Dynamite Prayer

There is a massive current of divine power — God’s resurrection power — that is active and alive in the world today. What if, through prayer, you could tap into the miraculous power of God’s Holy Spirit and unleash more than you could ask, think, or imagine into your life and world?

Dynamite Prayer is a daily prayer guide that will show you how to begin a practice of “breakthrough prayer,” a way of praying where we ask God to open new doors and reveal new possibilities, fueled by the Spirit’s power. This 28-day adventure will take you from feeling stuck, overwhelmed, and uninspired to curious and expectant as you surrender your own preferences and ideas and courageously follow the miracles God brings into your life.

Each day contains:
- A brief meditation on a verse from Scripture that will help you see how the Spirit’s
dynamic power has been at work throughout history and in your life today 
- Reflection questions for the day
- A short breakthrough prayer for the day
- A prayer word or phrase to help you make breakthrough prayer part of each
moment

Whether you do this with your church, your organization, or in your personal life, this
simple-yet-powerful way of praying will increase your faith and transform your world as
you invite fresh inspiration into every aspect of your life.

Ministry Makeover

Recovering a Theology for Bi-vocational Service in the Church

Ministry Makeover examines the decline within the church, especially the United Methodist Church (UMC), and some causes for this decline. It calls for a reforming of United Methodist structure and polity by drawing more attention to the value of the bi-vocational model of ministry and a re-visitation of the Wesleyan/United Brethren view and historical perspective. This book establishes a solid theological foundation upon which to build this shift and it goes a step beyond typical ecclesiology (the study of the church) to identify Trinitarian theology as the basis for the practice of the church. In turn, this text reveals bi-vocational ministry and support of new congregations as not only a viable option, but also arguably the model towards which the church is heading. These insights will transform the church and lead to more effective church ministry with respect to resources, structure, and reach in a post-Christendom world context. Picardo uses Embrace Church (Lexington, KY) as a case study, and incorporates his experiences into this text in order to show how these implications have played out in a true bi-vocational, church-plant context.

Fresh Expressions in a Digital Age

How the Church Can Prepare for a Post-Pandemic World

Fresh Expressions is a canary in the coal mine, alerting congregations to reevaluate what the Church is, where and when it can happen, and who can lead it. Church as we know it is inaccessible to most people. A fundamental premise of the movement is that Church can become accessible again by emerging in every nook and cranny where life already happens. Fresh Expressions is based in simplification, returning to basic scriptural principles, and a recovery of a “priesthood of all believers”―in the three places where people live and relate to others.

First Place: The home or primary place of residence.

Second Place: The workplace or school place.

Third Place: The public places separate from the two usual social environments of home and workplace, which host regular, voluntary, informal, and neutral spaces of communion and play. Examples are environments such as cafes, pubs, theaters, parks, and so on.

During a pandemic, our two primary mission spaces were closed off; the second and third places were shut down. We couldn’t have Tattoo Parlor Church; the tattoo parlor was closed. We couldn’t gather in Moe’s Southwest Grill for Burritos and Bibles; they were doing take-out only. The dog park was empty; no Paws of Praise. This limited us to the only spaces we have left: the first place, or the home place. The digital place, or the “space of flows.” This forces us into recognizing the digital space as its own kind of third place, a new missional frontier.

Funding Ministry with Five Loaves and Two Fishes

Clergy are trained to preach, teach, and lead a congregation in spiritual matters. However, there is very little training for clergy when it comes to the “business” matters of the church-finances, debt reduction, fundraising, and building maintenance. The added and sometimes unexpected load for clergy can become cumbersome and extremely stressful. In addition, the decline of the church and the passing of key funders of churches leave many pastors with dying churches and few resources to do anything about it.

Author Rosario Picardo has been in this very position. As a pastor, Picardo launched a church in a movie theater with no people and very little financial support. He also revitalized a dying congregation in a deteriorating physical structure. Through trials and failures, innovation and entrepreneurial thinking, God provided, and Picardo learned new ways for reaching the least and lost, and for growing disciples. In Funding Ministry with Five Loaves and Two Fish, Picardo shares the lessons he’s learned with confidence that other leaders can do the same. He demonstrates how, step by faithful step.

Embrace

A Church Plant that Broke All the Rules

Rosario Picardo was a recently divorced and slightly jaded ex-Marine when he heeded God's call to plant "a church for broken people" This book chronicles the struggles and triumphs of Embrace Church, from its beginnings in his basement as a rare urban church plant to a multi-campus congregation that reaches hundreds of folks broken by poverty, burned by Christians, and in need of healing grace. By telling his story, Picardo hopes to inform, inspire, and encourage seminary students, future church planters, and any Christian committed to expanding the body of Christ among marginalized people in urban areas. Alongside relevant data and theological insights, Picardo shares the practical lessons he learned, as well as personal journal entries about his internal struggles, in order to offer a comprehensive glimpse into not only the need for new church plants, but the difficulties and opportunities that exist in this sort of ministry.