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I read all the time. Here I will list
titles of books or materials I have found of interest. Also sermon starters,
illustrations and other points of interest which will help you. I am here to be of
help to you, to enrich your study life and encourage you to better preaching. If you have any questions, email me at drjeff@rockfordbaptist.com |
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Returning to Holiness by Gregory R. Frizzell
"For far too long we have forgotten that God is indescribably holy. Yet even now, He is calling us back to Himself and to deep repentance. Can we really go on with church business as usual?"
This quote is from a book by Gregory R. Frizzell entitled Returning to Holiness. This is a must read for the pastor or church leader who desires to see revival. Frizzell takes the reader on a personal and church wide journey to revival. We are faced with the need for cleansing and solemn assemblies in our own life and in the life of the church to renew and rekindle the fire within our lives.
Frizzell writes: "Where will America be in just a few years if we see no massive Great Awakening? Surely we are at last beginning to realize our primary answer is not just a better strategy. It new strategies could have brought a sweeping awakening, our generation would have long since see the biggest revival in the history of the world. Yet, in spite of a fifty year explosion of new programs and strategies, we have seen by far the biggest moral collapse and baptism stagnation in American history."
Get this book. Email Gregory Frizzell at gfrizzell@earthlink.net or write him at 3800 N. May Ave., Oklahoma City, OK 73112. Or check www.lifeway.com for Returning to Holiness by Gregory Frizzell (ISBN #0-9665424-7-9)
Grace Walk by Steve McVey
"What you've always wanted in the Christian life..."
Steve McVey is a former Alabama pastor. As a pastor he saw churches grow with great number, but strength was lacking. Somewhere along the way, the walk of the disciple seemed to be missing in the life of the believers, and he testifies this is the same things which was happening in his life. Now as president of Grace Walk Ministries, McVey is serving in a discipleship-training ministry in the Tampa Bay area of Florida. He is also the author of A Divine Invitation, Grace Rules and Grace Amazing.
In Grace Walk, the reader is confronted with the issues of the Christian life resulting in a deeper look at the life of the believer. Through the twelve chapters you are brought to understand the strength for the life of a believer is found in the life of Christ.
On the back cover we find these words:
"Nothing you have ever done, nothing you could ever do, will match the incomparable joy of letting Jesus live His life through you. It is what makes the fire of passion burn so brightly in new believers, And it is what causes the light of contentment to dance in the eyes of the mature believers who have learned the secret of the Grace Walk."
While this book is great for personal study or group study, it not a book to take lightly. It is also not a book for you to check your spiritual reasoning at the door-you will need to base all McVey examines on scripture and allow the Spirit to lead you in an understanding of the godly, grace walk life.
You will want to check local bookstores for this book, but it is printed by Harvest House Publishers and can be obtained by emailing info@gracewalk.org or by writing Dr. Steve McVey at Grace Walk Ministries, PO Box 3669, Riverview, Florida, 33568-3669
Give It All to Him: A Story of New Beginnings
By Max Lucado
On the back cover it reads: "Come to me all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest. The weight of our sins, our failures, and our worries is too much for one person to carry alone. Jesus wants them all. Give it all to Him."
This little book is a great book of encouragement, inspiration and help in starting sermons. If you hear me preach in the next six months, you will probably hear me reference this book. In Give It All to Him, you find a compilation of various quotes and references by Lucado to other writings and to scripture.
Take time during this holiday season to pick one up for yourself and a couple copies for the people in your Christmas list.
High Expectations
By Thom S. Rainer
This book was published in 1999 and I have read it several times and now yet again, because it is a great book for understanding the incredible secret for keeping people in the church. We live in a day and time when people want to be entertained, made to feel good and not be saddled with more responsibility.
But because fewer than one-third of the members of many churches attend worship on any given Sunday, pastor's and church leadership are to focus on retention as much as recruitment. Rainer, through High Expectations, shows us the results of a research project which includes more than 300 churches how to retain members by keeping members involved, challenged, and informed. By so doing, members thrive and churches grow, both physically and spiritually.
In this book we learn about areas which we need to concentrate on in order to boost church attendance and retention. These include new member classes, focusing o giving and tithing, developing mission statements, preaching expository sermons, maintaining an active Sunday School and vital youth ministry, and pastoral tenure and stability.
Take some time with this book and see what God might say to you regarding your church.
Bottled Tears
By Rick Ellison
This book is written by Rick Ellison of the Sunday School office of the Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions. Ellison is a Southern Baptist minister who has served on the staff of churches in Texas, Florida, Tennessee and Alabama. As a Alabama Baptist State Missionary, Rick works through the Sunday School leadership office encouraging pastors and layman in the work of growing a Great Commission church.
In Bottle Tears, Ellison speaks of the fruits of the spirit, developing the layman into an effective teacher of the Word of God. This little book is based on the principles of scripture set froth in Psalm 56, 1 Corinthians 13 and Philippians 2.
This is a must read for anyone who leads teachers and for the teacher who wants to effectively lead in growing the church.
Available by calling 1-800-264-1225 or at www.alsbom.org
Visit www.centralassociation.org the web site for the Central Baptist Association in Rockford, Alabama
