Whether you are educating your new members or your ministers, this book is a much have for all churches. With the basics of church ettiquette located within every Pastor, Sunday School Teacher and New Members Facilitator will be able to utilize this great source

True Stories from Real People We all have a story to tell. And that's what this book is about. It's a collection of 35 true stories of forgiveness to inspire and encourage you. These stories come from 33 different people from various walks of life. So, no matter where you are at in your journey of life, we believe you will find hope within the pages of this book. Unshackled and Free Freedom...isn't that what we truly want? To be unshackled and free from whatever holds us back and imprisons us. The good news is freedom is available to each one of us. No matter where you've been or what's happened to you in your life, freedom is available to you through the transforming power of Christ. Join Us on This Journey Come join us in this journey where you'll meet real people with true stories of forgiveness whose lives were forever changed. You'll be inspired, encouraged and then changed as you apply what you're learning to your own life. "It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery." Galatians 5:1

We Must Speak: Rethinking How We Communicate About Faith in the 21st Century "Pray that I may declare (the message) boldly, as I must speak." - Ephesians 6:20 In "We Must Speak," Larry Hollon addresses the communications crisis in mainline denominations and sounds a call to action for the church: Speak out in today's digital culture or risk irrelevance. Communications technology is connecting people in unprecedented ways, yet many mainline churches have been slow to adapt - and have continued to lose members and status. Other voices and messages are filling the void, offering superficial entertainment and consumerism as poor substitutes for the good news of the church. By embracing communications ministry, churches can transform their communities, change lives and be the presence of Christ for a hurting world. Hollon shares success stories, a theologically grounded vision, and specific steps for local congregations and denominations to tap the power of communications. "Larry Hollon sets out the case for why we need to maintain our voice ... in a world crowded with competing messages and often destructive values." - Mike McCurry, former White House press secretary

To micromanage or not to micromanage? that is the question. This is an issue that many leaders struggle with. In Details, Details, Details, John Sullivan examines the reasons why some leaders involve themselves directly in the smallest decisions within their organizations. But is this an appropriate behavior for a servant leader? Sullivan argues that a servant leader assumes a position of trust with and toward his followers and works to develop each person to his full capacity. That requires the delegation of tasks and responsibilities, including leadership responsibilities, from the senior leader to subordinate leaders. Leaders who will not or cannot delegate are fundamentally insecure. As a result, the work may get done but subordinate leaders are not developed. Effective delegation, creating metrics to measure progress, and using teams in decision-making result in innovative organizations that grow and thrive while developing new servant leaders.

How do you release an employee, especially if he/she is a friend, without humiliating that person or making an enemy of him/her? This is one of the toughest tasks for any leader whether or not it involves a friend. Involuntarily releasing an employee (termination) often has a profound impact upon the individual. Therefore, it should never be taken lightly. Most leaders don't do a good job of this-be it a secular or Christian organization. However, there are times when a leader has to let someone go from their organization. This can be done with dignity and grace but it takes some planning. In this monograph, you will learn the four basic questions that servant leaders must answer before terminating an employee. When termination is determined to be in the best long-term interest of the organization, you will learn how to do it with the welfare of the individual and the organization in mind.

This is a discussion of the overall chain of command or authority in a Christian church. It discuses the relationship between God, Christ, the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Prophecy, human leaders, and the believer. It discuses the problems that arise when the proper chain is not maintained, and the consequences of such disruptions. Chapter Titles: Preface Introduction Christ's Representative on Earth The Need for Organization Leadership's Relation to Authority How Leaders Are to Do Their Work Unity In the Church Working Against the Church Church Discipline Conflict God on the Throne-He Guides God's Direct Guidance Will Increase Independence From Authority Counsel Together Obedience to God's Authority The Results of Obedience to God's Authority Usurpation of God's Authority The Results of Usurping God's Authority God's Reproof of His Church The Response to Reproof Examples of Relationship to Authority Appendix A Appendix B

How much information do you share with your employees/associates about the organization? Is it better to withhold certain data from those who do not have a "need to know?" In most companies, and even not-for-profits, the answers to those questions would be "Not much," and "Yes " But does this make sense and is it the best strategy for a servant leader? In Truth Telling, John Sullivan argues that sharing vital information about the organization with those most impacted by the success of the enterprise, i.e., your employees or members, is not only necessary but vital to the long-term growth and maturity of the organization. In this monograph, you will be challenged to examine your own leadership style while learning the principles of Open Book Management and its application for servant leaders.

Are YOU the Ultimate Leader? Ask yourself this question, "Who's following you?" This second edition of The Ultimate Leader: The Servant is the ultimate guide for servanthood-leadership. In an era when much of leadership seems toxic, this manual gives an in-depth instruction on how to become a leader and then inspire others to embrace who you've become.

An Unabridged Edition in 7 Volumes: The World's Greatest Discovery - In The Beginning - The Purpose Of Existence - The "Open Sesame " Of Life - The Genie-Of-Your-Mind - The Conscious Mind - The Subconscious Mind - The Universal Mind - The Primal Cause - Matter-Dream Or Reality? - The Philosopher's Charm - The Kingdom Of Heaven - "To Him That Hath" - "To The Manner Born" - Desire-The First Law Of Gain - The Magic Secret - "The Soul's Sincere Desire" - Aladdin & Company - See Yourself Doing It - "As A Man Thinketh" - The Law Of Supply - The World Belongs To You - "Wanted" - The Formula Of Success - The Talisman Of Napoleon - "It Couldn't Be Done" - "This Freedom" - The Only Power - The Law Of Attraction - A Blank Check - The Three Requisites - That Old Witch-Bad Luck - He Whom A Dream Hath Possessed - The Bars Of Fate - Exercise - Your Needs Are Met - The Ark Of The Covenant - The Science Of Thought - The Master Of Your Fate - The Acre Of Diamonds - Unappropriated Millions - The Secret Of Power - This One Thing I Do - The Master Mind - What Do You Lack? - The Sculptor And The Clay - Why Grow Old? - The Fountain of Youth - The Medicine Delusion - The Gift of the Magi - "Suffer Little Children to Come Unto Me" - L'Envoi - Index Of Scriptural References and Quotations

Powerful Lessons in Integrity. The writers of the Bible speak to us with their words, and the Bible's characters speak to us with their lives. Their powerful examples reveal the spiritual inspiration and brilliant insight the human writers and the divine Writer intended. Times, cultures, traditions, and societal values may change from century to century, but human nature does not. We value people whose words and actions reflect their true thoughts and intentions. People of integrity purposely integrate their own thoughts, words, and behaviors. They work at making their own hearts and minds, thoughts and ideas consistent with the godly character portrayed in Scripture. These twenty-five Bible personalities in Choose Your Character cultivate a desire to deepen the commitment to live a life of unfailing integrity. Their examples teach us how to increase our personal satisfaction and effectiveness while strengthening our ability to influence others. Ron Meyers, PhD was raised in a pioneer pastor's home. When he followed his passion for international missions work forty years ago, he never imagined the rich educational curriculum God had for him. He, with his wife, Char, served more years outside the U.S. as pastors in Canada and missionaries in Korea and China than their years in the U.S. From 1996 through 2006, he served as the Professor of Missions and Coordinator of the Master of Arts in Missions program in the School of Theology and Missions at Oral Roberts University. He and Char now live in southern Africa and train pastors in the more than forty sub-Sahara nations of southern Africa. For more information, visit www.LEResouces.com.

Synopsis: Where did Paul find leaders for his new churches? How did he instruct and develop them? What processes took place to stabilize the churches and institute their new leadership? This book carves a fresh trail in leadership studies by looking at leadership development from a group-dynamic, social identity perspective. Paul engages the cultural leadership patterns of his key local leaders, publicly affirming, correcting, and improving those patterns to conform to a Christlike pattern of sacrificial service. Paul's own life and ministry offer a motivational and authoritative model for his followers, because he embodies the leadership style he teaches. As a practical theologian avant la lettre, Paul contextualizes key theological themes to strengthen community and leadership formation, and equips his church leaders as entrepreneurs of Christian identity. A careful comparison of the Corinthian and Ephesian churches demonstrates a similar overall pattern of development. This study engages Pauline scholarship on church office in depth and offers alternative readings of five Pauline epistles, generating new insights to enrich dogmatic and practical theological reflection. In a society where many churches reflect on their missional calling, such input from the NT for contemporary Christian leadership formation is direly needed. Endorsements: "In this highly readably text, Jack Barentsen rises to the challenging task of using the latest thinking on the psychology of leadership to provide a thoroughgoing, fresh, and highly convincing analysis of leadership in early Pauline communities. The result is not only an excellent theological monograph, but also a model of integrative scholarship that is much more than the sum of its theological and psychological parts. Indeed, as a forensic case study of leadership this is very hard to beat--and there is more to be learned from this volume than in the greater part of the vast managerial literature on this topic." --Alexander Haslam School of Psychology University of Exeter "This volume offers a thorough account of the history of Pauline scholarship of local church leadership, together with the most extensive and detailed investigation into the development of such leadership across two ancient cities associated with the Pauline mission: Corinth and Ephesus. It concludes by offering a consistent portrait of leadership development, together with some wide-ranging implications both for this very important historical field, but also for modern-day church leaders. This is a most welcome study." --Andrew Clarke Divinity and Religious Studies University of Aberdeen "Jack Barentsen's Emerging Leadership in the Pauline Mission fills a large gap in our current understanding of the organizational arrangements and leadership models utilized by the first followers of Jesus. This impressive monograph is well researched, erudite in formulation, and provocative in its conclusions. I believe that it will become a standard text for students of organizational leadership in the early Church." --Corne J. Bekker Professor of Biblical and Ecclesial Leadership Regent University Author Biography: Jack Barentsen, born and raised in the Netherlands, served as missionary church planter in his native country and now serves as Assistant Professor of Practical Theology and New Testament at the Evangelische Theologische Faculteit at Leuven, Belgium (www.etf.edu). He also serves as Secretary of the Institute of Leadership and Ethics at ETF, speaking on leadership and offering consulting services to church leadership teams.

Many Christians have serious doubts about their ability to do what they think God is leading them to do because they don't have enough money. Money or the lack of it is not an obstacle for God. He can and will do miraculous things. All we have to do is follow His leading. If God is leading you, it's His job to provide for you. You were fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139: 14), and God created you for a specific purpose. Finding that purpose should be your primary pursuit. As you will see in this book, at the end of the day, God's goals must become your goals. Once you know what they are and your role in them, then you must be willing to play your role. Even then, God is responsible for leading you to successful completion of the job He created for you and you alone. This book explains why in a clear and convincing way. It's written in a conversational style that's easy to follow. Additionally, this book touches on several serious problems in our society that influence each one of us, and it presents data indicating that significant changes are called for. By the time you finish reading this book, you will understand what some of those problems are and what you need to do to combat them. Here again, you must do your part, because things won't change for the better until we do our jobs.

Many young, emerging Christian leaders, tired of fighting committees and boards over visional and operational issues, have given up on vocational ministry altogether or found avenues to express their kingdom passions outside of the local congregation. The resulting leadership drain has impacted the ability of congregations to remain on the forefront of kingdom advancing activity. How does a local congregation develop a decision-making ethos that maintains the clarity that hierarchy provides and still provides the creativity and collective wisdom of collaboration? Free to Lead offers an answer to this dilemma.

The Catholic Church is in serious need of reform Check the media: be it print, radio, television, or social networking and you will find unbelievable stories describing how the Church has lost its sense of integrity, distorted the gospel message, and injured and alienated the very people it is committed to serve. If we just talk about the Church's exclusion and injury of members, we will lose another generation of people with the financial and political potential to transform the Church. Now is the time to challenge the status quo and make a clarion call to action To that end, Pat Westerhouse has written Blowing the Incense from Your Eyes: Awakening the Courage to Implement Personal and Institutional Reform in the Catholic Church. This book sets forth the process for personal independence from the Church, as well as outlining a path for committed laity to challenge clerical authority and to reform the institution. The intent of this book is to motivate all "Christian Catholics" to become conscious of the nature of their relationship with the Church, and to evaluate whether their membership is the result of informed choice, or of an unexamined acceptance of dependence on a hierarchical institution. This material will inspire all members who have felt frightened, abused, excluded, injured, embarrassed, or just plain fed up, to insist on and create an experience of Church based on the message of love, forgiveness and freedom within the gospel.

There is a distinct difference between how one whose core faith is that Muhammad(Peace be upon him) was the Messenger of Allah and how someone who does not hold this belief, writes about him. This book, however, is not simply an analysis of history. It is a labor of love and reverence while being analytical and objective. It is an attempt by one who not only believes that Muhammad(Peace be upon him) was the best leader that ever existed but who believes in him and his message and wants to share it. The life of Muhammad(Peace be upon him) the Messenger of Allah is rich and full of lessons. It has been so well documented and so much has been written about his life over the centuries that another attempt is almost unnecessary. However, I decided to write this for two reasons: to make the lessons from the life of Rasoolullah(Peace be upon him) relating specifically to leadership easily accessible to the seeker, whether Muslim or not; and to make an attempt to see how these lessons are applicable today in a world that is in principle, very similar to the world he lived in. My premise is this: Since he was able to change his world and take his people from being the most insignificant, oppressed and weakest to becoming the predominant, admired and strongest in just one generation; if we learn how he was able to do it, we will be able to learn how to succeed in our world today.

This volume contains the collected works of John Reeve (1608-1658) the founder of Muggletonianism, a religious sect that survived from 1651 until well into the twentieth century. Muggletonians believed that the spirit could not be seperated from the body, that God was a man between five and six feet tall and heaven was six miles above the earth. They fought the Quakers with great venom, in the process developing a vibrant and unique theology and apologetic. This volume contains fresh imprints of all John Reeve's published works together with some more modern literary references to John Reeve. Muggleton Press is in the process of republishing the full catalogue of Muggletonian literature.

We live in a strange and turbulent time. The recession continues to deepen, layoffs increase, unemployment rises, costs inflate, and morale sinks. Political lines are drawn and ideological arguments abound. Every day more and more churches are closing their doors. Truly, the enemy has done a masterful job at getting God's people to focus on the world around them, and disengage from the command of Christ to make disciples. Our nation desperately needs godly men to take a stand for righteousness, men who don spiritual armor and live for His glory, men who live as warriors of light working daily to advance His kingdom. Unfortunately, the church is not doing well, and men are at the heart of this problem. The Church needs faithful Kingdom Warriors: men fully equipped for worship, work, and war. This book is a call for the church to help men become strong men in Christ. Men who worship the King, work for His glory, and are not afraid to face the battles of life with a band of church brothers. If we are to become serving men of God that make a difference in the world, the church must do a better job of equipping men. Worship, work, and war are three critical areas for helping the average guy in church move from being an uninvolved spectator to a warring kingdom soldier. A Kingdom Warrior is a committed disciple of Jesus Christ who lives for his King every day. He continually worships as part of a life steeped in sensing God's presence and drawing on God's power. He labors at work showing an example of wholehearted obedience with a growing spirit of excellence; he is working for the Lord and not for men. He supports and defends the gospel of Christ by growing as a war-fighter, vigilant on watch and fully equipped for battle. What would the American church look like if all of its men were fully equipped for worship, work, and war? What would your church look like? If you have a heart for seeing God's men make a difference in the world, join us in forcefully advancing His kingdom.

A scathing review on Amazon.com hit the author's R.J. Neuhaus Duped by the Legion of Christ below the waterline. Hence this second "revised and augmented" vessel. Leaving dry dock the old Neuhaus Duped is launched with a new name, the repaired hull sporting streamlined chronology: inserted late reflections were tidied up and consigned to the stern. A discussion of Pope Benedict XVI's comments on the Legion of Christ Founder provides greater ballast. Maciel's psychology is put under review showing that he was much more than a sexual deviant. And, finally, an excellent essay by Peter Kingsland on Maciel as an abusive leader pulled the chapters together making for a more seaworthy ship. The author's brief correspondence with Richard John Neuhaus took place in 2002 as a reaction to his then famous "Feathers of Scandal" defense of Fr. Marcial Maciel, founder of the Legion of Christ, accused of pedophilia. Fr. Neuhaus demonstrated his willingness to engage in correspondence with an unknown minnow of the Catholic world who dared "question him." He was always civil, respectful, and fair in the fray. His pointed questions made me reflect and he, in turn, reflected on my answers. Those 2002 corazonadas - heartfelt intuitions - regarding the immoral life of the Rev. Marcial Maciel - were borne out by subsequent revelations made by the Legion leadership itself, a Vatican Investigation followed by a Reform Intervention, and finally by the words of His Holiness Benedict XVI. Ever since their 1941 foundation Maciel and the Legion had been "a sign of contradiction" in Mexico, the Vatican, Ireland, the USA and many other countries. From the 1960's through the early 21st century the Legion sailed silently and swiftly to forty countries buoyed by the adulation of conservative Catholics. Even after a Vatican investigation into allegation of pedophilia against Fr. Maciel in 2005 and a subsequent slap on the wrist in 2006, many refused to doubt or question, attributing criticism to ill will, hatred, and even a desire to "destroy the Catholic priesthood and the Church." Not long after Maciel's death Legion leadership out of the blue revealed he had lovers and engendered children. Evidence of a cynically double life destroyed Maciel's image in the eyes of the public much more successfully than his detractors had ever hoped. A second Vatican "visitation" of the institution in 2009 put a further dent in the Legion's armor. Pope Benedict XVI in Light of the World tried to explain the mystery of Maciel to the faithful while saving the Legion he spawned. Did the pope succeed?

Grenwich Community Church is a typical local church - a typical "anxious" local church. There's only one small problem. They wouldn't describe themselves as an "anxious" local church. Barry Moffat, a dynamic visionary leader has just arrived on the scene as their new Lead Pastor. There are signs of life, growth, and momentum. But fear lurks beneath the surface, threatening to disrupt the momentum and sense of excitement. Whether you realize it or not, Grenwich Community Church's story is your church's story. Weaving organizational systems principles and theological reflection into Grenwich's story, Ken Thiessen illustrates how anxiety and fear dominate many of the decisions made in every local church. Your local church. He identifies some of the key manifestations of anxiety and fear and outlines healthier ways of acknowledging and managing anxiety so as to help the church better love God and other people. This book has the potential to change your life and the life of your church, but hold on for the ride