Churches have split and denominations have formed over the issue of church government. While many Christians can explain their church's form of rule or defend it because of its "tried and true" traditions, few people understand their church's administrative customs from a biblical perspective. Who Runs the Church? explores questions such as: What model for governing the church does the Bible provide, and is such a model given for practical or spiritual reasons? Is there room for different methods within Christianity? Or is there a right way of "doing church"? And, finally, how (and by whom) should the church be governed? Four predominant approaches to church government are presented by respected proponents: Episcopalianism - represented by Peter Toon Presbyterianism - represented by L. Roy Taylor Single-Elder Congregationalism - represented by Paige Patterson Plural-Elder Congregationalism - represented by Samuel E. Waldron As in other Counterpoints books, each view is followed by critiques from the other contributors, and its advocate then responds.

The book of Revelation is a love letter to the church. Yet most view it as troubling, and many misunderstand what the Lord is trying to tell us. Didn't the Jews in Jesus' day have some of the same problems? Early biblical prophecy, already fulfilled, helps define what is about to happen. Are some bad, scary events looming on the horizon? Yes, and you'll learn about that. But even more important, you'll see what Scripture has to say about you as the overcomer. The puzzles of Revelation are coming together, and we who love and serve the Lord are seeing that the best is yet to come. Revelation: The Best is Yet to Come provides a simple running commentary and interpretive guide for the beginner. Our hope is that laypersons and preachers not familiar with the book of Revelation will be encouraged to do a more in-depth study. The material takes an unashamed pretribulation, premillennial position within a traditional dispensational framework.

Synopsis: Is church discipline really necessary? One sixteenth-century Anabaptist reformer certainly thought so. A contemporary of Luther and Zwingli, Balthasar Hubmaier believed that church discipline was so important that he included the doctrine in every major area of his theology. Not only did church discipline appear in his doctrine of humanity, salvation, and the church, as a theoretical construct, but he also included practical instructions regarding its implementation in the life of the church. In this book Goncharenko examines Hubmaier's teaching on discipline and considers its relevance to the church today. Endorsements: "Simon Goncharenko's most welcome study of the place of discipline in Balthasar Hubmaier's understanding of the church is characterized by jargon-free, flowing prose. Through a patient probing of the sources and development of Hubmaier's mature thought, he shows the coherence--without bypassing occasional inconsistencies--in his subject's thought. Goncharenko is steeped in the secondary as well as primary literature on his subject and gives well-considered reasons for his assessment of the growing and diverse body of scholarly literature on Hubmaier's theology. In addition to his considerable academic achievement the author offers pastors a compellingly articulated model for a believers' church." --John D. Rempel Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary "In Wounds That Heal, Dr. Goncharenko has done a masterful job introducing the reader to one of the most important and biblically minded pastors in the Reformation, Dr. Balthasar Hubmaier. In this thoroughly researched work, Goncharenko discusses crucial topics for the contemporary reader--salvation, discipleship, and church discipline--and, through the life of the Anabaptist martyr, persuasively reminds us that the best theologians given by the Lord to His Church are the ones who adhere to a strict biblicism. While there are many deep theological discussions and insights within this fabulous work, the reader will also gain a powerful understanding of the importance of the belief in the sufficiency of Scripture upon the Christian life." --Emir F. Caner Truett-McConnell College "'Church discipline as an integrative theological motif? ' Today, many theologians would decry such a notion as hopelessly arcane, even a potential threat to theological freedom. Yet the same scholars routinely lament the atomization of humanity, the demise of community, and the division of the theological disciplines. In Wounds That Heal, Simon Goncharenko demonstrates through Balthasar Hubmaier that redemptive church discipline may bridge anthropology with ecclesiology, dogma with praxis, and sanctification with justification inter alia. This is a text worthy of close and attentive reading." --Malcolm B. Yarnell III Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary Author Biography: Simon Goncharenko is the Founding Pastor of 21 Fellowship (SBC) in Midway, Texas, and a regular contributor to the Prayer Message Segment of Houston's KHCB (105.7FM) Radio Network.

Sermon structure has been deemed an important component of preaching throughout the history of preaching by preaching instructors and practitioners alike. Many have made a case for the bearing that sermon structure has for the effective preaching of Scripture. However, sermon structure when incorporated in a sermon often is not as serviceable as it could and should be! This book provides instruction for how sermon structure can serve to principlize Scripture by using statements of theological principle in the sermon outline. Therefore, the timelessness and the timeliness of Scripture are prioritized through statements of theological principle providing doctrinal accuracy and personal relevance which are apparent in the outline of the sermon. How Effective Sermons Advance provides a thorough and comprehensive treatment on the highly significant matter of sermon structure.