Leaders Reading List

"The author uses four basic categories of doctrine to help church leaders consider how and what to prioritize in doctrine and ministry, encouraging humility and grace along the way" 

Pastor Jim Cymbala shares the lessons he learned when the Spirit ignited his heart and began to move through his people. This unforgettable story will set a fire burning in your heart to experience God's mercy, power, and love as though for the first time.

The Christian church has a long tradition of systematic theology, that is, of studying biblical teaching on centrally important doctrines such as the Word of God, redemption, and Jesus Christ. Wayne Grudem's bestselling Systematic Theology has several distinctive features:

• A strong emphasis on the scriptural basis for each doctrine Clear writing, with technical terms kept to a minimum 
• A contemporary approach, treating subjects of special interest to the church today 
• A friendly tone, appealing to the emotions and the spirit as well as the intellect Frequent application to life 
• Resources for worship within each chapter
• Bibliographies in each chapter that cross-reference subjects to a wide range of other systematic theologies.

Building and Sustaining a Thriving Leadership Culture
Essential to every healthy church is a biblical model of leadership. In the New Testament, church leadership is built around a team of elders working together, each bringing his own unique skills and gifts to the cause of shepherding the flock God entrusted to them. However, in many churches today the principle of plurality in leadership is often misunderstood, mistakenly applied, or completely ignored.
Dave Harvey encourages church leaders to prioritize plurality for the surprising ways that it helps churches to flourish. This book not only builds a compelling case for churches to adopt and maintain biblical elder pluralities guided by solid leadership but also supplies practical tools to help elders work together for transformation.

Spiritual maturity is not a level of growth Christians achieve, but the passion to press on in Christ. In these concise chapters J. Oswald Sanders explores the primary source of continual growth. As we embrace God’s providence, hardship, and more, we can move from infancy toward the fruitful maturity we were created to enjoy.
Now, this new edition of Spiritual Maturity includes a "For Reflections" section making it an ideal resource for both individual and group study. 

This is the first of a short series of books on the Great Christian Doctrines. There is, I believe, a widespread and earnest desire on the part of teachers of the Bible to do more than has lately been done for the teaching of Christian doctrine. The complaint that doctrine is dry is due to the way it is taught, even more than to the "spirit of the age". Anything is dry that is disorderly or unreal. In this volume the Doctrine of Prayer is presented in an orderly sequence, and contact with reality is maintained at every step by means of illustration or example. 

Exploring the biblical models of shepherding, mentoring, and equipping, They Smell Like Sheep unlocks the secrets of leadership for anyone.

What kind of leadership will effectively lead the church into the morally turbulent twenty-first century? The same kind of leadership that led it through the morally and politically chaotic first century. Shepherding.

This is the kind of leadership Jesus used, and this is the kind of leadership that will take his church where he wants it to go.

While the term "shepherd" produces warm images of love, care, and tenderness, it also describes a form of leadership that is perilously protective, dangerous, dirty, and smelly.

"Shepherd" is something that every follower of Christ, the Good Shepherd, is called to become.

Lynn Anderson, in this important book, leads us backwards in time to discover and identify the biblical leader for the future needs of the Christian community. Anderson's deep dig for truth will concern, convict, and confront us about where leadership has been, and will set a new standard for where the future leader must go. 

Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life. -- Proverbs 4:23

They Smell like Sheep, Volume 2: Leading with the Heart of a Shepherd is about more than gimmicks and techniques of leadership. It speaks to the character and heart of the leader. After all, heart makes the difference in an effective Sunday-school teacher, youth minister, elder, small-group leader, parent, grandparent, or Christian school teacher.

Spiritual sheep, stray sheep, and searching sheep aren't nearly as concerned about the knowledge and skill of the shepherd as they are about his heart. When finding their way -- at weddings, at funerals, during family crises, and in the hospital -- sheep go to a shepherd in whom they discern God's own heart, like King David of old.

Jesus said sheep would know their shepherd's voice and be drawn to it. It is the heart behind the voice that soothes and comforts God's people.

How do you measure the influence of a godly shepherd? Without doubt, it's the heart of the shepherd that most powerfully shapes lives and souls in our flocks.

If you want your own heart shaped and molded into the likeness of Christ, this book is an excellent place to begin.

Be shepherds of God's flock under your care... as God wants you to be.

Heeding the call to be a leader is an awesome responsibility. Whether you have been called to serve as a minister or you're teaching an adult Bible study group or you're a teen leading the youth group in song, most assuredly from time to time you question your abilities and look for support and example.

Author Lynn Anderson addresses the starting and ending place of true leadership among God's people: the heart of a shepherd. He presents Jesus, the Head Shepherd, as our only reliable model of godly leadership; he guides us through the Scriptures and gives us practical exercises to strengthen our hearts as we do the difficult yet rewarding work of shepherding people of God with love and grace.

Enter the book's pages with the confidence that you are being led by someone who has the heart of a shepherd and who sees himself first as a smelly sheep, dearly loved and led by the Good Shepherd.

And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory. -- 1 Peter 5:4