Kevin Stilley

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August 5, 2013 by kevinstilley

Church Membership / Church Discipline / Ecclesiology – recommended reading

Does the Bride of Christ have amnesia? Too many churches have lost their sense of identity. Without knowing who they are, they will never know how they are supposed to function. Every local church would benefit from a self-reflective study of ecclesiology.

What are the best books on church membership and church discipline?

9Marks includes the following titles pertaining to CHURCH DISCIPLINE/MEMBERSHIP on their reading list for pastors:

Handbook of Church Discipline, Jay Adams

The Compromised Church, ed., John Armstrong

Nine Marks of a Healthy Church, Mark Dever

Polity: Biblical Arguments on How to Conduct Church Life, ed., Mark Dever

The Reformation of the Church, ed., Iain Murray

Democratic Religion, Greg Wills

Grace Baptist Church of Cape Coral, Florida (pastored by Tom Ascol) shares on its website the following list of recommended books on Church Membership.

Life in the Body of Christ: Privileges and Responsibilities in the Local Church by Curtis C. Thomas.

Life in the Father’s House: A Member’s Guide to the Local Church by Wayne A. Mack and Dave Swavely.

Stop Dating the Church: Fall in Love with the Family of God by Joshua Harris.

What Is a Healthy Church? by Mark Dever.

Spiritual Disciplines within the Church: Participating Fully in the Body of Christ by Donald Whitney.

Membership Matters: Insights from Effective Churches on New Member Classes and Assimilation by Chuck Lawless.

The Church Member’s Guide by John Angell James

Danny Akin, President of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, has recommended the following books on Ecclesiology.

Brand, Chad and Stan Norman, eds. Perspectives on Church Government: Five Views of Church Polity. Nashville: Broadman & Holman, 2004.

Bakke, Ray. The Urban Christian. Downers Grove: IVP, 1987.

Clowney, Edmund P. The Church. Contours of Christian Theology. Downers Grove: IVP, 1995.

Colson, Charles. The Body. Dallas: Word, 1992.

Cowen, Gerald P. Who Rules the Church?: Examining Congregatinal Leadership and Church Government. Nashville: Broadman, 2003.

Dever, Mark. Nine Marks of a Healthy Church. exp. ed. Wheaton: Crossway, 2004.

__________. A Display of God’s Glory: Basics of Church Structure. Washington, D.C.: Center for Church Reform, 2001.

Getz, Gene A. Elders and Leaders. Chicago: Moody, 2003.

Hammett, John. Biblical Foundations for Baptist Churches: A Contemporary Ecclesiology. Grand Rapids: Kregel, 2005.

Kostenberger, Andreas J., and Thomas R. Schreiner, and H. Scott Baldwin. Women in the Church: A Fresh Analysis of I Timothy 2:9-15 2nd ed. Grand Rapids: Baker, 2005.

Malone, Fred. A Defense of Believer’s Baptism. Founders Press, 2003.

Norman, Stan, ed. The Mission of Today’s Church: Baptist Leaders Look at Modern Faith. Nashville: Broadman, 2007.

Saucy, Robert L. The Church in God’s Program. Chicago: Moody, 1972.

Schreiner, Thomas R. and Shawn Wright, eds. Believer’s Baptism: The Covenant Sign of the New Age in Christ. Nashville: Broadman, 2007.

Strauch, Alexander. The New Testament Deacon: The Church’s Minister of Mercy. Littleton, CO: Lewis & Roth, 1993.

________________. Biblical Eldership: Restoring Eldership to Rightful Place in Church. Littleton, CO: Lewis & Roth, 1995.

Warren, Rick. The Purpose Driven Church. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1996.

Webb, Henry. Deacons: Servant Models in the Church. Nashville: Broadman and Holman, 2001.

Webber, Robert. The Church in the World. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1986.

Whitney, Donald S. Spiritual Disciplines Within the Church. Chicago: Moody, 1996.

What books would you add to these lists?
____________

RELATED CONTENT

Baptist Ecclesiology – Bart Barber’s book recommendations

Filed Under: Blog, Church Leadership, Ecclesiology, Reading Lists Tagged With: church, Church Discipline, Church Membership, Ecclesiology

August 4, 2013 by kevinstilley

The Insanity of Luther : Discussion Questions

Topic: The Insanity of Luther
Speaker: R.C. Sproul
Scripture: Romans 1

Why did Pope Leo call for the Lord God to rise up and deal with a wild pig loose in His vineyard? (Ex Surge Domine)

Was Martin Luther wild / insane?  What would provoke someone to think Luther was out of his mind?

How is Martin Luther’s life story pertinent to the topic of Holiness?

What is the gospel?

Watch again the video between 28:40 and 32:16.

Do you think most people understand the gospel as it is described here?

R.C. Sproul says that justification by faith alone is the article upon which the church stands or falls. Why?

What are the practical implications of belief that our righteousness is found in Christ and nowhere else?

* * *

This is the fourth lecture in the Ligonier teaching series The Holiness of God.

The Ligonier website describes the series as follow,

“The Holiness of God examines the meaning of holiness and why people are both fascinated and terrified by a holy God. This series closely explores God’s character, leading to new insights on sin, justice, and grace. The result is a new awareness of our dependence upon God’s mercy and a discovery of the awesomeness of His majestic holiness. Dr. R.C. Sproul says, “The holiness of God affects every aspect of our lives — economics, politics, athletics, romance — everything with which we are involved.”

Discussion questions and video for the rest of the series can be found at the following links:

  1. The Importance of Holiness
  2. The Trauma of Holiness
  3. Holiness and Justice
  4. The Insanity of Luther
  5. The Meaning of Holiness
  6. The Holiness of Christ

__________

Get “The Holiness of God” DVD Collection

Check out the Ligonier website for additional resources.

__________

Related

Holiness – Select Quotes

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Book Cover | Book Cover | Book Cover | Book Cover | Book Cover

Filed Under: Blog, Church History, History, Theology Proper Tagged With: Church History, erasmus, fear, holiness, justice, Justification, Martin Luther, Reformation, Righteousness

August 3, 2013 by kevinstilley

Open Letter to Rick Riordan

Book CoverVato, seriously?  First you neuter Ralph Arguello, and then you do this to him?  Not cool, ese, not cool at all.

Sincerely,

Kevin Stilley

__________

Quotes from Mission Road

“People didn’t age incrementally, Maia decided.  They went along fine for years, then hit some invisible dip and boom: a decade caught up with them overnight.”

“Along Roosevelt Avenue, run-down businesses were decorated with frayed Christmas garlands, weather-bleached Santas, grimy lights that had started to glow in the evening.  This being South Texas, the Christmas lights stayed up year-round, but even a broken holiday is right once a year.”

Filed Under: Blog

August 2, 2013 by kevinstilley

The Problem of Cute Kids

“This is how people can have a second or third kid, even though one is enough to kill you.  They’re occasionally cute enough to make you suicidal.”  Tres Navarre, a character in Rick Riordan’s book South Town.

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Filed Under: Blog, Family Circus Tagged With: kids, Parenting, Stilley

August 1, 2013 by kevinstilley

First Week of August

first week of august“The first week of August hangs at the very top of summer, the top of the live-long year, like the highest seat of a Ferris wheel when it pauses in its turning. The weeks that come before are only a climb from balmy spring, and those that follow a drop to the chill of autumn, but the first week of August is motionless, and hot. It is curiously silent, too, with blank white dawns and glaring noons, and sunsets smeared with too much color. Often at night there is lightning, but it quivers all alone. There is no thunder, no relieving rain. These are strange and breathless days, the dog days, when people are let to do things they are sure to be sorry for after.” ~ Natalie Babitt, from the Preface to Tuck Everlasting.

Welcome to the first week of August . . .

Filed Under: Blog, Books Tagged With: August, Everlasting Tuck, Heat, Humidity, Natalie Babbitt, weather

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