Dog Training, Fly Fishing, and Sharing Christ in the 21st Century: Empowering Your Church to Build Community Through Shared Interests
Product DescriptionTed Haggard presents a successful and tested model for a small group ministry here that can be implemented by a church of any size. By enabling members to embrace and capitalize on their own unique abilities, the diverse groups create an environment where people meet mentors that can disciple and guide them. This need-and interest based approach redefines the model for powerful church growth. . . . More >>
Posted by ADogTrainingSite.com
Posted in 
Tags: 
June 5th, 2010 at 12:45 am
I have been a Small Groups’ Pastor for nine months now and have read numerous books related to small group ministry. I also attended a Leadership Conference at Ted Haggard’s church this past summer in Colorado Springs. This book takes a very honest look at what many people like and dislike about small groups. I appreciate Pastor Ted’s willingness to just “tell it like it is” and I truly love the way his church does small groups. His approach makes sense to me and much of the vision that began to form in me after seeking God’s guidance and during my research for small groups was confirmed even more so after reading this book. With God’s help and supportive senior leadership, I have developed my church’s small group program and begun the process of building out a structure to accommodate our growth. We have gone from being a church of 20 groups to one of 43 in just 9 months. We also have 3 new section leaders that serve with me as well. Each one of them has a copy of this book and needless to say, I highly recommend it. Rating: 5 / 5
June 4th, 2010 at 9:56 pm
Haggard actually got half of it right. . . people enjoy affinity groups, and they’re a great place to connect with unchurched people and build relationships. However, his definition of a “cell group” is weak and he lumps all the various kinds of affinity groups in that definition. Healthy cell groups are holistic, meaning they contain the lifestyle commanded in both the Great Commandment and Great Commission. They are also Christ-centered, and do not find their purpose in snowboarding or scrapbooking. However, I firmly believe that what Haggard has written about in this book should be employed by holistic small group-based churches as a relationally evangelistic arm of each group in addition to a true, Christ-in-the-midst gathering of believers. Man cannot live on interest groups (bread) alone. Rating: 3 / 5
June 4th, 2010 at 7:55 pm
I bought this bought this book because I do respect Ted Haggard ministry and his books. After reading the book, I bought another 2 for my pastors. By the time I wrote this review I bought another 10 books for friends in ministry. I do think that this book is a great resource for anybody that want to grow his church Rating: 5 / 5
June 4th, 2010 at 7:24 pm
Good Christian though he may be, this man lacks the moral stature to write about fly-fishing. Rating: 1 / 5
June 4th, 2010 at 6:26 pm
Despite this book’s title, the author provides no useful information regarding the art of angling with flies, and readers seeking advice on fishing the waters of Colorado, where the author lives, should look elsewhere. Rating: 1 / 5