Customer Reviews

Why Small Groups?

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This book is biblically founded and helped me to see the importance(largely from the bible) of having small groups. Accountability, biblical fellowship, speaking into each other's lives is the heart of the church. While small groups cannot take the place of the local church, they are a great context in which to apply the truths we learn in church. I especially liked the part about qualifications of a leader and being motivated by God' grace. Overall, the best book ever written (theologically and practically) on the subject!

The premise of this book is that small groups are primarily for application of Christian teachings (rather than just listening to Bible studies). They should be a place where we have accountablility to one another, and have a chance to serve. At the same time, they should be more than just a place where we gather to exchange opinions about the Bible -- we are looking for God's truth, not just man's perceptions. In fact, I really liked this book up until page 59, where it bluntly stated that a small group leader had to be male. I do recognize that this is a valid Christian perspective, so I recommend the book even though I don't agree with the emphasis on this point.

Why Small Groups? addresses a question that far too few pastors have considered: Why are we doing small groups? Many of us know how to do small groups; we understand, teach, and implement the mechanics. But why are we doing them? We need to take a big step back and try to understand the purpose we are trying to accomplish through them. In Why Small Groups?, Mahaney and fellow authors begin with the Biblical basis for small groups and the theological purpose for them.

Since the book is a collection of chapters written by individual authors, there is sometimes a lack of a cohesive strategy or model of small groups. For instance, one chapter assumes that small group members must be members of the church first while another chapter assumes a small group can be a front door for the church. In my opinion, that's not a big deal because it's not the how but the why that this book is addressing.

Some of the distinguishing characteristics between this book and many of the others that have been written on small groups include the following:

* It is written by practitioners- men who have come up through the ranks from small group member to pastors. They have seen small groups from every angle.

* It includes a thorough discussion of the doctrine of sanctification and how it relates to the purpose of small groups.

* It gives a clear Biblical and theological explanation of the relationship to and importance of small groups to the mission of the local church.

There's also a great chapter on Biblical confession, confrontation, and conflict within the group setting.

The Appendix "What It Means to Me?" by Walt Russell takes a hard look at the difficulties faced in small groups when different members bring their own opinions to the interpretation of the text. This very good essay helps leaders understand the difference between the meaning of the text and the significance of the text and how to make that distinction within the group setting.

Certainly, different traditions will find things to disagree with (male-only leadership, small group members must first be church members, etc), but the question that Mahaney is posing is one that we must address: Why are we doing small groups? What are we trying to accomplish?

Why Small Groups? addresses this important question in a clear, Biblical way.

I don't know of a better study guide than this one to begin the process of training facilitators of small groups in the local church. I have used this little guide many times over the years and find that it lends itself to the great dynamics of what it takes to build a healthy. It contains 7 lessons written by pastors with over 100 years of experience in serving the local church in the context of small groups. Their ultimate goal is to help your church be a church of small groups, rather than just with small groups.

The Eight Chapters are divided as follows:

1) C. J. Mahaney writes the opening chapter and delineates the fact that healthy small groups result in a community of believers that grows in their sanctification, mutually cares for one another, shares intimate fellowship, and experiences and expresses various out workings of the spiritual gifts.

2) James Loftness addresses what biblical fellowship really looks like, as well as what it doesn't look like.

3) Greg Somerville writes about the many ways that the members of the small group may commit themselves to the group using their gifts, talents, abilities, and passion to demonstrate the fruit of the Spirit to build up the Christian community.

4) Mark Mullery builds a case for the complementarian characteristics of a great leader - committed, of proven character, submitted, having a love, in a commendable marriage (if applicable), trained, consistent in the spiritual disciplines, able to lead, a tither, and male.

5) Mickey Connolly deals with the "art of care and correction. He provides some great insights into resolving conflicts, confronting sin in others, and confessing our own sins - in order to create a community of repentance and restoration.

6) John Butler looks at how to challenge your group toward outreach and assimilation - to never be comfortable - but missional.

7) Dave Harvey writes an excellent chapter on the different "viruses" that can attack a group and how we can build up the local church body as a community that works together for the common good of the church.

8) Walt Russell pens the appendix, which should not be overlooked. He writes an excellent article addressing how to properly interpret the Scriptures, and then apply them. In essence he says, "The meaning of a text never changes. Our first goal is to discover this fixed thing. In contrast, the significance of the text to me and to others is very fluid and flexible."

All the sessions are based on Biblical passages, and approximately 10 questions per chapter for group discussion based on the reading, and Scripture references discussed by each author. Each chapter contains sidebars, which contain quotes, verses, passages for further study, and helpful suggestions and ideas for further discussion. I recommend this resource highly for anyone who is interested in "Why" you should have small groups in your church - it will motivate you to begin right away!

this is the best book on what a small group should be and it's place in the life of heathy local church. this a must read for pasters and laymen a like.

Over the past several years of attending my church, I had heard several pastors and other leaders emphasize the importance of fellowship and community in our spiritual growth, but I had never heard anyone break down the logistics of how this occurs in a practical manner. So, over the last few months, I had been searching for some books on fellowship and community in their relation to our spiritual growth. I read 'Life Together' by Dietrich Bonhoeffer and 'Soulcraft' by Webster, but I didn't feel that either of these books got to the heart of the matter as this book 'Why Small Groups' did.

Some of the topics covered in this book that I really enjoyed were: The purpose of small groups, The definition & purpose of fellowship, and the logistics of correcting others by 'speaking the truth in love.'

All in all, I definitely enjoyed this book as it combined the very helpful theoretical purpose of a house group with the practical aspects of carrying out this purpose in community. I recommend it both for house group committed members and leaders.

This was one of the books that was a turning point in my life in 2002. It has impacted my call, my studies, my ministry and the churches I have been a member of. I highly recommend this book for any church/ministry that takes small groups seriously and highly recommend that you do not only just read it, but also take action and implement. Your people will be changed for the glory of God and your church will glorify God as well. I cannot speak highly enough of the doctrinal soundness, the prophet, priest, and kingly tones, the foundational understanding, and the excellent writing of this material. You and your small group will not be dissappointed.

Why Small Groups? If you are already familiar with Sovereign Grace Ministries then the tone of this book will not surprise you. This book was given to me by an official in our denominations district office and once I read it I purchased one for each of the Elders in my church. One of the strengths is it stays away from all the oft-repeated "how-to's" of small groups. It is a guide directed toward the biblical basis of why a church does small groups. The title is an accurate description--it is not about how, it is about why. If you are involved in the leadership of small groups (or are thinking about it) I would highly recommend "Why Small Groups?"

This is a well designed and written little book about the need to have properly functioning small groups within the context of the local church. At one point it could be downloaded as a PDF from the Covenant Life bookstore for free and it is well worth the price if that is the case :-).

As one of the leaders of our small group ministry for the past five years I found lots in here to agree with, much more new concepts or applications and cannot think of much that wasn't extremely helpful to me.

An old black preacher once said, "You can no more do what you don't know than come back from where you ain't never been." That's so true. If we became aware of the fact that there was a life-changing truth that we needed to know and didn't, then we could diligently study to learn it, memorize what we learned, and get help to learn how to apply it to our lives so that we could do it. But the old preacher is right, his axiom undeniable, and Hosea concurs, warning us of as much, when he laments, "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge." The solution for all God-fearing believers then is this, we must inextricably link our quest for right living to right thinking (Ps 119:9).

The great need of the hour today is for the church to relearn how to progressively grow in holy living. We need to regain a biblical vision for how to become Christ-like and how to live in God-pleasing ways in an ungodly, please-me, pleasure-seeking world. That's obvious to all of us. Collectively, we seem to have forgotten how to live holy, and you can't do what you don't know. Ask just about any pastor, church leader, or church member to honestly answer this question: Are you living holy like God is holy? Wouldn't the most honest answer be Daniel's quote, "We have sinned. . . . Righteousness belongs to You, O Lord, but to us open shame" (Dan 9:5, 7)? And wouldn't we, like Isaiah under God's piercing holiness, confess, "I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips" (Isa 6:5)? With holy living as our standard (1 Pet 1:15-16), this is not the church's finest hour. The church desperately needs to relearn how to grow in progressive holy living. We need Spirit-filled, seasoned/wise, Bible breathing men of God to re-teach us how to live like our holy Savior.

That is the great need of the hour for the church today. That is why Covenant Eyes asked me to do a thorough review of a very promising book, Why Small Groups? Together toward Maturity. The question I have sought to answer with chapter by chapter blog style reviews is, do these authors and does this book significantly empower the church to live holy?

Why Small Groups? is a part of a series produced by Sovereign Grace Ministries called The Perspective Series. So far there are five titles: Disciplines for Life, How Can I Change?, This Great Salvation, The Rich Single Life. Released October 1, 1996, Why Small Groups? has sold an impressive 20,000 plus copies. It has recently been released as a free e-book, which I pray will significantly increase in circulation beyond the 1,000 downloads so far to date. This is the version that I read for my reviews.

An obvious strength of the book is its authors. C.J. Mahaney (also serves as the general editor), John Loftness, Greg Somerville, Mark Mullery, Mickey Connolly, John Butler, and Dave Harvey are all experienced pastors, small group leaders, and small group leader trainers. Also the appendix, written by Walt Russell, professor of NT at Talbot School of Theology, is an excellent, easy to read guide for avoiding the pit-falls of relativism in our hermeneutics/Bible study methods.

The contributing authors are all pastors in the Sovereign Grace Ministries, a church planting movement, who are evangelical, Reformed, and continuationist. I am a staunch successionist and found the few allusions to ongoing gifts, such as prophecy, did nothing to distract me from the point of the book. Following a Bible centered approach with deadly precision, they hit bull's-eye after bull's-eye with one compelling argument after another.

Although carefully handled, some may also find objections to their conviction that those who lead small groups should be qualified males. On page 54, Mullery states, "By now it has probably become apparent that we are assuming the small-group leader ought to be a man. This is our understanding of Scripture, though we believe it is appropriate for a woman to lead a small group consisting exclusively of other women (Tit 2:1-5)." His defense is short but biblically cogent. He makes it clear that both men and women are made in the image of God (Gen 1:27), receive benefits of salvation, share the expectation of full redemption, and enjoy equal access to God through Christ, and more. He also explains that the Bible reveals that men and women are distinct in their masculinity and femininity. He biblically contends that these distinctions are designed by God and not culturally derived. "In the church, governing and teaching roles are specifically reserved for men. Leading a small group is one such role because it involves oversight--caring for people, counseling them, and providing a sense of direction" (55). I hope no reader stumbles over his carefully crafted biblical defense of complementarianism.

The targeted audience for this book is pastors, small group leaders, and those seeking to start a small group. The advertised purpose for this work is:

Do you want to get on the fast track to Christian maturity? Small groups provide the ideal context for "working out our salvation" together. Whether you attend a small group or lead one, this book will raise your vision and inspire you to excel in the areas of service to which God has called you. And if you don't attend a small group? All the more reason you may want to read Why Small Groups? and let it change your life.

C.J. Mahaney adds in his foreword, "We hope it is helpful." Well, C.J., I am glad you have given the church this tremendous work. It is indeed very, very helpful. In this reviewer's opinion, it may not surpass Robert Coleman's timeless classic on discipleship, The Master Plan of Evangelism, but it certainly should become the standard work on discipleship for the church today.

Written with a persuasive and inspiring tone, with compelling theological and biblical proofs, loaded with powerful quotes, Why Small Groups successfully makes the case for the invaluable role of small groups in the church. And as C.J. promises in his foreword, "You won't find theories in this book; you'll find biblical principles that have been put into practice by the authors since the early 1980s." It is thoroughly biblical and highly practical. In fact, if there is a weakness in the book, it is that it is so practical. Its deft answers will only be appreciated by those who have already struggled with small groups. But as leaders who have been there and done that, each chapter adds a piece of a puzzle that has puzzled the church too long. By Jesus' example (Mark 3:13-14) and by God's design (2 Tim 2:2), the church will not produce strong Christians who will effectively overcome the temptations of sin until we get back to the fundamentals of how Jesus and the apostles produced mature believers--through small groups. As you read you'll laugh at their humor, you will be stirred by the candid humility, you will appreciate their acument, you will learn from their biblical insights, and I pray you will be moved to action by their consistent, persistent exhortations for pastors and church leaders to invest their lives in what matters to God most, His saints growing in holy Christ-likeness.

The church owes these men our sincerest thanks for giving to us, literally, ready to apply answers to our most critical problem--a means to help our churches grow in progressive holiness. The best way I can think of for pastors and church leaders to thank them is to download this free e-book and start small groups. The fact that false teachers can sell millions and millions of books, and a treasure like this is offered to the church for free and can go overlooked, is quite an indictment against the church and is perhaps one of reasons why the church is struggling as it is. And, no--If you're wondering if I am being paid to publicize this book or if am I a secret publicist for their book--I am not. What I am is a pastor who was trained and equipped to serve God in pastoral ministry through a small group. I am a pastor who has trained other pastors and missionaries through small groups. I am a Christian who is convinced that what God used to bring me to spiritual maturity was small groups. I have been in a lot of small groups. I have read a lot of small group books, and I know for a fact that these men of God have produced a work that if heeded will help the church win a lot of battles for Jesus' namesake that we are now losing.

Last, I need to thank Covenant Eyes and specifically Luke Gilkerson for inviting me to write these reviews. For inexcusable reasons, I had neglected small group ministries in the church I have been pastoring for the past few years. Well, they are up and running again and doing very well. We recently had our men's retreat, and because of the transparency and care for one another we have developed through our small groups, it was, in the words of one of the men (who I think spoke for the group), the most impactful retreat we have ever had.

I have thoroughly relished the time writing these reviews and being mentored in refining my approach to small groups by these men of God. I pray that these reviews, and more importantly this book, Why Small Groups? will inspire and equip you to start small groups. Why Small Groups? is more than a must read. It is a must do for every pastor and church leader.

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