685191 Jim 2 3.00 2015 Forward: 7 Distinguishing Marks for Future Leaders
author: Ronnie W. Floyd
name: Jim
average rating: 3.00
book published: 2015
rating: 2
read at: 2015/06/09
date added: 2015/06/09
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Not a bad read, just mostly recycled, clichéd material.
]]> <![CDATA[Church Refugees: Sociologists reveal why people are DONE with church but not their faith]]> 24000267
We need answers—not statistics. We need to understand and hear from people who are leaving church so we can find a way to turn around the trend.

This book uses in-depth sociological research to get to the heart of the issue. The data is collected from interviews with real people about why they left and who they really are. These aren’t the “nones� who have no religious affiliation. They’re the “dones� who’ve been faithfully serving in local churches for years. This is their story.]]> 143 Josh Packard 1470725924 Jim 2 3.98 2015 Church Refugees: Sociologists reveal why people are DONE with church but not their faith
author: Josh Packard
name: Jim
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2015
rating: 2
read at: 2015/06/05
date added: 2015/06/05
shelves:
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Based on interviews with dechurched people, the authors view the responses through the lens of a profound misunderstanding of the nature and purpose of the local church. Not much of value here.
]]> <![CDATA[Baptists in America: A History]]> 23462872 In Baptists in America, Thomas S. Kidd and Barry Hankins explore the long-running tensions between church, state, and culture that Baptists have shaped and navigated. Despite the moment of unity that their early persecution provided, their history has been marked by internal battles and schisms that were microcosms of national events, from the conflict over slavery that divided North from South to the conservative revolution of the 1970s and 80s. Baptists have made an indelible impact on American religious and cultural history, from their early insistence that America should have no established church to their place in the modern-day culture wars, where they frequently advocate greater religious involvement in politics. Yet the more mainstream they have become, the more they have been pressured to conform to the mainstream, a paradox that defines--and is essential to understanding--the Baptist experience in America.
Kidd and Hankins, both practicing Baptists, weave the threads of Baptist history alongside those of American history. Baptists in America is a remarkable story of how one religious denomination was transformed from persecuted minority into a leading actor on the national stage, with profound implications for American society and culture.]]> 352 Thomas S. Kidd 0199977534 Jim 5 4.12 2015 Baptists in America: A History
author: Thomas S. Kidd
name: Jim
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2015
rating: 5
read at: 2015/06/03
date added: 2015/06/03
shelves:
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Excellent, balanced, accessible. Very readable and fascinating history of Baptists in America, from marginalized and persecuted to a dominant cultural force and trending back again. Highly recommended reading!
]]> Created to Praise 17946647 128 Derek J. Prime 178191236X Jim 4 3.20 1981 Created to Praise
author: Derek J. Prime
name: Jim
average rating: 3.20
book published: 1981
rating: 4
read at: 2015/05/21
date added: 2015/05/21
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Crazy Lazy: A warning against laziness]]> 23234791 39 Alistair Begg 1909611905 Jim 5 3.93 2014 Crazy Lazy: A warning against laziness
author: Alistair Begg
name: Jim
average rating: 3.93
book published: 2014
rating: 5
read at: 2015/05/18
date added: 2015/05/18
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Great little exposition of Proverbs specifically dealing with "the sluggard".
]]> <![CDATA[A Guide to Expository Ministry]]> 16123595 103 Dan Dumas 0615706835 Jim 0 4.42 2012 A Guide to Expository Ministry
author: Dan Dumas
name: Jim
average rating: 4.42
book published: 2012
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2015/05/17
shelves:
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]]> <![CDATA[Planting Growing Churches for the 21st Century: A Comprehensive Guide for New Churches and Those Desiring Renewal]]> 798775
In this third edition, readers will find material on the importance of healthy, biblical change in our churches, updated appendixes, insight on our postmodern ministry context, and strategies for reaching new population demographics such as Generations X and Y.

Pastors, ministry leaders, and church planters will find the information and advice found in this book invaluable as they carry out their ministries.]]> 432 Aubrey Malphurs 0801065143 Jim 0 3.59 1992 Planting Growing Churches for the 21st Century: A Comprehensive Guide for New Churches and Those Desiring Renewal
author: Aubrey Malphurs
name: Jim
average rating: 3.59
book published: 1992
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2015/05/17
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]]> <![CDATA[Transitioning the Church: Leading the Established Church to Reach the Unchurched]]> 20388955
Zach identifies how leaders can help established churches transition from an inward focus to an outward focus. Transitioning is one of the most important characteristics a church can have because it involves the mission of Jesus, to take those who are hurting and lost and give them life.]]> 82 Zach Williams Jim 0 3.25 2013 Transitioning the Church: Leading the Established Church to Reach the Unchurched
author: Zach Williams
name: Jim
average rating: 3.25
book published: 2013
rating: 0
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date added: 2015/05/17
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]]> <![CDATA[Multiply: Disciples Making Disciples]]> 13228935 333 Francis Chan 0781408237 Jim 0 4.04 2012 Multiply: Disciples Making Disciples
author: Francis Chan
name: Jim
average rating: 4.04
book published: 2012
rating: 0
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date added: 2015/05/17
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]]> The Externally Focused Church 283802
"I will never forget the comment of one fourth-grade teacher as she stood there, amazed at the work being done on her classroom by complete 'If this is Christianity, then I'm interested,' she said."
from Forward by Rick Rusaw and Eric Swanson

Learn from churches that have made serving their communities a priority--with dramatic results. Your church can be a firm pillar in your community because of the unwavering truth and love of its members.

Use case studies from churches that have mastered community service, and apply the action steps
From the minister to the mechanic and the teen to the tenured, your church will expand God's kingdom when it extends his love to the people in your community.]]> 222 Group Publishing 0764427407 Jim 0 3.87 2004 The Externally Focused Church
author: Group Publishing
name: Jim
average rating: 3.87
book published: 2004
rating: 0
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date added: 2015/05/17
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]]> <![CDATA[The Conviction to Lead: 25 Principles for Leadership That Matters]]> 13777878 Change the Way You Think About Leadership

At the age of thirty-three, Dr. Albert Mohler became the youngest president in the 153-year history of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He was the driving force behind the school's transformation into a thriving institution with an international reputation characterized by a passionate conviction for truth. In the process he became one of the most important and prominent Christian voices in contemporary culture.



What will it take to transform your leadership?



Effective leaders need more than administrative skills and vision. They need to be able to change the hearts and minds of those they lead. Leadership like this requires passionate beliefs that can stand up to pressure from without and within.



Now for the first time, Dr. Mohler reveals 25 principles to crystallize your convictions, revolutionizing your thinking, your decision-making, your communication, and ultimately those you lead.

]]> 224 R. Albert Mohler Jr. 0764210041 Jim 5 4.23 2012 The Conviction to Lead: 25 Principles for Leadership That Matters
author: R. Albert Mohler Jr.
name: Jim
average rating: 4.23
book published: 2012
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2015/05/17
shelves:
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]]> <![CDATA[Breakout Churches: Discover How To Make The Leap]]> 48958 272 Thom S. Rainer 031025745X Jim 5 3.70 2004 Breakout Churches: Discover How To Make The Leap
author: Thom S. Rainer
name: Jim
average rating: 3.70
book published: 2004
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2015/05/17
shelves:
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]]> <![CDATA[Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God (Ivp Classics)]]> 6145761 136 J.I. Packer 0830834125 Jim 5 4.36 1961 Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God (Ivp Classics)
author: J.I. Packer
name: Jim
average rating: 4.36
book published: 1961
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2015/05/17
shelves:
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]]> The Explicit Gospel 12915261

Too few people attending church today, even those in evangelical churches, are exposed to the gospel explicitly. Sure, many will hear about Jesus, and about being good and avoiding bad, but the gospel message simply isn't there--at least not in its specificity and its fullness. Inspired by the needs of both the overchurched and the unchurched, and bolstered by the common neglect of the explicit gospel within Christianity, Matt Chandler has written this punchy treatise. He begins with the specifics of the gospel--outlining what it is and what it is not--and then switches gears to focus on the fullness of the gospel and its massive implications on both personal and cosmic levels. Recognizing our tendency to fixate on either the micro or macro aspects of the gospel, Chandler also warns us of the dangers on either side--of becoming overly individualistic or syncretistic. Here is a call to true Christianity, to know the gospel explicitly, and to unite the church on the amazing grounds of the good news of Jesus!

]]> 237 Matt Chandler 1433530031 Jim 5 4.17 2012 The Explicit Gospel
author: Matt Chandler
name: Jim
average rating: 4.17
book published: 2012
rating: 5
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date added: 2015/05/17
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]]> <![CDATA[Going Full Circle: Worship that Moves Us to Discipleship and Missions]]> 18234220 206 Mark C. Powers 1620329948 Jim 3 3.75 2013 Going Full Circle: Worship that Moves Us to Discipleship and Missions
author: Mark C. Powers
name: Jim
average rating: 3.75
book published: 2013
rating: 3
read at: 2015/05/17
date added: 2015/05/17
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]]> <![CDATA[The Shooting Salvationist: J. Frank Norris and the Murder Trial that Captivated America]]> 13532202 384 David R. Stokes 1586422006 Jim 4 3.67 2010 The Shooting Salvationist: J. Frank Norris and the Murder Trial that Captivated America
author: David R. Stokes
name: Jim
average rating: 3.67
book published: 2010
rating: 4
read at: 2015/05/14
date added: 2015/05/14
shelves:
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Fascinating book told largely from the perspective of contemporary newspaper accounts. Although the writer is clearly not a J. Frank Norris fan, the book is neither a hagiography nor an attack.
]]> <![CDATA[unChristian: What a New Generation Really Thinks about Christianity... and Why It Matters]]> 1054736 David Kinnaman is president of The Barna Group, which provides research and resources that facilitate spiritual transformation in people's lives. Since joining Barna in 1995, David has designed and analyzed nearly five hundred studies for a variety of churches, nonprofits, and corporations. He and George Barna write a free research report published online at . David and his wife Jill have three children and live in Ventura, California.

Gabe Lyons founded Fermi Project, a broad collective of innovators, social entrepreneurs, and church and society leaders working together to make positive contributions to culture (). Prior to Fermi Project, Gabe cofounded Catalyst, a national gathering of young leaders, while serving as vice president for John Maxwell's INJOY organization. Gabe, his wife Rebekah, and their three children reside in Atlanta, Georgia.

To meet the contributors and learn more about this book and the conversations it is creating, visit .


This work was commissioned by Fermi Project.


The New Testament writer Paul told the first-century Christians: "You yourselves are our letter . . . known and read by everybody."

When a person "reads" your life, what does it say? What does your faith look like to outsiders?

A major new research project, unveiled for the first time in this book, describes the increasingly negative reputation of Christians, especially among young Americans.

The research shows that Christians are best known for what they are against. They are perceived as being judgmental, antihomosexual, and too political. And young people are quick to point out they believe that Christianity is no longer as Jesus intended. It is unChristian.

It shouldn't be this way.

What Christians believe may not be popular, but Paul also advised the first believers to "live wisely among those who are not Christians" and to "let your conversation be gracious and effective."

In this eye-opening book, David Kinnaman and Gabe Lyons--along with more than two dozen leading voices within Christianity--unpack the major criticisms leveled against Christians. Understand why those negative images exist and how you can best represent Jesus to your friends, neighbors, and co-workers.

Your life is an open book. Is it unChristian?

]]> 255 David Kinnaman 0801013003 Jim 3 3.85 2007 unChristian: What a New Generation Really Thinks about Christianity... and Why It Matters
author: David Kinnaman
name: Jim
average rating: 3.85
book published: 2007
rating: 3
read at: 2015/04/22
date added: 2015/04/22
shelves:
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]]> The Epistles of Peter 2091499 176 John Henry Jowett 0825429722 Jim 0 sermon-prep 4.33 1970 The Epistles of Peter
author: John Henry Jowett
name: Jim
average rating: 4.33
book published: 1970
rating: 0
read at: 2015/04/07
date added: 2015/04/07
shelves: sermon-prep
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Letters and Homilies for Hellenized Christians: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary on 1-2 Peter]]> 2437765 432 Ben Witherington III 0830829334 Jim 0 sermon-prep 4.36 2008 Letters and Homilies for Hellenized Christians: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary on 1-2 Peter
author: Ben Witherington III
name: Jim
average rating: 4.36
book published: 2008
rating: 0
read at: 2015/04/07
date added: 2015/04/07
shelves: sermon-prep
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Charles Spurgeon: Preaching Through Adversity]]> 25083307 40 John Piper 0991277635 Jim 5 4.39 2015 Charles Spurgeon: Preaching Through Adversity
author: John Piper
name: Jim
average rating: 4.39
book published: 2015
rating: 5
read at: 2015/04/07
date added: 2015/04/07
shelves:
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A wonderful little booklet for anyone in the ministry who has suffered down times or depression.
]]> ISIS: The State of Terror 23287219
Jessica Stern and J.M. Berger, two of America’s leading experts on terrorism, dissect the new model for violent extremism that ISIS has leveraged into an empire of death in Iraq and Syria, and an international network that is rapidly expanding in the Middle East, North Africa and around the world.

ISIS: The State of TerrorĚýtraces the ideological innovations that the group deploys to recruit unprecedented numbers of Westerners, the composition of its infamous snuff videos, and the technological tools it exploits on social media to broadcast its atrocities, and its recruiting pitch to the world, including its success at attracting thousands of Western adherents. The authors examine ISIS’s predatory abuse of women and children and its use of horror to manipulate world leaders and its own adherents as it builds its twisted society. The authors offer a much-needed perspective on how world leaders should prioritize and respond to ISIS’s deliberate and insidious provocations.Ěý]]> 416 Jessica Stern 0062395548 Jim 4 3.91 2015 ISIS: The State of Terror
author: Jessica Stern
name: Jim
average rating: 3.91
book published: 2015
rating: 4
read at: 2015/04/04
date added: 2015/04/04
shelves:
review:
While I think some of the authors' premises and conclusions are flawed due to their secularist perspectives, the book is eye-opening and worth reading. It is extremely well-researched and well written, considering the fluid nature of the subject matter.
]]> <![CDATA[Risky Gospel: Abandon Fear and Build Something Awesome]]> 17657596 240 Owen Strachan 1400205794 Jim 0 to-read 4.03 2013 Risky Gospel: Abandon Fear and Build Something Awesome
author: Owen Strachan
name: Jim
average rating: 4.03
book published: 2013
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2015/04/02
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Essential Drucker: The Best of Sixty Years of Peter Drucker's Essential Writings on Management (Collins Business Essentials)]]> 1087081 The Essential Drucker—an invaluable compilation of essential materials from the works of a management legend.

Containing twenty-six core selections, The Essential Drucker covers the basic principles and concerns of management and its problems, challenges, and opportunities, giving managers, executives, and professionals the tools to perform the tasks that the economy and society of tomorrow will demand of them.]]> 237 Peter F. Drucker 0061345016 Jim 0 to-read 4.28 2000 The Essential Drucker: The Best of Sixty Years of Peter Drucker's Essential Writings on Management (Collins Business Essentials)
author: Peter F. Drucker
name: Jim
average rating: 4.28
book published: 2000
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2015/04/02
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Fingerprints of God: Recognizing God's Touch on Your Life]]> 1319522 160 Jennifer Rothschild 1590525302 Jim 0 to-read 4.11 2004 Fingerprints of God: Recognizing God's Touch on Your Life
author: Jennifer Rothschild
name: Jim
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2004
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2015/04/02
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Spurgeon’s Sorrows: Realistic Hope for those who Suffer from Depression]]> 24563691 144 Zack Eswine 1781915385 Jim 5 4.37 2014 Spurgeon’s Sorrows: Realistic Hope for those who Suffer from Depression
author: Zack Eswine
name: Jim
average rating: 4.37
book published: 2014
rating: 5
read at: 2015/03/16
date added: 2015/03/16
shelves:
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Wonderful little book written from the perspective of one who has suffered depression, using many of Surgeon's words and insights. Highly recommended to all who suffer depression and those who care for them.
]]> <![CDATA[Surprising Insights from the Unchurched and Proven Ways to Reach Them]]> 5061921 288 Thom S. Rainer 0310286131 Jim 4 3.98 2001 Surprising Insights from the Unchurched and Proven Ways to Reach Them
author: Thom S. Rainer
name: Jim
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2001
rating: 4
read at: 2015/03/13
date added: 2015/03/13
shelves:
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]]> Worship by the Book 145835 256 D.A. Carson 0310216257 Jim 3 3.92 2002 Worship by the Book
author: D.A. Carson
name: Jim
average rating: 3.92
book published: 2002
rating: 3
read at: 2015/02/25
date added: 2015/02/25
shelves:
review:
Good in parts. Really good in parts. Just okay in parts.
]]> <![CDATA[The Singing God: Feel the Passion God Has for You...Just the Way You Are]]> 15811333 God Delights in You
God loves us. With all our faults and failures, with all the secret sins no one else knows about. In fact, He rejoices over us so much that He breaks out in inexpressible joy and song as He thinks about us.

“The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.� --Zephaniah 3:17

That’s how God feels about you! He looks at you, He thinks of you...and He sings for joy!

In The Singing God Sam Storms explores God's immeasurable love for His children. You don’t need to be different; you don’t need to be better. You just need to know that God loves you just the way you are now...today. When you truly believe this, you will find the strength and incentive to fight sin, experience freedom from shame, and walk in the fullness of all that God desires for you. Ěý]]> 240 Sam Storms 1616389729 Jim 5 4.39 1998 The Singing God: Feel the Passion God Has for You...Just the Way You Are
author: Sam Storms
name: Jim
average rating: 4.39
book published: 1998
rating: 5
read at: 2015/02/21
date added: 2015/02/22
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]]> <![CDATA[The Top Ten Mistakes Leaders Make]]> 2077755 -Charles R. Swindoll, author and president of Dallas Theological Seminary "This is one of the most practical books on leadership I have in my own library. If you are serious about becoming a better leader, you will want to read this book."
-John C. Maxwell, author, speaker, and founder of the INJOY Group]]> 224 Hans Finzel 0781445493 Jim 0 3.88 1994 The Top Ten Mistakes Leaders Make
author: Hans Finzel
name: Jim
average rating: 3.88
book published: 1994
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2015/02/21
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]]> <![CDATA[Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies (Good to Great, 2)]]> 153234 368 Jim Collins 0060516402 Jim 0 4.07 1994 Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies (Good to Great, 2)
author: Jim Collins
name: Jim
average rating: 4.07
book published: 1994
rating: 0
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date added: 2015/02/21
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]]> <![CDATA[The Sending Church: The Church Must Leave the Building]]> 17414692
Indeed, our lives should be “sent� in worship to the King of kings, spreading out from our weekly gathering places to extend God’s Kingdom worldwide. To that end, Pastor Hood shares stories from his experiences at LifePoint Church, a congregation with smalltown roots that has also planted churches in Bangkok, Thailand, and Brussels, Belgium, among other places.

How does man's heart move closer to God's heart? How do we "live sent" in our community or halfway around the world? What good things that happen in church life might actually threaten to obscure the greater things being orchestrated by God? How does everyone at church move from being a member to a missionary? Find out in The Sending Church .]]> 272 Pat Hood 1433681765 Jim 0 4.47 2013 The Sending Church: The Church Must Leave the Building
author: Pat Hood
name: Jim
average rating: 4.47
book published: 2013
rating: 0
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date added: 2015/02/21
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]]> <![CDATA[Christian Leadership Essentials: A Handbook for Managing Christian Organization]]> 10960806
A majority of the nineteen contributors are active academic presidents, including Robert B. Sloan (Houston Baptist University; "A Biblical Model of Leadership"), Judson Carlberg (Gordon College; "Managing the Organization"), Jon Wallace (Azusa Pacific University; "Financial Oversight and Budget Planning"), Evans Whitaker (Anderson University [South Carolina]; "Development, Campaigns, and Building Projects"), Carl Zylstra (Dordt College; "Accreditation and Government Relations"), Jim Edwards (Anderson University [Indiana]; "Relationships with Multiple and Various Constituencies"), Phil Eaton (Seattle Pacific University; "Employee Relations in a Grace-filled Community"), Barry Corey (Biola University; "Engaging the Culture"), and Randall O'Brien (Carson-Newman College; "The Leader as Mentor and Pastor").]]> 368 David S. Dockery 0805464778 Jim 4 3.80 2011 Christian Leadership Essentials: A Handbook for Managing Christian Organization
author: David S. Dockery
name: Jim
average rating: 3.80
book published: 2011
rating: 4
read at: 2015/02/21
date added: 2015/02/21
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]]> <![CDATA[Church Unique: How Missional Leaders Cast Vision, Capture Culture, and Create Movement]]> 3084974 304 Will Mancini 0787996831 Jim 4 3.93 2008 Church Unique: How Missional Leaders Cast Vision, Capture Culture, and Create Movement
author: Will Mancini
name: Jim
average rating: 3.93
book published: 2008
rating: 4
read at: 2015/02/21
date added: 2015/02/21
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]]> <![CDATA[THIRTEEN SOLDIERS: A Personal History of Americans at War]]> 21412223
As a veteran himself, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and a long-time student of history, John McCain brings a distinctive perspective to this subject. Thirteen Soldiers tells the stories of real soldiers who personify valor, obedience, enterprise, and love. You&#8217;ll meet Joseph Plumb Martin, who at the tender age of fifteen fought in the Revolutionary War; Charles Black, a freeborn African American sailor in the War of 1812; and Sam Chamberlain, of the Mexican American War, whose life inspired novelist Cormac McCarthy. Then there&#8217;s Oliver Wendell Holmes, an aristocratic idealist disillusioned by the Civil War, and Littleton &#8220;Tony&#8221; Waller, court-martialed for refusing to massacre Filipino civilians.

Each account illustrates a particular aspect of war, such as Mary Rhoads, an Army reservist forever changed by an Iraqi scud missile attack during the Persian Gulf War, and Monica Lin Brown, a frontline medic in rural Afghanistan who saved several lives in an ambushed convoy. From their acts of self-sacrifice to their astonishing bravery, these thirteen soldiers embody the best America has to offer.]]> 384 John McCain 1476759650 Jim 3 3.52 2014 THIRTEEN SOLDIERS: A Personal History of Americans at War
author: John McCain
name: Jim
average rating: 3.52
book published: 2014
rating: 3
read at: 2015/02/21
date added: 2015/02/21
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]]> <![CDATA[The Seven Arts of Change: Leading Business Transformation That Lasts]]> 9851383 Combining lessons drawn from four decades of Aikido with knowledge gleaned from his 30-year consulting career, Shaner merges Eastern philosophy with Western business savvy to present his Seven Arts of Change (including the Arts of Preparation, Relaxation, and Compassion), showing how individual adjustments-from the CEO down-can transform a company. Using exercises, strategies, and real-life examples to show how to awaken the untapped potential in any organization and every person within it, Shaner shows how to create change built to last.]]> 184 David Shaner 1402767846 Jim 1 3.43 2010 The Seven Arts of Change: Leading Business Transformation That Lasts
author: David Shaner
name: Jim
average rating: 3.43
book published: 2010
rating: 1
read at: 2015/01/01
date added: 2015/01/01
shelves:
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]]> <![CDATA[The Trellis and the Vine: The Ministry Mind-Shift that Changes Everything]]> 7303048
There is vine work: the prayerful preaching and teaching of the word of God to see people converted and grow to maturity as disciples of Christ. Vine work is the Great Commission.

And there is trellis work: creating and maintaining the physical and organizational structures and programs that support vine work and its growth.

What’s the state of the trellis and the vine in your part of the world? Has trellis work taken over, as it has a habit of doing? Is the vine work being done by very few (perhaps only the pastor and only on Sundays)? And is the vine starting to wilt as a result?

The image of the trellis and the vine raises all the fundamental questions of Christian ministry:

* What is the vine for?
* How does the vine grow?
* How does the vine relate to my church?
* What is vine work and what is trellis work, and how can we tell the difference?
* What part do different people play in growing the vine?
* How can we get more people involved in vine work?


In The Trellis and the Vine, Colin Marshall and Tony Payne answer these urgent questions afresh. They dig back into the Bible’s view of Christian ministry, and argue that a major mind-shift is required if we are to fulfill the Great Commission of Christ, and see the vine flourish again.]]> 196 Colin Marshall 1921441631 Jim 5 4.20 2009 The Trellis and the Vine: The Ministry Mind-Shift that Changes Everything
author: Colin Marshall
name: Jim
average rating: 4.20
book published: 2009
rating: 5
read at: 2014/01/27
date added: 2014/01/27
shelves:
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I highly recommend this book to all pastors and church leaders. It has the potential to totally transform your ministry.
]]> Found: God's Will 13207240 80 John F. MacArthur Jr. 1434702987 Jim 4 4.41 1972 Found: God's Will
author: John F. MacArthur Jr.
name: Jim
average rating: 4.41
book published: 1972
rating: 4
read at: 2014/01/26
date added: 2014/01/26
shelves:
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]]> <![CDATA[Calvinism and the Amyraut Heresy: Protestant Scholasticism and Humanism in Seventeenth-Century France]]> 769992 354 Brian G. Armstrong 159244640X Jim 5 3.80 Calvinism and the Amyraut Heresy: Protestant Scholasticism and Humanism in Seventeenth-Century France
author: Brian G. Armstrong
name: Jim
average rating: 3.80
book published:
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2014/01/15
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference]]> 2612 The tipping point is that magic moment when an idea, trend, or social behavior crosses a threshold, tips, and spreads like wildfire. Just as a single sick person can start an epidemic of the flu, so too can a small but precisely targeted push cause a fashion trend, the popularity of a new product, or a drop in the crime rate. This widely acclaimed bestseller, in which Malcolm Gladwell explores and brilliantly illuminates the tipping point phenomenon, is already changing the way people throughout the world think about selling products and disseminating ideas.]]> 301 Malcolm Gladwell 0316346624 Jim 0 4.01 2002 The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference
author: Malcolm Gladwell
name: Jim
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2002
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2014/01/15
shelves:
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]]> <![CDATA[Visioneering: God's Blueprint for Developing and Maintaining Personal Vision]]> 257706 Wouldn’t you like to end up somewhere on purpose?
Ěý
What breaks your heart?Ěý
What keeps you up at night?Ěý
What could be that should be?Ěý
Ěý
Andy Stanley believes these questions are bread crumbs that lead to the discovery of personal vision. With down-to-earth practicality, Andy extracts principles from the story of Nehemiah to help you discover your purpose in life.
Ěý
Visioneering includes helpful exercises and time-tested ideas for visionary decision-making, personal growth, and leadership at home and at work. Catch a glimpse of God’s incredible vision for your life, relationships, and business—and discover the passion to follow it.
Ěý
Includes discussion guide for use in small groups.]]> 288 Andy Stanley 159052456X Jim 0 4.24 1999 Visioneering: God's Blueprint for Developing and Maintaining Personal Vision
author: Andy Stanley
name: Jim
average rating: 4.24
book published: 1999
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2014/01/15
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Next Generation Leader: 5 Essentials for Those Who Will Shape the Future]]> 253303
The Next Generation Leader has been challenging young Christians eager to learn, grow, and lead in ministry or in the marketplace since its original release in 2003. Now with an all-new look, this repackaged version continues to advance the mission of the first release. Mentoring young leaders as they face the unique issues of a changing world has been pastor and bestselling author Andy Stanley’s passion for more than a decade. Here he shares material from his leadership training sessions, developed to address essential leadership qualities such as character, clarity, courage, and competency. This is the perfect guide for any new leader—or for the mentor of a future leader!

Straight Talk to Tomorrow’s Leaders

Five characteristics mark the man or woman who will shape the future.
-Courage
-Clarity
-Competence
-Coachability
-Character

Drawing on two decades of experience mentoring a rising generation, seasoned visionary Andy Stanley shows how to:
-Discover and play to your strengths
-Harness your fears
-Leverage uncertainty
-Enlist a leadership coach
-Maintain moral authority

“Capable men and women will eventually catch, pass, and replace the current generation of leaders,� says Stanley. “Embracing these essentials, you will not only excel in your personal leadership, but also ensure a no-regrets experience for those who choose to follow you.�

� Andy Stanley ’s The Next Generation Leader will equip the messengers to stand a little taller with a vision of hope and promise as they engraft these timeless principles into their daily lives.�
—Dan T. Cathy, president and CEO, Chick-Fil-A Corporation

“It’s obvious that what Andy Stanley has to say in The Next Generation Leader comes straight from the gut of someone who is in the leadership game and is winning at it.�
—Bill Hybels, senior pastor, Willow Creek Community Church

� Andy Stanley offers a fresh perspective on ageless truths that will be of enormous benefit to today’s leaders and to future generations.�
—Patrick S. Flood, chairman and CEO, HomeBanc Mortgage Corporation

Story Behind the Book

Andy Stanley, the senior pastor of the North Point Ministries campuses with a cumulative congregation of more than twenty thousand, admits he has one single, core passion. He lives to train and mentor young leaders to be the best they can be! He sees the “next gen� need for quality Christian resources on leadership and wrote this book entrenched in leadership himself, desiring to guide the up-and-coming young men and women who will shape our future.]]> 176 Andy Stanley 1590525396 Jim 4 4.14 2002 Next Generation Leader: 5 Essentials for Those Who Will Shape the Future
author: Andy Stanley
name: Jim
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2002
rating: 4
read at: 2014/01/02
date added: 2014/01/15
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Knowing-Doing Gap: How Smart Companies Turn Knowledge into Action]]> 139851 314 Jeffrey Pfeffer 1578511240 Jim 0 to-read 3.97 1993 The Knowing-Doing Gap: How Smart Companies Turn Knowledge into Action
author: Jeffrey Pfeffer
name: Jim
average rating: 3.97
book published: 1993
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2014/01/15
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Catalyst Leader: 8 Essentials for Becoming a Change Maker]]> 17290468 Lomenick, Brad 0 Brad Lomenick 1613753292 Jim 2
It doesn’t take long to realize this book is a thinly veiled attempt at the author’s self-promotion. Each chapter follows a nearly identical pattern: 1) Let Brad tell you about Brad. 2) Let Brad give you a few clichés and aphorisms about this chapter’s essential. 3) Let Brad do some really great name-dropping to let you know that Brad knows some really cool people. 4) Let Brad tell you about Brad again. Brad rides horses. Brad jumps off cliffs. Brad was captain of his football team—in third grade (third graders have school football teams?). Brad’s organization failed� once� before he was in charge� but he stepped in to fix it. All better now. Yay Brad! The funniest part of the book was the section on humility—not because the author intended it to be, but because it was completely out of place amongst all of the “me� stories that surrounded it.

The best leadership books are the ones you need to read with a notebook because good ideas continually pop off the page. No such note taking device was needed for this book. A good leadership book leaves me with the impression that I want to work for someone like the author. I would be mortified to work with this author. I hope he is not like this in person, but this book leaves the impression that he is impetuous, self-aggrandizing and flighty—no matter how many cool things he’s done or how many big-named people he knows. He should probably stick to leading events rather than leading actual people. And I should probably stick to reading better leadership books.

Hardcover: 288 pages
Publisher: Thomas Nelson (April 16, 2013)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1595554971
]]> 3.88 2013 The Catalyst Leader: 8 Essentials for Becoming a Change Maker
author: Brad Lomenick
name: Jim
average rating: 3.88
book published: 2013
rating: 2
read at: 2013/05/28
date added: 2014/01/06
shelves:
review:
Catalyst is one of the greatest leadership conferences in the world. If you don’t believe that, just read The Catalyst Leader: 8 Essentials for Becoming a Change Maker, by Brad Lomenick. I have heard of Catalyst leadership conferences—mostly from Twitter hype—but certainly wasn’t looking for a book about them. Buyer beware: if you’re looking for a book on being a catalytic leader (as I was), this isn’t it. If you’re looking for a book on being a change agent (as I was), this isn’t it. It does contain eight essential leadership traits. Each trait (called, authentic, passionate, capable, courageous, principled, hopeful and collaborative) is given its own chapter. But just because each chapter is given the title of a trait, doesn’t mean it is really about that trait. After reading chapter one, I was no more informed about the nature of God’s call than I was before I read it. But I was more informed about Brad Lomenick.

It doesn’t take long to realize this book is a thinly veiled attempt at the author’s self-promotion. Each chapter follows a nearly identical pattern: 1) Let Brad tell you about Brad. 2) Let Brad give you a few clichés and aphorisms about this chapter’s essential. 3) Let Brad do some really great name-dropping to let you know that Brad knows some really cool people. 4) Let Brad tell you about Brad again. Brad rides horses. Brad jumps off cliffs. Brad was captain of his football team—in third grade (third graders have school football teams?). Brad’s organization failed� once� before he was in charge� but he stepped in to fix it. All better now. Yay Brad! The funniest part of the book was the section on humility—not because the author intended it to be, but because it was completely out of place amongst all of the “me� stories that surrounded it.

The best leadership books are the ones you need to read with a notebook because good ideas continually pop off the page. No such note taking device was needed for this book. A good leadership book leaves me with the impression that I want to work for someone like the author. I would be mortified to work with this author. I hope he is not like this in person, but this book leaves the impression that he is impetuous, self-aggrandizing and flighty—no matter how many cool things he’s done or how many big-named people he knows. He should probably stick to leading events rather than leading actual people. And I should probably stick to reading better leadership books.

Hardcover: 288 pages
Publisher: Thomas Nelson (April 16, 2013)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1595554971

]]> The Change Maker 13014510 270 Al Checchi 1453222073 Jim 1 2.44 2011 The Change Maker
author: Al Checchi
name: Jim
average rating: 2.44
book published: 2011
rating: 1
read at: 2013/12/30
date added: 2013/12/30
shelves:
review:
After finishing the first four chapters, I found myself wondering why I bought this book in the first place. I can't remember. And since I just finished a time management book, I feel convicted to not waste any more time on it.
]]> <![CDATA[20,000 Days and Counting: The Crash Course for Mastering Your Life Right Now]]> 15864582
Most people sleepwalk through day-to-day life, passively letting time slip away. Unfortunately, the only thing that can usually wake people up to the intensity of life is impending death. But what if it didn't have to be that way? 20,000 Days presents breathtakingly simple strategies and concepts that, once applied, will enable readers to be 100% present and intentional with every passing minute of every day, for the rest of their lives.

The book is designed to be read in under an hour and the effect is immediate. Within each segment are tactics for mastering control for your life; principles such These timeless principles apply to everyone from the pending graduate to the seasoned business professional; from the time-starved parent to the weary pastor to the restless entrepreneur.

On the 20,000th day of his life, the author sent an email that inspired and reminded a group of people of all ages to live in the moment. This group now includes you.]]> 112 Robert D. Smith 0849948541 Jim 2 3.94 2012 20,000 Days and Counting: The Crash Course for Mastering Your Life Right Now
author: Robert D. Smith
name: Jim
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2012
rating: 2
read at: 2013/12/30
date added: 2013/12/30
shelves:
review:
Not bad, just somewhat like cotton candy. Fluffy and tasty--just no real substance.
]]> The Leadership Challenge 1758199 351 James M. Kouzes 0787984914 Jim 5 4.01 1987 The Leadership Challenge
author: James M. Kouzes
name: Jim
average rating: 4.01
book published: 1987
rating: 5
read at: 2013/12/30
date added: 2013/12/30
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Spiritual and Anabaptist Writers (Library of Christian Classics)]]> 2756028 420 George Williams 0664241506 Jim 0 3.63 1957 Spiritual and Anabaptist Writers (Library of Christian Classics)
author: George Williams
name: Jim
average rating: 3.63
book published: 1957
rating: 0
read at: 2013/12/21
date added: 2013/12/21
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Visioneering: God's Blueprint for Developing and Maintaining Personal Vision]]> 257707
Vision is a preferred future. A destination. Vision always stands in contrast to the world as it is. Visioneering, according to bestselling author Andy Stanley, is “a clear mental picture of what could be, fueled by the conviction that it should be.� With warm, down-to-earth practicality, Andy Stanley explores the ordinary life of Nehemiah and his God-given vision for accomplishing the extraordinary. He shows how the life of this great ancient visionary, determined to rebuild the ruined walls of Jerusalem, reveals principles that can prepare us to find and follow God’s multifaceted vision for our own lives. Now this bestseller is again available in an attractive, affordable paperback!

Everybody ends up somewhere in life.

You can end up somewhere on purpose!

Visioneering is the engineering of a vision. It’s the process one follows to develop and maintain vision. “Vision,� writes Andy Stanley , “is a clear mental picture of what could be, fueled by the conviction that it should be.�

In the bestselling Visioneering, Stanley builds a compelling case for the necessity of a clear, God-ordained vision for each of the roles of your life. Whether you’re a parent with a vision for your children or a CEO pursuing a corporate vision, Visioneering is the perfect tool to help you develop and maintain God’s unique purpose for your life.

“Visioneering is the best book on vision I’ve seen. It will put you on track to discovering God’s purpose for your life. In my course “The Vision of the Leader,� I quote from Andy’s book more than any other. Visioneering should be on the bookshelf of every pastor, business leader, and parent in America . I heartily endorse it!�

—Dr. Bruce Wilkinson ,

Chairman, Dream for Africa

Story Behind the Book

Andy Stanley, the pastor of more than 15,000, knows a lot of people, and is well aware of the overwhelming and mutual desire nearly every Christian holds to find and fulfill God’s purpose for their lives. This book was written to stir these hearts and move people forward by providing tangible steps to getting from Point A to Point B. “As Christians,� states Stanley, “we do not have a right to take our talents, abilities, experiences, opportunities, and education and run off in any direction we please.� This book was written to provide a specific plan for going in the right direction. It truly is “God’s blueprint for developing and maintaining personal vision.”]]> 272 Andy Stanley 157673787X Jim 4 4.18 1999 Visioneering: God's Blueprint for Developing and Maintaining Personal Vision
author: Andy Stanley
name: Jim
average rating: 4.18
book published: 1999
rating: 4
read at: 2013/12/21
date added: 2013/12/21
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Fred Factor: How Passion in Your Work and Life Can Turn the Ordinary into the Extraordinary]]> 458827
In his powerful new book The Fred Factor , motivational speaker Mark Sanborn recounts the true story of Fred, the mail carrier who passionately loves his job and who genuinely cares about the people he serves. Because of that, he is constantly going the extra mile handling the mail � and sometimes watching over the houses � of the people on his route, treating everyone he meets as a friend. Where others might see delivering mail as monotonous drudgery, Fred sees an opportunity to make a difference in the lives of those he serves.

We’ve all encountered people like Fred in our lives. In The Fred Factor , Mark Sanborn illuminates the simple steps each of us can take to transform our own lives from the ordinary � into the extraordinary. Sanborn, through stories about Fred and others like him, reveals the four basic principles that will help us bring fresh energy and creativity to our life and how to make a real difference everyday, how to become more successful by building strong relationships, how to create real value for others without spending a penny, and how to constantly reinvent yourself.

By following these principles, and by learning from and teaching other “Freds,� you, too, can excel in your career and make your life extraodinary. As Mark Sanborn makes clear, each of us has the potential be a Fred. The Fred Factor shows you how.]]> 112 Mark Sanborn 0385513518 Jim 4 3.87 2002 The Fred Factor: How Passion in Your Work and Life Can Turn the Ordinary into the Extraordinary
author: Mark Sanborn
name: Jim
average rating: 3.87
book published: 2002
rating: 4
read at: 2013/11/27
date added: 2013/11/27
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Creature of the Word: The Jesus-Centered Church]]> 15808076 256 Matt Chandler 1433678624 Jim 4 4.08 2012 Creature of the Word: The Jesus-Centered Church
author: Matt Chandler
name: Jim
average rating: 4.08
book published: 2012
rating: 4
read at: 2013/11/18
date added: 2013/11/18
shelves:
review:

]]> Why Johnny Can't Preach 6188774
T. David Gordon has identified a problem, one that affects us all and needs fixing. Our preaching is just not communicating properly anymore. Fortunately, Gordon refuses to stand by and watch—and we should too. In this short book, he provides a concise, in-depth look at the causes of this failure and also shows us how to make things better.]]> 112 T. David Gordon 1596381167 Jim 2 4.04 2009 Why Johnny Can't Preach
author: T. David Gordon
name: Jim
average rating: 4.04
book published: 2009
rating: 2
read at: 2013/11/06
date added: 2013/11/06
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking]]> 8520610 The book that started the Quiet Revolution

At least one-third of the people we know are introverts. They are the ones who prefer listening to speaking; who innovate and create but dislike self-promotion; who favor working on their own over working in teams. It is to introverts—Rosa Parks, Chopin, Dr. Seuss, Steve Wozniak—that we owe many of the great contributions to society.Ěý

In Quiet, Susan Cain argues that we dramatically undervalue introverts and shows how much we lose in doing so. She charts the rise of the Extrovert Ideal throughout the twentieth century and explores how deeply it has come to permeate our culture. She also introduces us to successful introverts—from a witty, high-octane public speaker who recharges in solitude after his talks, to a record-breaking salesman who quietly taps into the power of questions. Passionately argued, superbly researched, and filled with indelible stories of real people, Quiet has the power to permanently change how we see introverts and, equally important, how they see themselves.

Now with Extra Libris material, including a reader’s guide and bonus content.]]> 333 Susan Cain 0307352145 Jim 3 4.07 2012 Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking
author: Susan Cain
name: Jim
average rating: 4.07
book published: 2012
rating: 3
read at: 2013/11/05
date added: 2013/11/05
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Sticking Points: How to Get 4 Generations Working Together in the 12 Places They Come Apart]]> 17131033
Haydn Shaw, popular business speaker and generational expert, has identified 12 places where the 4 generations typically come apart in the workplace (and in life as well). These sticking points revolve around differing attitudes toward managing one’s own time, texting, social media, organizational structure, and of course, clothing preferences. If we don’t learn to work together and stick together around these 12 sticking points, then we’ll be wasting a lot of time fighting each other instead of enjoying a friendly and productive team. Sticking Points is a must-read book that will help you understand the generational differences you encounter while teaching how we can learn to speak one another’s language and get better results together.]]> 288 Haydn Shaw 1414364717 Jim 4 3.97 2013 Sticking Points: How to Get 4 Generations Working Together in the 12 Places They Come Apart
author: Haydn Shaw
name: Jim
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2013
rating: 4
read at: 2013/11/05
date added: 2013/11/05
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Sunday School that Really Excels: Real Life Examples of Churches with Healthy Sunday Schools]]> 17762106 204 Steve R. Parr 0825443180 Jim 0 4.22 2013 Sunday School that Really Excels: Real Life Examples of Churches with Healthy Sunday Schools
author: Steve R. Parr
name: Jim
average rating: 4.22
book published: 2013
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2013/07/24
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[There's Hope for Your Church: First Steps to Restoring Health and Growth]]> 13789075
God can and does restore churches to new life, even as he restores individuals. The street-smart ideas and step-by-step instructions found in this book are ones that pastors and church leaders can put to use immediately in their churches to bring about solid growth and renewed hope for the future.]]> 206 Gary L. McIntosh 0801014069 Jim 3 3.70 2012 There's Hope for Your Church: First Steps to Restoring Health and Growth
author: Gary L. McIntosh
name: Jim
average rating: 3.70
book published: 2012
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2013/07/24
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Finding a Vision for Your Church: Assembly Required]]> 17375201
---
The church is more than a building—it is an assembly of people joined together across distances and even through time to fulfill God’s purposes in the world. Each local gathering of that assembly needs a vision to help its members accomplish the work God has called them to do.

But how do you inspire your church to create and follow through on a vision?

Mike Milton provides tested, biblical ideas to get everyone in the church involved in a plan to help the congregation grow. Each chapter develops an awareness of what needs to be done, provides questions for review, and includes prayers by elders and ministers of churches that have put these ideas to use.

“Mike Milton has brought to the table not only his extensive experience in leadership and lessons learned in pastoral ministry, but more importantly faithful, biblical insights for the spiritual vitality of the church. . . . I’m extremely excited about this resource, which I highly commend to you.�
—Harry L. Reeder III, Senior Pastor, Briarwood Presbyterian Church, Birmingham, Alabama

“Instead of doing ministry as everyone else does or as some other stale pattern suggests, why not let the Master of Ministry instruct us? Dr. Milton knows that Master well, and it shows.�
—David W. Hall, Senior Pastor, Midway Presbyterian Church, Powder Springs, Georgia

Michael A. Milton is Chancellor and CEO of Reformed Theological Seminary, where he is also the James M. Baird Jr. Professor of Pastoral Theology. He is the host of the national Bible teaching television program Faith for Living, a songwriter and recording artist, and the author of numerous books. Previously he was the senior minister of the historic First Presbyterian Church of Chattanooga, Tennessee.]]> Michael A. Milton Jim 2 2.80 2012 Finding a Vision for Your Church: Assembly Required
author: Michael A. Milton
name: Jim
average rating: 2.80
book published: 2012
rating: 2
read at: 2013/07/24
date added: 2013/07/24
shelves:
review:
The book is taken from a series of sermons that Michael Milton preached when he first arrived at First Presbyterian Church in Chattanooga, Tennessee. In and of themselves, the sermons are fine. They are biblical, Gospel centered and relevant. The problem is that I assumed I was buying a book on finding and developing a vision for your church--like the title indicates. This book doesn't do that. The appendix includes his church's mission and vision statements, and a transition schedule. It would have been nice if the book would have explained the process of how they got there. That was what I was expecting.
]]> Preaching in the Holy Spirit 13223676 67 Albert N. Martin 1601781199 Jim 3 4.29 2011 Preaching in the Holy Spirit
author: Albert N. Martin
name: Jim
average rating: 4.29
book published: 2011
rating: 3
read at: 2013/07/24
date added: 2013/07/24
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[One-to-One Bible Reading: A Simple Guide for Every Christian]]> 11459767
What is this way? What is this activity that is so simple and so universal that it meets the discipleship needs of very different people at very different stages of discipleship, even non-Christians?

We call it reading the Bible one-to-one.

But what exactly is reading the Bible one-to-one? Why should we do it? Who is it for?

In One-to-One Bible Reading: a simple guide for every Christian, David Helm answers these important questions.

About the Author

David Helm is a pastor at Holy Trinity Church in Chicago, and Chairman of The Charles Simeon Trust, a ministry devoted to equipping expository preachers. He longs for all Christians to read God’s word for themselves and with others.]]> 103 David R. Helm 1921441984 Jim 5
Why? Because of its biblical simplicity. The author does not just pay lip-service to the fact that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God—he really believes it and has built his whole evangelism/discipleship concept around it. The book is only 103 pages long, with over one-quarter of its pages taken by resource helps and copyable worksheets to aid in your reading. The concept is simple. If you have a friend who needs Jesus—read the Bible together with him. If you have a friend who is seeking answers—read the Bible together with her. If you have a friend who needs to develop her faith—read the Bible together with her. If you have a strong Christian friend who needs to develop as a leader—read the Bible together with him. It’s a very simple concept. That’s why the book is so short.

Though it is a simple concept, it is an absolutely life, community and church changing concept. That’s why the author takes seriously people’s apprehension about doing it. No Christian would deny the power of the Gospel to save and transform lives. But at the same time, most Christians would be terrified to ask a friend or business colleague to read through the Gospel of Mark with them. The author removes much of that apprehension by clearly and simply describing the process. He also provides two simple methods of studying the text together, as well as Q&A sheets you can copy and share.

At the risk of seeming superfluous, other than the Bible, I can think of no other book with as great a potential to radically change your life and your church as this one.

Paperback: 103 Pages
Publisher: Matthias Media (April 1, 2011)
ISBN-10: 1921441984

Matthias Media provided me with a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review. In no way did that influence my opinion of the book or my review.
]]> 4.25 2012 One-to-One Bible Reading: A Simple Guide for Every Christian
author: David R. Helm
name: Jim
average rating: 4.25
book published: 2012
rating: 5
read at: 2012/06/10
date added: 2013/07/24
shelves:
review:
It doesn’t take a whole lot of research and insight to understand the greatest weaknesses of most churches are evangelism and discipleship. Fixing those problems would cure most (if not all) of what ails us. Salvations, baptism rate, church discipline, regenerate church membership, giving, church planting, unity, doctrinal fidelity—all would be cured if we could just get our evangelism and discipleship problems fixed. Because of that, there are countless programs developed and books written on those subjects. I have benefitted from many of those books and many of those costly church programs can be very effective. But I believe the little book, One-to-One Bible Reading, by David Helm, can have more impact on your church than anything else.

Why? Because of its biblical simplicity. The author does not just pay lip-service to the fact that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God—he really believes it and has built his whole evangelism/discipleship concept around it. The book is only 103 pages long, with over one-quarter of its pages taken by resource helps and copyable worksheets to aid in your reading. The concept is simple. If you have a friend who needs Jesus—read the Bible together with him. If you have a friend who is seeking answers—read the Bible together with her. If you have a friend who needs to develop her faith—read the Bible together with her. If you have a strong Christian friend who needs to develop as a leader—read the Bible together with him. It’s a very simple concept. That’s why the book is so short.

Though it is a simple concept, it is an absolutely life, community and church changing concept. That’s why the author takes seriously people’s apprehension about doing it. No Christian would deny the power of the Gospel to save and transform lives. But at the same time, most Christians would be terrified to ask a friend or business colleague to read through the Gospel of Mark with them. The author removes much of that apprehension by clearly and simply describing the process. He also provides two simple methods of studying the text together, as well as Q&A sheets you can copy and share.

At the risk of seeming superfluous, other than the Bible, I can think of no other book with as great a potential to radically change your life and your church as this one.

Paperback: 103 Pages
Publisher: Matthias Media (April 1, 2011)
ISBN-10: 1921441984

Matthias Media provided me with a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review. In no way did that influence my opinion of the book or my review.

]]> Bible Savvy Set of 4 Books 17719890 576 James L. Nicodem 0802487246 Jim 4
The first book in the series is Epic: The Storyline of the Bible. In Epic, the author attempts to lay out the grand narrative of Scripture in less than 200 duodecimo sized pages. A sizable task in a diminutive package! When I first started seriously studying the Bible, one of the first tools I bought was an introduction to the Bible. It gave overviews and brief backgrounds of each book of the Bible. Epic is not that kind of book. As a matter of fact, one chapter covers Genesis 12 � Song of Solomon. The book isn’t designed to give backgrounds, maps and timelines. It’s designed to lay out the grand narrative of Scripture—the story of redemption. The author is clearly not a Dispensationalist, which skews some of his views of Old Testament prophesy and the nature of Israel. But, as a Dispensationalist, I would be very comfortable using this book in a small group setting. One thing that is very helpful is that Nicodem doesn’t shy away from difficult apologetic questions. He offers great answers to some frequently asked difficult questions.

The second book is Foundation: The Trustworthiness of the Bible. After understanding the basic storyline of the Bible, readers are given reasons that the Bible can be trusted. In four short lessons, the author covers everything from verbal inspiration to perspicuity—once again keeping the cookies on the bottom shelf. I appreciate the author’s emphasis on reading, hearing, studying and memorizing Scripture. I do however wish he wouldn’t have taken off on his negative riff about verse-by-verse preaching. As a preacher, if anything would prevent me from using this book in small group studies, it would be that page-and-a-half riff. There was no need to undermine this valuable type of preaching—especially to immature Christians who will most benefit from both these books and expository preaching. I wish Nicodem hadn’t done it.

The third book is Context: How to Understand the Bible. I only wish my seminary hermeneutics classes had been this clear and easy to understand! The author gives his readers a great overview of how to read the Bible in its proper context.

The fourth book is Walk: How to Apply the Bible. This is where Nicodem’s series sets itself apart. He moves his readers from thinking about how to rightly understand the Bible to actually doing something with it. He explains the COMA approach to Bible study—an acronym meaning Context, Observation, Message, Application. This is a well-tested method of Bible study and the author does a very good job explaining it.

Each chapter of each book concludes with a study guide designed for both personal and group study, making the set ideal to use as a small group curriculum. If a small group was to work straight through all four books, one chapter per week, it would only take 18 weeks to finish the series. After that 18 weeks, they would have an excellent foundation to become students—both hearers and doers—of the Word. I would have preferred a few things to be different, including his eschatology, his lack of appreciation for expository preaching and his promotion of the NIV Study Bible. But despite those small differences, I would encourage pastors and churches to use these books in their churches in a small group setting.

Paperback: 576 pages
Publisher: Moody Publishers; New Edition (March 15, 2013)
ISBN-10: 0802494048

Moody Publishers provided me with a complimentary set of these books in exchange for an unbiased review. In no way did that influence my opinion of the book or my review.
]]> 4.50 2013 Bible Savvy Set of 4 Books
author: James L. Nicodem
name: Jim
average rating: 4.50
book published: 2013
rating: 4
read at: 2013/07/17
date added: 2013/07/17
shelves:
review:
One of the great weaknesses of many Christians today is the lack of time spent in the Bible. The fact is, the Bible can be an intimidating book. James Nicodem has written a series of short books called The Bible Savvy Series designed to overcome that weakness by making the Bible accessible and less intimidating. The series contains four short books: Epic, Foundation, Content, and Walk. Nicodem writes with an engaging, simple style that is accessible to all readers. His years as a youth pastor and senior pastor have given him an ability to communicate difficult truths simply and concisely. As J. Vernon McGee would say, he “puts the cookies on the bottom shelf� where everybody can get to them. He is adept at using illustrations without coming across as self-promoting or simply a story teller. Making deep and difficult subjects seem simple (rather than simplistic) is a sign of a master teacher. Nicodem certainly fits the bill.

The first book in the series is Epic: The Storyline of the Bible. In Epic, the author attempts to lay out the grand narrative of Scripture in less than 200 duodecimo sized pages. A sizable task in a diminutive package! When I first started seriously studying the Bible, one of the first tools I bought was an introduction to the Bible. It gave overviews and brief backgrounds of each book of the Bible. Epic is not that kind of book. As a matter of fact, one chapter covers Genesis 12 � Song of Solomon. The book isn’t designed to give backgrounds, maps and timelines. It’s designed to lay out the grand narrative of Scripture—the story of redemption. The author is clearly not a Dispensationalist, which skews some of his views of Old Testament prophesy and the nature of Israel. But, as a Dispensationalist, I would be very comfortable using this book in a small group setting. One thing that is very helpful is that Nicodem doesn’t shy away from difficult apologetic questions. He offers great answers to some frequently asked difficult questions.

The second book is Foundation: The Trustworthiness of the Bible. After understanding the basic storyline of the Bible, readers are given reasons that the Bible can be trusted. In four short lessons, the author covers everything from verbal inspiration to perspicuity—once again keeping the cookies on the bottom shelf. I appreciate the author’s emphasis on reading, hearing, studying and memorizing Scripture. I do however wish he wouldn’t have taken off on his negative riff about verse-by-verse preaching. As a preacher, if anything would prevent me from using this book in small group studies, it would be that page-and-a-half riff. There was no need to undermine this valuable type of preaching—especially to immature Christians who will most benefit from both these books and expository preaching. I wish Nicodem hadn’t done it.

The third book is Context: How to Understand the Bible. I only wish my seminary hermeneutics classes had been this clear and easy to understand! The author gives his readers a great overview of how to read the Bible in its proper context.

The fourth book is Walk: How to Apply the Bible. This is where Nicodem’s series sets itself apart. He moves his readers from thinking about how to rightly understand the Bible to actually doing something with it. He explains the COMA approach to Bible study—an acronym meaning Context, Observation, Message, Application. This is a well-tested method of Bible study and the author does a very good job explaining it.

Each chapter of each book concludes with a study guide designed for both personal and group study, making the set ideal to use as a small group curriculum. If a small group was to work straight through all four books, one chapter per week, it would only take 18 weeks to finish the series. After that 18 weeks, they would have an excellent foundation to become students—both hearers and doers—of the Word. I would have preferred a few things to be different, including his eschatology, his lack of appreciation for expository preaching and his promotion of the NIV Study Bible. But despite those small differences, I would encourage pastors and churches to use these books in their churches in a small group setting.

Paperback: 576 pages
Publisher: Moody Publishers; New Edition (March 15, 2013)
ISBN-10: 0802494048

Moody Publishers provided me with a complimentary set of these books in exchange for an unbiased review. In no way did that influence my opinion of the book or my review.

]]> <![CDATA[Saving Eutychus: How to Preach God's Word and Keep People Awake]]> 17793432
Saving Eutychus will help you save your listeners from such a fate. Written by an Aussie and an Irishman with very different styles who share a passion for preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. Saving Eutychus delivers fresh, honest, faithful and practical insights into preaching the whole word of God, sunday by Sunday, in an engaging way. This book is a practical distillation of decades of thinking, writing, preaching, failing, humbly praying and seeing God at work, and is an invaluable tool for honing your own gifts to become the best preacher you can be.

Includes sermons and mutual critique from each author, a sermon critique sheet, and practical tips and helpful diagrams.]]> 172 J. Gary Millar 1922206253 Jim 5 4.10 2013 Saving Eutychus: How to Preach God's Word and Keep People Awake
author: J. Gary Millar
name: Jim
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2013
rating: 5
read at: 2013/06/08
date added: 2013/06/08
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Christ's Prophetic Plans: A Futuristic Premillennial Primer]]> 13195814 224 John F. MacArthur Jr. 0802401619 Jim 5
MacArthur identifies the book as a primer. Rather than it being a primer in the strictest sense, it is a basic defense of dispensationalism against historical premillennialism, amillennialism, and postmillennialism. All too often, explanations of dispensationalism have been left to big-hair televangelists and cheesy trade paperbacks. Because of this, and the continual mischaracterizations of some respected Bible teachers, the belief in a pre-tribulational rapture has been discounted as unscholarly, backwoods or even theologically dangerous. This book combats those mischaracterizations by clearly articulating the biblical foundations of the doctrine.

The book is a collection of essays written by MacArthur and Master’s Seminary professors. Unlike most dispensational studies, it does not spend any time developing timelines and charts. MacArthur has referred to himself as a “leaky dispensationalist� because he doesn’t hold to airtight charts and timelines. Instead, he holds generally to the system because it is the only one allowed when a consistent historical-grammatical hermeneutic is used to interpret Scripture. If that last sentence makes little sense to you, you need to read the book!

As a matter of fact, if you have yet to, or are currently developing your understanding of biblical prophesy, you need to read this book. If your only exposure to dispensationalism is the caricature portrayed in the Left Behind series or the heretical distortion promoted by John Hagee, you need to read this book. If you have been persuaded that dispensationalism is somehow inconsistent with serious systematic theology, this book is for you. In short, if you long for the literal, bodily return of Jesus—no matter what your eschatological framework—this book is for you.

Publisher: Moody Publishers; (February 21, 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0802401619

Moody Publishers provided me with a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review. In no way did that influence my opinion of the book or my review.
]]> 4.14 2012 Christ's Prophetic Plans: A Futuristic Premillennial Primer
author: John F. MacArthur Jr.
name: Jim
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2012
rating: 5
read at: 2013/06/08
date added: 2013/06/08
shelves:
review:
Concerning the study of end-times events, most American Evangelicals tend to find themselves in one of two camps—they either ignore it or obsess about it. Since obsession is so unmistakably and obviously spiritually unhealthy, many people choose to ignore it instead. But since at least 1,845 verses of the Bible deal with Christ’s second coming, ignoring it is not an option either. A person cannot be a serious Bible student without developing an understanding of eschatology. While holding to differing eschatological frameworks is certainly not worth breaking Christian fellowship over, it is important (even critical) for Christians to have an eschatological framework. Without a basic understanding of God’s prophetic plan, it is impossible to understand large portions of Scripture. That’s where Christ’s Prophetic Plans: A Futuristic Premillennial Primer, by John MacArthur, can be a very helpful resource.

MacArthur identifies the book as a primer. Rather than it being a primer in the strictest sense, it is a basic defense of dispensationalism against historical premillennialism, amillennialism, and postmillennialism. All too often, explanations of dispensationalism have been left to big-hair televangelists and cheesy trade paperbacks. Because of this, and the continual mischaracterizations of some respected Bible teachers, the belief in a pre-tribulational rapture has been discounted as unscholarly, backwoods or even theologically dangerous. This book combats those mischaracterizations by clearly articulating the biblical foundations of the doctrine.

The book is a collection of essays written by MacArthur and Master’s Seminary professors. Unlike most dispensational studies, it does not spend any time developing timelines and charts. MacArthur has referred to himself as a “leaky dispensationalist� because he doesn’t hold to airtight charts and timelines. Instead, he holds generally to the system because it is the only one allowed when a consistent historical-grammatical hermeneutic is used to interpret Scripture. If that last sentence makes little sense to you, you need to read the book!

As a matter of fact, if you have yet to, or are currently developing your understanding of biblical prophesy, you need to read this book. If your only exposure to dispensationalism is the caricature portrayed in the Left Behind series or the heretical distortion promoted by John Hagee, you need to read this book. If you have been persuaded that dispensationalism is somehow inconsistent with serious systematic theology, this book is for you. In short, if you long for the literal, bodily return of Jesus—no matter what your eschatological framework—this book is for you.

Publisher: Moody Publishers; (February 21, 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0802401619

Moody Publishers provided me with a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review. In no way did that influence my opinion of the book or my review.

]]> <![CDATA[In Pursuit of Great AND Godly Leadership: Tapping the Wisdom of the World for the Kingdom of God]]> 13314614 288 Mike Bonem 047094742X Jim 4
By no means is this an in-depth guide to all the secular leadership tools pastors can benefit from. Its aim is to convince the pastor of their necessity and give him a taste of how and what kind of tools he can use. It is full of quotes and references to books that should end up in the reader’s library.

I must admit that I still struggle with the place of secular leadership tools in the church. God intends for His people to be moved and shaped by the preaching and teaching of His Word. But at the same time, He expects us to use other means as well. For example, no one denies the need for a well-defined budgeting process. Personal and corporate stewardship is God’s requirement. Budgeting is a secular business tool that is used to facilitate God’s requirement. Other business leadership tools can be used the same way, as tools to help facilitate the things God requires of us.

As I read the book, a verse from Proverbs continually came to mind: “The horse is made ready for the day of battle, but the victory belongs to the Lord.� This book helps remind us of all the ways that our horses can be made ready for battle. But it also reminds us that those things are just tools we use but don’t place our trust in. Victory belongs to the Lord. Our trust is in Him.

Hardcover: 288 pages
Publisher: Jossey-Bass; 1 edition (January 3, 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 047094742X
]]> 4.19 2011 In Pursuit of Great AND Godly Leadership: Tapping the Wisdom of the World for the Kingdom of God
author: Mike Bonem
name: Jim
average rating: 4.19
book published: 2011
rating: 4
read at: 2013/06/01
date added: 2013/06/03
shelves:
review:
In the book, In Pursuit of Great and Godly Leadership, author Mike Bonem attempts to bridge the gap between secular business principles and church leadership. He does an excellent job. From personal experience, I understand the struggle pastors who have been trained in secular leadership tactics face. Does God expect us to lead our congregations completely apart from worldly wisdom? Can secular business principles be applied without resorting to ungodly manipulation? Can secular tools be used in a way that accomplishes the mission of the church, while at the same time loving people and glorifying Christ? Is shepherding people and leading people the same thing? Can a pastor have a high view of God’s sovereignty while at the same time employing businesslike means to accomplish His ends? The author answers those questions clearly and effectively. Unlike many Christian leadership books, he doesn’t ignore or sidestep the tension. He freely acknowledges it and recognizes that some business practices are inappropriate in a church setting. But at the same time, he shows how helpful and necessary many practices are.

By no means is this an in-depth guide to all the secular leadership tools pastors can benefit from. Its aim is to convince the pastor of their necessity and give him a taste of how and what kind of tools he can use. It is full of quotes and references to books that should end up in the reader’s library.

I must admit that I still struggle with the place of secular leadership tools in the church. God intends for His people to be moved and shaped by the preaching and teaching of His Word. But at the same time, He expects us to use other means as well. For example, no one denies the need for a well-defined budgeting process. Personal and corporate stewardship is God’s requirement. Budgeting is a secular business tool that is used to facilitate God’s requirement. Other business leadership tools can be used the same way, as tools to help facilitate the things God requires of us.

As I read the book, a verse from Proverbs continually came to mind: “The horse is made ready for the day of battle, but the victory belongs to the Lord.� This book helps remind us of all the ways that our horses can be made ready for battle. But it also reminds us that those things are just tools we use but don’t place our trust in. Victory belongs to the Lord. Our trust is in Him.

Hardcover: 288 pages
Publisher: Jossey-Bass; 1 edition (January 3, 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 047094742X

]]>