3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Live Sent - really the only way to be "the church", November 21, 2009
This review is from: Live Sent: you are a letter (Paperback)
I recently received a copy of Live Sent - you are a letter to review for the Viral Bloggers program. I was struck by the message by the first chapter. It definitely has a Neil Cole, organic church feel to it, which I loved, but it really goes much more in depth than that. Jason Dukes challenges us to really change how we think about the words "church", "discipleship", and "evangelism." He really challenged me to rethink how I frame those words. Even though I would consider myself fairly progressive and emerging, it still really challenged me in my life. My wife was so excited to hear about it while I read it, that we read a few chapters out loud together to encourage each other.
This book really is a game changer for people. I have been looking for something like this to bridge a conversational void I have with many people. I think Jason puts his thinking in action and gives real direction on how to be neighborly, like Jesus, and missional. Not that he prescribes a recipe for success, but for me, a recipe for the confusing insanity that the Sunday driven "church" makes.
He helped me to make sense of much knowledge I already had between my ears and realize how to put in more into action. I would suggest this book to anyone who is desiring movement in their faith community, or who is really frustrated with the church as she exists. Jason Dukes gave me a reason to believe that we really can be the "church" without putting so much focus of being the church on Sunday morning for the "big show."
Chad Miller
[...]
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
What a concept, September 11, 2009
This review is from: Live Sent: you are a letter (Paperback)
This idea is so simple and yet so powerful. If we as Americans and others around the globe would see things this way what a difference we could make in our communities and our world. This author really makes us stop and think.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Practical, practical, practical!, January 26, 2010
This review is from: Live Sent: you are a letter (Paperback)
Sometimes an overarching metaphor organizing a work of non-fiction can feel a little trite or forced. I admit that when I picked up Jason Dukes' Live Sent: You are a letter and skimmed the chapter titles, I predicted the book would be a lightweight approach to the subject of missional living.
I was wrong, wrong, wrong. Dukes, a pastor, presents a valuable and eminently practical exploration of what it means to be sent by God into the life to which God has called you. He challenges, encourages and above all, simplifies the notion of mission in a winsome and accessible book. In some circles of Christianity, there is a lot of overblown, earnest and pompous talk about what it means to be missional. Dukes yanks the concept out of the think tanks and conferences and roots it firmly where it belongs - in God's heart, and in our lives:
"As His church, we have a responsibility to humanity to be God's letter of love. That's why He started this movement almost 2,000 years ago that He called "the church". So that we would love each other as He intended, as His family. And so that we would do more than "go to church", but rather BE THE CHURCH to the people we encounter everyday, loving them as He loves them."
In Duke's hands, the call to follow Jesus becomes revolutionary - as it should be. He tackles the purpose of church, knowing and being loved by the Sender, contextualization, hindrances, our spheres of influence, our understanding of the world around us, disciple-making, dropping our self-protective mechanisms, and some pointed (and necessary) words to pastors about their calling to equip instead of control. Dukes salts his book with lots of practical examples meant to inspire us to see ourselves as the living letters Christ's followers are meant to be.
One small beef - the book could have used a bit more gentle editing (there are a lot of words in "quotation marks"; this was a bit "distracting" for me). However, that small quibble does not negate the big value of this 139-page volume. You'll want to read - and live - the kind of Christ-follower's life Dukes describes in this book.
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