In a postmodern culture shaped by consumerism, it?s little wonder that there is confusion about what the church is supposed to be in the 21st century. In A New and Right Spirit, Rick Barger argues passionately for congregations to reexamine what it means to be an "authentic church" in a culture where authenticity is hard to come by. He demonstrates the pitfalls of technical solutions to congregational problems and shows the way to making adaptive change. Recognizing the spiritual needs of a succ…

Convinced that nothing may influence and affect the faith of Christians in the Western, "developed" world so much as consumerism, the editor of Consuming Passion has brought together articles showing how people of faith might best respond to this reality.

Over half of all North Americans live in the suburbs. In The Suburban Church, retired pastor Arthur H. DeKruyter encourages Christians to "go where the people congregate" and illustrates how to plant, grow, and renew suburban congregations. Throughout this book, DeKruyter relies on forty-five-plus years of pastoral ministry experience in which his own congregation grew from five families to more than five thousand members. He dispels myths about suburbia and demonstrates how to minister successf…

�A theology which comes pre-packaged, and in which there are no loose ends, is not true to life nor can it adequately reflect the richness of the Gospel.� Why are churches struggling to maintain credibility in a culture in which there are more spiritual seekers than at any time in living memory? John Drane believes that churches have become stereotyped structures, offering uninventive formulaic worship to a dwindling minority. But there are exciting opportunities for growth, he argues, i…

Like the first-century Pharisees, weve reduced Christianity to a set of propositional beliefs. Truth is, weve gotten away from what it really means to be a Christian. In The Jesus of Suburbia, Mike Erre reveals that weve created a Jesus in our own image. In a fresh, startling manner, Erre helps us understand that the real Jesus is calling us to live, act, and think in ways that overturn the status quo. Mike Erre is the pastor of a 4,000 member church in Costa Mesa, California. Mike and other…

Rick Warren famously wrote, "It's not about you." But much of the Western church seems to disagree, having settled for a self-centered message of personal fulfillment. With incisiveness and a passionate love for the church, pastor and author Byron Forrest Yawn offers a compelling call away from narcissism and back to the powerful and transforming gospel of Jesus. He shows the difference between...Sunday-morning life coaches selling self-help seminars, and preachers proclaiming God's redemptive w…

Suburbia: Paradise or Wasteland? Suburbia is a place of spiritual yearnings. People come to suburbia looking for a fresh start, the second chance, a new life. It embodies the hopes and longings of its residents, dreams for the future, safety and security for their children, and the search for meaningful community and relationships. Yet much in our suburban world militates against such aspirations, and people find themselves isolated and alienated, trapped by consumerism and materialism. Is there…

The church spends $1.5 million for every one new follower of Jesus. Apple sells 26 iPads every minute. What is it that makes Apple so exciting and Jesus so boring? What is it that compels someone to bring their iPod everywhere and their Bible nowhere? In a word: marketing. Jesus is a life-changing product with lousy salespeople-people who are intimidated and embarrassed by the word "evangelism" and who show more enthusiasm for their gadgets than their God. What would life look like if we could m…

A focus on physical fitness is part of modern culture, but not so when it comes to spiritual fitness. Graham Tomlin asks what can be done? Physical health and fitness require discipline, self-denial and cost; so, too, with spiritual fitness. This is a very practical book giving churches and their members tools with which to start to reverse the trend of spiritual flabbiness, benefitting both themselves and society, as the church becomes more appealing and significant. This book is for all who fe…

In an era where church attendance has reached an all-time low, recent polling has shown that Americans are becoming less formally religious and more promiscuous in their religious commitments. Within both mainline and evangelical Christianity in America, it is common to hear of secularizing pressures and increasing competition from nonreligious sources. Yet there is a kind of religious institution that has enjoyed great popularity over the past thirty years: the evangelical megachurch. Evangelic…