Reviving The Church

Is the Black Church dying? The picture is mixed and there are many challenges. The church needs spiritual revival. But reviving and strengthening the Black Church will require great wisdom and courage. Reviving the Black Church calls us back to another time, borrowing the wisdom of earlier faithful Christians. But more importantly, it calls us back to the Bible itself. For there we find the divine wisdom needed to see all quarters of the Black Church live again, thriving in the Spirit of God. It’s pastor and church planter Thabiti Anyabwile's humble prayer that this book might be useful to pastors and faithful lay members in reviving at least some quarters of the Black Church, and churches of every ethnicity and context— all for the glory of God.

Acclaimed church leader, blogger, founder and chief strategic officer of The Unstuck Group, Tony Morgan unpacks the lifecycle of a typical church, identifies characteristics of each phase, and provides practical next steps a church can take to move towards sustained health. Think about your church for a moment. Is it growing? Is it diminishing? Is it somewhere in between? Acclaimed church leader, blogger, and founder and chief strategic officer of The Unstuck Group, Tony Morgan has identified the seven stages of a church's lifecycle that range from the hopeful and optimistic days of launch, to the stagnating last stages of life support. Regardless of the stage in which you find your church, it carries with it the world's greatest mission—to "go and make disciples of all the nations . . ." With eternity at stake the Church should be doing most everything within its power to see lives changed forever. The Church should strive for the pinnacle of the lifecycle, where they are continually making new disciples and experiencing what Morgan refers to as "sustained health." In The Unstuck Church, Morgan unpacks each phase of the church lifecycle, and offers specific and strategic next steps the church leader can take to find it's way to sustained health . . . and finally become unstuck. The Unstuck Church is a call for honest an assessment of where your church sits on the lifecycle, and a challenge to move beyond it.

There is hope. God can save your church. In this book, Thom Rainer reveals seven findings of revived churches. Through new research, he figuratively dissects hundreds of churches that were on the path toward death. But they turned around. They revitalized. They did so in the face of facts and naysayers who told them it could not be done. Today, three out of four churches are declining in our nation, and twenty percent of churches are close to death. What are the secrets of the churches who avoided this fate and experienced revival? In Anatomy of a Revived Church, Thom will show you how these churches experienced renewal. He will cover everything from “expanding the scorecard” to “dealing with toxins” to “choosing meaningful membership.” When you finish reading this book, you will have the tools to strengthen, restore, and energize your church. You can choose life for your church.

A passionate plea to make the Bible occupy the central place of a Christians life. It not only explores the current malady of not taking the Bible seriously, but it goes deeper to uncover its reasons. Table of Contents Introduction 1. A Revival of Learning the Word: Confronting Distractions, Priorities, and the Pretext of Being Too Busy 2. A Revival of Valuing the Word: Confronting Haziness, Self-Sufficiency, and the Perception That the Bible Isnt Enough 3. A Revival of Understanding the Word: Confronting Superficiality, Superiority, and the Assumption That It Should Come Easily 4. A Revival of Applying the Word: Confronting Special Interests, Therapeutism, and a Lack of Dependence on the Spirit 5. A Revival of Obeying the Word: Confronting Sentimentality, Avoidance, and the Opinion That I Have the Right to Decide 6. A Revival of Speaking the Word: Confronting Fear, Excuses, and the Idea That Its the Responsibility of the Clergy Appendix A: The Easiest Way to Memorize the Bible Appendix B: A Method for Attaining Bible Fluency

A history of the churches of Christ in America with emphasis on who they are and why. Fourteen chapters with pictures of Restoration leaders from both the 19th and 20th centuries.

The time is now for revival. Each Christian must take ownership of his or her faith, and become aware of the importance of a personal relationship with Jesus. Describing his own journey, author Kyle Martin shares humorous stories from his everyday interactions, encouraging readers to fan the fire God has ignited to reach a new level of living-a life full of the Spirit, reviving the kingdom of God. Readers will remember they are disciples of Christ with the ability to impact others, encouraging them to experience the divine power of restoration, breathing life into the American church.

Something in the Church is broken. For Christianity to move beyond business as usual, Christians must learn it's not about what you do, but who you are and who you will become. Based on a survey of 75,000 people in churches from 65 denominations and 5,000 one-on-one interviews, author and founder of Church Doctor Ministries Kent Hunter gives practical direction for Christians to experience the impact every church could make on society. Utilizing seven key strategies for helping churches be more effective, you will finish Who Broke My Church? and feel refreshed, energized, and ready to be the change.

In every era the church needs revival—certainly today as much as ever. And in the heart of every committed Christian there is the longing for personal revival—to know the quality and depths of spiritual reality, and the presence of God in one's personal life. This was the deepest desire of Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, one of the great 20th-century Bible expositors. It was also the purpose behind this series of messages which were first given on the 100th anniversary of the Great Revival which started in Wales, and swept across England and throughout the United States and to the far corners of the world. As Dr. Lloyd-Jones recognized, it is a rare time in the history of the church when there is a great outpouring of the Holy Spirit— and a time of special interest of every Christian who longs for revival today. As Dr. J. I. Packer writes in his foreword, Dr. Lloyd-Jones believed in "the necessity of revival—that is, a quickening divine visitation—as the only vent that can avert ultimate spiritual disaster. The thrustful urgency of the sermons in this book testifies to the depth of his conviction that without revival in the church there is really no hope for the Western world at all." Dr. Lloyd-Jones deftly draws principles from the lives of Old and New Testament characters as well as expounding some of the great prayers of the Bible. Clearly and forcefully, he presents a masterful exposition of the circumstances accompanying revival in the past, why each generation needs it, and how it will come about today. We must come to the sovereign God, forsake our sin, and wait upon Him for this special, essential outpouring. God, bring us revival!

At one time in history, New England was a light to the nations. From its origination, the Northeast region has been a spiritual powerhouse, leading the way for Christianity to flourish in America and beyond. However, after three centuries of vibrant Christian influence, it encountered a perfect storm comprised of false doctrine, liberalism, and materialism, which crippled the church, and plunged the region into spiritual darkness. In Reviving New England, Nate Pickowicz makes a case for the inestimable value of the region, and offers a series of biblical prescriptions for faithfulness. Revival is desperately needed-a mighty work of the Spirit of God to stir the hearts of the people. Now, more than ever, the church must devote herself to the Lord. Not only will the reader be encouraged and spurred on, but Reviving New England offers plausible steps for churches to rededicate themselves, be revitalized, or be planted anew. This is a passionate call to action! (Endorsed by: Mike Abendroth, Hershael York, Dave Jenkins, Todd Friel, Scott Christensen, Terry Wragg, Jimmy Snowden, Ves Sheely)