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He spent his childhood trapped within the confines of countless bizarre, strict rules. And lived to tell about it. In this first-hand account, author Matthew Paul Turner shares amusing–sometimes cringe-worthy–and poignant stories about growing up in a fundamentalist household, where even well-intentioned contemporary Christian music was proclaimed to be “of the devil.” churched is a collection of stories that detail an American boy’s experiences growing up in a culture where men weren’t allowed let their hair grow to touch their ears (“an abomination!”), women wouldn’t have been caught dead in a pair of pants (unless swimming), and the pastor couldn’t preach a sermon without a healthy dose of hellfire and brimstone. Matthew grapples with the absurdity of a Sunday School Barbie burning, the passionate annual boxing match between the pastor and Satan, and the holiness of being baptized a fifth time–while growing into a young man who, amidst the chaotic mess of religion, falls in love with Jesus.
"Churched" is the compelling narrative of life inside the walls of the local church building, examining what it means to "be" churched--relevant to those who are familiar with the evangelical culture.
The mystery of the missing men can be answered in one sentence: The church has forgotten how to speak to men. While the church's language has excluded women in its use of nouns and pronouns, it has excluded men in everything else. Its content, character, and construction say, "You don't belong here." Church Talk Makes Men Walk: - Corrects the myth that men are innately non-religious or non-spiritual; - Demonstrates how the culture increasingly reflected in church talk has filtered action-oriented people out of the church in favor of relationally orientated ones; - Demonstrates that the same factors that have driven most men from the church have also driven like-minded women away; - Provides research-based and theologically informed solutions to the problem of the missing action-oriented men and women. Chapters presenting well-documented social science research alternate with chapters presenting practical steps that answer the question, "So what should the church do?" Written in a conversational, humorous, and sometimes confessional style, Church Talk bridges the gap between the academy and the local church. It shows how language that is inclusive of both women and men, relational and action-oriented, can create a church that is once again gender-balanced and missional.
UK church attendance hemorrhaging and one course is hailed as the most effective tool for "turning back the tide." From small beginnings in the early 1970s, Alpha has grown to become a global success. Churches from across the denominational spectrum have enthusiastically seized upon the course, seeing it as the remedy for declining church attendance. Inside Alpha explores such claims through richly grounded qualitative research on six Alpha courses. It assesses Alpha's primary aim of converting non-churchgoers and its longer-term goal of spiritual maturity (Colossians 1:28-29). It questions whether the Alpha program is as successful as it claims at uniting evangelism and discipleship, mission and spiritual formation. This is an invaluable study for those--in the academy and the church--who have an interest in ecclesiology and mission. How exactly is one to understand conversion? What is it to "be Christian"? How does ambiguity and doubt fit within one's journey of faith? The importance of this work is in discovering--through an engagement with Alpha--how people might appropriately be initiated into and discipled within the Christian faith in contemporary culture.
Bestselling author Steve Sjogren untangles the complex jumble commonly known as greatness in today's megachurch, mega-everything world. As a successful pastor, he launched the servant evangelism movement, but along the way he discovered that significance was not where or what he thought it would be. Now, in a very practical book, he focuses on genuine greatness. Is it the size of the sanctuary? The number of new believers baptized each year? The youth attendance? The quantity of bestselling books the pastor has written? The list of television shows, radio shows, or podcasts the pastors appears on? Or is it something more? What is the buzz on good churches that become great in God's eyes? Sjogren argues that greatness is not a point at which you arrive; rather, it is an ongoing process of worshipping, serving, and living in God's presence. It not a slick program; rather, it is a family, a hospital, an army, and a school. When God is present, his people are empowered. When God empowers his people, a good church becomes great.
Testing Fresh Expressions investigates whether fresh expressions of church really do what is claimed for them by the fresh expressions movement and, in particular, whether their unique approach helps to reverse trends of decline experienced by traditional churches. Part 1 examines those claims and untangles their sociological and theological assumptions. From a careful study of factors underlying attendance decline and growth, Part 2 argues that long-term decline can be resisted only if churches are better able to attract children, the non-churched or both. Part 3 tests the comparative ability of a group of growing parish churches and a group of fresh expressions to resist trends of decline and discovers some intriguing social dynamics common to both groups. Part 4 argues that fresh expressions do not fulfil the unique role often claimed for them but that they do have the capacity to help reinvigorate the whole church.
Churchless presents the startling trends reveled by two decades of Barna Group interviews with thousands of churchless men and women, and offers discerning analysis of the results from bestselliing authors George Barna (Revolution) and David Kinnaman (You Lost Me). This practical, insight-driven book will help you look past the surface of church attendance to deeper spiritual realities and understand those who choose not to be part of a church - the first step toward building trust-based relationships that lead to Christ-centered community. -- Book Jacket.
QUOTES FROM THE CHAPTER, "LET'S BE REAL" Do we have any understanding of the un-churched culture in which we live and the way these people view the church? Do we spend intentional time cultivating relationships with non-Christian people, or is our attitude one of "they know where we are, and they'll come if they want to?" If the church is truly to experience a revival, we must seek to understand the needs and thinking of "unchurched Harry and Mary." We need to stop playing our pious, religious games and realize that the church is to be a haven for broken, hurting people who feel they don't have their lives all together. And if we look at the teachings of Jesus, He consistently taught that it was those people who felt "they had it all together" who in fact were farthest from God! In no way am I diminishing the importance of sound doctrine, but I have often laughingly said that "we will be surprised when we get to Heaven at some of the people living in our neighborhood!" We must acknowledge our own struggles with complex issues and, at times, admit that we don't have God in a neat box and therefore don't have all the answers. Although sound theology is important, my Bible says first and foremost that they will know we are Christians by our love! Christ said that He had come, not to "comfort the already comfortable", but to "preach good news to the poor...to proclaim recovery of sight to the blind...to release the oppressed...and to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor." Is that our message as well? If not, then it's time for us to be real!