Audiobook8 hours
Vertical Church: What Every Heart Longs for. What Every Church Can Be.
Written by James MacDonald
Narrated by Wayne Shepherd
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
4/5
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About this audiobook
An emergency call, and I rush from my coziness into the dark community where the police have requested a chaplain. Arriving in minutes, I find the family imploding with grief having just discovered their son hanging in the garage. In a moment of unshakable pain, he jumped off the ladder and into eternity. And I will never shake the look in their eyes when I asked why he hadn't called a church. "Why would he do that?" Across town, a pool of tears on my kitchen table as an out of town guest feels the weight of his infidelity, despairing that his famished soul finds no refuge and that he has to board a plane to feel fellowship. "Has your church tried to help you?" And the Christian leader confesses he hasn't been to church in years. Infighting, backbiting, heartbreaking, frustrating ... church.Though exceptions do exist, the reality is that church in America is failing one life at a time. Somewhere between pathetically predictable and shamefully entertaining, sadly sentimental and rarely authentic, church has become worst of all ... godless.Vertical Church points to a new day where God is the seeker, and we are the ones found. In Vertical Church God shows up, and that changes everything. If you want to experience God as you never have before and witness His hand at work, if you want to wake up to the first thought, "Thank God it's Sunday," if you're ready to feel your heart beat faster as you drive to your place of worship ... then devour and digest the lessons of Vertical Church.
Author
James MacDonald
Dr. James MacDonald is founding pastor of Harvest Bible Chapel. He is the author of the bestseller I Really Want to Change...So, Help Me God and several other books. Walk in the Word is his national radio broadcast. He earned his Masters in Religion at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School and his Doctor of Ministry from Phoenix Seminary. He and his wife, Kathy, have three children.
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Reviews for Vertical Church
Rating: 4.119047619047619 out of 5 stars
4/5
21 ratings3 reviews
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5An examination of how to bring the glory of God to your church service each week. Although this book is directed at those involved with ministry, I found it challenging as an individual. It's so easy to get caught up in disciplines and obligations and forget about the true purpose of the Christian life.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Vertical Church realigns the heart of the Christian leader to focus first on the vertical. It is easy to get caught up in speaking to the masses and even in genuinely caring for and loving others. However, without the foundation of a vertical approach (God first and center), then a Christian leader can easily become a tickler of ears and a pacifier. It is through vertical worship and focus that the best version of us can be found - all in Christ. When our focus is vertical we will be better in every aspect of leadership and ministry and be able to fully give life to others. When we focus on God, he will visit us, live in us, breathe through us, and move mountains for us. The church needs to get back to vertical worship to be effective. This is the heart of this book, written in a compelling manner with ample examples, Biblical foundation, and thorough application. This should be a foundational read for those in ministry.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Are you discouraged with the church? You feel something missing but can't quite put your finger on it? This book is for you! I was desperate to find a Bible preaching church- something that I thought should be easy. In my small town, there was only one and I felt like I was in the 19th century while attending. Why? Because most churches are not VERTICAL!! Don't settle for less! Read this book and you will never view church the same way. Thank God! Give him the Glory!!!!!