books by Thom S. Rainer     books:       Career Crossover: Leaving the Marketplace for Ministry2 reviews Tom R. Harper B&H Publishing Group, 2007 An Authentic Look at the Material Tom Harper writes in a clear and authentic voice about the realities of leaving the secular business world to cross over into ministry. Harper's purpose is not to convince the reader to enter the ministry, rather, present the reality of doing so. The book is based on empirical data collected from over 700 survey respondents that left the marketplace to cross-over into ministry. Harper does ...             Surprising Insights from the Unchurched and Proven Ways to Reach Them23 reviews Thom S. Rainer Zondervan, 2008 Very helpful insights. Having previously read Rainer's, Breakout Churches, I was looking forward to Surprising Insights, but it was better than I thought. Drawing from the experience of people who recently rejoined a church or as adults began attending church for the first time, he was able to open up and clarify what drew them in and what helped them to stay. Rather than theory or ideas based on people who are not ...             Effective Evangelistic Churches3 reviews B&H Publishing, 1996 WOW! A must read for every pastor Every pastor who cares about evangelism should read this book. By far it is the most comprehensive book on how to grow a church I have read. The author surveyed and interviewed the pastors of over 500 churches to determine what works, and what doesnt work. Rainer doesnt waste our time, but starts off by documenting ten surprises he uncovered about effective evangelistic churches. In a ...             Raising Dad: What Fathers & Sons Learn from Each Other1 review B&H Publishing Group, 2007 Transparent, Vulnerable and Authentic This is the best book on fathering that you'll read this year, regardless of whether you're raising sons or daughters. Although the book is a shared journal between father and (adult) son, the principles explained here are valuable in raising daughters also. Rainer writes with amazing transparency, showing us mistakes in his own attitudes, priorities, and behaviors. Because of that, we're able ...             Breakout Churches: Discover How to Make the Leap19 reviews Thom S. Rainer Zondervan Publishing House, 2005 One of the Best Practical and Theological Coherent Books on Church Growth In more conservative and Calvinistic circles the "Church Growth Movement" and constructs of Church Growth have been roundly, and in many instances, rightly criticized. The emphasis on methodology and pragmatism has often been at the expense of theology and a Biblical view of the sovereignty of God. The perceived excesses of the Willow Creek and Saddleback models of ministry; the theological ...             The Unexpected Journey: Conversations with People Who Turned from Other Beliefs to Jesus12 reviews Zondervan, 2009 The Unexpected Journey After reading Thom Rainer's "Unexpected Journey", I felt encouraged. All of the testimonies show that God pursues us wherever we are and He arranges circumstances in such a way that it is obviously not coincidence but His providence at work. He also softens our hearts so that when we do hear the gospel we respond. The testimonies also show that Christians can affect other people's ...             Giant Awakenings: Making the Most of 9 Surprising Trends That Can Benefit Your Church1 review Thom S. Rainer Broadman & Holman Pub, 1995 Help for those involved in traditional churches Giant Awakenings; Nine Surprising Trends You Can Use to Benefit Your Church; by Thom S. Rainer Thom Rainer, dean of the Billy Graham School of Missions, Evangelism, and Church Growth, at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, has written an excellent book on the future of the traditional church. It will be a great encouragement to pastors of traditional churches. ...             In Real Time: Authentic Young Adult Ministry as It Happens1 review Mike Glenn B&H Books, 2009 Fabulous Book Wow! This book is so well written, and pertinent to all ages. Mike Glenn is a gifted teacher and writer. My faith and daily walk with Christ was strengthened. This book both blessed me and convicted me and I recommend highly recommend it to everyone!             Simple Church: Returning to God's Process for Making Disciples107 reviews Thom S. Rainer, Eric Geiger B&H Books, 2010 Great resource! The book is fantastic. It offers practical insight on how to setup and run a ministry in an effective, God-centered manner. I would highly recommend this book to anyone desiring for more ministry-effectiveness.             Evangelism Handbook: Biblical, Spiritual, Intentional, Missional1 review Alvin Reid B&H Books, 2009 A Review of Evangelism Handbook, by Dr. Alvin Reid Dr. Alvin Reid, Evangelism Handbook, (Nashville: B&H Publishing Group), 2009. 460 pages reviewed. It is unfortunate that I completed this book so early in 2010...since I do not think it is possible for any book to top it all year. I have the highest praises for Dr. Reid and this incredible resource. As a pastor, I know that when I mention "evangelism" I get mixed responses from those I ...             The Bridger Generation2 reviews Thom S. Rainer B&H Academic, 2006 Good look at the NEXT Generation Great book that will introduce you to what the next generation is thinking, what they want in a church, what their hurts are, and how we can reach them.             The Unchurched Next Door: Understanding Faith Stages as Keys to Sharing Your Faith9 reviews Zondervan, 2009 The Unchurched Next Door: Understanding Faith Stages as Keys to Sharing Your Faith Extremely helpful to read before going on mission doing surveys and witnessing door to door. Helped to understand where people are in the process of receiving a witness about Jesus Christ, and to not feel discouraged when they "rejected" our offer to hear the gospel. It helped us know how to pray for certain people knowing that they are either resistant, neutral, seeker, or just waiting to hear ...             High Expectations: The Remarkable Secret for Keeping People in Your Church6 reviews Thom S. Rainer B&H Books, 1999 A Must Read for Church Leadership If you're involved in church leadership, either on staff or on a board, you owe it to yourself to read this book. There are many books out there based on opinion or the experience of one church--often a mega-church--and that's fine. But the detail and research behind this book make it unique and remarkable because it applies to every church of any size anywhere in the world. It's not the only ...             Southern Baptist Identity: An Evangelical Denomination Faces the Future2 reviews David S. Dockery Crossway Books, 2009 The Future of Southern Baptists Book titles are important. Smart titles tell you about the book's contents in a memorable way. Brilliant titles make a statement in and of themselves. Crossway has recently published a collection of essays from a variety of Southern Baptist leaders. David Dockery is the editor of the new book, whose title says more in nine words than some books say in hundreds of pages. Southern Baptist ...             essential church? (EasyRead Super Large 18pt Edition): reclaiming a generation of dropouts10 reviews Thom S. Rainer ReadHowYouWant, 2008 Painful Must-Read Rainer and his son wrote Essential Church: Reclaiming a Generation of Dropouts based on a nationwide survey of those leaving the church in recent years. Their findings are interesting and provocative. "The American church is dying. Conversions are declining in almost every denomination. Even in some of the more relatively healthy denominations, conversions to Christianity have ...             Evangelicals Engaging Emergent: A Discussion of the Emergent Church Movement4 reviews B&H Academic, 2009 A Pastor's Must Have The local pastor is often unaware of what the culture is offering older Christians who practice church hoping, young people who are searching for relevance within the church and seekers wanting church to accomodate their interests. The approaches, methods and theologies of much of the Emergent movement churches present the local pastor with challenges for which he is unaware and may be unprepared ...             Transformational Church4 reviews B&H Publishing, 2010 BUY THIS BOOK NOW! I have read at least 100 books on the church in my ministry years. It is not a stretch to say that this book is biblical, practical and well researched. The weaving of the seven traits of transformational churches is well balanced by stories and explanations, without providing programs and `reproducible templates' by which the cultural nuances would be lost in their reproduction. This is an ...             Eating the Elephant: Leading the Established Church to Growth3 reviews Thom S. Rainer, Charles E. Lawless Pinnacle Pub., 2003 Wise Counsel Has Become Even Wiser After having read the first edition of this title by Thom Rainer, I was curious to see what kind of changes would be present from the input of Chuck Lawless. What I found was that the wise counsel of Rainer has become even wiser when accompanied by the spiritual warfare/prayer expertise of Lawless. The theme of this volume is that church growth principles must be implemented in a congregation ...             The Book of Church Growth1 review Thom S. Rainer B&H Academic, 1998 Church Growth Compilation Ranier does the church a favor when he pulls together in this volume the history, theology and principles of the movement. After each chapter is additional suggested reading list. One can easily and concisely in this work see the development and emphases of this movement. Now somewhat outdated (1993 publication), nevertheless the info here presented is worthwhile to those desiring to pursue the ...             Simple Life: Time, Relationships, Money, God8 reviews Thom S. Rainer, Art Rainer B&H Books, 2009 Must Read for All with "No" Money or Time I was hoping the "slow" economy would cause people to stop and think about their lives. Especially all of the money they waste on things they don't need, busyness that they create then complain about, the lack of time they create. People need to slow down and drop the high school mentality of trying to be cool, buying stuff to fit in and thinking that being busy somehow makes our children better ...              search for books authentic, awakenings, conversations, crossover, denomination, disciples, discussion, effective, essential, established, evangelical, evangelicals, evangelism, evangelistic, expectations, generation, identity, intentional, marketplace, missional, reclaiming, relationships, remarkable, returning, spiritual, surprising, transformational, unchurched, understanding, unexpected books:    Kindle - Amazon's New Wireless Reading Device This is the future of book reading. I have used it and love it! randomly chosen book: Toyota Land Cruiser FJ40, 43,45, 55 & 60, '68'82 (Haynes Manuals) home  impressum - about us