How can the church be a healing force in the world? In this longtime bestseller, now revised and updated, authors Jerry Cook and Stanley C. Baldwin suggest that it is only when believers admit their own brokenness that they can love, accept, and forgive those who are hurting around them and put out the welcome mat to their community. They offer clear teaching about the church in a hurting world. As veteran leaders who practice these principles, they speak from experience, not theory. Through touching true stories and practical guidelines for connecting with fallen, sinful people, Cook and Baldwin announce the good news. The church is not broken, and it is the broken people who can change the world.

Short Description (2,000 characters, including spaces) Dr. Jerry Cook spent fifty years as a pastor, teaching and writing about the presence of the Holy Spirit and of Christ in everyday life-including speaking in tongues. But in a conversation with a young pastor he realized the need to explain this topic in a practical, accessible way for those who may have only been exposed to it through "shocking" manifestations of fanaticism. In this conversation, the young pastor wondered what the "big deal" was, and when Cook got over his anger at this dismissive assessment, he tackled the concept head-on. Cook first asserts that "It is possible to be a sane, intellectually honest, biblical, and dynamic Christian who is filled with the Holy Spirit, speaks in tongues, and effectually ministers the full life of Christ." He does not shy away from his own doubts and struggles in the church and his personal faith, striving not to create an academic, theoretical work but to ask the right questions and provide genuine, compassionate advice. Here, find practical, Biblical answers to the questions of the young pastor and of other Christians who have struggled with this concept. Examine six significant events, from the in-breaking of God through the birth, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus, ending with the day of Pentecost. Follow the radical relocation of God from "out there" to "with us" to "in us," and visualize the remarkable implications of this radical move to the Christian's everyday life. Examine the church and the manifestation of Christ in its structure, power, and gathering. Do not wonder what Jesus would do, but ask the radical question of who he would be. What does a practical, post-modern Spirit-filled Christian look like? How is Jesus made visible in everyday living, and why is it important? Who is the church, really? In accessible terms, Cook explains that we are not just to do what Jesus would do, but rather to be who Jesus would be. In this way, we can bring visibility to His presence and access to His life and hope.

Fired by the passion to take the message of the gospel beyond the walls of the church, Jerry Cook challenges Christians to reconsider their role in society. He emphasizes that the church on Monday operates in the experience of the non believer where the greatest impact for God can occur. He encourages Christians to consider themselves strategically placed by Jesus Christ to go to the non believer rather than having them come to God. Drawing from the book of Ephesians, he challenges traditional thinking of how ministry occurs and what the church should be while presenting an exciting new paradigm of living for Christ.