The Second Reformation: Reshaping the Church for the 21st Century

by William A. Beckham

Book Overview

The Second Reformatin lovingly, yet firmly challenges us to evaluate the church today. This book deals with hard questions that many of us have wrestled with for years. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1880828901
• Release Date: June 1995
• Publisher: Touch Outreach Ministries
• Length: 253 Pages
• Weight: 0.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.3" x 0.8" x 6.3"

Customer Reviews

this book opened my eyes to the God-ordained organic NT church model

I received this book as part of the materials for a conference led by the author in 1997. As soon as I started reading, I realized the tremendous advantage the New Testament-shaped church has over today's institutional local church that encourages people to come but is largely unwilling to go into the middle of people's daily life to make disciples as Jesus commanded. Perhaps the best quote I read was about the Sunday School and how if all the billions of dollars spent on programming, building construction and literature were sufficient to reach the world, surely it would already have happened. Today I know the New Testament model Beckham advocates as the "organic" church. The traditional, 1-day-a-week church in North America today is on the skids, and Beckham shows the biblical alternative very clearly.

A Reformation is truly coming

This is a must read for all in the ministry who are eager to learn from the NT church. Beckham carefully takes us through church history to show how our present "One winged" church was a result of Constantine's Edict of 312AD. He shows us how the "Two winged church" is a more biblical model. I was especially blessed by his presentation of how the "two winged church" demonstrates God's Holy transcendant nature which is experienced in corporate worship and how God's Immanence is experienced in the small group setting.

An outstanding contribution to the "cell group" literature

Nearly thirty years ago, as an elder and home fellowship leader in an emerging megachurch, I became deeply convinced that small group fellowships were the "wave of the future." Then, several years later, when I read Howard Snyder's "The Problem of Wineskins," my convictions were solidified. Now, as a senior pastor, after many years of stuggling to keep our home fellowships vital, and trying to balance small groups with all the other activities of the church, I and our leadership are moving into a cell church model. The key factor in pushing us "over the edge" has been Beckham's book. Some of the cell group books available tend to present the cell model as another new technology guaranteed to produce evangelism and church growth. In some of the literature there seems to be a tinge of dogmatism and naive promotionalism (sincere but perhaps simplistic). Beckham, on the other hand, gives a persuasive historical and theological rationale for the cell group model. His chapters on how to implement the cell model in the local church are worth the price of the book. And his explication of the "Instant Cell Church Syndrome (ICC)" is loaded with wit and wisdom. From my perspective, this book is a "must read" for all church leaders interested in the cell church model. Once Beckham's book has been absorbed, the other books with a more functional orientation can be appreciated and valued for their good points.

A New Testament argument for the Cell Church model

William Beckham shows the three year process Jesus took in developing the structure and mission of his fledgling church. The author then applies the same steps to the 21st century church. The steps are logical and easy to understand and follow. My church leaders loved the book and are already implementing the model in our church. In the area of small groups this is a must read.

Excellent book on cell church ideas

A very good book giving an overview of cell church ideas, and nice to find something not written by Ralph Neighbour, although he's worth reading too. Buy it!