“Rise Up and Build”

I just finished (well, I guess it was really last week) reading Neal Pollard's book Rise Up and Build. As the name suggests, it was a book about church growth. Or at least that's what I expected it to be. As I read the book, though, I was pleasantly surprised to find out what it really was.

This book is not just a book about growing in numbers but about growing together. There are many ideas and concepts that are brought up in the book that you know you know, and you know you should know, but you may have forgotten. The chapter that had the most impact on me was the chapter titled "Edification" (note: all of the chapter titles are alliterated and start with an "E"… very nice). Of course, one of those things that everyone knows but that sometimes we ignore or forget about is that growth begins from within (Eph. 4:16). If we don't start from within, how can we be teachers (cf. Heb. 5:12-14)?

Another point which I appreciate being handled (and is related to the above) is the difference between swelling and growing. Many congregations (if many of them still qualify as true congregations of the Lord's Church) adopt denominational ideas and practices. Even if they don't explicitly do something that a person could point to and say "AHA! You are erring!" they still have a denominational "feel". They have steered away from complete nutrition (meat and milk) and are on a liquid diet (milk only). Because of this they swell. We want to make sure that we grow. Just like with a bruise, the swelling will eventually go down. But, if a child grows to an adult, they will remain fairly constant in their size.

From a technical standpoint, the chapters are laid out very well. This book could be used for personal study, but is also set up to be used for Bible class. The "Application" section is very useful and helpful, along with the questions that are given to ponder on at the end of each chapter. Overall, I actually got about 20 sermon outline ideas. Not all of them are even related to church growth. Some of them are just plain old good Bible teaching.

I really enjoyed this relatively short read (only took about 3.5 hrs) and liked it enough to give it to one of our elders (reminding him of where the book belonged). I hope that you will pick it up at your local faithful Christian bookstore and read and enjoy it as much as I did.

"And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart." - Galatians 6:9 (NKJV)