BROWSE for Church & Pastoral Interest

All Products
- Church & Pastoralhttp://www.christianbook.com/Christian/Books/easy_find?event=EBRN&N=5401&Ne=1107462&Nso=1&Nu=product%2Eendeca%5Frollup&Ns=product%2Enumber%5Fsold
  - Church Leadershiphttp://www.christianbook.com/Christian/Books/easy_find?event=EBRN&N=5401&Ne=1109121&Nso=1&Nu=product%2Eendeca%5Frollup&Ns=product%2Enumber%5Fsold
    - Church Growthhttp://www.christianbook.com/Christian/Books/easy_find?event=EBRN&N=5401&Ne=1109127&Nso=1&Nu=product%2Eendeca%5Frollup&Ns=product%2Enumber%5Fsold
      - Evangelismhttp://www.christianbook.com/Christian/Books/easy_find?event=EBRN&N=5401&Nso=1&Nu=product%2Eendeca%5Frollup&Ns=product%2Enumber%5Fsold (233)

Refine by

Advanced Search Links

The Shape of Faith to Come - eBook

By: Brad Waggoner

B&H Publishing Group / 2008 / ePub

Write a Review | Q & A

$9.50 (CBD Price)

Retail: ~~$9.99~~

Save: $0.49 (5%)

Availability: In Stock

CBD Stock No: WW15402EB

* This product is available for purchase worldwide.

Read this eBook on:

Click on a device for instructions, or click here to see a list of supported devices.

ChristianBook eBooks on the Sony Reader

1

To read a Christianbook.com licensed eBook on your Sony device, you will need to use Adobe Digital Editions.
2

Without using ADE, the Sony Reader will attempt to open eBooks with its own software, the Reader Library, and you may receive an error message.
3

To bypass the Sony Reader Library, return to the eBook portion of 'My Account' on our site, and click to download the eBook again.
4

When the Adobe Digital Editions installer comes up, click on 'Download Item.'
5

If you are downloading a DRM Protected eBook, you will be prompted to open or save the URLLINK.acsm. Click 'Save'.
6

Save the file to your Desktop for quick access later.
7

Right-click on the URLLINK file, then select 'Open With' and choose Adobe Digital Editions.
8

If Adobe Digital Editions is not in the list, click 'Choose Default Program' and then select Adobe Digital Editions from the list.
9

Your eBook will open and display in ADE.
10

Plug in your Sony Reader, which will now display its model number and not just as Sony Reader.
11

Now just click, drag and drop your eBook onto the Sony Reader icon.
12

You can now eject your Sony Reader, open up the Books library and your eBook is ready to read.

Other Formats (2)

Other Formats

Description	Price	Availability	Quantity	AddInclude
Hardcover	$11.99 Retail: $19.99	In Stock		Add To Cart
eBook	$9.50	In Stock	0	Add To Cart
Add To Cart Add To Cart

Have questions about eBooks? Check out our eBook FAQs.

Product Description

When seekers meet churchgoers, do they see people who think and act like true followers of Christ? Based on his survey of 2,500 Protestants, Waggoner says probably not. Calling all Christians to true discipleship, he challenges leaders to teach believers how to obey God, deny self, share their faith, build relationships, seek God wholeheartedly, and more.

Product Information

Format: DRM Free ePub
Vendor: B&H Publishing Group
Publication Date: 2008

ISBN: 9780805460933
ISBN-13: 9780805460933
Availability: In Stock

Publisher's Description

Various studies suggest Christians in North America are not qualitatively different in their character and practices than non-believers. While some churches are growing numerically, many wonder to what impact. Can we determine if our churches are producing Christians who look, think and act like true followers of Jesus Christ?

In The Shape of Faith to Come, research expert Brad J. Waggoner and his team measure the beliefs and actions of 2,500 active Protestant churchgoers from across the country against seven key standards of Biblical spiritual formation:

Learning the truth
Obeying God and denying self
Sharing faith
Serving God and others
Exercising Biblical faith
Building solid relationships
Seeking God

The findings reveal the current state and forecast of spiritual formation in the U.S.A. Adding encouragement to his insights, Waggoner calls all Christians to spiritual maturity and challenges church leaders to intentionally take up the mantle of making true disciples.

Endorsements:

"Descriptive and prescriptive, this work will be seen as one of the best books ever written on what is really taking place in the discipleship process of Christians."
Thom S. Rainer, coauthor of the #1 best seller Simple Church

"The elephant in the room of evangelicalism is the surprising lack of discipled believers in all different kinds of churches. We have produced a cafeteria Christianity rather than a robust orthodoxy and Jesus-shaped spirituality. In this challenging and disturbing book, Brad Waggoner draws on twenty years of research in discipleship and spiritual formation to not just show us who we are, but to point us to what we must do. The Shape of Faith to Come will become a milestone as evangelicals begin to take discipleship seriously once again."
Ed Stetzer, coauthor of Lost and Found: The Younger Unchurched and Churches that Reach Them

"This book comes closer than any study with which I’m familiar to providing an insightful and objective evaluation of the spiritual condition of the church in America. Where is the church weak, and where is she strong? Some of the answers indicated by The Shape of Faith to Come may surprise you."
Donald S. Whitney, author of Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life

Author Bio

Brad J. Waggoner is president and publisher of B&H Publishing Group. A former dean of the School of Leadership & Church Ministry at Southern Seminary, he holds a Master of Arts degree from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School and a Master of Religious Education degree and Ph.D. from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. He is also the co-editor of Calvinism: A Southern Baptist Dialogue. Waggoner and his wife have two sons and live in Nashville, Tennessee.

Endorsements

If you are looking for an encouraging read for the holiday season, The Shape of Faith to Come by Brad Waggoner is not it. However, if you are looking for a book that adequately diagnoses the current state of the church and the individual members of your church, this is a must read. Waggoner and the folks over at LifeWay Research interviewed 2500 people who attend church at least once a month and asked them a wide range of questions to get some bearing on their spiritual maturity. Many of the findings may shock you. For instance, Waggoner and his team found that across the wide spectrum, a full 42 percent of those surveyed could not agree strongly with the statement Eternal salvation is possible through Gods grace alone; nothing we do can earn salvation. Even among Southern Baptists in particular, only 75% could affirm the above statement. In what is an even more frightening number, only 32% of the respondents strongly agreed that salvation is exclusive to Jesus alone. Southern Baptists were not much better with only 46% of SBC respondents affirming an exclusive view of salvation.

From the hard truths, the research team waited a full year and re-surveyed the original group to compare their growth over the course of a year. The last part of the book represents the findings in this area, and some were surprising.

Not surprising was the following conclusion by Waggoner and his group: Statistically, the number one issue correlated to higher maturity scores was the discipline of daily Bible reading. Being consistent in this discipline can be challenging, but it is doable. Waggoner concludes with a clarion call to pastors to be intentional and responsible in their ministries, Intentionality means that various people will have very specific responsibility for different aspects of the disciple-making strategy. Ultimately it is the pastors responsibility to make sure that intentions get executed.

If you are interested in the current state of the church, this is a must read for you. You will not enjoy this book, but you will find it beneficial to your ministry. As Jim Collins says, at some point we must face the brutal facts. - Craig Thompson, Senior Pastor, Malvern Hill Baptist Church