James Hinkle, elder and former minister at the Burns Church, has produced several resources to help serve the local church. We’ve been able to share these resources with you here.
You can contact James at the office number (615) 441-3984 or via email to order these books.
Among Friends: You Can Help Your Church Be a Warmer Place by James Hinkle and Tim Woodroof
Finding a warm and welcoming church is sometime difficult in our world of today. This is not God’s way. He wants our churches to be places where the need to love and be loved can be met in an atmosphere of peace and joy.
Teaching, learning, loving and living out the love of Jesus in our church relationships is doable and is our goal as Christian leaders. Getting into the subject and finding ways to accomplish the goals of Jesus is what AMONG FRIENDS is all about. Tim Woodroof and James Hinkle have put teaching materials in this book that can be helpful to any church regardless of size. They look at real problems and suggest real solutions. For class discussions, lectures or personal study, AMONG FRIENDS can move us in the direction of fixing the problem and not the blame. Emphasizing how to establish and maintain relationships makes this book a needed step toward the basics of love.
Among Friends can be purchased via Amazon.com or for quantity discounts contact James directly.
Developing Church Leaders: Understanding and Nurturing Leadership in the Local Church by James Hinkle
No church can advance beyond its leaders. When churches develop better leaders, the world can know better churches. Leadership training is a must if we are to develop better leaders for better churches.
It is necessary to look again at the biblical information about leaders and to examine what can be done to build good church leaders. To say that church leaders could learn how to lead from midwifes may be a bit unconventional but Developing Church Leaders makes this suggestion. This is only one of the carefully planned and researched materials in this book.
This is great read for church leaders and lay workers alike. Dr. James Hinkle has served churches for fifty years, taught ministry course in college and led seminars on leadership throughout the U.S and several continents.
Developing Church Leaders is available online or direct from James. The Kindle Edition is the best deal at just $3. You can read it on a Kindle or any tablet or PC that supports the Kindle e-reader app. OR — If you are an Amazon Prime subscriber, you can borrow it FREE!
In the Desert: a Study of the Book of Numbers by James Hinkle
James recently completed a 19-chapter study booklet covering the book of Numbers in the Old Testament. It is set up as a daily Bible study. Each lesson has readings for five days along with a few questions to answer and study each day. Read more about James’ material on Numbers.
Basic Bible Doctrines by James Hinkle
This booklet is a study guide for bringing the good news to the lost. It is good for study of the fundamentals that Jesus set in place for us to become Christians and live for him. It begins with the authority of the Bible and ends with how to have a good family in the church. The booklet has a personal Bible study for each week day and Research and Think topics for discussion.
The study guide is divided into 13 lessons for a quarter’s study in a small group or a church class.
We are proud to offer this resource online for you to freely download and reproduce for your ministry. Please do not sell it for profit. Click here to download.
Living in Harmony Video Series by Dr. James Hinkle and Dr. Tim Woodroof
Although there are many issues pressing on the church today, few press as urgently as the need for warm and caring fellowship among God’s people. LIVING IN HARMONY is a practical and in-depth guide to building lasting relationships in your local congregation. The command of Jesus to “Love one another” is explored through a careful study of the Bible and a challenging application of biblical principles to our daily lives. This video series, along with the available study guides, is designed to be a powerful tool when placed in the hands of congregations who are serious about becoming all that God wants them to be.
There are 13 lessons:
Session One: Introduction and Theme
In this session, Tim and I discuss the two greatest commandments (Matthew 22). The second commandment “Love thy neighbor” is an outgrowth of the first, “Love God.” It is easy to love a God who is so lovable, but often it is difficult to love people who are less so. We also look at the overall plan for the sessions that are to follow.
Session Two: The Need to Love and Be Loved
In this session we define “needs” and “wants”. “Needs” are defined as the necessities of life – if we are to exist as God designed us. God designed us with a need to love and be loved.
Session Three: The Church: A Fellowship of Believers
The church is called a “body” and a “household,” and is seen as the environment where the need to love and be loved is fulfilled. If the church does not live up to this design by God, our people will go elsewhere to fill this need. Often “elsewhere” is a foreign environment and our brothers and sisters drown by breathing in the wrong atmosphere.
Session Four: The Mark of the Christian
Here we discuss John 13:34, 35. The way the world knows we are Christians is not by our stance on doctrinal issues but by how we measure up to the standard of Jesus in loving others.
Session Five: What is Love?
Here we define “storge”, “eros”, “philos” and “agape”. We come up with a working definition of these Greek words and conclude that agape is the thermostat that controls the environment in the local church.
Session Six: Developing Real Relationships
Communication is the key to effective relating in the local church. We must be careful (1) where we talk, (2) what we talk about and (3) to whom we talk. Jesus is our example in these three categories.
Session Seven: Developing Relationship Attitudes
The church at Philippi is used as a model for developing the right attitudes. The letter to the Philippians is carefully studied to show the attitudes of oneness, humility, concern and submission that create harmony in the local church.
Session Eight: Developing Relationship Skills
The book of Proverbs is our guide when it comes to the need to (1) listen, (2) learn, 3) tell, 4) heal and 5) act. By working together we can learn communication skills that can be practiced locally, helping us to become the fellowship Jesus intended.
Session Nine: Getting Ready to Fight
Conflict is inevitable and not to be feared. Properly managed, conflict can lead to greater intimacy in the church. The “win-lose” pattern is discussed as a pattern to be avoided. There must be good relationships before we can do valid problem solving.
Session Ten: While the Fight Is On
Here we define what conflict is, how to bring yourself out of conflict and how to reenter the discussion and fight fair. The “fighting fair technique” is discussed.
Session Eleven: After the Fight is Over: Building Team Spirit
What is necessary in developing the local church into a team? How do we move out of conflict to work as a team? How do we keep team spirit in the church going?
Session Twelve: Working With Change
Change is difficult but necessary. We can never be what God expects US to be without continual change. But that’s hard. How does change come about? Should we wait for the leaders to change and then let it “trickle down”? Or, does change come from a “grass roots” approach, from the bottom up? A better church begins with me! .
Session Thirteen: Love Takes Time
For at least 13 weeks we have discussed the local church. We should not expect that we have all arrived at the place where God wants us. It takes time to change. We must be moving in the right direction and we must allow for differences because “God’s not through with me yet.”
The videos are available to watch here:
You can also download the participant’s guide and leader’s guide.