On July 12, 2009, 23 youth and adult sponsors from First Baptist Church in Shreveport, La., were involved in a tragic bus accident, leaving two dead and others seriously injured. Rev. Gregory Hunt suddenly found himself leading a congregation in crisis. From that grueling experience, Hunt has crafted a book pastors need to read even as they hope they'll never use it. Putting Christ and mission at the book's center, Hunt examines what happens when crisis strikes and how pastors and congrega...

The Age of the “Miracle Drugs" is Over!Current major diseases - AIDS, heart diseases, degenerative diseases (e.g., arthritis and rheumatism), diabetes, cancers and obesity - are mostly the consequence of our modern lifestyle. There is no longer any disease that can be cured by "miracle drugs." New drugs now developed to treat one disease invariably cause others to appear. Yet, it has been no accident that peoples from various cultures have survived in good...

"The more I read the Bible, the more evident it becomes that everything I have ever taught or written about effective leadership over the past 25 years, Jesus did to perfection. He is simply the greatest leadership role model of all time." Ken BlanchardEffective leadership-whether on the job, in the community, at church or in the home-starts on the inside. Before you can hope to lead anyone else, you have to know who you are. Every leader must answer two critical q...

After more than 25 years of ministry in Hawaii, Wayne Cordeiro knows how to do church as a team. In his signature style, he shares this expertise with pastors, lay leaders, and people in the pew who want to see their churches become more vibrant. The 12 practical steps include ways to help people become part of a community, develop a culture of serving, turn visitors into regular attenders, and much more. This short, easy-to-read book is one pastors will want to share with their leadership...

Most church leaders are passionate about their calling to “go and make disciples.” However, despite their most creative thinking, diligent efforts and rigorous assessments, year after year they arrive at the end of a ministry season with no way of knowing for sure whether they have succeeded or failed in their calling. “I want to serve God,” the refrain goes, “and on most days, I believe I’m doing what I’m called to do. But what if my approach is off-track? What if the work we’re doing as ...

Jesus had no paid staff or sales and marketing department behind him, yet he inspired others to carry His message around the world. Simply put, he was the greatest, most inspiring leader in history.

Best-selling author of The One-Minute Manager, Ken Blanchard, along with Phil Hodges, reveals the meaning of servant leadership modeled after Jesus Christ. Based on Blanchard's and Hodges' Faith Walk seminars, business leaders come to realize that teams are more powerful than the sum of the individuals and to recognize their people as appreciating assets.Servant Leader summarizes the Four Dimensions of Leadership:the head (leadership assumptions and ...

Over the next five to ten years, it's predicted that more than 50,000 strategic ministry leadership positions are going to be filled. Who will these leaders be? And more importantly, who will prepare them for these positions?Mentoring Leaders offers a unique angle on what it takes to prepare transformational leaders for today's church. While addressing the different phases of leadership development and mentoring, as well as the characteristics of a dynamic and effective leader, Car...

Youth ministry veteran and bestselling author, Duffy Robbins, offers an updated and revised edition of his book about the important, behind-the-scenes mechaincs of youth ministry. The tasks of budgeting, decision-making, time management, team ministry, staff relationships, conflict resolution, working with parents, and a range of other issues, are the things that keep a ministry together and functioning well. Nobody gets into youth ministry because they want to think about these things; bu...

Randy Pope has created a blueprint for pastors and church planters with The Intentional Church. Such an organization must model a dynamic spirit of worship and servanthood that will cause it to become a magnet for people needing help. Part of the blueprint involves having a God-honoring purpose, a faith-oriented commitment, a well-defined mission, biblically-based job descriptions, and more. A relevant resource for pastors and lay persons.

Is it possible that the division between the clergy and the laity is unnecessary and, in fact, harmful to the church? In Organic Leadership, Neil Cole fervently says yes and shows how this causes great harm to all. But rather than doing away with the clergy, Cole argues that the answer is to raise up organically grown leaders from ordinary Christians and make everyone "a priest."Using examples from modern cinema, personal experience, and the Bible, Cole sets out to change o...

How are we doing? The church, that is. And how are we doing it? Congregations have long measured success by "bodies, budget, and buildings"--a certain record of attendance, the offering plate, and square footage. But the scorecard can't stop there. When it does, the deeper emphasis on accountability, discipleship, and spiritual maturity is lost. Ignoring those details, we see fewer lives transformed, Christian influence wane, and churches thin out--a situation that is all too familiar acro...