No RX Motilium

Posted on Mar 5, 2012 in books, church, ministry by Wes Kenney 0 Comments

No RX Motilium,

Thom Rainer & Eric Geiger, Simple Church. Nashville, TN: B&H Publishing Group 2006. Motilium us, Pp. 257. $19.99. Hardcover, No RX Motilium.

Bringing their experience and research to bear on the organization of the local church, Motilium overseas, Rainer and Geiger argue that less is more. Specifically, 100mg Motilium, they argue that a church that does less, but does so with a clear focus on their process for the making of disciples is more effective than a very active church that is not intentional about moving people to greater levels of faithfulness in their walk with Christ. This effectiveness is measured by consistent growth in worship attendance.

SUMMARY

This book is divided into two parts, 50mg Motilium. No RX Motilium, In the first, the authors begin with the bold assertion that “the simple revolution has begun.” Indeed, this is the title of the first chapter, and the central assumption on which the rest of the book is based. It also seems that this assumption is the basis upon which the research that fills out the book was based. An illustrative fictional story from the perspective of an overly busy pastor is shared, Motilium craiglist, and examples from corporate America are cited in the first chapter.

The authors move in the second chapter to a description of evaluative visits made to examples of a “simple church” and a church that has yet to join the revolution. The authors examine every aspect of each congregation, including programming, 150mg Motilium, staff meetings, calendars, Motilium usa, numbers, and how the churches handle new ideas and staffing decisions. Each of these is evaluated in terms of how it contributes to the simplicity or complexity of each ministry, No RX Motilium.

Chapter three uses the illustration of the popular television program “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” to argue for the need for an “extreme makeover” in many congregations in order to simplify their work. They explain the motivation and design of the research project of which this book is a result, 200mg Motilium, and introduce four terms that will be the focus of the second part of the book: Clarity, movement, Motilium paypal, alignment, and focus. The fourth chapter explains how these terms apply to three existing congregations.

Part two, Motilium canada, titled “Becoming a Simple Church,” explains each of these terms in great detail; in fact, Motilium australia, each is given its own chapter. No RX Motilium, Chapter five, “Clarity,” argues for the need for a clear understanding of what the church’s discipleship process should look like, using the analogy of a builder with clear blueprints. Chapter six, “Movement,” explains the importance of “removing congestion, 1000mg Motilium,” and moving through a never-ending process of discipleship. The seventh chapter, Motilium mexico, “Alignment,” points to the importance of making sure that all the programs of the church are united in their commitment to the overall progra

m of disciple-making within the church. Chapter eight, “Focus, Motilium coupon,” discusses the importance of doing only those things that contribute to the overall purpose of making disciples, and saying no to almost everything else. 40mg Motilium, The final chapter gives a step-by-step process for implementing the “simple” process in a local congregation, and it is followed by appendices detailing the research methodology and addressing frequently asked questions.

CRITIQUE

This book is written in an easy, conversational style, and it is a relatively quick read, No RX Motilium. The first-person plural is employed throughout, giving the book a very personable feel, 10mg Motilium. The appeals to research are compelling, and the illustrations from the corporate world and the popular culture are quite helpful to the reader in gaining an understanding of the argument the authors present. 500mg Motilium, But from the perspective of biblical faithfulness, this book has some troubling aspects. First, the only apparent metric by which the authors judge a church to be “vibrant, Motilium japan,” “healthy,” or “effective” is numerical growth over a five-year period (65). No RX Motilium, The control group for their research, what they called the “comparison group,” was composed of churches that had not grown numerically, or had declined, over the same period. Motilium uk, Second, while there are certainly numerous appeals to scripture in the arguments made in this book, they are significantly outnumbered by the appeals to statistical analysis, business realities, 30mg Motilium, and cultural illustrations.

Another concern is for that great majority of churches that have less than 100, 750mg Motilium, or even less than 50, members. The actions counseled in this book may work well in churches of 300+, where volunteers are plentiful and ministry loads can be spread over a broad group, 20mg Motilium. But in a small church, where everyone does everything, 250mg Motilium, implementation of this counsel may be difficult or impossible to implement.

CONCLUSION

While numerical growth can certainly be a sign of health and vitality in a congregation, it is far from a guarantee, No RX Motilium. There are many examples of “churches” in American evangelicalism that are growing exponentially, yet they are demonstrably unfaithful when it comes to the proclamation of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Certainly this faithfulness ought to be considered when gauging a church’s “effectiveness, Motilium india,” but this appears not to be a consideration within the pages of Simple Church. At the same time, Motilium ebay, the churches that faithfully proclaim the truth of the saving message of scripture yet do so in small congregations and in complete obscurity are myriad. Because the research upon which this book is based makes no attempt to analyze this faithfulness statistically, it is biased toward “growing” churches, rather than faithful churches.

Doubtless there are principles and processes counseled in Simple Church that can be of benefit to churches seeking greater faithfulness to our Lord’s command to make disciples. Unfortunately, they must be filtered through the wisdom from corporate or popular culture that may or may not apply to the church. The weight of the advice in the book comes from these arenas, rather than from the Word of God, making it difficult to separate the timeless from the popular.

Simple Church can certainly be of benefit to the congregation seeking to make disciples as Christ commanded, but a great deal of discernment will be needed to separate the wheat from the chaff.