1,000 copies of Flickering Lamps: Christ and His Church by Drs. Henry and Richard Blackaby were distributed to attendees in a breakout session on church revitalization at the Send North America Conference 2015 in Nashville, TN. John Mark Clifton, Lead National Strategist for Revitalization/RePlanting at the North American Mission Board, and Johnny Hunt, Senior Pastor of First Baptist Church of Woodstock, led the session.
The Blackaby authors penned the book, at Clifton’s urging, in order to encourage struggling pastors and churches.
“My father and I believe there is no reason for a church to die when Christ is its Head,” Richard Blackaby said. “70 percent of American churches are plateaued or declining. We wrote this book to remind people of the fact that Christ’s presence in His Church makes all the difference!”
The book shares the spiritual truths God revealed to Henry as he and his wife, Marilynn, served at Faith Baptist Church in Saskatoon, SK, Canada. It is the first book to be published by Blackaby Ministries International.
Clifton said that before the conference was over he talked to one young man who, after reading a few pages of the book, said he felt God confirm his call to church replanting.
“I took that as great confirmation that the book is right on target,” said Clifton.
Henry and Richard Blackaby said they look forward to seeing how God continues to use the book to impact struggling churches.
“We’re praying that God will use this material to strengthen, encourage, and save churches and give them a fresh vision of what the risen Christ can do through them if they will heed His voice,” Richard Blackaby said.
