Ed Stetzer

A great read, overall, that I would recommend to virtually any Christian in America.

Stetzer covers quite a bit of ground here, focusing primarily on our attitudes and how our reactions and speech are a product of our worldview and love for Jesus. He specifically talks about how we conduct ourselves on the internet, but I appreciated that toward the end of the book, he also mentions that we need to be neighborly and loving in our "real" lives and, especially, connected with a local Church congregation.

I thought he could have done a better job on a few things:

- The discussion of nominal believers vs real Christians was necessary, but a bit long, and since it was toward the beginning of the book, it set a negative tone.

- He says at one point that if our various "systems" (church, political, other) require us to work to maintain them, we're following the wrong god... then later talks about how God created us to work. I understand the argument of grace vs works, but he didn't connect this very well.

- He's quite critical of those who choose to remain "silent" on certain moral/political issues, but also talks about needing discernment to know when to jump into a conversation (especially online) and when to stay out of it; I think many people (especially introverts) who are wisely refraining from getting wrapped up in unproductive debates will feel chided, unnecessarily. And he never really mentions that just not joining in a particular conversation on Facebook, for example, is not the same thing as remaining entirely "silent" on an issue.

- He gave away the ending of a book I haven't read yet. ([b:Frankenstein|35031085|Frankenstein The 1818 Text|Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1498841231l/35031085._SY75_.jpg|4836639]) I hate it when authors include spoilers, as if everyone has read all the same books they have. So frustrating!

Also, it's a bit long.

As I said, it's a great book overall, but there are these minor things that detract from it. So read it with discernment, the way we should read all books. :)… (altro)

Christians in the Age of Outrage: How to Bring Our Best When the World Is At It's Worst by Ed Stetzer (Author) was given to my by my pastor. Why the age of outrage, outrage lies and enduring truths, the outrageous alternatives to outrage, has various thought of these concepts, being it around to being Christ based, I've seen a lot of political comments on Facebook, have been guilty of some of these and had my eyes opened to some of my errors. I used this book to check myself, it will be work in progress bit I am thankful that I got this book… (altro)

Across North America, many pastors are excited to see churches growing as they achieve their mission to connect the message of the gospel with the community at large. Still others are equally frustrated, following the exact same model for outreach but with lesser results. Indeed, just because a "missional breakthrough" occurs in one place doesn’t mean it will happen the same way elsewhere.

One size does not fit all, but there are cultural codes that must be broken for all churches to grow and remain effective in their specific mission context. Breaking the Missional Code provides expert insight on church culture and church vision casting, plus case studies of successful missional churches impacting their communities.

"We have to recognize there are cultural barriers (in addition to spiritual ones) that blind people from understanding the gospel," the authors write. "Our task is to find the right way to break through those cultural barriers without removing the spiritual and theological ones."… (altro)

I agree with what the authors are saying - present the gospel message in a manner the people you want to reach will accept. You might not present it the same way to an 80 year old grandmother as you would a 20 year old Hispanic man. However, I argued with him throughout the book and felt frustrated. I left with as many questions as I had at the beginning and while church plants are great - I have no confidence it will work in our denomination, the way we do church, in rural communities. We do not encourage lay ministers, I don't like video linkups, and you will probably never get enough members in a rural community for a new church to support a pastor by itself.… (altro)