Brief Mention
CHRISTIAN LEADERSHIP
Eddie Gibbs.Leadership Next: Changing Leaders in a Changing Culture, Downers Grove, Ill.:InterVarsity Press, 2005. ISBN 0-8308-3283-1; 216 pages; $14.00; (630) 734-4000or www.ivpress.com.
Church leaders oftenare put into positions of leadership because of years of faithful service, buthave not had the instruction and training in leadership skills necessary to beeffective.
LeadershipNext motivates readers to change the way they define what should bethe qualities, activities and attitudes of Christian leaders. The thesis of thebook is that healthy leaders have moved away from assuming traditional forms ofhierarchies and instead operate within a network of leadership teams.
Gibbs is a professorof church growth at the School of World Mission, FullerTheological Seminary. He is also the author of Church Next.
CURRENT ISSUES
Glover Shipp.Militant Jihad: The Mentality of Muslim Terrorists, Bloomington, Ind.:Author House, 2005. ISBN 1-4208-676-2;192 pages; $17.50; (800) 839-8640; www.AuthorHouse.com.
For many Christians,it is difficult to distinguish acts of violence from the central tenants of afaith that is held by most Muslims. Shipp’s book is a non-technicalintroduction to a general overview of Islam’s history, Quran and worldview. Hegives special attention to the development of Islamic fundamentalism, theprinciple of Jihad and the worldview of extremist Muslims. He explains what hesees as basic reasons why extremists act violently against the West andChristianity.
Shipp is a retirededitor of The Christian Chronicle and educator. He has authored nearly threedozen books, including many on the relationship between Islam and Christianity.He is an elder of the Edmond, Okla., church.
CONGREGATIONAL LIFE
James L. Knapp. Understanding theGenerations, San Diego, Calif.: Aventine Press, 2005. ISBN1-59330-329-7; 117 pages; $10.95; (866) 246-6142 or www.aventinepress.com.
When ministers andother church leaders seek to effectively minister to the entire congregation,it helps them to see that the congregation is composed of several generationswith distinctive characteristics.
Understanding thesecharacteristics often can put tensions and conflicts into a proper perspective.Besides explaining that perspective, Knapp gives attention to how churchleaders and others can increase the intergenerational contact that will promotea more loving and respectful congregational life.
Knapp is a professorof sociology at Southeastern Oklahoma State University. He is theauthor of The Graying of the Flock and is a member at the WesternHeights church, Sherman, Texas.
BIBLICAL STUDIES
Jimmy Allen. Romans:The Clearest Gospel of All, 2005. 317 pages; $10.00 + $3.00 postage; JimmyAllen, 3 Magnolia Circle, Searcy Ark. 72143.
This commentary onRomans is intentionally conversational in nature. It is not overtly interactivewith the large diversity of the current research in the field. Instead, Allen’scomments on passages are often supplemented with illustrations from his ownlife. Allen hopes his readers, whom he addresses as if they are members inchurches of Christ, will see what he sees as the power of Romans’ centralmessage — God can justify human beings, though they are unrighteous, by theirfaith in Jesus Christ.
Allen is ProfessorEmeritus at Harding University and attends the College church, Searcy Ark.
This list includesinformation provided by publishers. For more information, contact ReviewsEditor John Harrison at [email protected]
