Messiah's Ministry by Thomas Milner, Part A
One of our very favorites. This is a big book. The chapters on overseers and servants (elders and deacons) are eye-opening. As is the Introduction.
To my (limited) knowledge he was the first English writer to demonstrate that neither elders nor deacons were church officers in the modern sense. Rather, these were both common terms already in use to which certain obligations were now assigned. In other words, in the church, seniors were required to shepherd and all the saints were to be in ministry. This is summed up very well in the Introduction of the book.
Truth is, Church life is so simple, one should need no books at all beyond the Scripture. Most Christian books today are written to refute errors... as they introduce other errors.
The early church advanced without the complete volume which we now possess. They trusted the Spirit to lead them into all truth just as Jesus had promised. Of course the Scriptures are the Sword of the Spirit. Both are perfectly joined and both lead us to the Living Word.
Part A of two Parts due to the size restraints at google docs. Be sure you are logged in for the download button to function. Good.