Books by Dr. Francis Bola Akin John

* Dr. Francis Bola Akin-John (1964-2023)

Bola Akin-John started ministry in 1988. He was in ministry for 33 years before he went to be with Lord in October 2023. Pastored five denominational churches in the space of 8 years. Started Church Growth Ministry in 1994 after hearing God said “go and strengthen pastors and support churches to grow and be healthy”.

Has held hundreds of conferences across Nigeria, Africa and Europe with a combined attendance of over 30, 000 church leaders. Has written over 35 books that have sold thousands of copies such as ‘Grow the Pastor, Grow the Church’, ‘The Impact-driven Church’, ’22 Laws of Church Growth. Founded International Institute of Church Growth that has trained over 5, 000 pastors and leaders with attendant growth testimonies.

Has written and produced hundreds of materials on various aspects of church growth, leadership and health that are being used by thousands of church leaders. Has mobilized and equipped men to become real men through seminars, resources and tapes. Has consulted and helped many denominational and independent churches to overcome stagnation, crisis and breakaways.

Has sold thousands of tapes-audio, DVD, CDs that continue to bless and edify thousands of ministers and church leaders. Has been used by God to raise and grow thousands of ministers, churches and ministries across the nations. He is trying to live his major passion of “Empowering Leaders to grow Healthier Churches and Ministries” across the world.

22 Dynamic Laws of Church Growth:
If you follow them people will flock to your church. If you break them they will break your church
For too long a time, many church leaders are oblivious of the laws that help the growth of the church, their belief is that growth in the church is only a divine arrangement or the sovereignty of God at work. Of course, growth is divine in origin, nobody can bring growth to the church without the mighty workings of the Holy Spirit of God.

Yet, growth cannot happen in the church without some laws being obeyed. This book sets forth all the laws that help to accelerate the dynamic growth of churches in Africa and in other parts of the world.

25 Pillars of Church Health:
Discover the Diseases That Devastate Churches and How to Truly Bring True Wholeness to Your Church
Large crowds and fine buildings do not necessarily make for healthy churches. There are too many such churches that are physically and materially okay but are sick, diseased and rotten up internally. The truth is that church growth and health must go together. Churches can start from growth and gradually move to health. But both must be held in constant tension in the church.
* Church health will help you to see the true state of your church.
* Church health will help you to discover the malaise troubling your church.
* Church health will pinpoint areas that much work still need to be done.
* Church health will pinpoint the way forward for your church.
* Church health will stem crisis, losses and breakaway in your church.

101 Ways to Progressively Kill a Church

Is it possible to progressively kill a church? Absolutely yes! The landscape of our nation, continent and the world is littered with churches that have been wittingly or unwittingly killed. Killing churches is a phenomenon that many church leaders have little or no understanding of. God has used Africa’s foremost church consultant to unravel that mystery in this profound but simple book.

ANOINTING ALONE IS NOT ENOUGH

“Discover the key factors that will oil and empower your life and ministry”
Do you know that the place and power of the anointing cannot be rubbished in the ministry?
Do you know that over-reliance on anointing alone can and has brought ruin to many ministers and ministries?
Do you know that there are some key factors that can help to sustain you and the anointing to the end?
Do you even know that there are some things the anointing can and cannot do?
If the anointing alone had been enough, many who had made a shipwreck of their lives and ministries both in scriptural and our contemporary world not have fallen.

FUNDAMENTAL TEACHING AND DOCTRINE OF THE BIBLE

Bible doctrines are to the church and Christian what tracks are to the train. Bible doctrines and teachings provide Christians with resources to pattern their lives in life with the Bible and live for God here on earth.
But a quick survey of today’s churches will reveal that doctrinal teachings have greatly waned in the last several years. This situation is grave and dangerous to the church and believers too. Many of our churches are raising a generation of Christians that have little or no grasp of the fundamental doctrines of the scripture, and thereby fail to live according to the doctrine which is according to godliness (I Tim. 6:3).

Church Change:
If You Refuse To Change, Change Will Change You!
The world has undergone tremendous changes in the last 30 years more than at any other time. The church is in the midst of a changing world. In a nutshell, the church must welcome and embrace change, if it is to make a lasting impact in the world. The desire of Dr. Bola Akin-John to see balanced and positive changes in the church of today, so that the world will be won for Christ necessitate the writing of this book. The benefits of the book: Church Change are enormous if the truth therein is embraced and adopted by every church leader.

CHURCH GROWTH

Would you like to grow your church?
Discover your growth potentials?
Motivate your church to grow?
This book contains penetrating insights and motivational truths on church growth. It is packaged to challenge you to rise from inertia and move on to unending growth in your church.

Closing the Back Door of Your Church: How to Stem Losses And Breakaways In Your Church

So many things have happened in the church in terms of membership loss and breakaway that no conference or book has addressed. Dr. Francis Bola Akin-John, with an uncanny insight, writes on the reasons why churches lose members and how it can be stemmed. This book will benefit:
* Those who want to arrest the decline of their churches.
* Those who want to know how to avoid membership loss and dropouts.
* Those who want to keep growth on course in their churches. Closing The Back Door of Your Church is a classic on church decline.
You cannot but discover the reasons why people drop out of churches and how to stem the tide.

FAMILY GROWTH
Would you like to experience happiness in your marriage?
Know how to develop a happy home?
Bring a new perspective to your home?
This book contains nuggets and motivational truths that will help bring joy, happiness, peace and growth to many homes. It will challenge you to become the man or woman that God intends you to be.

The Matured Pastor’s Wife and Female Minister:
Becoming The Noblewoman God Created You To Be
Pastor’s wives are expected to be perfect and have a great attitude no matter what. but there is practically no training school for them. Many challenges are facing pastors’ wives both within and without. While some pastors’ wives are coping, the majority are confused and at a loss on what to do. same also for the majority of female ministers.

FINANCIAL GROWTH
Would you like to grow your finance?
Have financial freedom?
Be a blessing financially?
This book is written and packaged to serve as a source of inspiration, challenges and motivation to many to seek financial freedom and growth for their lives in a legitimate and godly way.

Frank Talk To Men:
Timeless Values That Make You A Real Man Anywhere…is the first of its kind book that strikes straight, strong and manly blows at men on how to be real men in the world. It is not a book that begs issues but is very direct and pungent on who a true and real man is.
It is both a book and a manual for men. It addresses issues that have not been addressed in the life of majority of men. God has used Dr. Francis Bola Akin-John again to talk to men in a frank, direct and engaging way.

Fruitful and Fulfilling Ministry Today:
There are Ministries in Every Church But There is no Church in Every MinistryThis book is a tool that will help your ministry to move to the next level. Your ministry is the vehicle you are driving, you need tools to keep it running effectively and fast.
The quickness and durability of your ministry are determined by the tools of ministry at your disposal. Tools will help you to be effective, result-oriented impactful, creative, fruitful and to have a tremendous and transforming ministry. Those tools are scattered throughout this book.

Grow the Pastor Grow the Church:
No Church Will Ever Rise Higher Than The Life of The Pastor

The pastor is the number one key to the growth of the church. The pastor must be trained for maximum impact making in the church. An ungroomed pastor is much more dangerous to the church than the church is to him.

This is because the church will be strong if the pastor is strong. This book must not be missing in your library if you are a pastor that has other pastors or leaders within your leadership scope.

Guest Ministers Today:
How They Can Help or Hinder Your Church and MinistryExchange of the pulpit or bringing in guest ministers to share with the people is a New Testament church practise. However, while this has brought growth and joy to many churches, it has equally brought crisis and heartbreak to many.

What an irony. The truth is that guest ministers have the capacity to make or mar your work. The reality is that no minister or leader, no matter how anointed or close to God he is, can build and run a ministry or lead a church alone.

He will always need the gift and ministry of others in his work.

120 Strategic Ways to Increase Church Attendance:
Menu Of Methods for Mighty Evangelistic Effectiveness Experience and Scriptures have proven that church growth does not happen accidentally.

It neither respond to the church’s years of existence nor its name. It is only achieved through deliberate and dogged pursuit of certain and essential actions.

By in-depth research, coupled with rich personal experience as a pastor for many years, Dr. Francis Bola Akin-John in “120 Strategic Ways To Increase Church Attendance”, highlight diverse and proven strategies for numerical increase and growth in the church.

Healthy Leaders Healthy Churches:
You Can Not Lead Beyond Who You Really AreThis book is primarily for young and upcoming leaders who want to bring divine infusion into the leadership of the church.

It is also for veteran leaders who desire to change and bring something new to the way they have been leading.

Above all, every Christian should benefit from this book, because the young Christian of today will be the leader of tomorrow. With this book, your life and leadership will never be the same again!

Healthy Home:
True Legacy of Life And Ministry: When There is No Peace in The Home, There Will Be Pieces in Life And Ministry
This is another classic work by Dr. Francis Bola Akin-John. He recognizes the true place of a healthy home in the church, ministry and the life of leaders. hear him, ‘You can succeed vocationally as a good Doctor, Lawyer, Engineer, CEO of a company and

President of a country without a good home. But not as a pastor, church leader or gospel minister. If you really want to impact your community, country and your world, the place to start is in your home.

Our ministry will amount to nothing outside if we have no good home life’. He contends that the journey of life and ministry should be a family trip.

 How To Follow Well:
When You Feel Too Big To Follow, You Will Be Too Small To LeadFollowership is very crucial a leadership. Without it, there can be no true leadership. Leaders need followers, else they are not really leading.

Followers also need to know how to follow well. And because good followership has not been emphasized, wrong followership became the order of the day. Today, people follow haphazardly, deceitfully and blindly. They follow leaders into sin, error and ungodliness.

While some are following very well, the majority follow with their two eyes closed, thus destroying themselves in the process. ‘How To Follow Well’ is another of Dr. Francis Bola Akin-John’s masterpieces on how to truly and genuinely follow well.

He has masterfully confronted the long-neglected issue of followership, from both the side of the leaders and the led.

 How to Support and Strengthen Your Pastor:
What Makes A Good Pastor Is Often The Support Of Good People
It is said that what makes a good pastor is often the support of good people around him. No church can grow and experience an all-around increase without the faithful and collective contributions of its members to the pastor. Unfortunately, many Christians know next to nothing about how to uphold and support their pastors and this has led to so many avoidable problems in the church. Here, the author, Dr. Bola Akin-John spells out the responsibilities of every church member, associate leader and head of the department to his pastor in growing their church.

Five-Fold Ministry Today:
Purpose, Power And Potential of These Gifts To Make The Local Church A Major Force In The WorldThe crazy of titles among ministers of God has led to many confusions and abuses in the body of Christ today. The Scripture gives us the only five-fold ministry and leadership gifts in the church, but we have turned it to eight-fold today. We have added Bishop, arch-bishop and Assistance God (AG) to our practices. We have allowed personal opinions, private interpretations to supersede the revealed word of God concerning the ministry today.

Leading Your Church to Lasting Growth:
How To Sustain The Growth Of Your Church

How to tackle and solve this problem is the reason for this book. In this book you will learn:
* The difference between a manager, pastor and leader.
* How to lead your church to growth.
* The problems and practices that kill churches in Africa.
* How to become the leader people will gladly follow.
* The laws that will make your growth last. This book is needed by every church leader that hopes to do lasting work. You cannot do without the information provided in this book if you want to sustain the growth of your church and ministry

Money, Ministers & Ministries today

Many of the books on money in print have failed to strike the needed balance for gospel ministers. Much for the teachings on finance appeal to a secular audience. Therefore, many ministers of the gospel are at loss on how to really make, manage and multiply money for kingdom purposes.

Wrong attitudes to money by ministers, on one hand, have resulted in greed, covetousness, sale of anointing, commercializing the ministry, deceiving people and doing everything with the motive of money, gain and profit.

The majority of ministers of God are struggling financially; being poorly paid, second to the least paid worker in the world. Many ministers are living below the poverty level and there is no welfare from the church. the truth is that money has destroyed much more ministers and ministries than any other factor today.

 Our Churches and His Church:
Our Churches Are Not Necessarily His Church And Our People Are Not Always His Church People

Many practices, methods and models have clearly shown that ‘our churches’ are not necessarily His church. any of what we call ‘church’ today is too far from what Christ had in mind when He said, “I will build my church”.

Moreover, many of the people in ‘churches’ today cannot be said to be His people; simply because the majority of them do not really know Him.

Despite the mushrooming of churches, little or no impact is being made on society because the majority of our church practices have clearly shown that ‘our churches’ are largely not His church, and neither ‘our people’ really His people.

Personal Growth Today:
You Must Travel On The Inside Before You Can Travel On The OutsideDr. Francis Bola Akin-John in this book establishes that personal growth prevents personal and professional stagnation, and surely impacts organizational growth.

if you want to reach the height of your potential, personally and professionally, commit yourself to daily personal improvement. Personal Growth Today is a classic that must not be missed.

Read, study and digest this book over and over again. Drink deep from it and let it become part and parcel of your daily living. Remember, we need not be tomorrow, what we are today.

 PERSONAL GROWTH
Grow in your personal life?
Increase your value and worth?
Enjoy your life in abundance?
This book is written to inspire, challenge and motivate Christians to grow in their personal and vocational. Life to fully maximize their God-given opportunities.

Pray and Grow:
How To Pay The Price So That You Will Not Be a Prey

In the last 40 years, the prayer movement has gained much ascendancy. Prayer vigils, 24/7 prayers, prayer towers, prayer watches and prayer concerts have become part of the church. Prayer gatherings are becoming so popular here and there.

But it is sad to say that majority of our prayers have received minimal answers of any kind. Why are there so many unanswered prayers? Dr. Bola Akin-John has masterfully provided answers in this classic book.

He has been inspired by the Holy Spirit to write on: * Developing a fruitful life of prayer * Problems of unanswered prayers * The abuse of prayers everywhere, and * Prayer boosters.

 Pulpit Power for Church Growth:
Using Your Platform To Give Life, Light And Liberation To PeopleIt was a pulpit that raised John Wesley, John Knox, Martin Luther and all of God’s generals that did mighty works for God.

Today, the majority of pulpits are focusless, routine, carnal, secular, powerless and shallow. They exalt this world and diminish eternity in the hearts and ears of Christians. Is it not amazing that the pulpit on the day of Pentecost brought 3,000 soundly saved souls to the Lord?

And we have argued over 500,000 churches in Nigeria alone where half a million sermons are being preached from the pulpit every Sunday and yet, the majority are not transformed but are only reformed.

 Quality and Quantity Growth In Churches:
How To Bring Biblical Balance To The Church of Today
What is the condition of your church? Is it of high or low quality? What kind of work are you doing for the Lord? will it stand the test of fire and testing?

You can ask and answer these questions honestly now and make amend reading this book: Quality and Quantity Growth in Churches.

The author, Dr. Francis Bola Akin-John, attempt to focus the attention of Christian leaders back on quality in our churches today. This book is not meant for everyone.

The Real Man In Every Church:
Using The Ministry to Magnetize, Mesmerise And Make Men

No church can truly make a mighty impact without deliberate, intentional and conscious efforts to raise manly men in the church. Unfortunately, “Men Ministry” in most churches is the most neglected by the Pastors.

This is largely caused by limited understanding and scarcity of teachings and resources on this very important ministry. It is this void that this book: THE REAL MEN IN EVERY CHURCH has come to fill.

The Rise and Fall of Churches / Ministries:
Outside Persecutions Don’t Kill Churches, It is Internal Troubles That Do

In this well-researched book, Dr. Bola Akin-John has laid bare the factors that bring sad realities to our churches.

You will discover Factors that make churches rise. Factors that stagnate and kill churches. Succession struggles in Churches. Causes of splits and retrogression. How to bring turn around to churches.

Sexual Purity in Leadership:
You cannot go to sleep on the laps of Delilah and hope to wake up in Abraham’s Bossom
As King Solomon said in the book of Proverbs 7:26 “For she hath cast down many wounded; yea, many strong men have been slain by her”.

This is altruism in the ministry today. Many great evangelists, preachers, pastors, bishops and church leaders have lost their anointing and ministry on the laps of strange women.

Repeatedly, the devil has succeeded in using the weapon of sex to ruin and incapacitate many once-great servants of the Lord. I sincerely pray that God will use this book to restore and revitalize such men.

May the Lord raise up the fallen! Amen and Amen!!!. Furthermore, every leader must beware of the satanic trap in this area. ‘Be careful, many have gone’ is a popular slogan at the back of intercity buses in Nigeria.

WHOLESOME SEXUALITY

Would you like to have victory over sexual temptation?
Experience sexual purity in your life?
Be revitalized from sexual failure?
This book contains penetrating quotes and insights on the issue of sexuality that will challenge you to live above board sexually in life and ministry.

BREAKING BARRIERS OF SMALL, MIDDLE-SIZE AND MEGACHURCHES

Do you know that there are three types of churches?
Do you also know that there are three recognizable sizes of the church?|
What are the traits and peculiar barriers of each size?
What are the factors affecting churches of every size?
How do you break the barriers of each size of the church?
What are the characteristics of the pastor of small of the church?
What are the positive traits of pastors of middle-size churches?
What factors determine the fate of large churches?

 Spiritual Warfare and Church Growth: How to overcome demonic agents sent to incapacitate your church and community
Several reasons could be adduced for the lack of growth, stagnancy and lukewarmness of churches in our continent, but forces of darkness rank first and fundamental. The entrenched forces of darkness have done much havoc to the growth, health and vibrancy of the church in Africa than we can imagine.

SPIRITUAL WARFARE AND CHURCH GROWTH examines the issue of spiritual warfare, within and without the church. It is an attempt by the church. It is an attempt by the author, Dr. Francis Bola Akin-John to unmask in a very clear, simple and meticulous way the forces of evil hindering the advance of the gospel of our Lord in Africa.

 Strategic Church Planting Today:
A Guide To Planting Vibrant And Viable Churches

The last two decades witnessed unprecedented church planting efforts by various Christian denominations, In this book, Dr. Bola Akin-John, himself a researcher on church and ministerial matters, chronicles these efforts and examines the need, method, cost implication, passion, the benefits, mistakes, misconceptions, planning, timing, location, the message and the messenger of church planting today.

Bringing his experience to bear as a lecturer of Church Growth, the author was generous in offering pragmatic and useful advice that will encourage church planting and equally stabilize the already planted but struggling churches.

 Strategic Living:
How to really Live, Not Merely Existing
The difference between living and existing is very clear. But to live without understanding this fact is the greatest error of humanity. In the furious pace of living in today’s world, many have lost the real reason for living.

In this all-important book, Dr. Francis Bola Akin-John goes deeper in revealing the essence of life. To have this book is to have the blueprint of how to make a lasting impact in every facet of your life. It is a must-read for everybody – Pastors, Business people, Traders, Professionals, politicians and Students.

 Supernatural Power, Miracles, Signs And Wonders Today:
How To Be A channel of God’s Power For Kingdom Expansion
Many of the great growth of churches today are closely linked with the supernatural dimension of God. without a doubt, these are the days of God’s power like never before.

Every church and leader must key into the supernatural move of God if true and lasting church growth is to be seen and experienced. This book by Dr. Francis Bola Akin-John re-establishes the truth that every church leader can and should display the power of God’s kingdom over that of the enemy.

 The Place of Anointing and Administration in Church Growth:

Anointing Brings People To Church But Administration Will Keep Them. The sustainable growth of the church of Jesus Christ has been gravely affected by wrong notions on the dual issue of ANOINTING and ADMINISTRATION.

It has been discovered that there is a lack of balance in the church as regards each of these two areas. It is either some ministers are so anointed to the extent that they know next to nothing about administration or they are so conscious about administration to the neglect of anointing.

The principles highlighted in this powerful book provide the needed balanced approach on the issue of anointing and administration. Read it for your edification and practice it for your promotion.

 True Success, Wealth and Prosperity in Life and Ministry:
A Millionaire is Not Someone Who Has Millions in the Bank, But One Whose Life Has Impacted Millions Positively
True success, wealth and prosperity in life and ministry have been confused to mean many things in the last several years. Extreme emphasis and ephemeral parameters have been used to measure who and what is success in life and ministry.

Secular speakers and motivational preachers have confused and confounded the mind of sincere people as to the true yardstick of measuring ministry and personal success.

With lots of courage, Dr. Francis Bola Akin-John has come out to strike straight, strong and manly blows at this cankerworm that has eaten deep into the root and fabric of Christian ministry in Africa and world.

YOUR CHURCH YOUR COMMUNITY
Your community is actually a prospect of your church ignorant about the community around the church will definitely spoil evil for the church.

Your church and your community is one book that will help you to build a healthy relationship with your community and win her for the Lord.

The Loyal Associate:
You Can Never be a Great Number One, Until you have First been a Fat Number TwoThis book is Dr. Francis Bola Akin-John’s humble effort at establishing the right type of relationship between the leader and his associates, providing the right atmosphere for it and bringing sanity into the ungodly madness of unfaithful, disloyal and undependable associate. 

Handling Conflict And Crisis in Ministry:
Conflict is Natural, Combat is Optional
Lots of Pastors are at a loss when conflict erupts in the church. Their inability to handle them, partly because they are not trained or prepared to handle church conflicts or simply because they don’t expect conflicts to happen in the church, has led to crises of great proportions that have slowed and closed down many promising churches and ministries.

My prayer is that God in His infinite mercy will use the content of this book to bless every reader and touch our hearts to pursue peace in the church so that conflicts and crises in the church will be nipped in the bud.

Your Image is Your Growth:
It Will Either Attract or Repel People From You And Your ChurchNations, leaders, companies and organizations spend lots of resources to launder, repair and maintain a good image before the world.

But for a long time, church leaders have operated with the mindset that image doesn’t matter; so long God is working in the church. Consequently, in the last few years, the image of the church has been so bad, due principally to the misdemeanours of her leaders and members. The truth is that image matters to the church.

Discipleship Today:
One Genuine Disciple Is Much Better Than Planting A ChurchIn majority of today’s churches, the Great Commission has turned to the ‘great omission’. They have shifted away from raising true disciples for the Lord to other things.

Their focus has been on entertaining people, finding solutions to their myriad of self-inflicted problems, praying against their perceived enemies, raising millionaires, business moguls, entrepreneurs and successful and educational spheres. Today, many people go to church but only a few really know the Lord.

 With Jesus in the School Of Money:
Imbibing Godly Attitudes And Values To Money In Your Life And Ministry

In my research for this book, I came across many books written by Christians and even gospel ministers, but almost all of them have one thing in common; they treated the issue of money from secular, worldly and moral perspectives only. They project secular, business and worldly principles to the reader.

This might be one of the reasons why the majority of Christians and church leaders are abysmally imbalanced in their approach to money in life and ministry.

Holy Spirit:
The True Vicar of Life, Church And Ministry
“Israel hath cast off the thing that is good; the enemy shall pursue him.” The enemy is pursuing, catching up and tearing apart the church of God today primarily because of the true Vicar of the church – The Holy Spirit is largely unknown, unrecognized and un-welcomed in His church.

Men, women and churches are rising to the surface who don’t reckon with the Holy Spirit. Large numbers of churches know next to nothing about the person and work of the Holy Spirit.

Prophets and Prophetic Ministry Today:
Properly harnessing The Prophetic To Build Not To Ruin People TodayIn this 21st Century, there has been a great upsurge in the prophetic as a result of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.

The prophetic ministry is one of the most misunderstood and abused today. In some church circles, it is wholly rejected, denounced and quenched simply because they believe that God has said all he ever wants to say in the Bible.

While in others, little or small recognition is grudgingly given to it. However, many other Christians and churches welcome and accept the prophetic, but the ways it is being practised leave much to be desired.

25 Indispensable qualities Of a Credible and competent Minister

PURCHASE:
To buy these books, please contact the author at

ICGM Online Store,
Block C, FHA Abesan IV Estate,
CF Street, Off CA Street,
Mosan Bus stop, Ipaja Road, Lagos, Nigeria.