Here are 100 books that Church 3.0 fans have personally recommended if you like
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Cory Hartman (DMin, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary) collaboratively crafts practical tools, interactive processes, and breakthrough content for the Future Church Company, three interconnected organizations that exist to help the church embody the movement Jesus founded. I previously served as a pastor for thirteen years and founded Fulcrum Content, a gospel communication training organization.
In the 1950s, Robert Coleman, then a professor at Asbury Theological Seminary, was assigned to teach a class on evangelism. But he had a problem: he had no idea what to say. So he decided to pore over the four Gospels to discern Jesus’ strategy for winning people to his message. His lecture notes became The Master Plan of Evangelism.
The reach of The Master Plan since its publication in 1963 has been enormous. Billy Graham even wrote the foreword. But Jesus’ model of training a few was so alien to the operating systems of 20th-century churches and traveling evangelists that generations had no idea how to implement it. Not many books have been so widely read and so little applied. Yet if you only read one book on this subject, make this the one. And if you’ve already read it long ago, read it again.
For more than forty years this classic study has shown Christians how to minister to the people God brings into their lives. Instead of drawing on the latest popular fad or the newest selling technique, Dr. Robert E. Coleman looks to the Bible to find the answer to the question: What was Christ's strategy for evangelism? This convenient, portable format has an updated look for a new generation of readers.
Magical realism meets the magic of Christmas in this mix of Jewish, New Testament, and Santa stories–all reenacted in an urban psychiatric hospital!
On locked ward 5C4, Josh, a patient with many similarities to Jesus, is hospitalized concurrently with Nick, a patient with many similarities to Santa. The two argue…
I’m just an everyday person. I don’t have a fancy title or lots of degrees, but I do have experience being close to God and a never-ending quest to know Him more. His love is so good that it absolutely must be shared. So if I, in all of my ordinariness, can learn extraordinary sacred things, then I can bring others along the journey, too. His presence in my heartaches, struggles, joy, and adventures has sustained my life, and I don’t know any credential that could testify any clearer that a journey with God is worth taking.
After reading The Divine Conspiracy twice, I’m ready to dive in again. So many treasures are packed into these pages, waiting to be absorbed.
Anchored in the Sermon on the Mount, the author discusses our discipleship and how we related to Christ. Sometimes, we miss the life that’s in biblical text, but this book offers perspective that makes us take a second look and inspires our hearts.
First published in 1998, The Divine Conspiracy captured the attention of Christians across the world, by offering a timely and challenging call back to the true meaning of Christian discipleship.
Gracefully weaving biblical teaching, popular culture, science and scholarship together, Dallas Willard refuted the view that Christianity is solely about gaining admittance to heaven when we die, and taught that, as disciples, we have access now to the life of the kingdom.
Equally relevant today as it was on publication, The Divine Conspiracy challenges us to step aside from the pieties of contemporary Christian practice and offers instead…
Cory Hartman (DMin, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary) collaboratively crafts practical tools, interactive processes, and breakthrough content for the Future Church Company, three interconnected organizations that exist to help the church embody the movement Jesus founded. I previously served as a pastor for thirteen years and founded Fulcrum Content, a gospel communication training organization.
Addison’s book lengthens and broadens Coleman’s Master Plan. While Coleman focuses on Jesus’ selection, training, and sending of his twelve closest disciples, Addison also examines what Jesus did before he named the Twelve, including rich historical background of his ministry context in first-century Palestine. In this way, Addison sheds light on how to engage unreached people who are still far from committing themselves to learn from Jesus.
Addison discerns a recurring six-step pattern in Jesus’ activity, in the early Palestinian church, in Paul’s Mediterranean travels, and in global disciple-making movements today. Importantly, he lays out these steps in a way that contemporary Western Christians unused to Jesus’ method can begin practicing them together.
Outreach Magazine Resource of the Year Sometimes we get so caught up in the power of Jesus shouting from the cross, "It is finished!" that we forget that Jesus started something. What Jesus started was a movement that began small, with intimate conversations designed to build disciples into apostles who would go out in the world and seed it with God's kingdom vision. That movement grew rapidly and spread wide as people recognized the truth in it and gave their lives to the power of it. That movement is still happening today, and we are called to play our part…
A poisonous maiden, a Daoist sex cult, and a violent insurgency.
The polyandrous Yan family in China's rural Shaanxi Province takes in two carpenter brothers. When one brother is convicted of murder after killing their neighbor in a dispute, a constable threatens to expose the family's rumored polyandry and extorts…
Cory Hartman (DMin, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary) collaboratively crafts practical tools, interactive processes, and breakthrough content for the Future Church Company, three interconnected organizations that exist to help the church embody the movement Jesus founded. I previously served as a pastor for thirteen years and founded Fulcrum Content, a gospel communication training organization.
What are the stages of a disciple’s optimal development? The theoretical path starts with a person not following Jesus and ends with that person helping their own disciples make disciples of Jesus. Having a reliable model that traces the course of a disciple’s development benefits a disciple maker practically, because people have different capacities, needs, and challenges at different stages as they grow.
The most persuasive and useful model yet proposed might be found in this brief book by Harrington and Wiens, who adapt to individuals the Exponential organization’s five-level typology of churches.
Becoming a Level 5 Disciple Maker is an introduction to the five levels of disciple making with a focus on how to become a Level 5 disciple maker like Jesus. The authors discuss why we should pursue Level 5 disciple making, how we can pursue it, and what we can do to assess our progress along the way.
Bobby and Greg introduce and explore the pathway to becoming a disciple maker by using this five-level framework. Focusing on helping individuals identify where they are on the disciple-making scale (levels 1 to 5) and what is needed to become a Level…
I’ve had the joy of “making disciples” for a long time. From the time I became a Christian while in college, to raising my own sons as disciples, to 15 years of work with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship on secular campuses, to the last third of my life as a Professor of Bible and Theology at a Christian University, I have responded to Jesus’ Great Commission to “make disciples” with both the joys and sorrows that calling includes. I have experienced the richness of intergenerational congregations that my pastor-husband has led, and seen our sons grow and mature as Christians through “parenting in the pew” before it was a book!
This book is for pastors, lay leaders and professional church educators, and students who want to model congregational life on the kingdom of God instead of marketing strategies designed to appeal to generational narcissism based on individual preference. This is one book that will both encourage and equip congregations to be less 'conformed to the world,' less prone to say, 'I have no need for you.' This is a book that argues persuasively from solid research, as well as the biblical mandate, for congregations to really 'love one another.' This book is honest about the costly demands of intentional intergenerational development as well as its rich rewards.
"One generation commends your works to another; they tell of your mighty acts." -Psalm 145:4 Most churches and faith communities segment their ministries by age and generation. The kids go to children's church, the teens go to youth group. Worship services are geared toward different generational preferences, and small groups gather people at the same life stage, whether singles, young marrieds, parents, or empty nesters. In some congregations, people may never interact with those of other ages. But it was not always so. Throughout biblical tradition and the majority of history, communities of faith included people of all ages together…
I’m a scholar of religion who was trained in the History of Christianity at Rice University, and I’m endlessly fascinated by the monsters that people create, demons being one of the most often invoked and feared. I’ve been particularly interested in how people make use of ideas of demons throughout history, and much of my teaching and research has revolved around this subject. While I began as a medievalist, the contemporary United States is–believe it or not–equally, if not richer, in its materials on demons. More and more, I find myself drawn to researching the demons that pop up in an unlikely area: politics.
Weaver provides an overview of an incredibly influential movement, one at which demons are the core. The New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) had an outsized influence on the 2016-2024 presidential elections, and I loved Weaver’s thorough and well-researched history of the movement.
Some of the groups that feed into the NAR or the demonology that emerges from them are so wild that you have to read it to believe it. If you want to understand the NAR’s foundations, this book is a must-read!
From Justin Bieber, to Sarah Palin and Michele Bachmann, to the controversial documentary Jesus Camp (2006), the New Apostolic Reformation's influence can be seen everywhere in mainstream America. Beginning with an examination of the Latter Rain, Church Growth and Shepherding movements, this book explores how the new Reformation has become one of the most powerful movements in modern evangelical Christianity and a major influence on American political and cultural life. The author describes the New Apostolic Reformation's organization, how the movement spread and its national and international objectives.
Big Ideas... For Small Businesses
by
John Lamerton,
Big Ideas… for Small Businesses is a straight-talking, no-nonsense guide to growing a small business without sacrificing your lifestyle. Written by a former civil servant turned entrepreneur, the book challenges hustle culture and instead champions the idea of an "ambitious lifestyle business" - one that provides freedom and financial stability,…
I’ve been fascinated with the subjects of forgiveness and reconciliation most of my life. I’ve spent years researching people of the Old Testament, and as I read their stories, I see their need for these things in their relationships. It is a universal need of humans. Because I write about people who actually lived, I read books that deal with the things we all face. Truth is, time may change, but the human heart does not. I’m an amateur theologian and avid reader of books that will help me grow as a person and allow me to understand these ancient people who walked before us.
Even committed Christians lose heart sometimes. We all need a breath of God’s fresh wind, the fresh fire of His Spirit moving in our lives. I picked up this book at a time when I needed just such encouragement.
Like Joseph, we all face devastating trials, heartbreak, emotional struggles. It’s part of the human condition. And I’d bet I’m not alone when I say I’ve known what hopelessness feels like.
I loved this quote from the book: “In the same way, God does His most stunning work where things seem hopeless. Wherever there is pain, suffering, and desperation, Jesus is.”
We may not realize it, but everyone everywhere desperately needs Jesus. Joseph needed Him in the pit and the prison. We need Him in our private pits and prisons too.
For anyone seeking to live at the center of God's purposes, this well-loved book points the way to new spiritual vitality in the church and in your own life.
A classic must-read for readers looking for hope and transformation in the church today, Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire shows what the Holy Spirit can do when believers get serious about prayer and the gospel. As this compelling book reveals, God moves in life-changing ways - calling us back from spiritual dead ends, apathy, and lukewarm religion - when we set aside our own agendas, take…
My own scholarly focus at the Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences in Berkeley has been on the interaction between theology, science, and culture. Science and culture are public. Here’s one of my questions: how can theological reflection and theological ethics contribute to the common good that includes everyone outside my faith community? Here's another: how can a biblical insight into human nature–especially the image of God and the fall into sin–help us to anticipate how human nature will affect the future course of events? Public Theology is a field into which I can fold my background and analyses.
I really like anthologies when I get introduced to a new field. I want to know who’s who in the field and what distinguishes each of their contributions. In this comprehensive volume, I found familiar experts whom I had previously studied. However, I was also introduced to new authors in different parts of the world who have innovative insights.
This book is one of the better overviews. And it’s up to date.
T&T Clark Handbook of Public Theology introduces the various philosophical and theological positions and approaches in the emerging discourse of public theology. Distinguishing public theology from political theology, as well as from liberation theology, this book clarifies central terms like 'public sphere', 'the secular', and 'post-secularity' in order to highlight the specific characteristics of public theology.
Its particular focus lies on the ways in which much of public theology has established itself as a contextual theology in politically secular societies, aiming to continue the apologetical tradition in this specific context. Depending on what is regarded as the most pressing challenge…
I’ve always been curious about the human being behind the Christ character. Too often, Jesus is referred to as a judgmental bully who will save only His followers and let everyone else burn in hell. If He were divine, wouldn’t He love everyone? On a trip to India, I discovered a book called The Secret Life of Jesus Christ, and my passion was born. I’ve written two novels about Jesus and His disciples based on more than fifty reference books, ancient scrolls, and the most authentic historical scriptures about the era. I hope you enjoy my list of the best alternative fiction about Jesus and His disciples!
Finally, a book about the women of the New Testament! This is one of my favorite novels about Jesus and His disciples. It is beautifully written, and I had several laugh-out-loud moments. I especially loved how the vivid prose brings history to life. It never gets boring or dry.
The dialogue is interlaced with wit and historical facts. As a feminist, I applaud that the women in this novel are no feeble, fragile maidens—they’re in charge! They’re the ones who hide the risen Jesus from the Romans, and then they send the male disciples out across the world to preach the message of love and oneness with God.
I recommend this novel to open-minded readers (like myself) who are interested in non-traditional “what if” stories about Jesus.
“Patrick W. Andersen’s thrilling new novel, Acts of the Women, is a celebration of the women of the New Testament. Beautifully written in a humorous tone, the author seamlessly weaves together vivid prose with intelligent but surprising conclusions based on years of biblical studies. His women are wise, courageous leaders who rule the men as the risen Jesus and his disciples spread out across the world: France, India, and beyond. This excellent novel is a must-read for anyone interested in exploring the non-traditional stories around Jesus. It is an ode to women and a spiritual gift that should be savored…
The problem is not with the actions young women take but with the toxic, sexist conditions they are responding to.
Tanenbaum found, based on six years of interviews with young people ages 14-30, that young women are navigating a culture littered with gendered dress codes, revenge porn, and sexually explicit…
I’ve had the joy of “making disciples” for a long time. From the time I became a Christian while in college, to raising my own sons as disciples, to 15 years of work with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship on secular campuses, to the last third of my life as a Professor of Bible and Theology at a Christian University, I have responded to Jesus’ Great Commission to “make disciples” with both the joys and sorrows that calling includes. I have experienced the richness of intergenerational congregations that my pastor-husband has led, and seen our sons grow and mature as Christians through “parenting in the pew” before it was a book!
This multi-author book is a terrific resource for older teens and college students to navigate “growing up” well and maturing in their own faith commitment and practices. Chapters offer good advice and the reasons behind the advice for faith challenges, dealing with failure, forgiving parents as a part of loving them, finding a new congregation for worship, work, and witness, as well as dealing with sexuality, morals, justice issues, vision for missions, and creation care and much more! This book is a practical as well as a biblically faithful guide for the transformation of a lifetime as children empty the nest into adulthood. I give this book as a graduation gift to every high-schooler I know!
Do you want to live for Jesus but struggle with what that means day by day? The deep desire of our hearts to be close to God is so easily sidetracked by daily realities. This book is designed to cover the areas of faith and life that you most want to bring together under God's leadership: decision-making dating and relationships racial reconciliation suffering experiencing God loving your parents emotional healing time management everyday evangelism hope for times of failure Following Jesus is a wild and wonderful journey. It is perhaps the riskiest choice you will ever make. And the most…
