THE SELF-AWARE LEADER: DISCOVERING YOUR BLIND SPOTS TO REACH YOUR MINISTRY POTENTIAL (InterVarsity Press, 2017)
You’ve studied what you think you need to know before entering a career in ministry. Is there anything that is more important than knowing about hermeneutics, homiletics, theology, exegesis, and everything else you have likely learned in seminary and church ministry so far? Yes, there is. How well do you know yourself? You need to build your ministry career on the right foundation of an objective understanding of self. If you don’t comprehend your strengths and weaknesses, then you won’t be fully prepared to enter the crucible of ministry. Serving as a pastor is one of the toughest calls there is. But it can also be one of the most fulfilling and rewarding, especially if you have taken the time to examine both your gifts and vulnerabilities. The church needs leaders who have the clear-eyed courage to pursue the hardest part of the ministry journey: seeing yourself. The Self-Aware Leader will help you to do just that.
TEACHING THE NEXT GENERATIONS: A COMPREHENSIVE GUIDE FOR TEACHING CHRISTIAN FORMATION (Baker Academic, 2016)
Effective teaching is important not only to the Christian faith but to the success and impact of Christian ministry. The best-selling book, TEACHING THE NEXT GENERATIONS, champions the role of teaching as a necessary skill for ministers to develop, equipping them to work effectively for the spiritual growth of young people. Terry Linhart, who has more than twenty-five years of experience training youth workers, brings together expert Christian educators representing a broad array of evangelical institutions and traditions to show how teaching connects to discipleship and the church in current contexts. Designed for the classroom, the book covers a wide range of topics and includes helpful illustrative diagrams, tables, line drawings, and charts. This book was a finalist for the 2017 Christian Book Awards in Ministry Resources.
WHAT CAN WE DO?: PRACTICAL WAYS YOUR YOUTH MINISTRY CAN HAVE A GLOBAL CONSCIENCE (Zondervan/Youth Specialties, 2011). Co-authored with David Livermore.
Too often these days, youth hear about global issues such as poverty, human trafficking, and HIV/AIDS, but they don’t get practical suggestions on how they can make a positive impact on these problems. The reality is, today’s students will be leading the way in the workforce, ministries, and education in a few short years. If they begin to understand their connection to the global community today, just imagine the way they could contribute to improving these issues in future years. What Can We Do? offers youth workers an overview of pressing global issues, along with realistic, practical ways their youth ministries can respond. By helping teens understand how their faith intersects with the struggles around the world, these youth groups can have a lasting, worldwide influence. Respected educators and youth ministry veterans Dave Livermore and Terry Linhart give youth workers a thoughtful, deep perspective on the pressing issues facing the world today, while also offering creative solutions for youth groups to get involved and impact the lives of people all around the world.
GLOBAL YOUTH MINISTRY: REACHING ADOLESCENTS AROUND THE WORLD (Zondervan/YS Academic, 2011) Co-edited with David Livermore.
As the world’s youth population continues to grow and interact globally in an instant through blogging, texting, and social networking, youth ministry is adapting in equal fashion. Authors Terry Linhart and David Livermore offer advice that’s substantiated by more than twenty prominent worldwide youth leaders: be prepared. Global Youth Ministry is the first textbook to recognize the phenomenon of global youth ministry and to coordinate leading youth ministry voices in a discussion of the theological, theoretical, sociocultural, and historical issues that shape ministries around the world. Traditionally, students of international youth ministries have had to wade through a range of sources, perspectives, and agendas. This versatile text distills all that, and focuses on real-world experiences, challenges, and issues that are part of international ministries. This book is essential reading for undergraduate and graduate-level students and youth ministry leaders who have a heart for missions, social awareness and spiritual empathy, and a desire to serve young people around the world.
EVANGELISM REMIXED: EMPOWERING STUDENTS FOR COURAGEOUS AND CONTAGIOUS FAITH (Zondervan/YS, 2009). Co-authored with Dave Rahn.
One of the primary goals of a youth ministry is to help students learn to share their faith with people in their lives. However, evangelism often proves to be one of the toughest parts of student ministry. But evangelism and teenagers don’t have to be mutually exclusive terms. After two years of intense research, visiting the most effective youth ministries in the country, youth ministry veterans Dave Rahn and Terry Linhart offer youth workers tools to help develop students whose faith is courageous and contagious. In this thought-provoking, yet practical book, youth workers will be reminded of the importance of helping students develop to the point where they naturally influence others for Christ in their everyday lives. Evangelism Remixed offers principles that enable youth workers to evaluate their ministry’s evangelism effectiveness and provides step-by-step tools to help them put the concepts into real-life practice, including the importance of the role of adults as mentors and incorporating prayer into the process.
HIGH SCHOOL TALKSHEETS: 50 READY-TO-USE DISCUSSIONS ON THE LIFE OF CHRIST (Zondervan/Youth Specialties, 2008)
Your high school students probably think they know a lot about Jesus. But do they know how the stories of Jesus’ life relate to their own? If you want to get them thinking and talking about Jesus―who he really was, and what that means for them today―you have everything you need right here. The latest addition to the best-selling TalkSheets series, High School TalkSheets: Life of Christ gives you easy-to-use discussion starters and the tools to lead students into meaningful dialogue about Jesus. The one-page, reproducible handouts offer provocative questions in a compelling design that cover everything from the prediction of his birth to his ascension. Students will delve into each aspect of Jesus’ life while looking at it through the lens of their own world and applying it to their own lives. These TalkSheets present every aspect of Jesus’ life in a way that young teens can connect with as they learn to apply the lessons to their own lives. TalkSheets makes the Bible relevant and engaging for students, while offering helpful hints and optional activities to help your youth ministry team effectively facilitate great conversations―without a lot of prep work.
MIDDLE SCHOOL TALKSHEETS: 50 READY-TO-USE DISCUSSIONS ON THE LIFE OF CHRIST (Zondervan/YS, 2008)
It’s not hard to get middle schoolers to talk…unless you’re talking about something other than the latest band, movie, or the opposite sex! If you want to get them thinking and talking about Jesus―beyond the flannel-graph, Sunday school Jesus―you have everything you need right here. This best-seller, Middle School TalkSheets: Life of Christ, gives you easy-to-use discussion starters and the tools to lead students into meaningful dialogue about Jesus. The one-page, reproducible handouts offer provocative questions in a compelling design that keep in mind the unique challenges of middle school discussions. These TalkSheets present every aspect of Jesus’ life in a way that young teens can connect with as they learn to apply the lessons to their own lives. TalkSheets makes the Bible relevant and engaging for students, while offering helpful hints and optional activities to help your youth ministry team effectively facilitate great conversations―without a lot of prep work.
CONTAGIOUS FAITH: EMPOWERING STUDENT LEADERSHIP IN EVANGELISM (Group, 2000) Co-authored with Dave Rahn.
Contagious Faith offers teenagers the ability to change their world for the better through Christ. This clear and practical guide reveals the power of student leadership in building an outreach-oriented ministry that truly is a force for reaching young people today. Help your teens catch the vision of what God can do with their lives, and make their faith contagious!