Newsworthy

Chris Altrock

Description

Jesus doesn't want you in heaven. Jesus needs you here on earth.Millions want nothing to do with the church or Christianity. Newsworthy provides a simple solution: The Gospel. Chris Altrock traces Jesus' life from manger through resurrection and Pentecost, teaching you to contribute to your community's earthly here-and-now rather than focusing solely on its heavenly hereafter. Gain trust with your community by taking risks and tackling hard issues such as racism, gender roles, and ageism together, rather than protecting yourself and withdrawing. As Jesus risked all on the cross, be inspired to take great risks for great causes, knowing nothing can be broken that cannot be rebuilt by the resurrection.

Sujets

• Christianity
• Philosophie et théologie

Informations

• Publié par: Christian Board of Publication
• Date de parution: 03 mai 2016
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780827203068
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

Dedication
• To fresh thinkers at Harding School of Theology, Lipscomb University; Harding University; Abilene Christian University; and Pepperdine University: you have helped me and many like me to reconsider the gospel and what it means to truly be good news the world can use. • To selfless servants such as David at Agape Child & Family Services; Ron at HopeWorks; Jerry, Fern, and Thaddaeus at the Timothy Hill Children’s Ranch; Craig, and Leslee at Let’s Start Talking; Nathan, Karen, Jacob, Joseph, Alvin, and Fe at the Shiloh Christian School; Jab and Becky at the Melanesian Bible College; Vitaly and Valeria at the Ukrainian Education Center; Kostya in Bila Tserkva; Charles, Tod, and Gailyn at Mission Alive; Stan at Kairos; Dan at Mission Resource Network; Beng at the Pasir Pajong Church of Christ; and Hunter, Sam, and John of the Highland China Missions Team: you share and show good news every day in remarkable ways. • To the staff and elders at the Highland Church of Christ: there is no other work I’d rather do and no other team I’d rather do it with than sharing and showing Jesus’ good news together in the Bluff City and beyond.


“In a time when the church has an obvious PR problem, Altrock moves beyond obsessing on the bad news to offer us good news rooted in . . . The Good News. He clarifies what is good about the gospel and how that goodness can resonate in a culture that has lost hope for transcendent meaning. The gospel is not just a formula for how to go to heaven, but a living story with a logic and rhythm rooted in Jesus’ life-model and teaching that can transform life in practical ways now.”
—Dan Bouchelle, President, Missions Resource Network

“In a time of unprecedented unease in our churches and disturbing questions about their validity and mission, Chris Altrock speaks a word of encouragement and gives solid advice for congregational leaders facing today’s secular world. … Let Chris show you the ‘real’ Jesus, and you will fall in love with Him all over again.”
—Royce Money, Chancellor, Abilene Christian University

“ Newsworthy is a helpful tool for Christians who want to move past a reduction of the gospel that is concerned only with “going to heaven when I die.” Building on the important work of writers such as N. T. Wright and David Bosch, Altrock brings us back to the gospel, which is good news and helps us imagine how the church can embody that story for the sake of the world.”
—Mike Cope, Director of Ministry Outreach, Pepperdine University

“As American culture becomes more secular, Christians react in a variety of ways, including frustration, anger, political activism, and fearfulness. … [Chris Altrock’s] proposals in this book point in biblically based, caring, and constructive directions.”
—Allen Black, Dean, Harding School of Theology

“Rich in scripture and rooted in spiritual transformation, Chris Altrock’s book provides congregations with a practical resource for how they can embrace their identity as good news people.”
—Sara Barton, University Chaplain, Pepperdine University









Copyright ©2016 by Chris Altrock.
All rights reserved. For permission to reuse content, please contact Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, [phone], www.copyright.com .
Unless marked otherwise, scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®) copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV® Text Edition: 2011. The ESV® text has been reproduced in cooperation with and by permission of Good News Publishers. Unauthorized reproduction of this publication is prohibited. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations marked (NIV) are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved.
Quotations marked Message are from The Message by Eugene H. Peterson, copyright (c) 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations marked Amplified are from the Amplified Bible, copyright © 2015 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, CA 90631. All rights reserved.

Cover design: Jesse Turri

www.cbp21.com

Print: 9780827203051 EPUB: 9780827203068 EPDF: 9780827203075

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Altrock, Chris, 1968- author.
Title: Newsworthy : nine ways to live the good news now / by Chris Altrock.
Description: First [edition]. | St. Louis : Christian Board of Publication,
2016. | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2016008589 (print) | LCCN 2016012125 (ebook) | ISBN
9780827203051 (pbk. : alk. paper) | ISBN 9780827203068 (epub) | ISBN
9780827203075 (epdf)
Subjects: LCSH: Mission of the church. | Evangelistic work. | Jesus
Christ—Person and offices.
Classification: LCC BV601.8 .A48 2016 (print) | LCC BV601.8 (ebook) | DDC
269—dc23
LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2016008589





Good News
Breaking Bad
I met Jerry on a Sunday afternoon in the oldest neighborhood in Fort Worth, Texas. He and I had gathered with a small group for Sunday dinner at the home of Steve and Lindsay. Steve preached at a nearby congregation. He and his family of five practiced a ministry of presence in this racially and economically diverse neighborhood. After devouring Lindsay’s pot roast, we pushed back from their long wooden-plank table and shared stories.
Most of our tales had a common theme: church . Steve and I preached for churches. A married couple at the table were training with Pioneer Bible Translators so they could take the Church and its Book to others. Jerry and his wife taught the junior-high students at their church.
We listened while Jerry discussed his desire to share Jesus with his patients and bring them to church. As a cancer doctor, he intersected the storylines of peoples’ lives in some of their most challenging chapters. Jerry believed God had called him to not just treat their bodies, but their hearts and souls as well.
Still, he explained, he hadn’t been sure how to administer Christ while also dispensing chemo. He began looking to others for inspiration. He noticed another specialist who modeled one approach. This physician aggressively evangelized patients, sometimes dispassionately telling them they didn’t have long on earth and wouldn’t have a shot at heaven. Not only was the method ineffective, it was unethical. A visit from members of the medical board ended his pugnacious proselytizing.
Jerry decided on a more tender approach. He decided to tweak a conversation that he’s required to have with every patient. While taking a history, Jerry asks a list of questions commonly expected: • “Tell me about your work, what you do...” • “Tell me about your home life...” • “Do you have any hobbies?” • “Do you smoke?”
Once this list is exhausted, the doctor adds one more—a question far less expected: “And, where do you go to church?” Sometimes, one good question is the snowflake that starts an avalanche of conversation. This proved to be one of those questions.
But, to our surprise, Jerry reported that, without exception, every patient he’s queried has responded with just one word.
“And, where do you go to church?”
“ Well ...” • That’s the answer you get in March when you ask someone: “How are your New Year’s resolutions going?” • It’s the answer you get when you ask a friend two months into a health craze: “How’s the diet going?”
“ Well ...”
Even those patients who revealed that they at least occasionally attended church began their answer with this qualifying word: “ Well ...”
There are many for whom a relationship with church is like twilight—neither day nor night, neither definitively good nor absolutely bad. For large numbers of people, church is a concoction as noxious as it is nourishing. For them church is like the chemo a cancer patient faces—something that might finally save them if it doesn’t first kill them.
“ Well ...”
Worse, a full 50 percent of Jerry’s patients followed that word with a confession—they didn’t attend church anywhere. Some were “nones”—they claimed no religious preference and thus called no church home. Some were “dones”—they may have once given all for a church, but got burned or broken and thus had given up on all. Diagnosed with cancer, at least some of these patients stood on the edge of the valley of the shadow of death, and they had no church home. No circle of saints. No friends of faith. One out of two faced difficult days with a distressing diagnosis, but without a caring congregation.
There’s nothing scientific about Jerry’s anecdote. But it does illustrate the up-and-down nature of the relationship many today have with the church and Christian faith. It’s increasingly common to find people who, at best, offer a qualified. “ Well ...,” and, at worst, have no connection at all.
The Sunday after my Fort Worth conversation with the good doctor, I returned to my Memphis congregation. We offer a late worship service for those who are like Jerry’s patients; folks whose interest in or experience with church has hovered near a 1 on a scale of 5. After the conclusion of the service, while we were stacking chairs to make space for the kids in our day school who use our worship space during the week, I met Kim and Rod. She hails from just this side of the U.S. southern border (in New Mexico). His roots are from just the other side of the U.S. northern border (in Canada). Both grew up in families that attended church regularly