"Sunday School that Really Works" by Dr. Steve Parr

This is a fantastic book about the administration of a Sunday School strategy in the local church. It's probably the best I've read on the subject of Sunday School.

Some things I love about the book:
1) The emphasis on reaching the lost with the Gospel. The author states this emphatically all throughout the book. If we aren't reaching the lost with our Sunday School, then our Sunday School is not effective.
2) He addresses all different age groups, not just adults. He has information in here for every class from PRESCHOOL up to Senior Saints. You don't find this is most books on this subject.
3) He presents helpful organizational ideas to the teachers. Many teachers feel they don't have the time to be a great Sunday School teacher, but Dr. Parr offers them ideas to maximize their potential.
4) He addresses both administration and communication aspects of teaching. Both are important, and any teacher can do both well.

There is just so much great information in here, every pastor or Sunday School teacher ought to buy one and read it.
It is available in e-book form, as well.

"Storm - Hearing Jesus for the Times We Live In" by Jim Cymbala

There is no question: the best things about Jim Cymbala's books are always the testimonies he includes from his own church members. It is so encouraging and uplifting to hear how God saved these people, and how He is using them to reach others! It reminds me that God can save anyone that comes to Him. He can not only save them, He can use them powerfully.

The book addresses the current weak state of the American church, in particular. And it is a pretty bleak picture. Frankly, it may even be worse than what Jim Cymbala describes....

We have a church culture that relies heavily on man-centered programming, man-centered scheduling, man-centered music, man-centered teaching and preaching, man-centered application, man-centered prayers (or prayerlessness), and man-centered service. Is it any wonder there is a lack of the power of God?

I appreciate Pastor Cymbala's attempts at addressing this topic. He gives a fairly level-headed and balanced view. However, much of the book felt to me as though it were forced together, and did not flow easily. He seemed more intent on making the chapter titles fit the "storm" theme than making them work in cohesion. The subjects he covers are all important; but I feel as though they didn't work together to form a powerful statement on his main issue.

The book is not long, and is worth a read. It is, however, not the best book on the subject - and is DEFINITELY not Pastor Cymbala's best book. (That distinction would go to "Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire," in my opinion.)

I give it 3 out of 5 stars.

"The Spiritual Leader" by Paul Chappell



From Pastor Paul Chappell comes a very heart-felt book about some of the nuts-and-bolts of ministry. While he is writing as a pastor - and mainly TO pastors - he touches on very broad philosophies and management principles that would be applicable to a wide range of ministry leaders.

 

The chapters are very short and manageable. I read the entire book by reading one chapter each night before I went to sleep. Everything from the ministry team, to the minister's family, to the minister's time management is covered here. And I believe that these lessons come from a man who has tried to humbly and passionately serve the Lord.

 

Pastor Chappell saturates his writing with Scripture, which is crucially important. I remember recently watching a webinar (or something like that) with two pastors of large Baptist churches in Florida. For about an hour I listened to each of them talking about "leadership" principles and church management. They never quoted a Scripture. They never talked about the power of the Word of God, or the necessity of being a Spirit-filled pastor. It was quite discouraging to see how the wisdom of men creeps into the church and drowns out the voice of the Word of God. Pastor Chappell makes no such omissions.

 

The Biblical advice in this book should encourage any pastor, and give them some solid ideas, principles, and guidelines for a healthy, God-centered, and Spirit-led ministry.

 

(This book is available from Striving Together Publications - www.strivingtogether.com)

"The Road Ahead" by Paul Chappell

Earlier this year, my wife and I had the opportunity to attend the Spiritual Leadership Conference at Lancaster Baptist Church in California. I had heard a few of Pastor Paul Chappell's recorded sermons, and I had even read one or two of his books. West Coast Baptist College was one of the institutions I had considered attending when I graduated high school.

But to be there at the church was quite an experience. It is very clear that the church has a lot of energy and passion for evangelism and for ministering to their community. The conference was excellent in so many ways! While I was there, I picked up this book (and a few dozen more...).

One thing I've learned about Paul Chappell is that he has an extremely fresh and soundly biblical perspective on ministry. He lies somewhere between old-school fundamentalism and the new breed of independent Baptist churches (such as some of the newer BBF churches - at least, from what I've seen in our neck of the woods). He is very hard to label without strictly defining (or RE-defining) the labels you are trying to stick on him. So, some of what he says in this book may catch you off-guard.

This book is a challenge to - and an honest evaluation of - the independent Baptist movement. He challenges us to shed some of our long-held (but grossly unbiblical, and border-line sinful) ideas about ministry, pastoring, and our relationships to other churches and Christians. It is no secret that the word "fundamentalist" gives us an automatic black-eye in the eyes of some in our culture. How are we to evangelize in such an environment? How can we present the love and grace in the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ while so many see the name "Baptist" as indicative of intolerance, bigotry, and hypocrisy? There have been too many preachers filled with anger and pride, and too many moral failures have been covered up and mishandled.

With a strong plea to rally around the unchanging Word of God, Pastor Chappell gives some very helpful advice for independent Baptist pastors as we look to the future of our movement. He also includes some very interesting information on the history of the independent Baptists - some of which I'd read before, but some of it was new to me.

Paul Chappell writes with sincerity, Godly wisdom, and a love for the truth. He also has a passion for the men and women in ministry. This book was encouraging and convicting, stirring and sobering.

If you are (or if you have a friend or loved one who is) a young independent Baptist preacher, who perhaps is wrestling with the idea of being "branded" as one of "those Indie-Fundies", and is considering leaving the movement or dropping "Baptist" in their church's name - this book is a must read. There is hope.

I thank God for men like Paul Chappell who look beyond the idols of personalities and the petty conflicts regarding methodology. Let's get back to the real heart of ministry. Fantastic book.

"Get Connected: Mobilizing Your Church for God's Mission", compiled by Johnny Hunt

I was introduced to this book through a recommendation from a dear friend of mine, Bro. Ed Gibson. He is a man who is challenging the status quo of independent Baptists when it comes to world evangelism. The "traditional" way churches look at Missions has some very distinct flaws, especially in the 21st century. Let's not keep doing what we've always done just because it's what we've always done - let's do what works best to reach people with the Gospel. Brother Ed is leading the charge, in my opinion, for the necessary changes to independent Baptist Missions.

If you are familiar with Johnny Hunt, you know that he is a Southern Baptist pastor. I probably lost a few readers right there - but don't let his affiliation rob you of the chance to learn from this book. Johnny Hunt partners with about 5 other pastors in this book, mostly to share how God has challenged and changed the way their churches looked at world evangelism (yes, beyond even the SBC's "Lottie Moon" offerings). And I am not exaggerating when I tell you that the philosophy of Missions presented in this book is spot on and totally Biblical.

It is not a very long book - a little over 100 pages, I believe. Any church leader or church member who has a passion for world evangelism should read this book. Some of the common themes in the 6 or so stories presented in this book include church members getting PERSONALLY involved in the work of missions, as opposed to merely throwing some money in plate to go to a faceless missionary reaching a forgotten people group. This is how a church will catch fire for Missions - when the PEOPLE begin to fulfill the Great Commission themselves, instead of literally paying other people to do it for them.

Those words sound harsh, but that is about the extent of any sort of strategy in the average independent Baptist church: The pastor has a few college buddies that are missionaries - so he invites them to come present their ministry, the church takes them on for support, and the missionary sends a letter every few months talking about their broken down car and MAYBE a few conversions here and there. I'm being very harsh, but also realistic.

WHERE IS THE STRATEGY???? The Great Commission is the most serious task that Christ left to the church! How can we be satisfied with ourselves? What happened to CHURCHES having the burden for world evangelism, instead of a few (and getting fewer) full-time missionaries having the burden and having to BEG churches to support them? Meanwhile, this family will spend probably 5 years and close to $250,000 on deputation (rough estimate of average) BEFORE THEY WILL EVEN GET TO THEIR FIELD!

We can do better than this! We MUST do better than this! This book does not have all the answers, but it definitely will help you start thinking in the right direction.

I read this book, then my pastor read it, then we gave it to all our Missions Committee members and deacons. Our church is seeing the change of mindset already. We have a long way to go, but we are making real progress.

Please, read this book. It may help you see your part in the Great Commission a little more clearly.

If you would like to have a thought-provoking speaker at your church's next Missions Conference, I would highly recommend Bro. Ed Gibson. Email me, or contact me through Google+, and I'll get you his contact info.

"Love Worth Finding: The Life of Adrian Rogers and His Philosophy of Preaching" by Joyce Rogers

As I said in my review of his book, Unveiling the End Times in Our Time, there is no preacher that I respect more than Adrian Rogers. If possible, that respect increased after reading this book.
This book was written mostly by Joyce Rogers (Adrian's wife), although there is an interview-style section at the end that is mostly Adrian's words. Keep in mind that this book was also written before he passed away. In fact, it was written as a sort of tribute to him towards the end of their time in the pastorate at Bellevue Baptist Church in Memphis.
So, with the aforementioned information in mind, there is only one minor criticism of the book. It is not terribly detailed as a biography. Most of the major events of Adrian Rogers' life and ministries are present, including the death of one of their children and the struggles of the Southern Baptist Convention. But, at times the book presents very generic information. Again, this is only a minor criticism. This book is far too thin to be a very detailed biography.
On the positive side, Joyce Rogers presents her words with the skill and perspective of a loving wife writing about her godly husband of many years. She shares the excitements, joys, triumphs, and also disappointments, failures, and tragedies that they experienced together.
The philosophy of his preaching (which is the interview section) was good, but not great. He didn't reveal any information that you could not have probably guessed just by hearing a few of his sermons. Keep the Gospel the focus of your message and life, bathe everything in prayer, don't preach it if you aren't living it, study the Bible constantly, etc. These are all good things - just don't read the book expecting to find an academic treatise on preaching. But if you enjoy hearing Adrian Rogers' unique way of presenting truth - even if it's truth you've heard before - then the philosophy of his preaching is sure to be enjoyable.

I regret that I never heard Adrian Rogers preach in person. In my opinion, he is truly one of the greatest preachers of all time. He was a man of great integrity, with a very winsome demeanor in the pulpit. If you don't know much about his life and ministry, this book is a great source of first-hand information for the casual reader.

"Going Deep" by Gordon MacDonald

My hopes for this book were fairly high, even though this is the first Gordon MacDonald book that I've read. And, to be fair, it wasn't a bad book. It just wasn't a terribly good book, either. Before I get too far, here's the main plot: a pastor is praying for a "great idea" to train future leaders and to grow some influential Christians in the church. The end result is "CDP: Cultivating Deep People." A few people from the church are selected to be a part of the CDP group, and they spend a year of discipleship with the pastor and his wife (meeting every Monday night for 40 weeks). The book follows the formulating of the plan and the first CDP group's experience.
Let me start with my criticisms so we can end on a positive note. To begin with, there were times when the conversations in the book seemed a little shallow and.... well, "cheesy" is about the best way to say it. This is merely a personal opinion and reflects my assessment of the author's writing style, so others may disagree. My second criticism involves the time frame. The book covers two years in 383 pages. Obviously, there are some pretty big gaps and jumps in time.
Third, and I hate to say this, but the characters seemed a little wooden (except for the pastor and his wife, Gordon and Gail MacDonald!). The characters are what either makes or breaks a book for me. This book was lacking in the character department.
Fourth...it was just too good to be true. There were no major conflicts (there were a couple of weak crisis points, but they were resolved). It's very hard to remain interested in a book with no climax. If you aren't building up to something, then you have the feeling that it's downhill all the way.
Fifth - and this was the biggie for me - you will read the words "CDP", "great idea", "this thing", or "deep" on average about 5 times on each page FOR ALMOST THE WHOLE BOOK. It got pretty annoying. I guess it was a necessary thing to do, but it made the book very monotonous to me.
Okay, now I can say some good things about the book! Any pastor would love to have an experience like this in his own church. I truly pray that our church will have disciples that are on fire like these disciples were.
Probably the best thing about the book was the information about Jesus as a Rabbi (from a Jewish perspective). It really opened my eyes to what Jesus was trying to accomplish with the 12 disciples. If you don't know what I'm talking about, you need to research how ancient Jewish rabbis selected and trained their followers. It will change the way you look at Jesus.
The "great idea" that Pastor Mac had in the book isn't a NEW idea at all. It's what Christians should have been doing for 2,000 years. But I'm glad there are 21st century pastors putting new emphasis on the Great Commission: "Go and make disciples of all nations" (Matt. 28:19) We need more disciples of Christ. In all, I'd probably give the book 2 out of 5 stars.
I received this book free from Thomas Nelson publishers as part of the BookSneeze bloggers program. I was not required to make a positive review, and the opinions expressed are my own.

"Brothers, We are not Professionals" by John Piper

I'm very glad John Piper wrote this book. This is probably one of those ministry-related works that I will re-read often. The author tackled some issues that desperately needed a strong defense from a conservative theological standpoint.
The best way to describe the book is that it is a collection of roughly thirty short articles, each focusing on a different area. The title of each chapter is addressed to fellowservants in the ministry, like the very title of the book.
The topics covered are very broad - everything from baptism to abortion. Piper is a skillful wordsmith, and his arguments are very sound both Biblically and logically. One of my favorite chapters was "Brothers, Sever the Root of Racism." This is a passionate issue for me, and I believe that his chapter should be read from every pulpit - including my own church - at least once a year. Racism is killing our churches and reflecting poorly on the body of Christ and Christian unity.
Another great chapter was on loving our wives. So many pastors and ministers have wives who seem to sit in the shadows of the man's "ministry." Pastors, of all people, should have Christ-honoring relationships with their wives... My former and current pastors both stressed to me the importance of ministering to my wife before ministering to others, and I have tried hard to do so.
But perhaps the greatest chapter - and most convicting - was the chapter on God's glory... How could I have missed the fact that the thing God loves most of all is not people, but His own glory? This was an earth-shattering lesson for me to learn, and I was greatly convicted.
If you are a pastor or minister, you would be greatly blessed, encouraged, and challenged by this great book. It is (so far) the only book by John Piper I have read, but it will not be the last. Highly HIGHLY recommended!