In Kingdom Calling, Amy Sherman (2011) puts the cookies on the lower shelves when it comes to exploring and practicing theology of work. Though Sherman writes primarily to an audience of missional pastors and ministry leaders (Sherman, 2011, p. 21), the book is well suited for any Christian wanting to learn more about their calling […]
In her book, Thinking in Systems, pioneer in systems thinking Donella Meadows aimed to give readers “a basic ability to understand and to deal with complex systems” (Meadows & Wright, 2008, p. x). Due to the author’s untimely death in 2001, the work was edited and published at a later time. It was the hope […]
“The church is not only ekklesia—a gathered people. It is also diaspora—a scattered-seed people,” writes Larry Peabody in his book, Job-Shadowing Daniel: Walking the Talk at Work (2010, p. 8). Like Daniel of the Old Testament book, who served God despite a challenging workplace during the Jewish diaspora, Christians today find their purpose and ministry […]
Author Glenn Barth’s personal mission is “to mobilize the church in cities and communities for the transformation of lives and institutions under the Lordship of Jesus Christ by identifying, connecting, and resourcing leaders.”[1] President of GoodCities, a non-profit organization based out of Minneapolis, MN (see www.goodcities.net), Barth uses his book The Good City to cast […]
If The Thin Book of Appreciative Inquiry teaches you how to leverage positive experience to create vision and energy for a better future, The Thin Book of SOAR shows you how to build a framework around Appreciative Inquiry (AI) so that it can be used for strategic planning purposes within organizations of any size. This […]
In her book, The Thin Book of Appreciative Inquiry,[1] author Sue Hammond provides an excellent overview of the change philosophy developed by David Cooperrider and associates at Case Western Reserve University. Through this Thin Book publication, Hammond hopes to entice the reader to delve in deeper into the world of AI. Not only a student […]
Considered to be the Official Handbook of the Christian Community Development Association (CCDA), Restoring At-Risk Communities[1] provides all the basic principles and how-to’s needed to get a ministry started. Edited by John Perkins, the “father of Christian community development,” the book is a compilation of eleven chapters written by various CCDA experts, including Perkins himself. […]
Awarded the Best Religious Book by the National Religious Book Award, The Upside-Down Kingdom by Donald Kraybill is a potentially life-changing read. Originally published in 1978, the book was completely revised and updated in 2003. Successfully, Kraybill has authored a thought provoking work accessible to lay leaders and scholars alike. The central thesis of the […]
Through his book, Transforming Power, Robert Linthicum hopes to teach readers “how to use relational power to make a difference in [their] society” which is grounded “in the biblical witness.”[1] He does so by laying down a solid theological exposition of the use of power in Part 1, while giving practical advice and examples in […]
As a professor at Fuller Theological Seminary, author Mark Lau Branson was quickly recruited as a consultant soon after he started attending First Presbyterian Church in Altadena, California. The founding pastor had recently left the church in a wake of discouragement and disagreements. Branson recommended they implement the organizational change method of Appreciative Inquiry (AI) […]