Tag Archives: Church Inside Out

Contributing to the conversion process

Leave a reply

baptismWhile doing research for the book A History of Churches of Christ in Cuba, I ran across an article written in the 1950s that had addresses for the church in Cuba. I sent the list to Tony Fernández, my co-author and Herald of Truth representative in Cuba, to see if it might prove useful.

Tony noticed one of the addresses was for a church in Agramonte, a town where there was no longer a Church of Christ. Tony traveled to Agramonte and went to that address. The property owner was suspicious at first, thinking that Tony was wanting to lay claim to the house. When he realized that Tony was merely seeking former church members, the owner directed Tony to several of them.

If you know Tony Fernández at all, you’ll not be surprised to learn that there was soon a growing, active congregation in Agramonte.

When we were in Matanzas several weeks ago, a man was baptized. His wife had been baptized in Agramonte 60 years before. It was a wonderful continuation to the story.

In Church Inside Out, I talk about all the different ways you can contribute to someone’s coming to Christ, noting that conversion is a process, not an event. Last month I saw that even library research can play a small part in reaching someone who needs God.

You can start reading Church Inside Out now

Leave a reply

It’s too soon to get a physical copy of Church Inside Out, but you can already start reading. 21st Century Christian has posted sample pages of both the book and the workbook.

Workbook Cover
You can find the book sample here: https://www.21stcc.com/pdfs/samplepages/9780890989159.pdf

Workbook Cover
You can find the workbook sample here: https://www.21stcc.com/pdfs/samplepages/9780890989166.pdf

The final section of Church Inside Out

Leave a reply

Workbook CoverI’ve taken some time on Fridays to share with you about my soon-to-be-released book, Church Inside Out. Both the book and workbook are available for preorder on the 21st Century Christian website.

I’ve described the first three sections of the book. The fourth section, “Outsiders No More,” consists of two chapters:

  • Citizens of the Kingdom
  • Being The Church, Inside and Out

“Outsiders No More” looks at how we help new Christians grow in their faith and become mature disciples. Too many times our outreach efforts stop at the moment of conversion, spending little time with those who have been born again. We need to be intentional in our efforts to help these new believers mature and become more like Christ.

The book explains practical ways of helping disciples grow; the workbook goes even further, helping churches and Christians discover the steps they can take that will be the most appropriate to their situation.

The last chapter ends by encouraging Christians to dream big, echoing the words of Ephesians 3:20-21:

“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.” (Ephesians 3:20–21)

Section 3 of Church Inside Out

Leave a reply
Back cover of Church Inside Out

Back cover of Church Inside Out

On Fridays I’m sharing some information about Church Inside Out, the book and workbook I’ve written that 21st Century Christian will be publishing in the next few weeks. I wrote the book as part of my work with Hope For Life (Herald of Truth) and will be doing seminars based on this material in local churches around the U.S.

The third section is called “The Church Goes Out” and includes these chapters:

  • A Life Like Lightning
  • Preparing For Harvest
  • A Son of Shalom
  • Good News Is For Sharing

This section is probably more of what people think about when they talk about evangelism. However, one point that I try to drive home is that conversion is a process. Evangelism takes many forms. Moving an agnostic toward belief is evangelism, even if the fruits of that work may not be seen for months or years. Focusing exclusively on the person that brings a new convert to the point of surrendering to God is short-sighted.

Christians need to be intentionally moving toward God and helping others do the same. As someone makes the journey from unbeliever to disciple, they are influenced by many people along the way. “I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow.” (1 Corinthians 3:6)

As the title of the last chapter in this section says, good news is for sharing. That’s what we’re to do as Christians. Church Inside Out should give churches and individuals a better idea how to do just that.

A look at the first section of Church Inside Out

2 Replies

CIOOK, I want to share some more information about Church Inside Out, the book and workbook I’ve prepared that will be published soon by 21st Century Christian. I wrote the book as part of my work with Hope For Life (Herald of Truth) and will be doing seminars based on this material in local churches around the U.S.

Let me tell you about the first section of the book. It’s titled “The Church Inside” and has four chapters:

  • Church Inside Out
  • The Inward-Focused Church
  • Members Only
  • Accentuating The Negative

It’s a section of self-examination, encouraging church members to look at attitudes and actions that hurt our outreach to the community around us. As I mention in the book, it’s a bit like a visit to the doctor; you want to hear good things, but you know that you really need to hear what could be improved to make you healthier. I want to affirm what’s right in each congregation while challenging them to improve in other areas.

This is one section where I think a church could benefit greatly from a group study of the workbook (and the book, of course). The workbook includes a lot of questions and charts that will aid in diagnosing the current strengths and weaknesses of a congregation; when member share their views on these subjects, they can come to greater understanding of what their church is doing well and what could be done better.

And that’s my goal in all of this. I don’t want to stop at informing or educating; the goal of this book is to help churches increase the positive impact they are having on their communities. It’s all about getting church members out to help bring outsiders in.