Church Growth and the Whole Gospel: A Biblical Mandate

1. The Church, The Kingdom And The Cultural Mandate -- The Evangelical Resurrection And The Kingdom Idea -- The Kingdom Of God In The Bible -- Old Testament Ideals -- Pitfalls To Avoid In Kingdom Thinking -- Church Growth And Kingdom Growth -- Preaching The Kingdom -- The Cultural Mandate -- Incarnational Growth -- The Signs Of The Kingdom -- The Signs In Jesus' Ministry -- Selective Obedience -- The Disciples And The Signs -- The Signs And Church Growth -- Notes -- 2. Christian Social Ministry In Perspective -- The Poor And The Hungry -- The Biblical Bias Toward The Poor -- The Poor Receive The Good News -- Facing The Problems Of Poverty -- Does God Love The Rich? -- The Church And The Cultural Mandate -- Social Service And Social Action -- Church Growth And Social Involvement -- Planning For Christian Social Ministry -- Redemption And Lift -- Vigorous Giving Prevents Redemption And Lift -- Notes -- 3. The Church And The Evangelistic Mandate -- The Evangelistic Mandate -- Defining Evangelism -- Church Growth And The Evangelistic Mandate -- The Church Of Church Growth -- Is It All Right To Count? -- Numbers And American Culture -- Quantity And Quality -- Notes -- 4. Consecrated Pragmatism -- The Right And Duty To Specialize -- Fierce Pragmatism -- Sources Of Pragmatism In Church Growth -- Planning Strategy For Results -- Church Growth As A Science -- Computerizing Resistance And Receptivity -- Is Church Growth The Point? -- Faithfulness And Success -- Pouring Church Growth Into Theological Minds -- Notes -- 5. Holistic Mission Versus Holistic Evangelism -- Is Mission Evangelism? -- Changing The Classical Definition Of Mission -- Lausanne And Holistic Mission -- Potential Dangers Of Holistic Mission -- The Scope Of Holistic Mission -- Holistic Evangelism? -- Pattaya And Holistic Evangelism -- Giving Priority To Evangelism -- Biblical Priorities -- The Issues And The Advocates -- Where Does Mcgavran Fit? -- Notes 6. Priorities And Their Practical Consequences -- The Social Disaster Area: Reversing Priorities -- Evangelicals On Social Change -- Missions And Social Improvement -- The Magnetic Field Of The Evangelistic Mandate -- The Three Priorities -- Priorities And The Collapse Of Christian Movements -- Unprecedented American Church Decline -- The Great Priority Shift -- Effectiveness In Social Ministries -- The Evangelical Track Record -- Notes -- 7. The Gospel, Conversion, And Ethical Awareness -- Mcgavran On Discipling And Perfecting -- Three Kinds Of Discipling -- Why Critics Call It Cheap Grace -- Obey Everything I Have Commanded You -- Obedience Is The Key -- The Postponement Of Ethical Awareness -- What Is Repentance? -- Conversion And Ethics In Biblical Times -- The Point Of Guilt -- Receptor-oriented Ethics -- Prophets And Evangelists -- Notes -- 8. How Methodology Influences Social Perspectives -- Waking Up To Methodology -- Keeping The Balance: The Ought And The Is -- Adding Phenomenology To Theology -- In Functionalism And Adequate Model? -- Church Growth And Socio-cultural Change -- Civilization Before Evangelization? -- Thinking About Conversion: Bounded And Centered Sets -- Fundamentalists And Radical Christians -- Notes -- 9. The Homogeneous Unit Principle As An Ethical Issue -- What The Homogeneous Unit Principle Really Is -- The Principle Is Risky -- The Dilemma Of The Two Mandates -- Homogeneous Units In The Kingdom Of God -- Toward An Open Society -- The Open Society And The Homogeneous Unit -- Notes -- 10. Structuring For Christna Social Ministry -- Choosing Political Options -- One Church: Two Structures -- Are Mission Structures Legitimate? -- Understanding Each Other Better -- Structures And The Cultural Mandate -- Why Social Action Hinders Growth -- Social Issues In The United C. Peter Wagner. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.