Product Description

An overview of the six most common objections emerging generations have with church and Christianity along with the biblical answers to these objections and examples of how churches are facing this challenge.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #5494 in Books
• Published on: 2007-03-01
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 272 pages

Josh McDowell, author and speaker
My father taught me that a problem well defined is half solved. It would be foolish to be in ministry to emerging generations without carefully studying this book

From the Publisher
An overview of the six most common objections emerging generations have with church and Christianity along with the biblical answers to these objections and examples of how churches are facing this challenge.

From the Back Cover
Many people today, especially among emerging generations, don’t resonate with the church and organized Christianity. Some are leaving the church and others were never part of the church in the first place. Sometimes it’s because of misperceptions about the church. Yet often they are still spiritually open and fascinated with Jesus. This is a ministry resource book exploring six of the most common objects and misunderstandings emerging generations have about the church and Christianity. The objections come from conversations and interviews the church has had with unchurched twenty and thirty-somethings at coffee houses. Each chapter raises the objection using a conversational approach, provides the biblical answers to that objection, gives examples of how churches are addressing this objection, and concludes with follow-through projection suggestions, discussion questions, and resource listings.

Customer Reviews

They Like THEIR Jesus, But Not the Church
I do not like the title of this book but overall I like the book. I do not believe most non-Christians like Jesus. They like their perceptions of him, but their thoughts of him are not well-rounded. Most people I have talked to see him as a great teacher and example, a person of love and a person who sacrificed greatly for others. These things are true but are only part of the story. The people Kimball references are no different than any other people, they like Jesus as long as he doesn't offend them. But in time Jesus will offend a person, because he breaks down our pride and self-reliance through his actions and words. In John chapter 6 this very dynamic plays out. Jesus is very popular with the people in the beginning of the chapter but by the end many people turn away from following him. So many people in our culture may think they like Jesus, but when they hear a fuller presentation of who he is, they turn away. This may be the case with some of the people Kimball is referencing. Since they don't want to come right out and say they don't like Jesus, they blame the church when confronted with the cost of discipleship. There's no doubt the church can be abusive, narrow, and stuck in tradition. But people outside the church are not just a bunch of well-meaning people who have been confused by the church. They are rebels against God, whether they know it or acknowledge it. All Christians were once in the same place, rebels to the core.

Kimball does a good job of highlighting the way Christians are often misperceived by the culture as well as the way Christians often stand in judgment over the culture. His approach of relationships and love is good and should be an important focus of the efforts of believers to live their faith and share it with others.

they like Jesus but not the church
We are using this book for our Young Marrieds & Singles class on Sunday mornings and it has been a good fit so far. There are a lot of things in it that are obviously going to make people uncomfortable but I think that they are things that all need to be said and understood if we are going to be able to reach today's generation.

Heresy
Dan Kimball says he needs to edit The Bible by tearing out pages.

Revelation 22:18-19
For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book:

And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.