abigaillynn

Where is God? People no longer look for God in churches. Indeed, most people look for him anywhere but in churches. They look for him in shopping malls, on the links, in movie theaters, and in bottom lines. They look for him without even knowing that they are looking for him, seeking happiness and fulfillment in a wide assortment of things and activities. Even those faithful few who retain their weekly Sunday morning rituals seem unable to find God in their midst. There are many who would suggest that the church has failed in its calling to make God known to neighborhoods and nations. This assessment is correct if current statistics about church attendance and affiliation are accurate. Many folks, both Christian and otherwise, have given up on the church. They are hungry for God, but their appetites are not sated. They are seeking but not finding. God, it seems, has left the building. Rumors of God Enter Darren Whitehead and Jon Tyson, two guys who are self-professed lovers of the church. While they are honest about the failures of the church as an institution, they are passionate about reclaiming the church as a community called to be Christ’s hands and feet to our broken world. They want to start a “small revolution” with their claim that just as God is not yet done with the church so too should we open ourselves to the new work that God is doing. In their new book, Rumors of God, Whitehead and Tyson share many hope-filled stories and observations about the future God is bringing into the present in and through his people. Indeed, the stories are the primary strength of the book. The margins of my copy are filled with many a “yes!” and “amen!” It is difficult not to share their hopeful excitement when reading these stories. Through them we get a taste of the reality of God’s loving-kindness and radical forgiveness and see the beauty of restored relationships. I also appreciated the time the authors spent considering the negative effects of modernism, consumerism and individualism in our church and culture. This deserves our attention because Whitehead and Tyson are directly confronting the most problematic issues affecting North American evangelicalism. While I would have preferred a more detailed and in-depth analysis of these issues, by keeping theirs concise, White and Tyson keep their focus and audience. The length and content make the book simultaneously accessible and challenging, hopefully prompting the reader to further thinking and reading – a “suggested reading list” at the end of the book would have been particularly helpful. While no new theological ground is covered, Rumors of God is definitely worth a read. It is suitable for devotional reading and small group discussion and certainly worth passing on those who are struggling with their relationship with the church. Although Whitehead and Tyson will end up preaching to the choir of evangelicals of a similar perspective that will do little to change the hearts and minds of our more doctrinaire brothers and sisters, Rumors of God deserves a wide readership, especially among those who, like Whitehead and Tyson, love the church. God may have left the building, but, as Whitehead and Tyson show, he is certainly on the move. “Book has been provided courtesy of Thomas Nelson and Graf-Martin Communications, Inc. Available at your favourite bookseller from Thomas Nelson”.

2022-12-20 23:59