Renovation: A Survey on Divine Design in the Life of the Church

by Dwight Smith

This book is a significant edit to Divine Design in the Life of the Church, which I first published in 2010. The purpose of this shorter edition is to give churches a simpler tool for envisioning God’s purpose for His church and for those who lead it. Additionally, since I wrote the first volume, I have written more extensively on concepts in it about leadership, discipleship, and God’s purpose for His people, and books on these topics are now available individually for those who desire to plumb the depths of these matters. So we might say that this book is a taster on divine design in the life of the church.

Genres: Church

125 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 24, 2018

Reviews

[Alan Rathbun · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a tremendously thoughtful and challenging book. We have long pursued bigger churches and assumed that more people watching the people up front is a sign of God’s blessing. But where did we get this idea?

Smith repeats over and over that the sole job of church leaders is to equip people to walk with God and represent Him in the world. He is convinced we can reach the world if we hold onto these as our main responsibilities as leaders and hold ourselves accountable to do it. It’s worth wrestling with these ideas and considering real change in approach to ministry.

I gave it four stars because there appeared to be sometimes in his efforts to make this version of the book an edited version of a longer book, that there were some missing thoughts and points left out.

[Bruce Baker · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is his "significant edit" to the first Renovation from 2010. Smith has some tremendous insights into the purpose of the church and roles leadership needs to take. He has refocused some of his previous thoughts and continues developing strategy for the western church. He has good suggestions for the American church and leadership.

[Len Flack · Rating 4 out of 5]

The concepts in this book are gold, and this revision is a much smoother read than previous versions. Very helpful!

[Andrew Krom · Rating 4 out of 5]

Helpful book on the church and how the church should function in the world. I read this right after reading Smith's "Alone at the Top".