Missio Dei Suburbia

Book Lists: Personal Evangelism and Biblical Counseling

Chris Walker recommends the following books on personal evangelism:

• Questioning Evangelism, Randy Newman
• They like Jesus, but not the Church by Dan Kimball
• Confessions of a Reformissional Rev by Mark Driscoll
• Reimagining Evangelism: Inviting Friends on a Spiritual Journey by Rick Richardson
• Unbinding the Gospel: Real Life Evangelism (Real Life Evangelism Series) by Martha Rese
• unChristian: What a New Generation Really Thinks about Christianity… and Why It Matters
• Evangelism Made Slightly Less Difficult: How to Interest People who Aren’t Already Interested by Nick Pollard.
• Becoming a Contagious Christian, Bill Hybels and Mark Mittleberg.
• Just Walk Across the Room, Bill Hybels
• Just Walk Across the Room (Spanish), Bill Hybels
• Simplemente acercate a ellos: Pasos Sencillos Para Guiar a Las Personas Hacia La Fe, Bill Hybels
• Hitchhiker’s Guide To Evangelism: Bill William Tenny-Brittian.
• The Gospel and Personal Evangelism, Mark Dever
• A Forgotten Gospel by Mark McGrath
• Tell It Often-Tell It Well: Making the Most of Witnessing Opportunities, Mark McCloskey
• Evangelism for the Rest of Us: Sharing Christ within Your Personality Style, Mike Bechtle
• True Story: A Christianity Worth Believing In, James Choung

Driscoll recommends these books on biblical counseling:

• Seeing With New Eyes: Counseling and the Human Condition Through the Lens of Scripture (P& R, 2003) by David Powlison
• Speaking Truth in Love: Counsel in Community (New Growth Press, 2005) by David Powlison
• Addictions: A Banquet in the Grave (P & R, 2001) by Edward T. Welch
• When People Are Big and God Is Small: Overcoming Peer Pressure, Codependency, and the Fear of Man (P & R, 1997) by Edward T. Welch
• Blame It on the Brain? Distinguishing Chemical Imbalances, Brain Disorders, and Disobedience (P & R, 1998) by Edward T. Welch
• Step by Step: Divine Guidance for Ordinary Christians (P & R, 1999) by James C. Petty

Any books you'd add on evangelism and/or counseling?

10 Qualifications for Church Planters

Scott Thomas lays out the ten qualifications of church planters - men who plant reformed, missional churches that plant churches.

1. Spiritual Vitality
2. Theological Clarity
3. Clarity and Strength of Calling
4. Strong Marriage and Family Life
5. Relationship Building
6. Leadership Abilities
7. Emotional Stability
8. Missional Lifestyle
9. Disciplemaking Skills
10. Entrepreneurial Aptitude

You can read the whole post here.

Gospel Coalition Notes - Keller, Piper Driscoll

The Gospel Coalition National Conference began yesterday - here are notes/manuscripts from several of the main sessions:

• Tim Keller
• John Piper
• Mark Driscoll

You can watch the live webcast today here. Audio and video from yesterday's sessions should be available later today.

Cornerstone Church - Gospel Conference

From Tim Brister:

Over the past couple of days, I have been listening to the audio from Cornerstone Church’s recent Gospel Conference (Francis Chan is teaching pastor at Cornerstone).  These are some guys you may not be familiar with, but I encourage you to check them out.  The links take you to downloadable MP3’s and MP4’s.

:: Francis Chan | Audio | Video
:: Jeff Vanderstelt 1 | Audio | Video
:: Jeff Vanderstelt 2 | Audio | Video
:: David Fairchild 1 | Audio | Video
:: David Fairchild 2 | Audio | Video

John Piper Interview With Matt Chandler

Matt Chandler is one of the best communicators I've ever been around. Here's an interview that John Piper recently did with Matt:

• Part 1 - Chandler tells his story up to about 20 years old.
• Part 2 - More on Chandler's story, through becoming a pastor.
• Part 3 - Chandler's thoughts on being a pastor, a Calvinist, and a Complementarian.
• Part 4 - Chandler and Piper finish up with some advice for pastors.

(HT: JT)

Gospel Coalition Live Webcast

You can watch the 2009 Gospel Coalition National Conference here this Tuesday to Thursday. This year's theme is Entrusted With The Gospel: Living the Vision of 2 Timothy.

Speakers include:

• Tim Keller
• John Piper
• Phil Ryken
• Mark Driscoll
• K. Edward Copeland
• Bryan Chapell
• Ajith Fernando
• Ligon Duncan
• D.A. Carson

Engaging the University

Very helpful post by John Stackhouse on how the church - and by extension, campus ministries - should seek to engage students on the university campus.

From the conclusion:

Much campus ministry over the last century has merely been an extension the local church work of basic disciple-making onto a nearby campus. Should it continue? Perhaps it should, especially with international students and others who might need extra time to integrate into local churches. But to offer a “spiritual kindergarten,” I suggest, is not the central mission of campus ministry. It is the main responsibility of the local church, and campus ministries instead should do what they are peculiarly situated and, I trust, equipped to do.

Evangelism on campus? Of course that should continue. That’s “on the job evangelism,” which every Christian ought to do. And with a special “people group” in view—namely, university students and professors—one can tailor apologetical and evangelistic initiatives to their distinctive needs. When people do respond positively to such initiatives, then campus ministries must connect them with local churches and their helpful programs in basic Christian life: with Alpha programs, small groups, Sunday School classes, and the like.

Without this clear sense of what they are to do versus what the local church is to do, campus ministries neglect their particular work. Thus they compound the problem by competing with local churches: “Why even go to a local church? It’s so much less interesting than this student group”—which in the nature of the case is tailored to and includes only this nicely homogeneous demographic! Thus campus ministries in effect train students in a “non-local-church” paradigm, which devastates them upon graduation as they must, in fact, make their way into local churches or flounder alone.

I'm thankful for the students and the campus ministries we're connected to on the University of Georgia campus. We're engaged in some really fruitful discussion about how the church can partner with these ministries to help students grow and thrive as missionaries to the campus, living in community, empowered by the gospel.

The Suburbs - Bouncing Back

The Sub*text linked to this article from Forbes and New Geography about the burgeoning resurgence of the suburbs. It's a reminder that while urban planners - and even church planting movements - focus on the city, the reality is that most of the population of the U.S. lives in a suburban context.

Audio: College Students and the Local Church

Mark Dever interviews Aaron Messner, chaplain of Covenant College, about the role of the local church in discipling college and university students.

Darrin Patrick - Life with Non-Christians

I've heard the audio to this a good half-dozen times. The first 1:30 always ruins me...