Fan the Flame

Churches across the country are floundering and many pastors are deeply discouraged. They work hard and with great sincerity but their efforts don’t seem to be helping their churches to flourish. Their congregations are split over political issues. Their faith is low. Finances are tight. Many leaders want to love their flocks, but find themselves in endless arguments with people they are trying to serve.

The pressing need of our time, especially for leaders, is not to focus on transforming the culture, but on reviving the church. Yet sadly, when it comes to the work of ministry, few pastors turn to Scripture. Instead, they follow the latest church growth trends based on business models rather than the New Testament, and they become frustrated and disheartened when these fail.

The first Christians had no money and no leverage. The Roman government opposed them at every turn. The Jewish establishment persecuted them. They had no buildings and no New Testament. Yet the church exploded, proving that the Gospel is built for the hardest of times.

In Fan the Flame, New York Times best-selling author and pastor Jim Cymbala looks at the pressing need for spiritual leadership by focusing our attention on Acts 20—Paul’s farewell address to the Ephesian church. He examines how Paul led the church—so that we can follow his lead. Along the way, Jim includes stories from his own experience at The Brooklyn Tabernacle, a church he has led for more than forty years. He offers ground-level, faith-driven, nitty-gritty, biblically-wise advice that will encourage, inspire, and equip leaders in the church, wherever God has planted them.

When leaders begin to understand and practice true spiritual leadership, they will find that their lives are transformed and they discover fresh energy and peace as God leads the way in building his kingdom. Filled with practical insights on developing a practice of prayer and leading others into the presence of God, Fan the Flame will help you to become the kind of leader God can use to reignite revival in today’s church.

Author Biography

Jim Cymbala has been the pastor of the Brooklyn Tabernacle for more than thirty-five years. The bestselling author of Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire, he lives in New York City with his wife, Carol Cymbala, who directs the Grammy Award-winning Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir.