It Takes A Church...: The Answer to Consumeristic Christianity? You'll be surprised.

Books I have written

Tod Bolsinger: It Takes a Church to Raise a Christian: How the Community of God Transforms Lives
Selected for an Award of Merit by the Christianity Today Book Awards in the Church/Pastoral Leadership category.
Tod Bolsinger: Show Time: Living Down Hypocrisy By Living Out The Faith
This books is from start to finish a book for “everyday believers” living out their faith in the real world.
John Mark Reynolds, Roger Overton, eds.: The New Media Frontier: Blogging, Vlogging, and Podcasting for Christ
I contributed a chapter to this discussion of how New Media helps--and hinders--communicating the old, good news.

Linking SCPCers

Blogging Friends

Mark Roberts
Pastor, Professor, Author, Speaker, Blogger Extraordinaire
Craig Williams
Church planter and keen thinker on post-modernity.
Steve Norris
Steve is the ultimate "regular guy Christian". You'll want to read his blog just to know that there guys out there like him.
K. C. Wahe
A younger pastor with a way more life experience than many who are much older.
Steve Wright
The church planter of a new fellowship in So. Orange County.
Tim McCalmont
A Pastor's pastor, Tim's writing is refreshing to all who read it.

Kindred

World Vision Online Donations: Ways To Give
Wherever and whenever disaster strikes, World Vision is there.
Los Ranchos Presbytery
Fuller Youth Institute
Friend of Missional - What is a Missional Church?
View my page on Y-Malawi?

Digging Deeper

Leadership Bookshelf

James P. Osterhaus: Thriving through Ministry Conflict: By Understanding Your Red and Blue Zones
This little book is a must-read for every pastor or church leader who wants to learn how to make good decisions in the complex church system.
Laurence Gonzales: Deep Survival: Who Lives, Who Dies, and Why
How your brain works under stress and how to learn to survive and thrive. Much of what is here is refreshingly counter-intuitive.
Jim Herrington: The Leader's Journey: Accepting the Call to Personal and Congregational Transformation
Pastor: Stop. Read this. now.
Kevin G. Ford: Transforming Church: Bringing Out the Good to Get to Great
This is the best overall book on church leadership that I have read.
Ori Brafman: The Starfish and the Spider: The Unstoppable Power of Leaderless Organizations
This may be the best organizing principle for the church.
Danny Meyer: Setting the Table: The Transforming Power of Hospitality in Business
Danny Meyer makes money selling what the church is supposed to be giving away for free.
Peter Block: Community: The Structure of Belonging
"Leadership is convening." Great insights in community and change by a provocative thinker.

Links worth a look

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Sunday, January 04, 2009

The Answer to Consumeristic Christianity? You'll be surprised.

"The problem with implicitly salesy evangelism is bad theology, not bad technique, and it requires more than a simple change in method. If you feel like a used-car salesman talking about Jesus, the solution to the perceived lack of authenticity isn't a smoother pitch—it's a renewal of the church. The potency of personal evangelism is, as it has always been, the simple and earnest retelling of what God has done in the lives of his people. Of course, this requires a community to back up our claims."

See the whole article "Jesus is Not a Brand" by Tyler Wigg-Stevenson

Sunday, January 04, 2009 in Church Musings | Permalink

Technorati Tags: Christian Community, Church musings, Evangelism

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Comments

On the contrary, in 2009 Jesus is entirely and only a brand name for what is now called "religion".

It is an extension of the TV created mass consumer mind which now rules the world.

How many hundreds (even thousands) of competing sects are there in the USA alone. Something to console and entertain everyone.

Posted by: John | Sunday, July 26, 2009 at 10:02 PM

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