Comparative Book Review
Rediscovering church – Lynne and Bill Hybels
This book was written the founder and senior pastor of Willow Creek Community Church and his wife. Willow Creek is located in suburban Chicago. It has a weekly attendance approaching 20000. In this book the Hybels share part of their story in pasturing Willow Creek and a little bit of their philosophy of ministry.
The underlying theology assumed by the author is that the church has the power to change the world. His theology seems to be more church-centric rather then Christocentric. I would not call Hybels a theologian. He presents very basic evangelical theology. This is in sharp contrast to Guder’s book, which has very sophisticated theologically developed views on the nature of the church.
There is no discussion of God’s relationship to his creation or the kingdom. Actually there is very little kingdom talk. The emphasis seems to be that the local church is very important. But there is no connection to the global catholic (universal) church. This again contrasts Guder’s global outlook. Guder does not discount the importance of the local church, but wisely sets it within the context of the global communion.
The local church is primarily seen as a vehicle of evangelism and fellowship. I was surprised that Hybels says nothing about the importance of worship. I have come to the conviction that churches should be primarily worshipping community. All other activities (evangelism, teaching, discipleship, social care etc.) flow from this primary calling of worshipping the triune God. But Guder also does not address the issue of worship. Rather he is setting out a “map” for our missional witness in the world.
The philosophy of ministry is outlined by Hybels most clearly in ten and twelve. In chapter ten he basically presents a message given by Dr. Gilbert Bilezikian at a church leadership conference at Willow Creek. The four key elements of a healthy church are: teaching, fellowship, evangelism and helping those in need.
Preaching is seen as something that should be done only by those who are gifted, spiritually disciplined and anointed by the Spirit. Hybels fails here to clearly spell out what biblical preaching is. He does not identify exegetical, expositional, narrative or topical as being the preferred method.
Fellowship is seen as the opportunity to share deep needs in the context of small groups. There is nothing really groundbreaking here. The usual critique of superficiality in churches is given.
While the major thrust of this manual is to help Christians in a nursing home ministry, this final part enlarges the scope a bit to help churches organize to meet the needs of elderly people both inside and outside of nursing homes.
For this paper, I read and analyzed the Life Together by Dietrich Bonhoeffer. I focused specifically on his writing regarding ‘Christian Community’. Bonhoeffer uses Psalm133, verse 1 as the diving board for his exposition on community, “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity” (KJV). Bonhoeffer’s writing centers on the truth that everything given to Christians is a gift of grace. This paper will explore Bonhoeffer’s exposition on the nature of Christian community in his book, Life Together and compare it to daily life of a Christian. Bonhoeffer distinguishes between the “human ideal and God’s reality” of community and “between spiritual and human community” (39).
Assault in the Senate by David E. Johnson describes the grueling debate between Representative Preston Brooks and Senator Charles Sumner. This argument took place in 1856 and has since become a pivotal moment during the civil war era.
Hybels, Lynne and Bill Hybels. 1995. Rediscovering Church: The Story and Vision of Willow Creek Community Church. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan Publishing House.
Barth, Karl . The Theology of John Calvin. Grand Rapids, Mich.: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1995.
For people who are not statisticians, they may wonder what statisticians do, and how statistics could be applied in daily life. Statistics: A Guide to the Unknown is a supplementary reading materials designed for general readers even if he or she did not learn enough knowledge of statistics, mathematics and probability. Besides, it could give statisticians a general understanding of the important role of statistics in society. This book also analyzes how statistics assists people to gain useful information from massive data sets. In order to form a more respected book, the editors invite many distinguished researchers in statistics as authors. The book consists of twenty-five essays from different fields, including public policy and social science, science and technology, biology and medicine, business and industry, and hobbies and recreation. Each essay provides readers a description of how statistical methods are applied to solve issues in that field.
Stephen Westerholm’s most recent work, Justification Reconsidered: Rethinking a Pauline Theme, puts forth his aim “to update and to make more widely accessible earlier work I have done” (p. viii.4). This book does a fair amount to accomplish his goal in only 99 pages and will be a fairly easy read for the lay leader or rural pastor interested in this topic of discussion.
Philosophy of Ministry: God's desires come first, I must always live my ministry God's way. I must live as a Christian (1 Corinthians 9:27) I must have a proper relationship of surrender to the Leader. In my personal life or in the Church I must understand that Christ is Head and Chief Shepherd (Ephesians 1:22, Hebrews 13:20). The “management” of Church is about relationships with God and Man, not just maintaining a social organization.
In the eyes of the people the church is one place you are spared from judgment and critique. It is the one place you should feel safe, to express your thoughts and opinions, pray to the higher power in which you believe and your faith resides and be free of society qualms, demands, and realism. In a part
Young, D. S. (1999). Servant Leadership for Church Renewal: Sheperds By the Living Springs. Scottdale: Herald Press.
In an age when culture continues to lower standards of intellect, Marva Dawn makes compelling observations and suggestions for the Church to rethink its’ strategy on impacting society. How do we evangelize without weakening the message of what we are communicating? The majority of her text focuses on the worship environment generally, but later she focuses on music, preaching, and liturgy specifically. According to Dawn, a gathering of believers should emphasize God as the subject and object of worship, challenge each individual to grow in godly character, and accentuate the community of believers (not only in the room, but throughout history as well). Through this grid, she encourages leaders and participants to evaluate each worship element. If these primary goals are accomplished, then worship will not be empty and simpleminded. Instead the worship atmosphere would be held to a higher standard and, she believes, both pleasing to God and attractive to those who do not know God.
Bryant and Brunson have done a terrific job of assessing the pastoral ministry and giving sound advice, to the young or prospective pastor. The present author believes that this book should be standard in every pastor’s library. “God promises to be with his servants as they follow” (Bryant and Brunson 2007, 16) The apostle Paul gave three rules to keep the pastor on the track of a good reward: “Fight the Good Fight; Finish the Race; and Keep the Faith.” (Bryant and Brunson 2007, 240-242) The greatest joy for a pastor is to, “Finish well.”
into a richer experience of worship and a more effect life of service" (Crabb, 1977, p.31). The method to establishing an
Rich Dad, Poor Dad is a non-fiction book written by Robert Kiyosaki. Kiyosaki takes us into his life to describe to us the difference between two separate households and how they manage money. When you first open up the book, you are immediately shown the confliction Robert has between choosing whose advice to follow. His biological father is known as his poor dad who is highly educated but doesn’t make the right choices when it comes to money. His rich dad isn’t his father but is a childhood friend’s father who is also trying to teach Robert how to manage money. Rich dad has very little education background but the way he deals with money is what made him successful. Robert’s poor dad views education as the main principle to success. As long as you do well in school, you will have a good steady job thought poor dad. Poor dad always stated “I’m not interested in money”, and “money doesn’t matter.” Rich dad on the other hand knew how to make money work for him not the other way around. He felt that in order to succeed and make a lot of money, you need to work for yourself and not others. Robert learned many lessons from both dads and he feels he is very fortunate to have had two father figures to teach him and give him examples on how to become rich and successful.
Another aspect of the minister’s preaching is to preach with the intent to advance the kingdom of God. First and foremost, a pastor is to point his people to Christ. If there is no Christ-centered preaching, then there is no true biblical preaching. A shepherd leads and feeds his flock and that is primarily the pastor’s role. He is to direct