A challenging, innovative approach to a delicate subject. It’s sure to benefit church leaders and members of all ages who dream of a “reinvented” church. —Publishers Weekly Has your church been stolen out from under you? A storm hits a small New England town late one evening, but the pelting rain can’t keep a small group of church members from gathering to discuss issues that lately have been brewing beneath the surface of their congregation. They could see their church was changing. The choir had been replaced by a fl ashy “praise band.” The youth no longer dressed in their “Sunday best.” The beautiful pipe organ sat unused. How will this group overcome a deepening rift in their fellowship and nourish the relationship between the young and old? Can their church survive or even thrive? Who Stole My Church? is a fictional story that tells the all too real tale of many church communities today. In this book you can walk alongside an imaginary community, led by real life pastor Gordon MacDonald and his wife, Gail, and discover how to meet the needs of all believers without abandoning the dreams and desires of any.

Four unforgettable characters set out to find their church building after it has been physically moved. But how they go about locating it and what they do once they find it is so different, humorous, entertaining, and thought provoking. Ideal for discussion in homes, small groups, Sunday School classes and churches.

The future of the Christian faith will not be determined by the number of people who fill the pews but by the spiritual depth of those people. Pastor Gordon MacDonald revisits the fictional New England congregation of his critically acclaimed book Who Stole My Church to deal with a new dilemma: What's his church's story? What is it doing that justifies its existence? The importance of these questions is anything but fiction. Through a series of e-mails and discussions with friends and parishioners, Pastor Gordon's search for their story leads him to realize that the future of the Christian faith, and thus the church, is at risk. As MacDonald says, "We seem to know how to get unchurched people to visit our buildings. We even seem to know how to draw them across the line into a declaration of personal faith in Jesus. But what we do not seem to know is how to cultivate spiritually deep people. Tomorrow's church could be headed for trouble." Deep people. People who possess spiritual awareness and maturity, people with solid, grounded, life-altering faith. MacDonald shows that the church needs people with a passion for God's presence and a desperate hunger to seek him above all things. Join Pastor MacDonald and his congregation on their quest to cultivate spiritual depth and grow into a community of believers whose hearts and minds are truly focused on God.

Does your life feel cluttered? Maybe an overcrowded calendar isn't your only problem! In this updated classic, learn how our technology-focused generation can deal with stress and find balance in life by submitting to God in five areas: motivation, priorities, intellect, spiritual growth, and rest. We have schedule planners, computerized calendars, smart phones, and sticky notes to help us organize our business and social lives every day. But what about organizing the other side of our lives? The spiritual side? In Ordering Your Private World, Gordon MacDonald equips you to live life from the inside out, cultivating the inner victory necessary for effectiveness. Simplifying your external life begins with seeking internal order. In addition to focusing on spiritual and mental disciplines, you’ll discover: The difference between being driven and being called The lifelong pursuit of the growth of the mind The importance of being a listener and reader How to exercise your soul to keep it in good shape Our culture encourages us to believe that the busy, publicly active person is also the most spiritual. Our massive responsibilities at home, work, and church have resulted in many of us on the verge of collapse. Learn to take a step back from the outer world and deal with the stress of life by developing your inner world: your soul.

Who Moved My Pulpit? may not be the exact question you’re asking. But you’re certainly asking questions about change in the church—where it’s coming from, why it’s happening, and how you’re supposed to hang on and follow God through it—even get out ahead of it so your church is faithfully meeting its timeless calling and serving the new opportunities of this age. Based on conversations with thousands of pastors, combined with on-the-ground research from more than 50,000 churches, best-selling author Thom S. Rainer shares an eight-stage roadmap to leading change in your church. Not by changing doctrine. Not by changing biblical foundations. But by changing methodologies and approaches for reaching a rapidly changing culture. You are the pastor. You are the church staff person. You are an elder. You are a deacon. You are a key lay leader in the church. This is the book that will equip you to celebrate and lead change no matter the cost. The time is now.

Starting a church from scratch? Start here! Launch offers specific strategies for beginning a church with no members, no money, and no staff. Readers get clear, practical how-to strategies for quickly raising funds, creating a team, planning services, effective evangelism, and rapidly developing a growing membership. Specific advice is included for reaching that often difficult-to-target demographic, the 20- to 40-year-old. Now thoroughly revised and expanded to keep up with the ever-changing landscape of church planting.

It began when a small group of believers stepped out in faith-against all odds-and claimed the Queen of Angels Hospital in downtown Los Angeles for the cause of Christ. Now 200 different ministries in the Los Angeles International Church reach out to thousands of residents. Innovative programs minister to AIDS victims, the homeless, battered women, drug and alcohol addicts, and abused children-offering hope and a chance for a better life. The Church That Never Sleeps shows how God can use this incredible ministry as a model to make dreams come true in neighborhoods across the nation.

Christianity has gone from orthodoxy to evangelical crusades, from great demonstrations of miracles to signs and wonders, and to the promoting of prosperity in the body of Christ. The ideals of honesty and fundamental truths have been replaced by what we think and feel. The truth has been reduced to whether or not it is relevant in our society. The mindset is if it feels right, do it, even if it is wrong. Moral stability has been replaced by anything goes. We have misplaced things important to Christ. In What the Church Forgot to Remember, author Peter Triolo Jr. presents the truth about the how and why of Christianity and provides a reminder to what should be close to our hearts regarding Jesus and His church. Through scriptural examples, Triolo shows how the truth can be found in the Bible through Gods own words. What the Church Forgot to Remember reminds us that before there was time, God loved us and that love is everlasting. Theres still time to change the fast-food mentality of what we want and get back to what God wants.

Stand-up comedian and family man Tom Papa explores how we deal with our inescapable relatives and their bizarre behavior. A warm, hilarious book that saws deep into every branch of the family tree and uncovers the most hysterical and surprisingly meaningful aspects of our lives.