A Review of The Present Future

Cover Photo of The Present Future: 
Six Tough Questions for the Church, from Amazon.com

Reggie McNeal’s book, The Present Future: Six Tough Questions for the Church, addresses the need for the church to move from program driven buildings and bureaucracy back to missional service and disciple making.

In this book, McNeal looks at how the church has been inwardly focused and more like a “club” with a “club mentality”, seeking its own good and interests above the mission of reaching the unsaved and those who are “outside the club.” The local church has become something that is antiquated and far removed from its life giving vitality of mission and service toward dead ritualistic programs and facilities.

It has been said that the church is the only organization that exists for its non-members. McNeal asserts, in so many words, that this is no longer the case concerning the church in North America. We, the church, have become more inwardly focused and have done less and less for those who we should be reaching out to in selfless service, evangelism and discipleship. As the church, we must move away from the “country club” mindset and move back toward our mission—people.

The future of the church lies in the present. The old ways no longer work for a new generation with a differing culture and a diversity of need. Old models of ministry and church are ceasing to function and work as they once did. New methods of relationships and decentralization must be put into action. Disciples must be made and leadership must be developed and sent out.

The church is not something we go to, the church is who we are in the world. We must move from an attractional model of church buildings and programs, with the idea of “if we build it, they will come” and move toward being a people who integrate our faith into our work and into every area of our lives. We must be the church in “the present future.”

In The Present Future: Six Tough Questions for the Church, Reggie McNeal addresses six serious topics, which include the following: The church culture, as we know it, is over; we must move from church growth models to kingdom growth thinking and initiative; a new reformation will begin once the church releases equipped people into the world for mission; spiritual formation and development must be at the heartbeat of the church; church leaders must move from planning to preparation so they will be equipped for every good work; and finally, church leaders need to be trained and equipped, not to do programing, but to do mission, and to be missional, as sent people into the world.

The Present Future is an excellent book for anyone in church and ministry leadership. This book is relevant in addressing real concerns with the current state of the church and is motivational and inspirational in addressing real issues with real solutions of mission and focus.

Bibliography

McNeal, Reggie. The Present Future: Six Tough Questions for the Church. Jossey-Bass, 2003.

Who’s in Charge of Bob?: A Book Review

Who's In Charge of Bob?: The Key to Moving from Ordinary to Extraordinary, cover photo from FredGrooms.com and Amazon.com

In our current cultural climate it has become the norm to abdicate responsibility for one’s self, or to shift blame and responsibility onto others. This is why it is refreshing to see the release of Fred Grooms’ new book, Who's In Charge of Bob?: The Key to Moving from Ordinary to Extraordinary. This exciting new resource provides practical tools and insights for students to take charge of their lives, to take responsibility for their lives and to focus on their strengths, as well as managing their weaknesses, for greater outcomes and transformation.

Fred Grooms does a fantastic job of weaving his own story together with the testimony and stories of others to give examples of how to overcome obstacles to success and growth. Fred addresses strengths and weaknesses in his book through the following chapters: A Glimpse into Personal Strengths, You Are Talented, Discover and Uncover Your Talents, Investing In and Utilizing Your Talents, Dealing with Your Weaknesses, and Who’s in Charge of Bob? Learning to Take Charge.

In the back of the book, Fred gives practical insights, advice, tools and resources in his closing thoughts and in the appendix on Strengths Assessment. The appendix provides valuable links to StrengthsFinder®, through the Gallup organization, as well as StrengthsQuest®, through Clifton Strengths Assessment. Fred provides program ideas and offers his speaking and consulting services through FredGrooms.com and Barnabas Consulting.

Who's In Charge of Bob? is a solid resource for students who are not only looking to understand who they are, but who are looking to understand how who they are will shape who they are becoming and how they will impact the world. As life long learners, we must seek to understand who we are, how we will be shaped, and how we can shape the world around us—from ordinary to extraordinary. As Fred says at the beginning of Who’s in Charge of Bob?: The Key to Moving from Ordinary to Extraordinary, “There is no investment you can make that will pay you as well as the investment you make in discovering more of who you were made to be.”

To visit the book’s launch page click here.

To order your copy of Who's In Charge of Bob?: The Key to Moving from Ordinary to Extraordinary, go to Amazon.com here.

Visit Fred Groom’s website here: http://www.fredgrooms.com

To read this review on Amazon.com, click here.

Grooms, Fred (2014-03-11). Who's In Charge of Bob?: The Key to Moving from Ordinary to Extraordinary (Kindle Locations 1195-1196) Barnabas Consulting. Kindle Edition.  (http://www.amazon.com/Whos-Charge-Bob-Ordinary-Extraordinary/dp/0991462807)

A Review of One Year to Better Preaching

One Year to Better Preaching, cover photo from Kregel.com

One Year to Better Preaching is an excellent book for pastors and communicators who want to improve their preaching, communication skills, and teaching. The book provides the reader with fifty-two experiential exercises designed to hone the craft of preaching and communicating the gospel effectively.

As communicators and teachers of the gospel, we must take our calling and craft seriously and seek to improve and do our jobs with excellence. Continued professional development is essential. This book offers fifty-two helpful exercises, one for every week of the year, to help develop the necessary skills needed to execute an effective sermon or teaching time.

Communicating and preaching is an art, but is also a skill that can be developed. One Year to Better Preaching provides an assortment of engaging, diverse and creative exercises, tools, suggestions and resources for the following eight categorizations of preaching: Prayer and Preaching, Bible Interpretation, Understanding Listeners, Sermon Construction, Illustrations and Applications, Word Crafting, The Preaching Event, and Sermon Evaluation.

The versatility of the book’s use is described on the publisher’s website; “Readers can complete the exercises in the order presented, which address different categories week to week, or they can sharpen their skills in a particular category over a period of weeks by using the chart provided. They might also work through the exercises in collaboration with other preachers.” The author, Daniel Overdorf, really seeks to serve pastors with this work and caters to their need for versatility.

The author, Daniel Overdorf, who has a Doctor of Ministry in Preaching from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary and over ten years of pastoral experience, is well positioned to speak with authority, clarity, accuracy and skill on the subject of homiletics, the art of preaching. He presently teaches preaching and pastoral ministries and is a member of the Evangelical Homiletical Society. He has also previously written on the subject of preaching in his book Applying the Sermon.

Kregel Publication, the book’s publisher, has the following description of Overdorf’s book, One Year to Better Preaching, on their website:

The book is designed particularly for those who preach each week—and have been, perhaps, for some time—to help them get out of the rut of the routine and infuse their preaching with new sparks of creativity, fresh approaches to sermon preparation and design, and sharpened verbal and nonverbal communication skills. Novice preachers, also, will find the exercises useful in developing their preaching abilities.

I highly recommend One Year to Better Preaching and think it is a wonderful resource that will serve any pastor, Bible teacher or communicator well and agree with the publisher that “One Year to Better Preaching will leave a preacher reinvigorated and better equipped to proclaim the Word of God skillfully, passionately, and effectively.”

In exchange for this non-biased review, the reviewer received a free copy of the book, One Year to Better Preaching. This review is also published on My Two Mites, Examiner, Amazon, and Christian Book.

A Review of Charts on the Life, Letters, and Theology of Paul

Cover of Charts on the Life, Letters, and Theology of Paul, 

from Kregel Publishing

One of the best kinds of Bible study helps, or tools, are chart books. Chart books can be extremely helpful in condensing complex and exhaustive information into bite-sized chunks of readability and easy comprehension. The assimilation of valuable information into clear, easy to read and visually appealing formats is so important. Many people learn visually and the structure of a chart becomes very helpful in seeing the flow of important concepts and information.

This being said, Charts on the Life, Letters, and Theology of Paul should have been a great addition to so many other chart books that are out there on the scriptures, which help us discover and to better understand the Bible. However, this book is more plain text than it is charts and it reads more like a dry commentary than a visually appealing chart book, leaving the reader disappointed and busy sifting through an over abundance of text. There are over 100 charts in this book, but they are small, not always self-sufficient in the information they present, they are secondary to the text, and are not the primary content of the book.

The concept of covering the letters of Paul in a chart book is a great idea, but it does not appear that the author has met the goal of covering the letters of Paul solely using charts. If you are looking for a chart book on the life, letters, and theology of Paul, you will be disappointed with this book. However, if you are looking for a great survey of Paul’s life, letters, and theology and background information and contextual information concerning Paul’s letters, and some commentary on Paul’s letters, and you do not mind a lot of reading, then this book could be for you.

Here is what the publisher has to say about Charts on the Life, Letters, and Theology of Paul:

Paul's letters have fascinated and challenged most every reader of the Bible. As a result, many general introductions and specific studies on Paul are available, but none are like Charts on the Life and Letters of Paul, which provides over 100 charts to explore the apostle's background, life and ministry, letters, and theology. The charts visually offer clarity on:

1. Basic insights (e.g., "Autobiographical Information")
2. Comparisons (e.g., "Parallels between Acts and Paul's Letters")
3. Advanced tools for further study (e.g., "Key Words in Romans")
4. Analysis (e.g., "The 'New Perspective' on Paul")
5. Research (e.g., "Key Texts and Their Interpretations") 

Comments on the charts and discussions of significant theories-with leads for further exploration-are offered together with an extensive bibliography that includes references to past and current Pauline scholarship.

Interested Bible readers as well as students of Paul's life, letters, and theology will find plenty of material to deepen their understanding. Teachers will find the charts to be a valuable teaching resource. This book is an excellent supplement to any general introduction or specific study on Paul.

In exchange for this non-biased review, the reviewer received a free copy of the book, Charts on the Life, Letters, and Theology of Paul. This review is also published on My Two Mites, Examiner, Amazon, and Christian Book.

A Review of Charts on the Book of Hebrews

Cover photo of Charts on the Book of Hebrews 
from Kregel Publications

Kregel Publications’ has just put out Charts on the Book of Hebrews, by Herbert W. Bateman IV, as part of their series of Charts of the Bible and Theology. If you have not used chart books before, they are very helpful in seeing main theological ideas and in getting an overall sense of a book of the Bible. Chart books are perfect for the visual learner and help systematize concepts in a clear and tangible way.

As a High School Bible teacher, distilling complex ideas into simple visuals is very important. Communicating overall themes, authorship theories and theological concepts, in easy to read and understandable charts, helps Bible readers to be able to better decipher the scriptures and to see the structure of a book more clearly as they study it.

Hebrews is an excellent book, which connects the Old Testament with the New Testament, and this book of scripture is a great tool to study the Pentateuch and the tabernacle. Charts on the Book of Hebrews has detailed charts, which map out the tabernacle and connects the book Hebrews’ passages with the Pentateuch. Charts on the Book of Hebrews is an excellent resource for teaching and for understanding the book of Hebrews.

Charts on the Book of Hebrews is very detailed and comprehensive and offers a scholarly, yet simple and accessible, approach to studying the book of Hebrews. As a teacher and as a student of the scriptures, I highly recommend this book.

For more information on Charts on the Book of Hebrews, or to purchase a copy of this book, please visit Kregel Publications’ website here. This book is also available on Amazon.com here.

Kregel Publications’ website also offers the following description of Charts on the Book of Hebrews:

The book of Hebrews presents interpretive challenges and theological comparisons unrivaled in the New Testament. Charts on the Book of Hebrews puts this demanding yet rewarding information in an accessible and useful format. The charts fall into four categories:

1. Introductory matters (e.g., authorship of Hebrews)
2. Influences in Hebrews (e.g. Second Temple messianic figures)
3. Theological issues (e.g. words of exhortation)
4. Exegetical concerns (e.g. figures of speech)

Students will find this an invaluable companion to classes on Hebrews. Pastors and teachers will benefit from these insightful charts to quickly clarify difficult concepts while teaching. And all visual learners will find that these charts make Hebrews more comprehensible.

In exchange for this unbiased review, I received a free copy of Charts on the Book of Hebrews, by Herbert W. Bateman IV, from Kregel Publications.