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Bill and Merri Ann Pursley
Bill and Merri Ann Pursley have been dear friends and faithful members of our church for the past few years. When I first moved to Lancaster twenty-two years ago, I began meeting members of the extended Pursley family who are long-time Antelope Valley residents.Bill, who owns and operates a large landscaping company, has visited the church over the years and has been a contractor on a number of our building projects. I had given him Gospel tracts and witnessed to him for years, but it wasn’t until two years ago that I finally had the opportunity to sit down and go over the Gospel one-on-one. What a great delight it was to see Bill bow his head and receive Jesus Christ as his Saviour.
Recommended Reading List
Every summer, I strive to read as many books as possible. It is imperative to constantly be growing and developing in a spiritual walk with Christ, and I believe godly books can certainly help in that endeavor. It is a personal goal of mine to glean from good books in the summer months, and I encourage our staff and church members to do the same. I recently took to time to compile a list of recommended reading material. While we cannot endorse every word or concept in the books on this list, they have been generally helpful in my life and ministry. Many of these books can be purchased a www.lancasterbaptist.org/bookstore.
| Title | Author | Publisher |
| Bibliology / Doctrine | ||
| A More Sure Word | Oullette | Striving Together |
| Basic Bible Interpretation | Zuck | Victor |
| Dispensationalism | Ryrie | Moody Press |
| From God to Us | Geisler | Moody Press |
| The DaVinci Deception | Lutzer | Living Books |
| The King James Version Defended | Hills | Christian Research |
| Which Bible? | Fuller | Institute for Biblical Textual Studies |
| Touch Not the Unclean Thing | Sorenson | |
| Biography | ||
| David Livingstone | Seaver | Harper |
| John R. Rice: Captain of our Team | Rice | Walden |
| Through Sunshine and Shadow | Parker/ Monroe | Sword of the Lord |
| Tom Malone: The Preacher from Pontiac | Vick | Sword of the Lord |
| Christian Counseling | ||
| The Spirit-Controlled Temperament | LaHaye | Tyndale |
| The Christian Counselor's Manual | J. Adams | Zondervan |
| Contemporary Theology | ||
| A Woman Rides the Beast | Hunt | Harvest House Publishers |
| Grace Gone Wild | Jeffress | Waterbrook Press |
| Kingdom of the Cults | Martin | Baker Publishing Group |
| Prophetic Untimeliness | Cuinness | Baker Books |
| Set Apart | Hughes | Crossway Books |
| The Charismatics | MacArthur | Zondervan |
| The Tragedy of Compromise | Pickering | BJU Press |
| Why I Left the Contemporary Christian Music Movemnet | Lucarini | Evangelical Press |
| Changed Into His Image | Berg | BJU Press |
| Living in an Imperfect World | Ouellette | Striving Together |
| Repentance and the 21st Century Man | Miller | Christian Literature |
| Revival | Lloyd-Jones | Crossway Books |
| The Incredible Power of Kingdom Authority | Rogers | Broadman/Holman Publishers |
| Family | ||
| Christian Living in the Home | Adams | Baker Book House |
| Family Life | Swindoll | Multnomah Press |
| Firm Foundataion | Chappell | Striving Together |
| God in Your Family | Rice | Sword of the Lord |
| King Me | Farrar | Moody |
| Shepherding a Child's Heart | Tripp | Shepherd Press |
| The Purity Principle | Alcorn | Random House |
| Finances | ||
| The Total Money Makeover | Ramsey | Thomas Nelson |
| Leadership | ||
| 360 Degree Leader | Maxwell | Nelson |
| Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done | Bossidy | Crown Business |
| Getting Things Done | Allen | Penguin Books |
| Good to Great | Collins | Random House |
| In Search of Excellence | Peter Waterman | Warner Books |
| ur Iceburg is Melting | Kotter | St. Martin's Press |
| The Effective Executive | Drucker | Harper/Collins Publishers |
| The Five Dysfunctions of a Team | Lencioni | Jossey-Bass |
| The Measure of a Man | Getz | Regal Books |
| Missions | ||
| A Strategy to Start Churches on the Missions Field | Martin | |
| Christian Mission | Cook | Moody Press |
| Sending Forth Laborers | Tomlinson/ Chappell | Striving Together |
| Starting a Church on the Mission Field | Martin | |
| Understanding Christian Missions | Kane | Baker Books |
| Pastoral | ||
| Disciple Making Pastor | Hull | Baker Books |
| Pastoral Leadership | Weirsbe | Moody Press |
| Pastoral Leadership | ||
| Criswell's Guidebook for Pastors | Criswell | Broadman |
| God isn't in a Hurry | Weirsbe | Baker Books |
| Guided By Grace | Chappell | Striving Together |
| Less Is More Leadership | Burke | Harvest House |
| Pastors At Risk | London/ Wiseman | Victor Books |
| Shepherding the Church | Stowell | Moody Press |
| The Heart of a Great Pastor | London | Regal Books |
| The Integrity Crisis | Wiersbe | Oliver Nelson |
| The Vanishing Ministry | Kroll | Kregel Publishing |
| They Call Me Pastor | London | Regal Books |
| Lectures to My Students | Spurgeon | Baker Book Press |
| Preaching for Preachers | Jones | Zondervan |
| The Apostles | Malone | Sword of the Lord |
| The Church | Malone | Sword of the Lord |
| Thirty Minutes to Raise the Dead | Bennett | |
| Called to Be God's Leaders - Joshua | Blackaby | Thomas Nelson |
| Heartbeats of the Holy | Krauss | |
| Integrity Crisis | Wiersbe | Nelson |
| Leading with Integrity | Smith | Bethany House Publishers |
| Prayer | ||
| How to Pray | Bounds | Barbour Publishing |
| Prayer | Rice | Sword of the Lord |
| The Pastor in Prayer | Spurgeon | Whitaker House |
The Janitor - Book Review
I think it would be safe to say that I receive an average of three books a week from people across the country. Many of these are given to me by friends and others I receive from people whom I have never met. Obviously, I am not able to read all of them immediately upon receipt. The Janitor was one of those books that sat on my shelf for a while. Recently, however, I picked it up and found it to be a tremendous blessing to me.