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The church is supposed to be the safest place on earth for Christians, so why is it often a place of deep dissatisfaction? Many Christians suffer from difficult church situations and are unsure how to live and worship with such stress, let alone grow in the midst of it. Much of this pain comes from being under poor church leadership. According to Ted Bigelow, if your church doesn’t follow God’s mandate for leadership as set out in the book of Titus, it is almost certainly headed for disaster.All Christians want to be a part of a safe and godly church so that they can invest in its ministries and mission without fear or compromise. Yet thousands of real churches, perhaps yours, have been infiltrated by dangerous men. Many Christians have been so hurt by these wolves that they have left church, vowing never to return. Other sheep, unaware of what they are witnessing week by week, pay the wolves to preach their error.
In The Titus Mandate, readers will follow Paul’s special attaché Titus on his treacherous mission to the Mediterranean island of Crete. You’ll learn for yourself what Titus experienced as he went toe-to-toe with the wolves, carrying out God’s very public mission to rescue Christians and churches from danger. Paul’s journey will teach you to spot the wolves and protect yourself and those you love from Satan’s most prolific form of spiritual peril.
Through reading this book, Christians will be equipped to:
· Understand the biblical reasons for most negative church experiences and gain scriptural wisdom about their church trials.
· Trust in the Lord whose wisdom brings such trials into His children’s lives, enabling them to move forward in their walks with Christ.
· Discern safe churches from unsafe churches.
· Participate in church in a way that draws them closer to the Lord.
Taking the truth from Scripture and applying it in the church is easier said than done, so The Titus Mandate provides specific instruction on how to live out God’s principles that make church a secure place. One’s confidence in church will be restored as God’s ways are explained, applied, and contrasted with those ways that bring danger. The Titus Mandate is a rescue plan for Christians and their churches. Readers will be able to feel confident that the leadership they have chosen will be trustworthy shepherds for their families.
About the Author
Ted Bigelow is the Senior Pastor of Grace Church in Hartford, CT. He has been in full-time ministry since 1997, serving in both established and new churches. He has taught and preached in the former Soviet bloc, Western Europe, and Central America. Prior to entering pastoral ministry, he worked in marketing and sales, project management, statistical forecasting, and consulted for the U.S. Government, Small Business Administration, and has taught Business at the college level. He has three post-graduate degrees:Master of Divinity, The Master’s Seminary, 1996
Master of Theology, The Master’s Seminary, 1997
Doctor of Ministry, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, 2005
The Titus Mandate by Ted Bigelow
CreateSpace/January 2011
ISBN: 978-1-4538-3127-4/352 pages/paperback/$14.95
This sounds like a helpful book! It's sad how often we hear of unsafe church environments. :( I think teaching people to be aware of the "wolves" and to notice when false doctrine is being preached (something I also learned about in Petrine Epistles class last semester) is a very important endeavor.
ReplyDelete~Amber
You know, Amber, this book really intrigued me. We are commanded not to "judge" one another, yet Jesus also tells us to beware of wolves in sheep's clothing. Are we "judging" others if we follow the advice in this book? Why or why not?
ReplyDeleteGood question! I think it's not judging in the sense of looking down on others as worse than yourself (etc.). Instead, it's important to be discerning when it comes to spiritual leaders, because it's a big task they have ahead of them! If they're not shepherding the church properly, then there are many who will be led astray. The epistle of Second Peter deals a lot with being aware of false teachers.
ReplyDeleteI guess what I'm trying to say is that it's not the attitude of "you're-so-much-worse-than-me," but rather "there-are-many-who-have-been-entrusted-into-your-care-so-don't-abuse-that-power." Does that make sense?
~Amber