This book answers such questions as: What can believers do to help individuals suffering from problems of living? What should churches do for suffering souls? What did the church do for almost 2000 years without psychological counseling? What did the church do without the biblical counseling movement which began about 25 years ago? This book calls Christians back to the Bible and to the biblically ordained ministries and mutual care in the body of Christ that have effectively cared for souls fo almost 2000 years. - Back cover.

What does it mean to say that a pastor is competent? And how does a competent pastor function? This book is intended to help pastors, seminarians, and lay people who work with pastors understand and answer these two questions. Competence in ministry is a moving target. A ministry technique that works in one parish may not work in another. What works today may not work five years from now. But a competent pastor will be able to adapt to changing locations and changing times. A competent pastor will be happy in her job—or able to figure out why she’s not happy and how to move forward. A competent pastor won’t get stuck—or when he does get stuck, he’ll know what steps to take to get unstuck. Competence, defined by author Ronald Sisk as "the ability to do what needs to be done," requires ministers to understand themselves and others and to keep a realistic perspective on their lives. Competent pastors function by moving toward this kind of understanding and perspective.

What does it mean to say that a pastor is competent? And how does a competent pastor function? This book is intended to help pastors, seminarians, and lay people who work with pastors understand and answer these two questions. Competence in ministry is a moving target. A ministry technique that works in one parish may not work in another. What works today may not work five years from now. But a competent pastor will be able to adapt to changing locations and changing times. A competent pastor will be happy in her job--or able to figure out why she's not happy and how to move forward. A competent pastor won't get stuck--or when he does get stuck, he'll know what steps to take to get unstuck. Competence, defined by author Ronald Sisk as "the ability to do what needs to be done," requires ministers to understand themselves and others and to keep a realistic perspective on their lives. Competent pastors function by moving toward this kind of understanding and perspective.

Someone cannot just wake up one morning and proclaim himself a bonafide member of the Medical Association; Lawyers Council; Pilots Association or Engineering council, without having gone to their school and pass through the process of becoming a recognized member of such prestigious bodies. If anyone tried it, he would be labeled a quack and an impostor! Well, the reverse is the case in Christian ministry. Anyone can just wake up and call himself or herself a minister of the gospel with high sounding and self-awarded titles. Denominations also have not helped matters. People are made ministers indiscriminately. Bible colleges and seminaries have also not fared better. People buy doctoral titles and upon graduation are ordained as ministers of the gospel. With all these errors, small wonder we have lots of incompetent and incredible ministers all over the place today. This book by Dr. Akin-John is the humble attempt to bring sanity to this malaise. He wrote on: * Who is a true gospel minister? * Why incompetent ministers are on the increase. * Qualities of competent and credible ministers. * Factors that define a competent minister. * Jesus' Favourite Minister and many more. This is a classic work on how to become relevant, current and time-tested ministers of the gospel. This is a training manual for ministers and should often be consulted for guidance and advice. It is highly recommended for every minister, denominations, ministers screening boards and training institutions.

David Anderson and Margarita Cabellon bring together an experienced team of practitioners to share best practices for multicultural ministry. Drawing on the pioneering expertise of Bridgeway Community Church and BridgeLeader Network, the contributors present a holistic and multifaceted portrait of what a dynamic, grace-filled and diverse ministry can look like in your church.

A classic in the field of Christian counseling, Competent to Counsel is one of the first works to fully articulate a vision of "nouthetic" counseling—a strictly biblical approach to behavioral counseling and therapy. Dr. Jay Adams defends the idea that the Bible itself, as God's Word, provides all the principles needed for understanding and engaging in holistic counseling. Using biblically directed discussion, nouthetic counseling works by means of the Holy Spirit to bring about change—both immediate and long-term—in the personality and behavior of the counselee. As he points out in his introduction, "I have been engrossed in the project of developing biblical counseling and have uncovered what I consider to be a number of important scriptural principles. . . There have been dramatic results. . . Not only have people's immediate problems been resolved, but there have also been solutions to all sorts of long-term problems as well." Competent to Counsel has helped thousands of pastors, students, laypersons, and Christian counselors develop: A general approach to (and theology of) Christian counseling. Specific, practical responses to particular problems useful for teaching, study, and personal application. Since its first publication in 1970, this book has gone through over thirty printings. It establishes the basis for and an introduction to a counseling approach that is being used in pastors' studies, in counseling centers, and across dining room tables throughout the country and around the world.

In Cultural Competency, Getting Back in the Game for Ministry with Your Neighbors, Paul Nixon explores how a church can regain a sense of cultural competency for ministering to the world around it. There are different strategies that impact how we do this - no single strategy is right for every church. But there are also baseline principles that are universally applicable. Paul Nixon looks first at a few baselines of culturally competent ministry, and then considers the varied strategies churches employ to get back in the game, in terms of effective ministry with their neighbors. These baselines include: The Christian Good News transcends culture Your church belongs to God, not to you The Good Ole Days are in front of us, not behind us Authenticity is essential No church can serve everybody Friendship first, then ministry development Spiritual readiness Social privilege often gets in our way Community partnerships are priceless Good listening may lead to Un-learning A lot of what we try will go about as well as a Wile E. Coyote scheme; God is alive and at work in every neighborhood. Our challenge is to show up to what God is doing; Regardless of strategy, spiritual collaboration with new people is essential! What Readers Are Saying: In a world of converging cultures, clashing ideologies and competing priorities, leadership in the church today can feel like trying to build on shifting sand. In Cultural Competency, Paul Nixon offers leaders Terra Firma. With a call to the timeless and timely work of partnering with God in every place and with every people, Cultural Competency lays the groundwork for the construction of God's preferred future for the church and the world. The Good Ole Days are ahead of us! C. Greg Moore Senior Pastor, Edenton Street UM Church, Raleigh NC Cultural Competency is filled with deep thoughts, spiritual grounding, and down to earth approaches to effective ministry. As a veteran church planter, I highly recommend this book to all Christian ministry leaders, especially those who seek to be relevant participants in the Spirit-led Gospel movement. Bener Agtarap Executive Director, Path 1 at Discipleship Ministries If your church finds itself at a ministry crossroad as it tries to be relevant in our rapidly changing world, this book is for you. Reading Cultural Competency is like sitting down with one of the best church consultants in North America to pick his brain about what your church should think about to thrive in the 21st century. Beth Ann Estock Co-author of Weird Church: Welcome to the 21st Century Cultural intelligence is a learned practice, one needed now more than ever. Understanding the social context of our ministries is imperative, making Paul Nixon's book a vital tool in this endeavor. Filled with relevant insights and engaging examples, his words are for anyone desiring to make an impact for Christ in their unique community. As we shift our hopeful hearts toward ministry in a post pandemic world, this book is a must-read. Ken Nash Lead Pastor, Watermark Wesleyan Church, Buffalo, NY Paul Nixon has the capacity help us see the church as though looking through a retro View-Master toy, enabling readers to take trips to places they have never been or to help us see something in a series of different angles or lights. He offers this very gift in Cultural Competency as he takes a complex subject and allows you to see it through thirteen different lenses or screens. Packed with practical tools for reflection and conversation, this book will be a gift to all congregations who are seeking new ways of loving their community and being church together. Donna Claycomb Sokol Pastor, Mount Vernon Place UMC, Washington DC

Christ-Centered Ministry versus Problem-Centered Counseling is a radical proposal to discourage problem-centered counseling and to encourage Christ-centered ministry, to overthrow intimidation from the psychological and biblical counseling movements, and thereby to free believers in local congregations to minister to fellow believers without psychological or biblical counseling manuals, workshops, seminars, degrees, or certificates. The purpose of this book is to reveal the origins and faults of problem-centered counseling, to describe Christ-centered ministry and how it differs from problem-centered counseling, and to encourage local congregations to minister as God has called them to do without the influence of the psychological or biblical counseling movements.

This book is a comprehensive guide to competent Spirit-led ministry in the 21st century. Written from a Pentecostal/Charismatic perspective, it focuses on four important aspects of effective ministry - preaching, teaching, healing, and leading. Beginning with biblical definitions of ministry, the book describes the challenges presented by the 21st century in light of the long history of Christian ministry, and it offers biblically sound advice to address these challenges. The role of the Holy Spirit in ministry is examined in detail. The bulk of the book is devoted to the theory (theology) and practice of competent, Spirit-led ministry. This book is a call to excellence in ministry as well sa a guide to empowered preaching, teaching, healing, and leading.

The role of women in positions of worship and church leadership is one of the most divisive and inconclusive biblical debates. Two Views on Women in Ministry furnishes you with a clear and thorough presentation of the two primary exegetical arguments so you can better understand each one's strengths, weaknesses, and complexities. Egalitarian - equal ministry opportunity for both genders (represented by Linda L. Belleville and Craig S. Keener) Complementarian - men and women fill distinctive ministry roles (represented by Craig L. Blomberg and Thomas R. Schreiner) This revised edition brings the exchange of ideas and perspectives into the traditional Counterpoints format. Each author states his or her case and is then critiqued by the other contributors. The fair-minded, interactive Counterpoints forum allows you to compare and contrast the two different positions and form your own opinion concerning the practical and often deeply personal subject of women in ministry. The Counterpoints series presents a comparison and critique of scholarly views on topics important to Christians that are both fair-minded and respectful of the biblical text. Each volume is a one-stop reference that allows readers to evaluate the different positions on a specific issue and form their own, educated opinion.