We are pleased to announce the release of Deep Roots: A Biblical and Theological Framework for Church Planting (Bethesda Publishing Group, 2018). This book began as lectures on church planting in Monterrey, Mexico. I taught the material in Albania and India as well as in seminaries and conferences across North America. The focus on St. Paul’s deep teaching on the mission of the Church in the Pastoral Epistles led me deeper into the “framework” for church planting. As the subtitle suggests the book seeks to arrive at a Biblical and theological ground for church planting. Doing so provides a foundation for other great books on church planting to build. This is not church planting nouveau, but, hopefully, digging from the old wells (Genesis 26:18) for a deep draught of theology that will start and sustain the mission of God in any culture, and in any generation.
We pray that denominational leaders, professors and students of missions and church planting, pastors, chairmen of mission programs in local churches will find Deep Roots to be a trusted resource for
- How church planting is more than a New Testament model, but is, rather a comprehensive plan devised by God to fulfill His mission;
- Why church planting is the most effective means of fulfilling the Great Commission;
- What the Bible teaches about the “portrait of a church planter;” and
- Each chapter includes:
- memory verses for the respective week of study;
- a suggested prayer of meditation;
- a section for theological reflection; and
- A comprehensive bibliography on church planting.
Deep Roots is more than a textbook for Seminary courses (though it is being used there today). Deep Roots is a well-suited study for small groups, church planting teams, core groups, mission committees, as well as church planting families.
Priced right at $5.99 on the beautiful, and easy-on-the-eyes Kindle edition, Deep Roots is also available in an attractive paperback at around $12.00. We trust this level of pricing allows for professors in colleges, seminaries, Bible schools, and churches to “take and read.” We hope that like a good meal the book is enjoyed in the fellowship of others, creating a more generative learning experience.
Deep Roots is a well-suited study for small groups, church planting teams, core groups, mission committees, as well as church planting families.
Our ultimate prayer remains:
Lord, who sent Christ Jesus, Your Son and our Lord, grant a powerful display of Your Holy Spirit on Your Church, in our generation, to faithfully follow Your Word, and labor to the glorious end that You are exalted, the cross magnified, the resurrection, ascension, and rule of Jesus signified, and the offer of free grace multiplied, so that churches are planted with deep roots, like the Golden Lampstands You revealed; and that these Golden Lampstands will trust in Word, Sacrament, and Prayer the accomplish Your Plan on earth and for the cosmos; and that we all might ever-increasingly learn the pure joy and heavenly power that comes when we read the Word, speak the Word, sing the Word, and preach the Word; with prayer that these Golden Lampstands will be so established that they will be shining the light of the Gospel when You come again, we make this prayer through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom we ascribe unrivaled honor, unsurpassed worship, and undiminished glory, both now and forever more. In the name that is above all names, even Jesus Christ our God and our King. Amen.
Years ago, Dr. George W. Knight III taught me the power of God for mission in the Pastoral Epistles. Dr. D. James Kennedy gave me the passion for preaching as the essential starting point for church planting. Dr. Robert Reymond instructed me about the eschatological and teleological vision of church planting—laboring for the New Heaven and the New Earth. Dr. Joseph Hall and Dr. Addison Soulteau guided me to see the continuity of missions through history, and Dr. Laird Harris demonstrated with an unassailable scholarship, the genesis of church planting in the mind of God revealed in the Old Testament. To these men, to other church planters who inspired me, and Christian shepherds who inspired me, to the congregations I have served, the godly and gifted students I have taught, and to my faithful wife, Mae, a co-laborer in the Gospel, I dedicate this humble volume.
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About Michael A. Milton.