Dr. John Piper used the following texts in a course he taught on Pastoral Theology:

Required Textbooks

* The Bible (Bring your GNT and NAS95 or ESV)

* Wayne Grudem and John Piper, eds., Recovering Biblical Manhood and Womanhood: A Response to Evangelical Feminism, Crossway, 1991.

* John Piper, Desiring God: Meditations of a Christian Hedonist, Multnomah Press, 2003.

* John Piper, A Hunger for God: Desiring God through Fasting and Prayer, Crossway Books, 1997.

* John Piper, The Justification of God: An Exegetical and Theological Study of Romans 9:1-23, Baker Book House, 1993.

* John Piper, Let the Nations be Glad, Baker Books, 2003.

* John Piper, The Pleasures of God: Meditations on God’s Delight in Being God, Multnomah, 2000.

* John Piper, The Purifying Power of Living by Faith in FUTURE GRACE, Multnomah Press, 1995.

* Alexander Strauch, Biblical Eldership: An Urgent Call to Restore Biblical Church Leadership, Lewis and Roth Publishers, 1995.

* T.U.L.I.P. What We Believe About the Five Points of Calvinism, Bethlehem Baptist Church Staff, 1985 (available from DGM or online at www.desiringgod.org/library/topics/doctrines_grace/tulip.html)

Textbooks used to illustrate positions not held by Dr. Piper included:

* Clark Pinnock, ed., The Grace of God, The Will of Man: A Case for Arminianism, Zondervan, 1989;

* Clark Pinnock, ed., The Openness of God, InterVarsity Press, 1994

* Gregory Boyd, God at War: the Bible and Spiritual Conflict, InterVarsity Press, 1997

* Greg Boyd, Satan and the Problem of Evil, InterVarsity Press, 2001

* John Sanders, The God Who Risks: A Theology of Providence, InterVarsity Press, 1998

* Norman Geisler, Chosen But Free (Bethany, 2001).

* Gilbert Bilezikian, Beyond Sex Roles : A Guide for the Study of Female Roles in the Bible, 1985

* Stanley J. Grenz with Denise Muir Kjesbo, Women in the Church: A Biblical Theology of Women in Ministry, 1995

* Rebecca Merrill Groothuis, Good News for Women: A Biblical Picture of Gender Equality, 1997.

And, here is a portion of the course description:

This course is designed to acquaint students with the practical application of Christian doctrine to a wide variety of issues. The course addresses such issues as fighting personal sin, prayer and fasting, roles of men and women, suffering, worship, God’s sovereignty, eldership, inspiration of Scripture, and motivation for life and ministry. Students will be urged not only to consider the biblical underpinnings for these issues, but how to apply them to every-day life.
Course Objectives

Practical Theology aims to spread a passion for the supremacy of God in all things for the joy of all peoples. We pray that honest, humble, rigorous interpretation of Biblical texts, as well as God-centered discussion of theological and practical ministry issues will kindle this passion and equip students to spread it winsomely to others.

Thus it is our aim that the student who successfully completes the course in Practical Theology will be better equipped to:

* savor, strengthen, and spread a passion for the supremacy of God in all of life and ministry;
* meet a wide range of needs in people’s lives with a loving and powerful application of Biblical truth;
* apply Biblical doctrine to the nitty-gritty of life and ministry

The following books are required reading in the course "Family, Church, & Society Studies" taught by Del Tackett, at Focus on the Family Institute.

Agee, M. C., et al. (1996). The America we seek. National Review. March 25.

Beckwith, F.. J. (1990-1991). Answering arguments for abortion rights. Christian Research Journal.

Bonhoffer, D. (1954). Life together. San Francisco, CA: Harper Collins.

Briner, B. (1993). Roaring lambs: A gentle plan to radically change your world. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.

Burtoft, L. (ed.) (2003). Student reflections on the UNC Justice For All outreach.

Colson, C. (2003). Being the body. Nashville, TN: W Publishing Group.

de Tocqueville, Alexis. (1835). Democracy in America, (Vol 1). (Reprinted by Vintage Books, New York, 1990).

Dobson, J. (2004). Marriage under fire. Sisters, OR: Multnomah Publishers, Inc.

Ellis, E. S. (1884). Not yours to give. Philadelphia: Porter & Coates (Reprinted by Conservative Printing, 2003).

George, R. P. and Ponnuru, R. (1996). The new abortion debate. First Things 62.

Grudem, W. (2003). Business for the glory of God. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.

Kavanaugh, P. 1996. Spiritual lives of the great composers. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

Klusendorf, S. (2002). Pro-life 101: Making your case. Signal Hill, CA: Stand to Reason.

Lee, D. (ND). Frequently asked questions. Wichita, KS: Justice For All.

Lee, D. (2002). The use of graphic visuals in pro-life work. Wichita, KS: Justice For All.

Leman, K. and Pentak, W. (2004). The way of the shepherd: 7 ancient secrets to managing productive people. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

Minnery, T. (2001). Why you can’t stay silent: A biblical mandate to shape our culture. Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers.

Olasky, M. (1998). The American leadership tradition: The inevitable impact of a leader’s faith on a nation’s destiny. Wheaton, IL: Crossways Books.

Parker, K. (2001). Time to say we’re sorry. Chicago Tribune. June 20.

Pollock, J. (1996). William Wilberforce: A man who changed his times. McLean, VA: Trinity Forum.

Schlossberg, H. (1990). Idols for destruction. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.

Schmidt, A. J. (2001). Under the influence: How Christianity transformed civilization. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.

Sowell, T. (1995). The vision of the anointed. New York, NY: Basic Books.

St. Benedict Center. (ND). The fathers speak – for life!

Sullivan, Andrew. (2001). Only human. The New Republic Online.
http://www.tnr.com/073001/trb073001.html

Wolf, N. (1995), Our bodies, our souls. The New Republic. October 16. [R]

The syllabus describes the course as follows - - -

DESCRIPTION:

This is a course in Christian sociological and political thought and leadership action. Students will be challenged to think carefully and deeply concerning their personal leadership role in effecting transformation in every social sphere of life.

The course consists of two concentrations. The first will focus on understanding God’s design for social order and the relationships between the social spheres. This includes the roles, responsibilities, purposes and boundaries of each sphere as God created them. The second will deal with application of this understanding. This includes examination of the pathologies associated with each sphere and the burning issues those pathologies bring to our culture. Students will be challenged with issues ranging from homosexuality to abortion to taxation. This challenge will occur in the classroom and in the field, where they will receive intensive training in “pro-life apologetics”, followed by a two-day outreach on the campus of University of Colorado at Boulder, Colorado.

The final application will include a historical study of the key aspects of the founding of the United States of America, with special attention given to the founders’ social vision and their understanding of the relationship between religion, morality and the state. Additionally, this section will help the student defend the existence of objective moral principles against postmodern ethical relativism.

Students will be challenged throughout this course to examine their personal and unique call to leadership roles and responsibilities. The pursuit of that call and its personal application will be considered a critical aspect of the desired outcomes of this area of study.

GENERAL OBJECTIVES:

• Understand God’s design for social order and the relationships between the social institutions

• Develop a deep sense of compassion for those trapped in the turmoil and destruction of social pathology and a consequential hunger and commitment to become a world changer for Christ.

• Explain the authority structure, roles, responsibilities, purposes and boundaries of each social institution

• Describe current issues and pathologies that are manifested within each social institution

• Articulate the Christian’s personal role in effecting transformation in every social sphere of life

• Explain the historical foundations of the American State

• To equip the students to engage various contemporary social issues with Christ-like compassion and insight, with particular emphasis upon the defense of the existence of objective moral values
• Understand key elements of shepherd leadership

• Give thoughtful consideration to one’s unique leadership role as an agent of change in culture

TOPICS & ACTIVITIES:

• Understanding God’s general design for social order

• Contemplating the triune nature of God in social design

• Intimacy and the divine mark within the family

• Shepherd leadership and God’s delegating call to rule

• Unio Mystica: The awesome reality of being a child of God

• The mystery: Christ and the church

• Understanding the Divine delegation of authority and the design of the state

• Law, politics and the foundations of the American state

• Contemplating Divine creativity and God’s design for labor and the marketplace

• Examining the lost art of community and God’s design to love your neighbor

• Evaluating the burning issues within our culture

• Pro-Life Apologetics

• Pro-Life Outreach at University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado

• Risk-takers and world-changers; being “light” and “salt” in a needy world

Leaders Summit is a consulting firm which provides leadership training and consulting for nonprofit and corporate organizations. They have recommended the following books for their twelve indispensable leadership skills.

Vision

Nanus, B. (1991). Visionary Leadership, San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Life-long-learning

Bennis, W. (2003). On Becoming A Leader, New York: Basic Books.

Team Building

Harvard Business Press (2004). Teams That Click, Boston: Harvard Business Press.

Authenticity

Buckingham, M. & Clifton, D (2001). Now, Discover Your Strengths, New York: The Free Press.

Change-agent

Kotter, J. (1996). Leading Change, Boston: Harvard Business School Press.

Emotional Intelligence

Goleman, D. (2002). Primal Leadership: Learning to Lead with Emotional Intelligence, New York: Bantam Books.

Execution

Bossidy & Charan (2002). Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done, New York: Crown Press.

People Skills

Carnegie, D. (1936). How to Win Friends and Influence People, New York: Simon and Schuster.

Communication

Clarke & Crossland (2002). The Leader's Voice, New York: Select Books.

Inspire

Greenleaf, R. (1977). Servant Leadership, New York: Paulist Press.

Social Intelligence

Albrecht, K. (2006). Social Intelligence – The New Science of Success, San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Multi-topic books:

Kouzes & Posner (2003). The Leadership Challenge, San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Heil, Parker, and Tate (1995). Leadership and the Customer Revolution, New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold.

The following titles on LEADERSHIP are included in the 9Marks reading list for pastors:

Danny Akin, President of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, has recommended the following books on Christian Leadership and Management.

Anthony, Michael J. The Effective Church Board: A Handbook for Mentoring and Training Servant Leaders. Grand Rapids: Baker, 1993.

Anderson, Leith. A Church for the 21st Century. Minneapolis: Bethany, 1992.

Barna, George, ed. Leaders On Leadership. The Leading Edge Series. Ventura, CA: Regal, 1997.

Drucker, F. Peter. 1996. The Effective Executive. New York: Harper, 1967.

________. Managing the Non-corporate Organization. New York: Harper, 1990.

________. Managing for the Future: the 1990’s and Beyond. New York: Dutton, 1992.

Finzel, Hans. The Top Ten Mistakes Leaders Make. Wheaton: Victor, 1994.

Gangel, Kenneth O. Feeding and Leading. Wheaton: Victor, 1989.

________. Team Leadership in Christian Ministry. Chicago: Moody, 1997.

Hersey, Paul, Kenneth H. Blanchard, and Dewey E. Johnson. Management of Organizational Behavior: Utilizing Human Resources. 7th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1996.

Hesselbein, Frances, Marshall Goldsmith, and Richard Beckhard, ed. The Leader of the Future. Drucker Foundation Future Series. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1996.

________., ed. The Organization of the Future. Drucker Foundation Future Series. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1997.

Hesselbein, Frances, Marshall Goldsmith, Richard Beckhard, and Richard F. Schubert, ed. The Community of the Future. Drucker Foundation Future Series. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1998.

Maxwell, John C. The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1998.

Miller, Michael D. Kingdom Leadership: A Call to Christ-Centered Leadership. Nashville: Convention Press, 1996.

Mims, Gene. Kingdom Principles for Church Growth. Nashville: Convention Press, 1994.

Schultz, Glen. Kingdom Education. Nashville: LifeWay, 1998.

Shelley, Marshall, ed. Leading Your Church Through Conflict and Resolution. Library of Leadership Development. Minneapolis: Bethany House, 1997.

________., ed. Renewing Your Church Through Vision and Planning. Library of Leadership Development. Minneapolis: Bethany House, 1997.

Tidwell, Charles A. The Educational Ministry of a Church: A Comprehensive Model for Students and Ministers. Nashville: Broadman & Holman, 1996.

Westing, Harold J. Church Staff Handbook: How to Build an Effective Ministry Team. Grand Rapids: Kregel, 1997.

Williams, Dennis E., and Kenneth O. Gangel. Volunteers for Today’s Church: How to Recruit and Retain Workers. Grand Rapids: Baker, 1993.

The following are textbooks used in the Founders Study Center course on Maintaining Your Spiritual Health; a course designed to help church leaders learn to gauge and nurture spiritual health in themselves.