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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
I am a church planter, October 19, 2006
This review is from: Planting Churches Cross-Culturally: North America and Beyond (Paperback)
Hesselgrave's book, "Planting Churches Cross-Culturally" has a lot of good information that any would be church planter should make himself aware of. It also contains a lot of information that goes beyond just church planting and really examines different issues of ecclesiology. I thought the book would have been much better if it was about 150 pages shorter as he tends to drag on from time to time. He does give examples, which is helpful, because otherwise his writing style is not that captivating.
I think the biggest strength of the book is the amount of time he spends describing the need of preparation that a team needs before they show up. Many church planting books don't stress this enough. As a church planter myself, I wish someone had talked to me about the things which he brings up as it would have saved a lot of time and energy and pain. I'm not sure that he even emphasises his point enough when he says, speaking of Jesus' great commission in Matthew, "...the emphasis is not on the going, but on the reason for going." So many missionary sermons place there emphasis on challenging people to go that when they get there they're not even sure what they will do! He is one of the few writers that I've read that stresses the premier importance of knowing what you are going to do. As far as I'm concerned, he could have emphasised it even more than he did.
I like other points he made as well. He did a good job of speaking about the need for narrative theology and an emphasis on the biblical super-narrative in our communicating in areas that are highly unchurched rather than just on topical preaching or systematic theology. He also did well to decry the fact that we tend to send just about anyone to plant churches cross-culturally even if the person is ungifted and untrained. He also did well to discuss the role of the sending church and their need for both discretion in who should be sent and the need for continued support once the missionaries have been sent. Hesselgrave's book mentions some very practical things that others simply have failed to mention in their books. This is the book's greatest strength.
On the down side, It seemed like he could have said these things in a shorter, more direct way. He also spends a lot of time sharing various ecclesiastical views on different subjects that I didn't feel were necessary in a book that should have been focused on the particulars of planting churches cross-culturally. But if you grab a hold of the few gems that are in the book, it is a worthwhile read.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Look Into How Paul Did Missions!, January 12, 2005
This review is from: Planting Churches Cross-Culturally: North America and Beyond (Paperback)
This book is about planting churches cross-culturally. It is about taking the Great Commission seriously, but it isn't about doing evangelism in a narrow way. David Hesselgrave says that in the past evangelism was closely identified with the great campaigns and crusades of the nineteenth century. But this approach has resulted in decisions without follow-up. What Hesselgrave does is to stress the importance of evangelism with the formation of churches also.
We can proclaim the message to people...but if they don't have a small group to grow in they may fall through the cracks. What Hesselgrave does, and what this book really is, is a theology of how Paul did missions and evangelism. Hesselgrave lists out, mainly chapter by chapter, the Pauline cycle from the book of Acts. This cycle consists of 10 movements that Paul went through to proclaim the gospel and to establish churches in all the areas he preached in.
These movements are:
1. The missionaries commissioned
2. The audience contacted
3. The hearers converted
4. The gospel communicated
5. The believers congregated
6. The faith confirmed
7. The leaders consecrated
8. The believers commended
9. The relationship continued
10. The sending church convened
Get this book if you want to be able to contextualize the gospel to your specific area!
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3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An Awesome Tool for Ministry, November 24, 2000
This review is from: Planting Churches Cross-Culturally: North America and Beyond (Paperback)
In this book, David Hesselgrave presents church planting in a practical way. I am so thankful for the influence this book has had even in my own church planting adventure. He discusses the necessary tools that every church planter, and or Ministry worker needs to be: 1. Relevant 2. Possess an anointed message 3. Practical in a world that is continually changing, I highly recommend this book as a tool for ministry, and a great book for informatory purposes for any library... Blessings, Rev. Rick Metzgar, Jr.
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