Renewal

I have a proposal. All sides of the so-called "worship wars" should declare a truce until all sides have read the new book by Jeff Meyers, The Lord's Service: The Grace of Covenant Renewal Worship. Meyers is pastor of Providence Reformed Presbyterian Church (PCA) in St. Louis, Missouri. Instead of going to the Bible to find support for our strongly held worship practices (whether old or new), Meyers allows Scripture to clearly teach us how we are to approach our Triune God in worship. This may require us to abandon some strongly held ideas (both old and new) concerning worship.
In Part I of the book, Meyers begins his study by asking a simple question, "Why go to church on Sunday?" Various answers are given to this question. Is the purpose evangelism? Is it education? Is it experience? Is it praise or exaltation? The tendency has been to reduce the Sunday morning service to a technique to accomplish either an evangelistic purpose, an educational purpose, an experiential purpose, or a praise purpose. Meyers shows that while Lord's Day worship should include all of these purposes, the Biblical answer to the purpose of the Sunday service is that it is covenant renewal. God's Word clearly teaches a covenant renewal pattern for worship from Genesis to Revelation. Our worship should also follow this rhythm beginning with the call to worship, to confession and forgiveness, to Scripture readings and sermon, to the Lord's Supper, and ending with the benediction and commissioning.
After laying the Biblical foundation for worship as covenant renewal, Meyers discusses the practical importance of this pattern of worship, answers objections to it, and in Part II gives us a detailed description of the covenant renewal service at his own church, Providence Reformed in St. Louis. Part III of The Lord's Service contains ten essays by Meyers on various current issues such as the regulative principle of worship, the liturgical calendar, the minister's attire both in and out of the pulpit, and covenant children at the Lord's Table. The last essay is a bibliographical essay which shows the depth of the author's knowledge of the vast subject of liturgics. This final essay alone is worth the price of the book.
Meyers points out that Reformed seminaries have generally done a poor job at training future pastors in the whys and hows of Lord's Day corporate worship. To rectify this shortcoming, you should purchase a copy of The Lord's Service if you are a pastor, or purchase a copy as a gift for your pastor. While you're at it, purchase a copy for yourself, for your elders, and for your church library.

As a pastor I often meet people who say they know something is wrong with most worship services, but do not know exactly what it is. Jeffrey J. Meyers has written an excellent book in *The Lord's Service* and thereby done a service to the church throughout the world. He proposes that nothing that the church does is more important than worshipping the Lord God Almighty. If this is true (and I challenge anyone to prove him wrong in this) then if we get worship wrong, then we fail at the heart of our whole relationship with the Lord. With clarity and biblical faithfulness (the Scriptural support is extensive) Mr. Meyers points out that worship "styles" are not a matter of personal taste, but rather of obedience or disobedience to the requirements given by the triune Lord; worship must be explicitly trinitarian, or it is implicitly something else. The essays in the third section of the book are good enough for a book in themselves, but their inclusion is just more evidence for biblical worship. Defending the Covenant Renewal pattern of worship found throughout the Bible, Meyers helps us to see where we went wrong, and how to get back to what is right. A must read for anyone involved in leading worship, but also for those who "just know that something is not right."

Adapted from the review by J. William Thompson

"This book is the proceedings of an extraordinary conference held at the Harvard's Graduate School of Design in the spring of 1998, organized by Niall Kirkwood, ASLA, a GSD professor and editor of this volume
The purpose of this book appears to be to provide a thoughtful overview of current approaches and issues that includes numerous case studies of actual sites, including such well-known brownfield redevelopments as Duisburg Nord in Germany, Fresh Kills landfill on Staten Island, and the Sydney Olympic's site.
Overall the value of this volume is in making a bold start at "rethinking the post-industrial landscape", as the subtitle suggests. Perhaps the most encouraging aspect of the book is the gritty, substantive role it charts for landscape architects in brownfield reclamation"

'Manufactured Sites' edited by N. Kirkwood resulted from a conference in 1998 at Harvard that presented complex
contaminated industrial sites and their cleanup and reuse.
It assembles authorities on the science, engineering, planning and design of brownfields and other remediated
sites and is necessary for anyone involved in the reuse of these landscapes. Simply the only book addressing the intersection of different disciplines and fields who have to confront the legacy of the 20th century industrialization.

I am close to anthroposophy for more than twenty yaers. I felt steps of some wisdom in this teaching and admired e.g. Waldorf schools. But I was afraid of the personality cult of Steiner. Whatevere query the replay was as such: Doktor Steiner hat gesagt (Doctor Steiner said). This book shows anthroposophy as a method not a doctrine. Nowhere in this book is said: It is so and so as Dr. Steiner said it. It looks like a smart and creative reading of nature and humane world.

_The Marriage of Sense and Thought_ is by a team of science teachers headed by Steven Edelglass. It's a philosophical (and experimental) attack on the assumptions ("secondary qualities," "res cogitans," "mechanism," "objectivity," etc.) that lead people to those epistemologies that remove the human body from nature and cause utter bafflement in the face of things like wave-particle complementarity and quantum vacuum potentials - not to mention something as everyday as color. These same mi

This is a history not only of the Holy Mountain Athos, but also of the monks that inhabited it and those that dwell there to this very day. Speake has done a wonderfl job covering the world's influence on Athos as well as Athos' influence on the world.

It is incredibly refreshing to see a book about a monastic community published by a secular university press (Yale University) be free of the condescension and skepticism that one would expect to find. As a matter of fact, there's a general tone of reverence for the monks' traditions. It is, however, fair and balanced in the fact that he hasn't glossed over the rough patches of Athonite history.

Speake has produced a work of scholarship that is accessible to the academic and the average joe as well as to Orthodox and non-Orthodox. That is no small accomplishment.

Many people outside of Eastern Europe and the Middle East are embracing Orthodoxy today. This is happening in Asia, Africa, Western Europe, Oceania and the Americas. An intelligent, well written and accessible history (both political and spiritual) of Mount Athos in English is essential and Speake has provided us with what will surely be the standard for years to come. Athos is the center of world Orthodox monasticism and could be called "The Conscience of Orthodoxy." This book is essential for those wishing to understand Orthodoxy and particularly Orthodox monasticism.

I have read several books on Mt Athos, a subject that has fascinated me for many years. This is the best English language book on the topic and one that I think would be difficult to be surpassed. It is scholarly without being "stuffy"; it is eminently readable without the simplistic approach of a tourist guide; it is almost encyclopedic but not fragmentary. And most importantly, coming from a person who apprently went through a spiritual journey, it is permeated by the deeper understanding that such experience brings.

I recommend it to anyone who plans to visit Athos or, for that matter, to everyone who already made the customary brief visit to the Holy Mountain as he will discover many things he probably missed, often the larger perspective of the place that is sadly lost in the brevity of an overnight stay.

Dr. Rose Sims does a great job of sharing her personal experience working in dying churches. It is not just another dry and boring how-to book, nor just a rah-rah from yet another cheerleader. She shares practical wisdom born out of experience and enough of her own story to make you feel like that story is coming from a friend who cares about your church. We got several copies and passed them around the church! You'll want to as well once you read her book. A quick read, most of our folks said it took between 3 and 4 hours tops and almost everyone wanted to read it straight through. Thank you Dr Rose!

Saving dying churches is not a theory...but a proven fact and it can happen anywhere! Dr. Sims inspiring story is so unusual, enlightening and powerful, you'll laugh, you'll cry, you won't put it down. It is a success story of two of God's servants, each of whom won their denomination's top national awards for a lifetime of church growth. It is a "How to Grow a Church" story which any church can duplicate and it is a must for laity, clergy, church growth seminars, men or women's groups our church conferences.

I was given this book yesterday, on Christmas Day. Tears weld up just reading the first paragraph in the forward and I was hooked by the time I got through the third page. I could not put it down. Start the New Year off right--do something tremendously positive for your family and read this book. It is life changing. If we want revival in our churches, our cities and in our nation, it's got to start with us in our homes. Change must come from within. Last night, I ordered multiple copies for pastors, family and friends.

No woman will ever think again of leaving her husband. (that is the easy way out you know). Men will finally discover their role of husband and Father.Children can again behave like children and the whole family can draw strength from each other to face the challenges of life. The Author has a passion for saving the family, the covenant of marriage and the preservation of future generation. We have built the foundation of our families on sand, and we are sinking in divorce and seperation from our children. Dennis Rainey shows you how to restor that family unit by going back to the basics. It may seem very radical to most, but it is a solution that will work. When I think of all the broken marriages and broken children that might be saved by the information in this book, I am inclined to mail one to every houshold I know. READ IT, YOU WON'T REGRET IT!

It was especially meaningful to note that this book was written by a Lutheran pastor. Power Surge is nothing less than a down-to-earth primer on how to go about becoming the kind of church Jesus had in mind. As a lifelong Lutheran who has found it difficult to watch his denomination in continual decline, Mike Foss' book provides a heartfelt glimmer of hope. It may not be too late for the mainline Protestant churches after all.

Power Surge discusses the church's decline, describes where we've been and explains why the old church membership model was doomed to fall short. Based on the practical, successful pastoral and discipleship experiences of the author, Power Surge outlines a dynamic and Biblical discipleship paradigm for the church. The essential aspects of leadership are explained, and the marks of individual and corporate discipleship are revealed and supported.

Power Surge moves beyond the theoretical, focusing on how to implement this fundamental shift within the life of a congregation, including the challenges and pitfalls to be encountered along the way.

In addition to presenting a needed discipleship vision for the church, each chapter provides questions for prayerful reflection. Power Surge works to renew the discipleship of each individual reader as well as each congregation.

A must read for every church leader!

In a nutshell: Ever since the church received state sanction under the Emperor Constantine, Westerners became members largely because they were citizens in a Christian society. As Western civilization grew, so did the church. This membership mindset, according to Foss, is no longer viable in our post-Christian society. No longer does the church enjoy state, or even social sanction. And today, membership in organizations implies dues-paying for the purpose of receiving a benefit at best, and passivity at worst. Foss' answer is to replace our membership mindset with a discipleship mindset. While membership churches will lose steam in the decades ahead, discipleship churches will thrive. Foss then shares six marks he believes are central to discipleship.

This book is excellent because Foss puts clear words to the feelings that many of us have in our gut. I am using his book as the basis for a challenging Lenten sermon series in my congregation. My opening statement, "What if tomorrow we abolished the concept of membership at our church?" grabbed their attention and it has been held ever since. A large percentage of my congregation has purchased this book and is now reading it during our Lenten journey. I have received tons of positive feedback, and there is now a visible surge of passion for our congregation's future!

As principal of a small environmental consulting firm, it is crititcal that I remain up-to-date on environmental requirements affecting my clients. Voluntary Cleanup Program (VCP) requiremnts, also known as Brownfield requirements, are often cumbersome, unclear, and incomplete. Mr. Russ' book, Redeveloping Brownfields: Landscape Architects, Site Planners, Developers, has helped to clarify the general "brownfields" process which is applicable throughout the Country and the specific requirements of Maryland's VCP program. We are greatful for this very valuable guide.

As a consultant in the field of redeveloping properties with environmental concerns, Redeveloping Brownfields, by Thomas H. Russ, was enlightening. This book can be used as a reference for all those involved in the urban redevelopment industry. The book provided handy and useful disussions of methods used to redevelop problem sites as well as proper methods for assessing environmental site issues. The book helped provide a comprehensive understanding of issues from assessment to reoccupancy. For all those in the industry or having a desire to learn more about Brownfields, this book is a must.

It isn't often I come across a book that meets me where I am at in life. This one is very straight forward as well as helpful. When I have questions about ministry life I can turn to it for help and information. I have loaned my copy of this book to several pastors wives who found it just as helpful. Every pastors wife should read this one! Especially those just starting out in ministry.

As a pastor's wife, it is often very difficult to find someone who you can talk to about the things that concern you, especially when it relates to how you deal with your spouse. This book uniquely encourages the ministry spouse to continue in her own ministry while be a support to the calling that God has placed on her husband. Jill's unique insight in the mind and heart of the ministry spouse makes her feel as if she is as close to you as the next breath.

A fun little book of quotes, questions, stories, and illustrations. Inspires you to renew yourself.

I have always been a fan of the 7 Habits, and this is a wonderful way to share its principles in a lighter format.

This book has wonderful, inspiring advice and is fun to read and share with others. I can't wait for the whole series to be available!