untamed

Those of you who read this blog (is there any body out there?)will know that Alan Hirsch "The Forgotten Ways" and especially perhaps "The Forgotten Ways Handbook" have helped shape my thinking about mission in general & what it means to be a missional church in particular.. I have recommended the books to loads of people,some have read them and been inspired by them ,while others remain untouched. Alan Hirsch books are obviously an acquired taste!

However, with my enthusiasm undiminished,I have returned to "untamed" a book I had only dipped into previously.The subtitle is "reactivating a missional form of discipleship" and this is exactly what Hirsch tries to inspire in his readers!

I will blog more on the contents of the book another time, but one reason I love this book is because Alan and Deb not only put great biblical truth in fresh ways but they also live it out in their lives and in the life of their church. This really is a book about incarnational mission!

Alan and Deb are widely read and quote many Christian and non Christain writers; indeed the chapters begin with great quotes like this from Bonhoeffer " the church is nothing but a section of humanity in which Christ has truly taken form". In truth however untamed is full of great quotes mostly written by the books authours How about these? "It is true that Jesus is like God, but the greater truth…is that God is like Jesus!”
“Jesus holiness was compelling. Sinners flocked to him.” and" If we are to be genuinely untamed followers of Jesus,we will be holy nonconformists,capturedby avision of the world that will be whenThe Kingdom of God is finally fulfilled

Untamed is also a practical book .Each chapter has a list of suggested practices to follow and also a number of questions for group discussion

Like The Forgotten Ways Handbook ,untamed is well worth reading if you are unafraid of being deeply challenged........ Oh and Jonny Birch's cartoons are great too!