Comments on: Which books inspire you?

By: mark harrell

mark harrell — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 18:09:49 +0000

Sorry … it's Harrell, not FHarrell (although that is pretty cool)!

By: Mark FHarrell

Mark FHarrell — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 18:08:04 +0000

Thorn Rainer — I believe — is IN the system, but not OF the system. He realizes (through the tenants of his book) that the Traditional Church has lost it "relativity." He is right. The believer is the "church," and as the believer(s) come together to assemble — it is called the ecclesia.

The goal is to win over those trapped in the church system, not drive them farther away. I am attempting to bridge the gap at:http://www.v2tm.org and through my book (no publisher yet): Get Real! RU Relevant.

May God help us seek and save that which is lost by equipping the Body of Christ with RELEVANT ministry tools.

Live OUT LOUD!

Mark Harrell

By: herbhalstead

herbhalstead — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 14:48:01 +0000

As a church planter, I've read a lot of progressive things from today's trendy younger leaders, but most influential to me are two unlikely books, from two unlikely authors:

Present Future : Reggie McNeal – a SBC bureaucrat who is more widely known for "church growth movement" books broke wrote a book that is anti-church-growth (pro Kingdom Growth) and was life changing in my understanding of ministry. He rescued from organizational dogma with that book. It's been a few years now since he wrote it, but I still re-read it to invigorate my view of "church". His theme: it's the Kingdom, stupid – not the organization.

Simple Church : Thom Rainer. This guy leads Lifeway, one of the most recognizably stodgy brands in protestantism. Again, what a surprise. He makes his living from selling materials for church programming, but wrote a book saying that churches need to do less programming. I could not have survived being a church planter if someone had not introduce me to this book at the planning stages of Thrive Church. His theme: effective churches are fanatical about their stated mission, have a clearly defined, focused process for making that mission happen, and iconic values that everyone can easily understand and support – all three of these things are aligned and streamlined.