Blue Like Jazz

by Donald Miller Paperback - 

Blue Like Jazz

"I never liked jazz music because jazz music doesn't resolve. . . . I used to not like God because God didn't resolve. But that was before any of this happened." In Donald Miller's early years, he was vaguely familiar with a distant God. But when he came to know Jesus Christ, he pursued the Christian life with great zeal. Within a few years he had a successful ministry that ultimately left him feeling empty, burned out, and, once again, far away from God. In this intimate, soul-searching account, Miller describes his remarkable journey back to a culturally relevant, infinitely loving God.

Reviews

Think of Donald Miller as... Anne Lamott with testosterone, and this fresh memoir-like collection of essays as his version of Traveling Mercies.... Miller's words will resonate with any believer who has ever grappled with the paradoxes of faith. Christianity Today

More Ready Than You Realize by Brian McLaren Paperback -  192 pages (January 2002)

More Ready Than You Realize

WARNING: This is not just another book on evangelism. This book contains fresh, encouraging, challenging, groundbreaking, and doable ideas you’ll want to share with your pastor, your small group or class, your board, or your parachurch organization.

OUT: Evangelism as sales pitch, as conquest, as warfare, as ultimatum, as threat, as proof, as argument, as entertainment, as show, as monologue, as something you have to do.

IN: Disciple-making as conversation, as friendship, as influence, as invitation, as companionship, as challenge, as opportunity, as conversation, as dance, as something you get to do.

You’re more ready for this than you realize, and so are your friends!

A New Kind of Christian:

by Brian McLaren Hardcover: 192 pages (March 2001)

A New Kind of Christian: A Tale of Two Friends on a Spiritual Journey

From the Publisher: "Finally, an approach to Christianity that walks its walk by presenting Jesus' message of unconditional love in an open and non-threatening way. A New Kind of Christian offers tremendous tools for breaking down walls built from previous experiences with judgmental and fear-based religion." --Kim Corbin, Skipping activist and founder of iskip.com

From the Back Cover: A New Kind of Christian's conversation between a pastor and his daughter's high school science teacher reveals that wisdom for life's most pressing spiritual questions can come from the most unlikely sources. This stirring fable captures a new spirit of Christianity-where personal, daily interaction with God is more important than institutional church structures, where faith is more about a way of life than a system of belief, where being authentically good is more important than being doctrinally "right," and where one's direction is more important than one's present location. Brian McLaren's delightful account offers a wise and wondrous approach for revitalizing Christian spiritual life and Christian congregations.

Reviews

"Get ready to wake up your spirit and breath deep. McLaren's A New Kind of Christian is a street-level, lived excursion into this present millennium-a world where ministry by control, condescension, and smug certainty gives way to incarnational faith." (Sally Morgenthaler, president, SJM Management Co. and author of Worship Evangelism)

"McLaren's courageous and honest reassessment of our cherished customs and clichés stimulates creative thinking on these vital issues. A New Kind of Christian is an invaluable resource for anyone interested in preparing the church to be vital force in the next generation." (Chuch Smith, Jr., senior pastor, Capo Beach Calvary Chapel and author, The End of the World As We Know It)

In Search of Authentic Faith: How Emerging Generations Are Transforming the Church

by Steve Rabey
Paperback - 224 pages (January 16, 2001)

In Search of Authentic Faith: How Emerging Generations Are Transforming the Church

Reviews

While a number of recent books have explained and identified the postmodern Generations X and Y, Rabey (a freelance religion writer) discusses what is being done to attract them to Christian faith. Using the values that have become important to the Xers authenticity, community, religious experience, technology and a pop-culture literacy--different Christian leaders and churches have sprung up to meet their needs. Some have started ministries outside the traditional church, while others work from within, offering alternative services or starting a "second" congregation. Most of the churches profiled here are causal and nondenominational, featuring contemporary worship music and promoting philanthropic giving. The innovations that Rabey recounts are interesting and often unexpected. For example, Rev. Evan Lauer, who ministers to the surf culture of southern California, surfs and plays in a surf-rock band, prefers being present and involved in the community, communicates with computer and cell phone to avoid being holed up in an office and rides a skateboard to church. Evangelist Andrew Jones traverses the country in a Winnebago with his wife and four children, meeting daily with Generation X ministries. "Basically," Jones says, "our ministry is making friends, telling stories, and throwing parties. We are... trying to find a new way of doing church." Rabey's accessible and perceptive account is a good resource for anyone interested in evangelizing the rising generations--or in learning from them. (Nov.) Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information. Publisher's Weekly

Stories of Emergence : Moving from Absolute to Authentic Paperback - 240 pages (February 2003)

Stories of Emergence: Moving from Absolute to Authentic

Imagine coming to a crossroads where you’re no longer sure who you are, why you do what you do, why you believe the way you do. You’re not even sure you care. Where do you go?

Follow the stories of people who were steeped in their beliefs–a former fundamentalist, a former Pentecostal, a former liberal, a former feminist, a former communist, and several other “formers”–and walk with them on their journeys out of those beliefs. See what twists and turns arise before them, and find out what they learned (about faith, themselves, their beliefs, the world) as they emerged on the other side.

This diverse group of Christian leaders discloses and shares in vulnerable, uncommon ways, allowing you full access into their doubts, fears, convictions, and unanswered questions. Each takes you on a path from absolute to authentic: from a place of false conviction and thin resolution, through struggles and growing pains, to a new place that’s much more about process than about having “arrived.”

When it comes to journeys of faith, we often don’t know what lies at the end of the road. It’s difficult to take the first step when we are so unsure of the destination. As you read these stories, you’ll find there is room to challenge your fears as well as your faith.

Reviews

From Publishers Weekly: In this anthology about ministry and the Christian faith in the early 21st century, some of the finest evangelical storytellers share their personal tales. Ministers, writers and evangelists edgily explore what it means to be a faithful follower of and witness to Jesus Christ. Eastern Orthodox memoirist Frederica Mathewes-Green explains why she rejected feminism, Jay Bakker describes heart-to-hearts with young men in bars and Joanne Badley meditates on living in exile. James Engle's bracing piece about evangelism, work and the business world is alone worth the price of admission. (Why do evangelicals get exorcised about abortion and homosexuality, he asks, but "remain silent about endemic public corruption?") An afterword by Brian McLaren, author of the much-heralded A New Kind of Christian, draws together the overarching theme of the essays: new voices, ones that push certain envelopes, are emerging within evangelicalism. McLaren hopes the old guard will be attentive, rather than threatened. The only thing that disappoints is the book's too-hip packaging. This collection bends over backwards to look as though it is engaging postmodernity-but, in fact, few of these stories are especially concerned with postmodern issues. The end result is that, while each single essay stands as interesting and thought-provoking, the anthology as a whole seems faintly manipulative in its savvy marketing. Still, Christian readers who do not find this too distracting will be richly rewarded for perusing these stories of emergence. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.