Product Description

This book challenges Christian leaders to engage in the messy art of creating the right culture to reach our postmodern, post-Christian society. Through real stories of God’s perfect work in the lives of imperfect people, you will experience the power of an authentic church community and learn how to deconstruct barriers and bring hope and healing to America’s most unchurched generation.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #94690 in Books
• Published on: 2007-06-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 336 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780310275015
• Condition: USED - VERY GOOD
• Notes:
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From the Back Cover
How do we live out the message of Jesus in today’s ever-changing culture? The church is facing its greatest challenge—and its greatest opportunity—in our postmodern, post-Christian world. God is drawing thousands of spiritually curious “imperfect people” to become his church—but how are we doing at welcoming them? No Perfect People Allowed shows you how to deconstruct the five main barriers standing between emerging generations and your church by creating the right culture. From inspiring stories of real people once far from God, to practical ideas that can be applied by any local church, this book offers a refreshing vision of the potential and power of the Body of Christ to transform lives today. “We now are living in a post-Christian America—and that means we must be rethinking ministry through a missionary mindset. What makes this book both unique and extremely helpful is that it is filled with real-life stories of post-Christian people becoming followers of Jesus—not just statistics or data about them.” Dan Kimball, Author, The Emerging Church ". . . John's 'get it' factor with people, lost or found, is something to behold! Reading this book filled me with optimism regarding the next generation of pastors and faith communities . . . " Bill Hybels, Senior Pastor, Willow Creek Community Church No Perfect People Allowed is a timely and necessary word for church leaders in a post Christian culture. John Burke serves up quite a tasty meal full of the rich nutrients that will strengthen the Body of Christ. Randy Frazee, Senior Pastor, Pantego Bible Church; Author, The Connecting Church and Making Room for Life

About the Author
John Burke and his wife, Kathy, founded Gateway Church in Austin, Texas, in 1998. Since then, Gateway has grown to over 3,000 people, 70 percent of whom are in their twenties and thirties, and consists mostly of unchurched people who began actively following Christ at Gateway. Burke is also the author of No Perfect People Allowed: Creating a Come-as-You-Are Culture in the Church.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
No Perfect People Allowed
Copyright © 2005 by John Burke
Requests for information should be addressed to:
Zondervan, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49530
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Burke, John, 1963–
No perfect people allowed : creating a come-as-you-are culture in the church / John Burke.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Summary: “Discusses ways church leaders and congregations can reach out to and connect
with postmodern, post-Christian society”— Provided by publisher.
ISBN-10: 0-310-25655-0
ISBN-13: 978-0-310-25655-7
1. Pastoral theology. 2. Postmodernism—Religious aspects—Christianity. I. Title.
BV4011.3.B87 2005
253—dc22 2005000359
This edition printed on acid-free paper.
All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible: New International
Version®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of
Zondervan. All rights reserved.
The quotations from the writings and interviews with Mark Laaser are used with his permission.
The Twelve Steps are reprinted with permission of Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc. (AAWS).
Permission to reprint the Twelve Steps does not mean that AAWS has reviewed or approved the contents
of this publication or that AAWS necessarily agrees with the views expressed herein. AA is a program
of recovery from alcoholism only—use of the Twelve Steps in connection with programs and
activities that are patterned after AA but address other problems, or in any other non-AA context,
does not imply otherwise. Additionally, while AA is a spiritual program, AA is not a religious program.
Thus, AA is not affiliated or allied with any sect, denomination, or specific religious belief.
The website addresses recommended throughout this book are offered as a resource to you. These websites
are not intended in any way to be or imply an endorsement on the part of Zondervan, nor do we
vouch for their content for the life of this book.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or
transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any
other—except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher.
Interior design by Tracey Walker
Printed in the United States of America
05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 /?DCI/ 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Artist: Patrick Shinn
All artwork has been contributed by artists at Gateway Community Church.
INTRODUCTION: GOD’S STORY IN OUR STORIES
People ask me how long it took to write this book. The truth is—about
fifteen years.
I left the business world for campus ministry fifteen years ago
because I wanted to help my generation find authentic faith like I was beginning
to experience. The first seven years of ministry to America’s first postmodern*
generation were discouraging—I almost lost hope. Since then,
God has turned my philosophy of church and ministry upside down. I now
believe that only a church full of imperfect people, acting as his Body, can
bring the hope and healing needed to change our postmodern world for the
better—one life at a time. That’s why I’ve written this book, because I see
God powerfully at work in our generation.
A year ago I attended a conference about ministry in a postmodern
context. I found myself terribly discouraged and bothered—and tired of
modern-church deconstruction! For the past six years, I’ve read numerous
books, attended conferences, and surfed the blogs about the emerging
trends of new generations and their new ways of thinking.We have deconstructed
everything, identified all the problems with the current church,
and proclaimed what we knew would not work.We’ve read statisticians like
Barna, Gallup, and Regele warn of the impending doom for our generation
and the church in America.
What disturbs me is the absence of a path forward. We don’t need
more deconstruction, more theories, and more statistics; rather, we need
tangible evidence that God is still doing what God has always done in every
generation, constructing his church out of the most hopeless situation. It’s
not tearing-down time anymore—it’s construction time!
At the conference that day, I ran into Jack
Kuhatschek from Zondervan, whom I had met
years earlier. He listened as I shared stories of the
amazing things we’ve seen God doing in a cynical,
skeptical, broken generation. I explained the hope
I see for our generation in our church and in other
churches around the country. Intrigued, Jack flew
to Austin later that month and heard many powerful
stories from the people themselves. Jack
encouraged me to share this with others who
desire to see God reaching our broken post-Christian,
postmodern culture. No Perfect People
Allowed gives tangible evidence that God can and
does reach our generation through his church.
Austin is a window into the future because it
attracts so many young adults. A Forbes survey
called it America’s “coolest” city, ranking it the
best place for singles in America—singles who
move here from all over the country, seeking
employment in our high-tech, recreational, artsy
capital city.
The stories in this book represent the diversity
of our generation across the nation. You’ll
read about people who grew up on the East Coast
and the West and in between, from the wealthy to
the poor, from Anglo, Black, Hispanic, and Asian
backgrounds, singles and marrieds. This is truly
the most diverse generation in American history,
and, as you’ll see, it’s a generation not easily
reached by a one-size-fits-all approach. But the
people of this generation form the context in
which the church must function, and they live all
around you right now.
Though I’ve changed some names and details where necessary to protect
the privacy of my friends at Gateway, the stories in this book are about real
people dear to my heart. (Those who requested I use their real names are
noted with a double dagger—††.) They have willingly shared their struggles,
barriers, and brokenness 10 enness in hopes of helping others find God’s goodness.
Some have not arrived at faith but have allowed me to present their stories in
process. The hardest part was selecting a few stories to include, since there
are hundreds more to be told of God’s amazing works in reclaiming our generation
as his family.
I’ve written this book primarily for leaders—church leaders, small
group leaders, and ministry leaders—to help them create a come-as-youare
culture to bridge the chasm between the church and our postmodern
world.
Yet I believe No Perfect People Allowed gives a unique insight into the
struggle for faith that will benefit everyone—skeptics and believers alike.
You will see in vivid detail how God meets seeking people in mysterious,
unique ways, and you will see how no one is too far away or too far gone for
God’s loving reach.
Whoever you are, I pray this book inspires in

Customer Reviews

Excellent Discussion of Postmodern Ministry
In No Perfect People Allowed, John Burke discusses the issues that confronted he and his staff in creating and growing the Gateway Community Church in Austin, TX. As an interested observer of the Emerging Church movement and the faculty advisor for one of my college's campus ministry I was interested in what Burke would have to say about ministering to the present generation.

After reading the book I was just amazed. First, I found the book's ideas about the struggles we all have with brokenness and aloneness deeply affecting and moving. As I read these chapters at 30,000 feet I was profoundly struck with mine and my generation's deepest needs from a faith and what it might mean to us. Second, I can't think of a single book that gets more "right" about what young people in our multi-cultural, hyper-tolerant society see and need in a Christian community. Week in and week out I see the situations and lessons played out in the campus ministry I actively advise and Burkes' perspectives and "talking points" have been tremedously helpful to me.

One thing that I found very refreshing about the book is that Burke doesn't (at least in my opinion) shy away from difficult topics or leave out important theological considerations. In fact, his discussion of the theology of the trinity is one of the best I've read for explaining (if such a term can be used for the mystery of the trinity) how God can be one God and three persons.

If you are interested in the intersection of "Church" and "Culture" and how some of the issues have been addresses and worked through I would recommend this book. If you are attempting to reach those who are identified as being part of the last two generations I would say that this book might be one of the most informative and helpful books you can read. Thanks to John Burke for sharing his experiences and acquired wisdom with those of us who are trying to reach the same people in search of an authentic community.

Wow.
It's hard to believe a five star review these days when you see one. So many people give five stars to their favourite artists, authors or whoever, regardless of how good the product is. If there were some way of showing that this 'really is' a five star worthy book, then maybe it would get across just how valuable and fascinating it really is. I bought this book for my dad last Christmas, and now we know at least ten people who have a copy as a result of us insisting they get it. Most have said they couldn't put it down, and the same goes for me, even though I quite honestly can't stand reading books. John Burke not only thinks outside the square, but he has literally taken a journey outside the square, and that's what makes this book of true stories even more exciting. It's time for the church to take hold of what this book is all about, and I can't stress that enough. I'm part of a small group starting a new seeker church, and we are all reading through this book week by week, it has taken us in a direction that we may never have taken without it. I'm over what I used to think was 'church', and I'm happy it's behind me. I picked this book up by what I thought was chance during some Christmas shopping, boy was I in for a surprise!

At last, a practical response to Postmodernism
John Burke, based on his own experience as the founding pastor of a church in Austin, Texas, provides what may be the first really practical 'text' on how to minister effectively to postmoderns. After a brief overview of postmodernism, Burke builds his book around five 'struggles' related to it: the struggles with trust, tolerance, truth, brokenness and aloneness. He does so in a very anecdotal style using examples from his pastoral experience. While the book is a very useful guide in how to evangelize and disciple postmoderns, by inference he accomplishes two significant gains: he provides evidence in why evangelicals should look at postmodernism more as an opportunity rather than a threat and he debunks the commonly-held notion that effective ministry to postmoderns must involve a rejection of seeker-sensitive and seeker-oriented methods. Burke obviously has not forgotten nor rejected his experience at Willow Creek.