Category Archives: Books

The staff is working through a book called  The Trellis and the Vine, by Tony Payne and Colin Marshall. I highly recommend it as a thoughtful, and I think Biblical, approach to local church ministry.

The main idea: while the formal realities of organization, systems, and institution are important and even essential in church life, they all serve the ultimate purpose of Jesus’ work in people’s lives through the gospel. The running metaphor is the trellis (formal structures) and the vine (people). The trellis is important but only exists to serve the healthy growth of the vine. This may seem pretty no-brainer for our church. But, it is interesting when you really look at things you will find that at times and places we have made more of the trellis than the vine, even in an organic, relational community like ours. This book is a great reminder of keeping the focus on Jesus’ work for people, and that the vision, mission, and systems of a church should serve that in all they do. Continue reading →

On Sunday I mentioned that I would suggest some books that are both gospel directed and practical in their teaching on healthy marriages and parenting. So, here are some that I have found very helpful in that they define marriage and parenting according to the gospel and are also very practical.

Check out Tim Keller’s most recent book, King’s Cross. It is an adaptation of a series of messages on the book of Mark. It is a great resource for the spiritually curious, the new believer, and the deep disciple – Keller is one of the few people who can speak to all three at the same time.