Customer Reviews

Dirty Word: The Vulgar, Offensive Language of the Kingdom of God

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This is not a view of the church from the air conditioned, theatrically-lit, four-hundred dollar ministry conference mountain top. No, this is the church in the trenches. This is the church caring and loving and pleading one soul at a time in the alleyways, bars, and tattoo shops of the city. You remember the city? That place where the church used to thrive before she high-tailed it to the cul-de-sacs, Hummers, and drive-thru Starbucks of the suburbs because that's where the money is. Was that harsh? I just appreciate a book that uses real stories and experiences to remind us that, ultimately, the kingdom of God is not about strategic plans, million-dollar auditoriums, or "church growth," and that holiness is not about clean living and keeping yourself pristine and pure. It's about being Jesus...dying to yourself (even if it means you get a little dirty) to love that one person God puts in front of you--especially if they are lost, forgotten, and unloveable. This is a book every ministry leader should read.

i love how the book is this awesome representation of the kingdom of God - people who are broken, dirty, messy, smelly, and "uncool" are valued. people who have maybe never even read a book are written about as important, valuable and beautiful people. the book itself practices what it preaches.

i like the mix of personal-story/testimony and really thought-provoking commentary on the church and culture today. These personal stories, thoughts and ideas are consistently held up against the Word of God to show their value, merit, worth and truth.

everyone should read this book. the way that the spirit has moved through this community is an awesome testimony to God's power and also can be an awesome challenge to the church today.

I loved this book's honesty about the shortcomings of today's Church and the hopeful picture of what the Kingdom of God can look like once we get out of the pews. There are no freshly painted facades here, it's time to be real about where and who we're failing. The Kingdom of God is for everyone, even those feeling alienated by Church, but they can't be reached by the best praise band or multi-media experience. This book isn't always comfortable because it challenges us to fix a broken system we've held dear, but no one ever said a life following Jesus would always be comfortable.

The book contains concepts that I didn't want to hear, but needed to hear, and ultimately had always longed to hear. My boxed-in ideas about how heaven, hell, salvation, and relationships with God and with others -- ideas that I thought I had so cleverly packed up into my own nice little comfort zone -- were flipped over and turned sideways to be seen in an entirely new light. It's not often I find a book that makes me laugh out loud, cry tears of both joyful and painful self-reflection, and stare at the pages with my eyes widely bugging out of my head in ground-breaking understanding. Once I picked it up I could not put it down until I was finished, and it is sure to be read many times over in my life. I expect that many more to come upon this book will be just as deeply offended and inspired by Jim's life-giving description of God's kingdom.

This book is what I call "bathroom reading," but not in the way that you might think. You see, I never spend more than three minutes on the porcelain thrown, but I couldn't pull myself away for the three minutes, and thus had to bring it in with me. Do not pick up this book without setting aside the day to read. I started the book and planned on reading for an hour, but then spent the next ten glued to each page, laughing, thinking, and then laughing again. I spent the day reading: I couldn't eat, I couldn't sleep - the concepts consumed my entire being. It is no wonder that the book is labeled with warnings. Brace yourself for this addictive book.

I began the book a bit skeptical-what was going to be offensive about the kingdom of God? I soon realized that the church, as we know it, is not what the kingdom of God is about. Dirty Word is a manifesto by a true reformer. Jim Walker stands in the line of Martin Luther, John Wesley and dare I say it, Jesus. If you don't want to feel like a hypocrite, as Jesus caled the Pharisees, don't read this book. But if you know deep down you're not satisfied with the status quo...If you secretly wonder if the church even matters, then by all means, read it. You won't look at your church or your denomination the same way, anymore.

Jim Walker shows that he has a lot of insight into the Kingdom of God. The first chapter was a real eye opener for me and showed me how much of church as we know it really stinks. Jesus didn't hang out with the "religious" people, he hung out with the one's who needed Him -- the hurt and afflicted. I got a little bored with the redundancy of the term koinonia, but the book is excellent and gave me much food for thought.

Here's the deal. I'm not going to get very deep in this review. Jim Walker has been my pastor during the time I've lived in Pittsburgh for the past two years. He has some great visions on what could be changed about the church to make it more about community and more about Jesus and less about individual people and less about a building. A prophet isn't someone who tells the future, a prophet is someone that calls people out to live a life closer to God, and that's what Jim does in this book. It's a good read....pick it up.

Dirty Word is written by a pastor I know - Jim Walker. He is a part of the Hot Metal Bridge Faith Community in Pittsburgh and one of the most aware people I have ever known. He sees things in church that need to change - people as well as programs. He is tuned in to where the needs are. You can't do church the way it used to be. It is a book worth reading especially if you have gotten away from the institutional church.

Pastor Jim Walker doesn't mince words in this description of how his small church outside of Pittsburgh got started. He challenges his readers to re-think how they do church, and how they can welcome the kind of people the typical church might not be reaching. Very inspiring and at some times convicting. I recommend this to every Christian who wants to step up and step out for Jesus.