gnoel - reading report 20131007

READING/FILE REPORTNAME: Gesner Noel PLED 974DATE: 10/07/13 Dr. Rod DempseyDUE DATE: 12/01/13

FINAL READING REPORT SUMMARY

BooksNumber of pages Comments

1. Planting Churches Cross-Culturally 321 Previously submitted

2. Perimeters of Light201 Previously submitted

3. 11 Innovations in The Local Church 325 Previously submitted

4. Evangelism Handbook460See report below

5. Planting Missional Churches363See report below

6. The Disciple Making Church250See report below

7. Cross-Cultural Servanthood206See report below

8. Radically Unchurched197See report below

9. 7 Practices of Effective Ministry186See report below

_____

Total2509

READING/FILE REPORTNAME: Gesner Noel PLED 974DATE: 10/07/13 Dr. Rod DempseyDUE DATE 12/01/13 GRADE __________________________

Book (author, title, place, publisher, date)

Reid, Alvin. Evangelism Handbook. Nashville: Tennessee, B&H Publishing Group, 2009.

Total number of pages: 460

Library Number: 978-0-8054-4542-8

One paragraph summary of book/file

The Evangelism Handbook is truly a road map to personal and mass evangelism. It takes the believer by hands from inside the church and all the way to the world in sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ. It covers four major domains: biblical, spiritual, intentional, and missional Biblically, the author argues that the mission must be based on scripture. Spiritually, the mission must be led by the power of the Holy Spirit. Intentionally, the Gospel can be advanced personally and globally. Missionally, the church has to be transformed from being an institution to being a mission field.

List strengths of book/file

The strength of this book lies in the fact that this book is very practical. Dr. Reid provides his readers with concrete examples on evangelism. In chapter 3, Motives for Evangelism, Dr. Reid used Ephesians chapter two to compare those who are lost with those who are saved. This exercise was very interesting when I used it during the bible study I teach at my church. My students even asked me to share with them similar examples. Another practical example is found in chapter 17, Personal Evangelism: The How. In this chapter, Dr. Reid lists seven ways to increase door-to-door witnessing or other times of assigned visitations. The first one is to Smile, smile, smile, always smile (Reid, 2009, p. 281). The second one is, Be polite, regardless of the response (p281). He pointed out that door-to-door evangelism is biblical. It saturates the community and it will win some to people to Christ. (p.282).

List weaknesses of book/file

Although Dr. did an excellent job showing believer the how of evangelism, at times, I feel that the book is too detailed. Some of the stories are good but clutter the practical that the author intends to teach. For instance, Dr. Reid introduced the book with the story of an imaginary church going to a mission trip in Asia. Suddenly, he concluded the story, Tomorrow morning your church can do the same thing. You do not need to board a plane to Asia to go on a mission trip. Every day believers across the United States awaken and step into the fourth largest unchurched nation on earth.(Reid, 2009, p.2). These type of stories dominate the entire book. My advice to Dr. Reid is to keep these stories to minimum.

Quote sentence or paragraph that best reflects the author's thesis:

Life is a mission trip. Take it! Cultivate that vision in your people and watch them begin to function like missionaries. And relive the book of Acts in your very lifetime. It will take a movement like that not only to reach the world but also to reach the West. (Reid, 2009, pp. 2).

Why have you chosen the above quotation?

The key words in the thesis statement is, Relive the book of Acts. This implies that the believer has to go and preach the gospel to the gentiles (Mark 16:15). The sharing of the gospel message of Christ is where church growth starts.



Stetzer, Ed. Planting Missional Churches. Nashville: Tennessee, B&H Publishing Group, 2006.


Library Number: 978-0-8054-4370-7


In twenty nine chapters, Dr. Stetzer provides church planters the tools needed to plant churches that are biblical and relevant to the culture. The purpose, he wrote, is to see a biblical church planted in a local culture.(Stetzer, 2006, p. xii). From the first chapter, Basics of Church Planting to the last, Breaking the Mold: Church-Planting Movements, Dr. Stetzers focus was on mission. He defines mission as, taking the approach of a missionary being indigenous to the culture, seeking to understand and learn, adapting methods to the mission field (p. xii). Dr. Stetzer based his argument for planting biblical, missional and cultural churches on five major terms: missional, incarnational, theological, ecclesiological, and spiritual. Missional churches are churches that go and tell (p.17) about Jesus in any culture; Incarnational churches are churches that are fresh expressions of the changing gospel, new missional contextualized churches in every setting across the globe (p.25); theological churches are churches that restate the truth of the bible; ecclesiological churches are churches that represent a covenant community (p. 185); and spiritual churches are churches that function under the power of the Holy Spirit.


This is a book that every church planter is urged to use because of its practical nature on the subject of church planting or missional church. Also, Stetzer add more value to this book by using facts and example from other well-known specialists in the field such as Georges Barna. This book also introduces some of the most influential ideas circulating around about church planing. Finally, the annotated bibliography provides the reader a wider field for further research.List weaknesses of book/file

Although it is a daunting task to find anything wrong with this book, Dr. Stetzers position on Matthew 18:20 is very disturbing. He wrote, The presence of Christ does not necessarily mean that a local church exists (p 156). My concern is that what else can replace the presence of Christ? Christ is the foundation of the church. If the foundation is removed, where will the church structure standing?


The goal of church planting is to reach people. They may be postmodern in their thinking, or they may be Korean or African American or young families or established professionals or counter-cultural or baby boomers or combinations of the above. (p. 1)


This statement embodies the content of the book. It is all about reaching people for Christ. It is about approaching people, establishing relationship with people for Christ, and building a Christian a community. And all this has to be done in a way that does not clash with the message of the gospel and under the power of the Holy Spirit. This results in the spiritual transformation of a group of people. This covers the five major themes of the book: Missional, incarnational, theological, ecclesiological, and spiritual.



Hull, Bill. The Disciple making Church. Grand Rapids: Michigan, Fleming H. Revell, 1990.


Library Number: 978-0-8007-5627-7


The The Disciple making Church addresses the problem with discipleship not only in the early churches but also in todays churches. The author pointed out how evangelism takes precedence over discipleship. And those leaders who favor discipleship in a mission aboard church face many challenges. As a remedy to this problem, Dr. Hull argued in favor of discipleship from three angles (1) Christ instructed the church to take part in it. (2) Christ modeled it. (3) The New Testament disciples applied it. (p. 10). His aim is to (1) To make discipling more acceptable to the established church. (2) To encourage pastors and church leaders to accept their biblical mandate. (3) Leadership development. (p. 11). List strengths of book/fileThis book is a practical curriculum on discipleship. The author described in plain language the steps to take to move a church from a Christocentric model church to a churchocentric model church. He showed the biblical transition from the two models by using Three major tracks to guide a church through a transition, and he developed a Three-tiered seminary course that offers the inspiration and know to make a discipling church. (p. 149-162). Finally, I gave credit to Dr. Hull for the appendixes which contain very helpful guide for developing leadership community.

List weaknesses of book/fileThe book repeats the same information in the previous two that Dr. Hull wrote. A reader with the knowledge of the previous two books does not need to purchase this book. There is not much new information regarding the subject of church discipleship. Quote sentence or paragraph that best reflects the author's thesis:The discipling church is the normal church. Disciple making is for every Christian and every church. (p. 10) Why have you chosen the above quotation? This quotation is the core of the book. It represents the intent of the Dr. Hull which is the development of a discipleship curriculum for churches and Christian. Besides, the thesis statement reflects the elements of the table of contents where the author outlines four points: (1) What does disciple making mean?, (2) The first church Jerusalem, (3) The Mission Church, (4) The Discipling Church.



Elmer, Duane. Cross-Cultural ServantHood. Downers Grove: Illinois, IVP Books. 2006.


Library Number: 978-0-8308-3378-8


This book is about servanhood, its burden and challenges across cultures. First, Dr. Elmer argues that servanthood must be intentional because it is not natural. Second, servanthood is a process made of six elements (1) openness, (2) acceptance, (3) Trust, (4) Learning, (5) Understanding, (6) serving. Finally, servanthood has its implications as leadership and power are exercised. The author uses Jesus as the greatest model of servant. He argues that transition from heaven to earth requires great adjustment and humility to serve the new environment biblically and culturally. List strengths of book/fileThe step-by-step process of becoming a servant listed by the author gives practical meaning to the book. According to Dr. Elmer, a true servant is to (1) welcome other into his/her presence, (2) communicate respect for others, (3) build confidence in relationships, (4) seek information for change, (5) See through the others eyes, (6) become like Christ to others. (p. 38). Those steps are easy to follow if one needs to become a servant. The format of the book is another strength. The three distinct parts make the book easy to grasp at a glance. It is made of (1) Part I: Servanthood: Basis Perspectives, (2) Part II: Servanthood: The Process, (3) Servanthood: The challenges. List weaknesses of book/fileThis book is read like a novel. I think some of the stories that the author shared with his readers do not add to the values of the book. For instance, the introduction is the story of the author and his wifes honeymoon. His wife does not know how to cook eggs as eggs are prepared in the authors culture. This cause some strain in their relationship at an early stage of their marriage. I think this story is personal and should not have been shared with the readers. Quote sentence or paragraph that best reflects the author's thesis:Servanthood is revealed in simple, everyday events. But its complex because servanthood is culturally defined that is, serving must be sensitive to the cultural landscape while remaining true to the Scripture. (p. 12)Why have you chosen the above quotation? This quote is the embodiment of the authors perception of genuine servanthood. It relates to both the simplicity and the complexity of servanthood. This quotes expresses both the burden and the challenges of true servanthood as it should be practiced at home or abroad. It is not just servanthood but cultural and biblical servanthood.



Reid, Alvin L. Radically Unchurched. Grand Rapids: Michigan, Kregel Publications, 2002.


Library Number: 978-0-8254-3633-8


This book is about sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ with those who do not know Jesus. It presents the need and the opportunity to reach the radically unchurched. First, Dr. Reid gave to his readers a description of radically unchurched people. He identified them as people who have no clear personal understanding of the message of the gospel, and who have had little or no contact with the a Bible-teaching, Christ-honoring church. (p. 21). From chapter one to five, the radically unchurched was profiled in profound manner. Second, Dr. Reid shows his the how to reach the radically unchurch people. He recommended using the mass media, the internet, and social media to communicate the gospel of Jesus Christ to the new generation. He gave concrete examples of how small gestures like washing cars for free, and giving away popcorn can be very powerful tools in the evangelist arsenal in reach out to the unchurched. He concluded with a strong recommendation to passion. He wrote, The single greatest need in the church today is passion. (p. 194).List strengths of book/fileThe practical nature of this book is a strong statement of the authors background as a member of the Southern Baptist Convention employee. The authors passion for lost souls transpires in his book. He takes the evangelists or missionaries by hands, and walks them through the process of soul winning. He quoted many great men of the Great Awakening to make his arguments. The quotes that truly stand out are the one from John Wesley who wrote, (1) Let God set me on fire, an people will watch you burn., (2) Give me one hundred men who fear nothing but God and hate nothing, and I care not whether they be clergy or lay, I will with them alone storm the gates of hell and set up the kingdom of God on this earth. (p. 195). Finally, the easy read format of the book is compelling. The book is divided into two sections only as explained above. The linguistic style was clear and concise. List weaknesses of book/fileThis book fails to thoroughly inform the reader about the reasons why it is necessary to reach the radically unchurched. The motivation for evangelism was not transparent in this book. The author could have compared the features of the lost and the saved as Paul did in Ephesians chapter two. Although this book is a good book teaching evangelism, the need to show the lostness of the lost ones was missing throughout. Quote sentence or paragraph that best reflects the author's thesis:The single greatest need in the church today is passion. We need, as Jim Cymbala put it, a fresh wind, a fresh fire. Not a wildfire, but fire that brings both heat and light, both enthusiasm and substance. A passion focused on our great God. (p. 195).Why have you chosen the above quotation? A lack of passion for God is what limits the Church to reach out to the radically unchurched. Stopping the declining nature of the Church in America requires passionate people like the prophet Isaiah who said to the Lord, Here am I, send me (Isaiah 6:8); people like Jeremiah who spoke of Gods words like fire in his bones (Jer. 20:9); people like John the Baptist who preached like fire against the establishment of his time. Among all these people, Jesus was the greatest passionate servant leader who loved so much that he died for what he believed in: Salvation of man for Gods glory.



Stanley, Andy; Joiner, Reggie; Jones, Lane. 7 Practices of Effective Ministry. Colorado Springs: Colorado, Multnomath Books, 2004.


Library Number: 1-59052-373-3


This book is about evaluating church programs. It presents seven practices on how to effectively manage various church programs. As the authors wrote, The 7 Practices of Effective Ministry is not so much about what to do as it is about what to ask It will provide you with a new lens through which to evaluate your current programs and any you may be considering (p. 10). The authors divided the book into two parts. On the first,


List weaknesses of book/file



gnoel - reading report 20131007

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