Journal: Emmaus Journal
Volume: EMJ 03:1 (Summer 1994)
Article: Book Reviews
Author: Anonymous

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EmJ 3:1 (Win 94) p. 93

Book Reviews

Editor
Kenneth Alan Daughters

Biblical Principles of Church Growth. By Kenneth C. Fleming. Kansas City: Walterick Press, 1993. 125 pages. $6.95.

In an era when church growth strategies are little more than stale sociological and marketing strategies, Ken Fleming’s book is an invigorating breath of fresh air. Fleming’s work traces the spread of the Gospel and the establishment of local churches as recorded in the New Testament and assumes that this is the normative manner of producing growing local churches which honor the Lord. By simply noting the New Testament pattern of growth and presenting this pattern to the reader, Fleming succinctly and accurately recounts the way a local church is planted and then grows. This type of writing is especially profitable since it comes from the pen of one who has spent over two and a half decades planting churches in the Natal province of South Africa and now serves as an elder in a stateside assembly which is seeing steady, healthy growth. Additionally, Fleming serves the Lord as the professor of missions at Emmaus Bible College.

The book traces and expounds the record of six of the churches of the New Testament and brings out different emphases with each church in its beginning and growth. Specifically, these churches are (1) the church in Antioch: evangelism, the key to growing churches, (2) the churches in Galatia: developing a church growth strategy, (3) the church in Philippi: growth stimulated by love, (4) the church in Thessalonica: the whole truth for growth to maturity, (5) the church in Corinth: church growth and the principle of morality, and (6) the church in Ephesus: the cost of caring for growing churches.

From the evangelism in Pisidian Antioch this book notes that the preaching of the Gospel is key to the growth of the local church. Fleming unfolds an important pattern as seen in Paul’s preaching which is recorded in Acts 13:16–47. First, his preaching was thoroughly biblical. This is especially important as

EmJ 3:1 (Win 94) p. 94

much of today’s evangelistic preaching is often no more than a series of heart-rending stories or memorable anecdotes Second, his preaching was Christ-centered. This was not the time to entertain the audience with his own exploits, but a time for the listener to come face-to-face with the Savior. Third, the message related to both the felt needs and real needs of the listeners. Paul was very aware of the composition and attitudes of the audience and preached accordingly. Fourth, the preaching was suited to the cultural context of the listeners. Without any compromise of the message, Paul started from ...

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