Comeback: A Parker Novel (Parker Novels)

• ISBN13: 9780226770581
• Condition: New
• Notes: BRAND NEW FROM PUBLISHER! 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. Tracking provided on most orders. Buy with Confidence! Millions of books sold!

Research shows that over time, most churches plateau and then eventually decline. Typically, they start strong and experience periods of growth, then stagnate and lose members. Since 1991, the North American population has increased by 15 percent while the number of "unchurched" people has increased by 92 percent. Large church houses that were filled in the 1950s and 60s now hold a fraction of their capacity.

To counter this trend, authors Ed Stetzer and Mike Dodson surveyed 300 churches from across ten different denominations that recently achieved healthy evangelistic growth after a significant season of decline. What they have discovered is an exciting method of congregation reinvigoration ! that is shared in the new book entitled Comeback Churches.

Endorsements

“As a successful pastor, church planter, researcher, and advisor to thousands of churches, Ed Stetzer speaks from a wealth of experience with all kinds of churches. Now, in one volume, your church can benefit from his wisdom. This book is a winner!”
â€"Dr. Rick Warren, author of The Purpose-Driven Life and The Purpose-Driven Church 

“First and foremost, it is biblical. Second, it is well researched. And third, it is immensely practical and applicable . . . this book should be in the hands of hundreds of thousands of pastors, staff, and church leaders. Simply stated, it is just that good.” â€"Thom S. Rainer, author of Simple Church, president/CEO of LifeWay Christian Resources

“Finally, a book of practical advice that is based on research. I have seen it both waysâ€" endless research with little ad! vice, or, much advice with little facts. This book strikes the! balance with perfection.” â€"Elmer Towns, Dean of Liberty University

“This is the most helpful, practical book on church revitalization I’ve read this century.” â€"Leonard Sweet, Drew Theological School, George Fox University

“Comeback Churches is more than a pep talk. It’s rooted in the ‘right stuff’ to bring a congregation out of the dismal into the vital.” â€"Jack W. Hayford, President, International Foursquare Churches, Chancellor, The King’s College and Seminary

“No one, to my knowledge, has done the hard research, presented the facts, and offered such sound advice as Ed Stetzer and Mike Dodson… Comeback Churches is the number-one book on turning around declining and plateauing church ministry. â€"Gary L. McIntosh, D.Min., Ph.D., Biola University

“A refreshing book by authors who know how to make research exciting and instructional. Leaders and members of non-growing ! evangelical churches should read this book (it wouldn't hurt mainliners either)!” â€"Bill Easum, Easum, Bandy & Associates

Here are ten suspenseful, serpentine stories  of betrayal, blackmail, murder, and revenge...all  culminating in shocking twists of fate.  Within these pages live a wealth of  characters you will not soon forget...people  whose lives become irrevocably trapped in a world of  no comebacks, beyond the point of no return--from  the manipulators and the manipulated to the  ultra-rich capable of buying and selling human lives, to  the everyday man maneuvered by circumstances into  performing deadly acts of violence.

Known as The Makeover Guy ® from his appearances on The Oprah Winfrey Show and other national television programs, Christopher Hopkins believes that as they age, women become more beautiful but often feel less attractive. He's out to change that. For more than twenty years he's encouraged women wh! o often feel like they' have taken a backseat to everything a! nd every one else to come out of the shadows and take center stage. Now it's your turn. Using Christopher's step-by-step strategies and detailed advice,you will learn to: 

• Restore your hair with your ideal cut, color, and style.  
• Revamp your wardrobe to flatter a changing body.
• Refresh your face with 'visible lift' makeup techniques.
• Renew your spirit and maintain your look using Christopher's revival guide.

After the bloodbath of Butcher's Moon, the action-filled blowout Parker adventure, Donald Westlake said, "Richard Stark proved to me that he had a life of his own by simply disappearing. He was gone." And for nearly twenty-five years, he stayed away, while readers waited.

But nothing bad is truly gone forever, and Parker’s as bad as they come. According to Westlake, one day in 1997, "suddenly, he came back from the dead, with a chalky prison pallor"--and ! the resulting novel, Comeback, showed that neither Stark nor Parker had lost a single step. Knocking over a highly lucrative religious revival show, Parker reminds us that not all criminals don ski masks--some prefer to hide behind the wings of fallen angels.

The frighteningly prolific mystery writer Donald E. Westlake, a.k.a. Richard Stark, ended his legendary series of books about a career criminal known only as Parker with 1974's Butcher's Moon. He cited too much competition from copycats in print, on film, and on television. Persuaded by fans and family, Westlake has resurrected Parker with a welcome burst of energy and imagination. The felon and his long-time lady friend Claire are enjoying the quiet life in their New Jersey lakeside home when Parker's invited to become part of a plan to remove a large sum of cash from a glossy TV-preacher named William Archibald. It's a heist that goes wrong from the start and turns into a tense, chaotic bal! let of betrayal and death. One of Parker's partners is a weak! babbler , another a cold traitor. Archibald's security chief is a tenacious pursuer, intent on retrieving his employer's money. Along the way, we learn how to hide crooks, cars, and cash in a small city with an efficient police force; how to escape from a variety of traps and sealed rooms; and most of all how Parker has managed to stay alive--in readers' minds as well as in the brain of his creator--for all these years.