Gaining by Losing J. D. Greear (Book Review!)

Gaining by Losing

By J. D. Greear

(I received this book for review purposes.)

Genre- Religion /Christian / Pastors

Published by- Zondervan

Copyrighted- 2015

Number of pages- 256

Age Group- Adult

Description of Book- hardback, ISBN 978-0-310-51524-1, $19.99

Jesus wanted his disciples to take the gospels to the corner of the earth.  He knew they needed to be sent and not gathered.  Today’s churches focus on gaining numbers and keeping them, not sending them back out to do the work that needs to be done. 

It is the opposite in J. D. Greear’s church, The Summit Church.  His goal is to properly educated them, so his leaders, givers, and volunteers can go out and win people to God.

In this book he discusses 10 ways that your church can focus on God’s mission of reaching everyone.

About the Author- J. D. Greear is currently the lead pastor of The Summit Church in North Carolina.   The Summit Church under his leadership has grown from 300 to nearly 9,000.  Greear has his Ph.D. in Theology from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary.  Greear and his wife have four young children.

My thoughts- I enjoyed reading this book and I learned a lot about what churches around the world need to be doing, planting churches.  I also learned why it should be done and how to do it.

I know of churches that have tried to plant a church, but they did not succeed.  I think it would have been successful if the pastor and the people interested in planting the church would have read this book.  There needs to be a plan to follow and more people excited about it. 

Greear’s plan is for all members to go on to plant churches and be different types of missionaries.  He knows that to fill the Great Commission, the members of the church need to move on.  The way to gain is to lose.  It is not about keeping the members in the church.  It is about growing and teaching others about God.  I liked how he included a lot about his church and the way that they have done and are doing things.

The appendices were helpful, “Setting Up an International Missions Strategy” and “Developing a Domestic Church Planting Strategy.”

I think that all church leaders need to read this book, so they can empower their members to grow.    

Disclosure of Material Connection- I received Gaining by Losing, by J. D. Greear, for free through Cross Focused Reviews.  I was not required to write a positive review.  The opinions I have expressed are my own.  I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.  All links were current when posted.