Books

The Ordinary Hero: Living the Cross and Resurrection
by Tim Chester
(IVP, 2009)

The Ordinary Hero
This hard-hitting book shows how the cross and resurrection provide the pattern for Christian discipleship, in the process calling Christians to a radical new way of living. It calls on people:
* to live out the radical implications of grace
* to apply the way of the cross, the way of sacrificial love and service, to every area of life
* to accept the pattern of suffering followed by glory as normative for Christians
* to pursue spiritual power not for its own sake, but as a means of living the weakness of the cross
* to live adventurous, risk-taking lives because we live for the world to come

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You Can Change
by Tim Chester
(IVP/Crossway, 2008/2010)

You Can Change shows how change and growth takes place in the Christian life – how we can overcome sinful behaviour and negative emotions through the liberating grace of God. It shows not only that change takes place through faith rather than legalism, but also show how change takes place through faith. It’s built around ten questions than enables readers to work on a particular issue in their own lives.
Read a sample chapter.

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from March 2010

The Busy Christian’s Guide to Busyness
by Tim Chester
(IVP, 2006, 2008)

Now reprinted in a larger format with a new cover.
So many Christians complain about feeling busy. We want to do more evangelism, give more time to church, spend more time with our families, but the busyness of our lives defeats us. Tim explores the underlying causes that make us so busy.
‘In an age when there are so many Christian books purporting to be relevant to the 21st century, or to the reality of our lives, this is the first book I’ve read that actually delivers … This is the most beneficial book I have read this year. A perfect mix of big picture Christianity, and day-to-day practicalities. I thank God for this book.’ (Dave K.)

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You can purchase copies of The Busy Christian’s Guide to Busyness in Chinese from the CCM Bookroom and the AFC Bookstore.

Total Church
by Tim Chester and Steve Timmis
(IVP/Crossway, 2007/2009)

Total Church pleads for two key principles for church and mission. First, the gospel as content: being word centred (for the gospel is truth) and being mission centred (for the gospel is truth to be proclaimed). Secondly, the community as context: sharing our lives as Christians and offering a place of belonging to unbelievers.

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Mission and the Coming of God
by Tim Chester
(Paternoster, 2006)

Eschatology, the Trinity and Mission in the Theology of Jürgen Moltmann
Tim Chester explores the theology and missiology of the influential contemporary theologian, Jürgen Moltmann. The book highlights the important contribution Moltmann has made while offering a critique of his thought from an evangelical perspective. The conclusion proposes ‘an eschatology of the cross’ which offers a critique of the over-realised eschatologies in liberation theology and certain forms of evangelicalism. (Be warned: this is a boring, academic kind of book so only get it if you are a boring, academic kind of person!)

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Delighting in the Trinity
by Tim Chester
(Monarch, 2005)

An introduction to this central doctrine of the Christian faith, this book looks at the biblical foundations and historical development of the doctrine of the Trinity. It also shows how the Trinity is integral to how we know God, how God saves us, what it means to be human and the mission of the church.

The Trinity and Humanity (an extract from Tim Chester, Delighting in the Trinity, Monarch, 2005)

This book is now out of print in the UK, but still available in the USA from Kregel.

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I have some copies available for sale in the UK at £6 each including packing and postage (discounts for multiple orders). Email tim [dot] chester [at] thecrowdedhouse [dot] org.

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Good News to the Poor
by Tim Chester
(IVP, 2004)

Tim Chester presents a biblical case for truly evangelical social action, shaped and inspired by the gospel and the great commission. He urges conservatives not to marginalize those who uphold the cause of the oppressed, and those involved in social action not to neglect the proclamation of the word.

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La Responsabilite du Chretien Face a la Pauvreté
by Tim Chester
(Farel, 2006)

Good News to the Poor (see above) has been published in French. It is available from the publishers and from www.amazon.fr.

The Gospel-Centred Church
by Steve Timmis and Tim Chester
(The Good Book Co., 2002)

Gospel ministry is much more than evangelism. It is about shaping the whole of our church life and activities by the content of and imperatives of the gospel.

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The World We All Want
by Steve Timmis and Tim Chester
(Authentic, 2005)

We all dream of a better world, a world of security, plenty and friendship. Christians believe that God promises just such a new world. The Bible is the story of God making that promise and keeping it. The World We All Want is for people who are interested in the message of the Bible. Developed by the Crowded House, The World We All Want is an evangelistic Bible overview.

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From Creation To New Creation: Understanding the Bible Story
by Tim Chester
(Paternoster, 2003)

Large parts of the Bible are unfamiliar territory for many people. We’re not sure what to make of them, still less how to live by them. From Creation To New Creation gives us a route map.

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Guds køreplan: forstå frelseshistorien
by Tim Chester
(Logos Media, 2007)

From Creation to New Creation (see above) has been published in Danish. It is available from the publishers.

The Message of Prayer (Bible Speaks Today Series)
by Tim Chester
(IVP, 2003)

Drawing on a wide range of biblical texts, this book explores the foundations and the practice of prayer, and shows that how we understand prayer is necessarily bound up with how we understand the gospel, and God himself.

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Justice, Mercy and Humility: Integral Mission and the Poor
edited by Tim Chester
(Paternoster, 2002)

Perhaps the most critical social task for the church in our generation is to offer a compelling alternative to the unjust imbalances in the world economic order and the values of its consumer culture.

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Multiplying Churches
edited by Steve Timmis
(Ross-shire: Christian Focus, 2000)

The authors fully recognize the unique centrality of the church in God’s purposes and therefore re-open fundamental questions concerning the nature of both the church and the gospel. Tim writes a chapter offering a theological perspective on church planting.

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Awakening to a World of Need: The Recovery of Evangelical Social Action
Tim Chester
(IVP, 1993)

In the first half of this century, evangelicals largely withdrew from the public arena, in which they had previously been very active, to concentrate on cultivating holiness and saving souls. In the second half, many evangelicals have recovered their ‘temporarily mislaid social conscience’ (as John Stott puts it in his Foreword), and they have begun to discover how much the Bible has to say about holistic evangelism and a just society. This books tells the story of the growth of evangelical social concern from the 1960s to present day – a story of compassion responding to need, of new organisations such as Tearfund and World Vision, and of theology catching up with action. It explores the influence of key Western and non-Western thinkers such as John Stott and Rene Padilla, of political activists such as Jim Wallis and of major conferences such as Lausanne (1974), as well as grassroots initiatives. He also tackles the tensions that have arisen as evangelicals have thought about the relationship between proclamation and service, and about the biblical basis of social ethics.

Available free online »