As we embark on the new millennium, uncharted challenges await the church. This volume by one of today's most valued voices on modern church life offers a wealth of insight into the role of local churches in the twenty-first century. Rooted in solid biblical research and extensive experience, Marva Dawn's newest book will help churches and their leaders avoid falling to the temptations of contemporary secular culture, including the popular -success- models of church management. Dawn offers groundbreaking scholarship--from the first significant critique of Walter Wink's work on -the powers- to a relevant new translation of 2 Corinthians 12:9--and challenges readers to rethink the goals and mission of the congregation, to develop practices that follow God's -hidden- way of weakness, and to expand their sense of what it means to be a faithful church. Complete with discussion questions, this book provides the trustworthy theological and biblical foundations necessary for building strong churches--and keeping them strong--in today's world.