SisterACTS
12-17-2007, 03:49 PM
Greetings :)
Some of you may or may not know about some of these books but I'd like to recommend them for your own library as reference tools, study and research into the Apostolic model of house church.
While these books are not written exclusively by Apostolic men as we know them (some people call themselves Apostolic and do not believe like we do) they are chalked full of useful information, history, bibliography and most importantly, Scripture.
In certain books, my husband and I have found a bit of a "unitarian" flare to some personal insights. Of course, this is where we disagree. I've not found a book yet where I 100% agree with every part (even among the most respected Apostolic authors). We should give credit where credit is due, rightly dividing the Word of God. Just because a man's opinion about something is wrong, does not make the Truth wrong. So many seem to mess that one up.
I've said all that to say this: Let us be mature Christians, able to continue on in sound doctrine, study to shew ourselves approved and objectively look into others' research considering Truth is at the helm. The Word of God itself is annointed, His principles are Powerful!
With that in mind, here are two authors I have learned much from.
First is Frank Viola. He has an entire series on the Apostolic model of HOW the NT Church is to gather and meet. They include books like "Who's Your Covering?", "Rethinking the Wineskin", "Pagan Christianity" and "Knowing Christ Together." Pagan Christianity was the first one we read and it made it's largest impact, by far. It is very meaty and intense. Half of the book is footnotes! This is nice because if you disagree, you have a starting point to look into for yourself.
Next is George Barna. Most of the ecclesiastical/contemporary christian world knows him best for his research. He's a pollster. The Barna Group has published numerous studies on the trends of churches today, where they are headed, etc...
George wrote his last book "Revolution" based on the most significant research he's done to date....home church. He has found a trend of serious-minded believers leaving the building because they are wanting a more intimate and fulfilling walk with the Lord. This has impacted him so much so, that he has joined what he calls, "the Revolutionaries" in pioneering and paving the way back to the original blueprint of how Christians lived their lives.
George has added a new sequel to "Revolution".......it's a refined, updated and more thorough "Pagan Christianity". Here a quote from a letter Frank Viola recently sent out:
December 2007: New Book Release
Pagan Christianity: Exploring the Roots of Our Church Practices
Revised and Expanded
by Frank Viola and George Barna
Hardcover: Tyndale House
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A Personal Letter to My Readers
I have some exciting news to share with all of you. Sometime last year, George Barna contacted me after reading my book Pagan Christianity. For those of you who aren't familiar with Barna, he's the leading Christian pollster in the country, a major evangelical leader, and a best-selling author. It's commonly reported that George is "the most quoted person in the Christian Church today." After reading Pagan, George was so excited that he wanted Tyndale House to publish it as part of his Revolution series in the Barnabooks line, making it the sequel to his best-selling, Revolution.
As we discussed the idea, George made many valuable suggestions to make the book stronger. He and I added some new chapters as well as expanding some of the original chapters. We also added a question-answer section after each chapter, which addresses objections that people may have to the book. George also added some of his own seminal research to the work.
On top of that, my editor at Tyndale went through each sentence, including the footnotes, with a fine-toothed comb and made many helpful suggestions. We worked for months on fine-tuning the book to make it a clearer, more compelling read.
The short of it is that this new edition of Pagan Christianity is a much more powerful book than it was before. All the arguments and research contained in the original version have been retained. The difference is that now it's easier to read, the research is tighter, it has more information, and a number of added chapters.
In addition, some user-friendly helps have been added to the back of the book that didn't appear in the original edition. Not to mention that the new edition has a killer cover (hardcover with a book jacket) which matches George's best-selling Revolution.
All that to say that if you've read the original version, I am confident that the changes that have been made in this new edition will be well worth the price of the new book.
The good news is that Present Testimony Ministry is selling this new edition for *less* than the original edition, even though the retail price is much higher. We are doing this because we want *every* Christian to read this book. We believe it's that important.
Amazingly, the book has already sold 15,000 copies in pre-orders. And that's without any public advertising or marketing.
How You Can Help Spread the Revolution
Of all the books I've written so far, Pagan Christianity will probably have the most impact. One of the people in the Barna Group predicted that this book will become *the primer* for those involved in alternative expressions of the church -- including house churches, simple churches, intentional communities, etc. -- as well as giving a large dose of fuel to the present Revolution in the church today.
If the book does becomes the primer for all alternative church expressions, it's because the book powerfully and methodically shifts the modern paradigm for "church," rooting all of its arguments in both Scripture and church history.
It's evident to me and many of my friends that God has allowed the second largest Christian publishing house in the world (Tyndale) to publish this book for one reason: He wants the message to go out far and wide. God cares deeply for His church, and He seeks for it to be given back to His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, the true Head of the Body. That's the driving message behind Pagan Christianity.
My co-workers and I are deeply thankful to the Lord for His favor, and we are looking forward to seeing how He will use this book to effect true change in the church and in the lives of individuals. George and I hope that the book will contribute to a turning point in the course of church history. That said, here are 8 ways that you can help us get the word out about the book:
1. Order a copy directly from us (Present Testimony Ministry) instead of from Amazon.com. Our discount beats any other distributor. Plus we're offering a free bonus chapter to those who purchase the book from us. Just go to: www.ptmin.org/paganrevised.htm
By buying the book from us, you are helping us generate more funds to get the word out about the book and to offer deeper discounts for multiple copies.
Also: we accept INTERNATIONAL orders now. So you can order from any country.
Some of you may or may not know about some of these books but I'd like to recommend them for your own library as reference tools, study and research into the Apostolic model of house church.
While these books are not written exclusively by Apostolic men as we know them (some people call themselves Apostolic and do not believe like we do) they are chalked full of useful information, history, bibliography and most importantly, Scripture.
In certain books, my husband and I have found a bit of a "unitarian" flare to some personal insights. Of course, this is where we disagree. I've not found a book yet where I 100% agree with every part (even among the most respected Apostolic authors). We should give credit where credit is due, rightly dividing the Word of God. Just because a man's opinion about something is wrong, does not make the Truth wrong. So many seem to mess that one up.
I've said all that to say this: Let us be mature Christians, able to continue on in sound doctrine, study to shew ourselves approved and objectively look into others' research considering Truth is at the helm. The Word of God itself is annointed, His principles are Powerful!
With that in mind, here are two authors I have learned much from.
First is Frank Viola. He has an entire series on the Apostolic model of HOW the NT Church is to gather and meet. They include books like "Who's Your Covering?", "Rethinking the Wineskin", "Pagan Christianity" and "Knowing Christ Together." Pagan Christianity was the first one we read and it made it's largest impact, by far. It is very meaty and intense. Half of the book is footnotes! This is nice because if you disagree, you have a starting point to look into for yourself.
Next is George Barna. Most of the ecclesiastical/contemporary christian world knows him best for his research. He's a pollster. The Barna Group has published numerous studies on the trends of churches today, where they are headed, etc...
George wrote his last book "Revolution" based on the most significant research he's done to date....home church. He has found a trend of serious-minded believers leaving the building because they are wanting a more intimate and fulfilling walk with the Lord. This has impacted him so much so, that he has joined what he calls, "the Revolutionaries" in pioneering and paving the way back to the original blueprint of how Christians lived their lives.
George has added a new sequel to "Revolution".......it's a refined, updated and more thorough "Pagan Christianity". Here a quote from a letter Frank Viola recently sent out:
December 2007: New Book Release
Pagan Christianity: Exploring the Roots of Our Church Practices
Revised and Expanded
by Frank Viola and George Barna
Hardcover: Tyndale House
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A Personal Letter to My Readers
I have some exciting news to share with all of you. Sometime last year, George Barna contacted me after reading my book Pagan Christianity. For those of you who aren't familiar with Barna, he's the leading Christian pollster in the country, a major evangelical leader, and a best-selling author. It's commonly reported that George is "the most quoted person in the Christian Church today." After reading Pagan, George was so excited that he wanted Tyndale House to publish it as part of his Revolution series in the Barnabooks line, making it the sequel to his best-selling, Revolution.
As we discussed the idea, George made many valuable suggestions to make the book stronger. He and I added some new chapters as well as expanding some of the original chapters. We also added a question-answer section after each chapter, which addresses objections that people may have to the book. George also added some of his own seminal research to the work.
On top of that, my editor at Tyndale went through each sentence, including the footnotes, with a fine-toothed comb and made many helpful suggestions. We worked for months on fine-tuning the book to make it a clearer, more compelling read.
The short of it is that this new edition of Pagan Christianity is a much more powerful book than it was before. All the arguments and research contained in the original version have been retained. The difference is that now it's easier to read, the research is tighter, it has more information, and a number of added chapters.
In addition, some user-friendly helps have been added to the back of the book that didn't appear in the original edition. Not to mention that the new edition has a killer cover (hardcover with a book jacket) which matches George's best-selling Revolution.
All that to say that if you've read the original version, I am confident that the changes that have been made in this new edition will be well worth the price of the new book.
The good news is that Present Testimony Ministry is selling this new edition for *less* than the original edition, even though the retail price is much higher. We are doing this because we want *every* Christian to read this book. We believe it's that important.
Amazingly, the book has already sold 15,000 copies in pre-orders. And that's without any public advertising or marketing.
How You Can Help Spread the Revolution
Of all the books I've written so far, Pagan Christianity will probably have the most impact. One of the people in the Barna Group predicted that this book will become *the primer* for those involved in alternative expressions of the church -- including house churches, simple churches, intentional communities, etc. -- as well as giving a large dose of fuel to the present Revolution in the church today.
If the book does becomes the primer for all alternative church expressions, it's because the book powerfully and methodically shifts the modern paradigm for "church," rooting all of its arguments in both Scripture and church history.
It's evident to me and many of my friends that God has allowed the second largest Christian publishing house in the world (Tyndale) to publish this book for one reason: He wants the message to go out far and wide. God cares deeply for His church, and He seeks for it to be given back to His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, the true Head of the Body. That's the driving message behind Pagan Christianity.
My co-workers and I are deeply thankful to the Lord for His favor, and we are looking forward to seeing how He will use this book to effect true change in the church and in the lives of individuals. George and I hope that the book will contribute to a turning point in the course of church history. That said, here are 8 ways that you can help us get the word out about the book:
1. Order a copy directly from us (Present Testimony Ministry) instead of from Amazon.com. Our discount beats any other distributor. Plus we're offering a free bonus chapter to those who purchase the book from us. Just go to: www.ptmin.org/paganrevised.htm
By buying the book from us, you are helping us generate more funds to get the word out about the book and to offer deeper discounts for multiple copies.
Also: we accept INTERNATIONAL orders now. So you can order from any country.