I kept hearing about Rumors of God, the new book by Jon Tyson & Darren Whitehead, on twitter and blogs and finally decide to pick it up. I was not disappointed. This book will easily make the 10 best books I’ve read in 2011 list.
The book covers how faith is lived out and seen in our dreams, generosity, love, grace, freedom, commitment, community, justice and hope. It is a great picture of what faith can and should be. I found myself getting wrapped up in the stories that Jon & Darren shared from their churches. It reminded me of many of the stories I’m beginning to hear from our missional communities at Revolution.
At the beginning they shared a quote from C.S. Lewis that embodies the goal of the book, “That is precisely what Christianity is about. The world is a great sculptor’s shop. We are the statues and there is a rumor going round the shop that some of us are some day going to come to life.”
Here are a few things that jumped out:
- When the entire culture is dreaming the same thing, imagination has been taken captive. An alternative dream requires animation by a different narrative.
- How do we see more of the reality and presence of God in our lives? We must prioritize seeking God – we will not accidentally drift into it. We must intentionally, deliberately, earnestly make seeking God a priority in the way we spend our time.
- Money flows effortlessly to that which is its God.
- The difference between Christianity and other religions is grace.
- No one knows how truly bad he is until he has tried very hard to be good.
- Grace creates the conditions for faith; faith does not create the conditions for grace.
- Everyone says forgiveness is a lovely idea, until they have something to forgive.
Here’s the trailer for the book with the authors:
Pingback: Favorite Books of 2011 « My World