Carpe Mañana [Hardcover]

Leonard Sweet (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 2001

The Message Never Changes. But Our Methods Must. If God so loved the world . . . then we ought to, too. But how? While the church dreams of old wineskins, the future is arriving, and the world around us has undergone a radical transformation. Those of us over thirty are no longer natives of a modern culture, but immigrants in a postmodern society that speaks the language of cyberspace, grapples with the implications of robotics, nanotechnology, and bioengineering, and looks everywhere but to the church for spiritual and moral guidance. But the gospel sun, far from setting, is poised to shine on this new frontier--provided we'll seize tomorrow and its unprecedented opportunities. The possibilities are limitless for those of us who choose to live as Jesus lived, as people of our time and culture. Carpe Manana helps us go native. In nine 'naturalization classes,' Leonard Sweet speeds us toward influence in this postmodern world--a world hungry to encounter the God who knows its soul, speaks its language, and loves it with an all-transforming love.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

The Message Never Changes.

But Our Methods Must.

If God so loved the world . . . then we ought to, too. But how? While the church dreams of old wineskins, the future is arriving, and the world around us has undergone a radical transformation. Those of us over thirty are no longer natives of a modern culture, but immigrants in a postmodern society that speaks the language of cyberspace, grapples with the implications of robotics, nanotechnology, and bioengineering, and looks everywhere but to the church for spiritual and moral guidance.

But the gospel sun, far from setting, is poised to shine on this new frontier--provided we’ll seize tomorrow and its unprecedented opportunities. The possibilities are limitless for those of us who choose to live as Jesus lived, as people of our time and culture. Carpe Mañana helps us go native. In nine "naturalization classes," Leonard Sweet speeds us toward influence in this postmodern world--a world hungry to encounter the God who knows its soul, speaks its language, and loves it with an all-transforming love.

About the Author

Leonard Sweet (PhD, University of Rochester) holds the E. Stanley Jones chair at Drew University. Founder and president of SpiritVenture Ministries, he also serves as a distinguished visiting professor at George Fox University, and is the chief writer for preachingplus.com. Sweet is a popular speaker and has written numerous books, including Jesus Drives Me Crazy, SoulTsunami, SoulSalsa, Carpe Manana, and (with Brian McLaren and Jerry Haselmeyer) A Is for Abductive: The Language of the Emerging Church.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Hardcover: 208 pages
• Publisher: Zondervan (October 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0310239478
• ISBN-13: 978-0310239475
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,779,666 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Len Sweet was born of a mixed marriage: his mother was a fiery Pilgrim Holiness-ordained preacher from the mountains of West Virginia and his quiet father a Free Methodist lay leader from the Adirondack mountains of upstate New York. After a deconversion at 17, when Len set about less sowing wild oats than planting prairies, he became an atheist intellectual and scholar dedicated to exposing the nincompoopery and poppycockery, if not tomfoolery and skullduggery of all religions. After this seven-year period of liminality, Len came back to the faith of his ancestors, where he has been ever since, exploring the "insterstices" and "semiotics" of religion, culture and history. He uses two words to describe himself: semiotician and interstitial. In other words, he is obsessed with two questions: "Where have you been?" and "Where are you going?"

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars You need to get it, February 19, 2002

By 

Wayne Folta (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Carpe Mañana (Hardcover)

I totally disagree with the previous reviewer's philosophical criticisms. Yes, Sweet's writing style is bits-n-pieces and "postmodern". If you're looking for a Romans-style or Francis-Shaeffer-style tome, Sweet's not your man.

And you do have to be willing to put your prejudices aside to read Sweet. The previous reviewer evidently feels that the Word is immutable, therefore the presentation medium and style must also be immutable. If you also like "that old time religion", you'll be insulted by this book.

Sweet's message (among many other things) is that the presentation (medium, style, language) must continue to be culturally-driven in order to be relevant. The message does not change, but the medium and style must.

If you think the NIV is a gimmick and rock-n-roll is evil, do not get this book. If you don't think there's really anything to this postmodernism except hype and a continued moral decline, you'll waste your money.

But if you want to read about a possible change in a culture's worldviews and means of communicating and understanding, if you want to by _all_ means win some, Sweet's the guy on the cutting edge.

5 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Solid/Not Revolutionary, December 11, 2002

By 

Joseph Valentine Dworak (Minneapolis, MN) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Carpe Mañana (Hardcover)

Carpe Manana is a good book for Baby Boomer "immigrants" who want to find out what in the world in going with PostModerns. This book is a continuation of Sweet's work on this topic, and he provides a relevant text for those wishing to understand why the landscape is changing. For those out there who don't like Sweet's writing style, get over it. He has a good message that is well informed and thought out, and he is relevant. Sweet is an example of someone who realized things changed, and he wanted to be a part of it. From a Gen-X perspective, this book is fairly boring because, it is how it is for us, we do not know any differently, save those modern Gen-Xers who refuse to change. This book will either challenge you, bore you, or make you angry. I hope you check it out.

5 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Required reading, October 29, 2003

By 

S. Giddens "jett37027" (Brentwood, TN United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Carpe Mañana (Paperback)

As a baby boomer with native children (college and post-college) Carpe Manana gave me wonderful insight into their spirtuality and others whom I shepherd. For parents and elders wondering what in the world is happening in our churches and among the so-called natives (post 1962)Leonard Sweet has written the handbook. This book should be required reading for anyone who doubts that God is working in this generation. Sweet's most telling comment is that the GenXers are the most spiritual in decades but the last place they look for the spirit is in church. A hard lesson to be learned.