So Beautiful: Divine Design for Life and the Church and over one million other books are available for Amazon Kindle. Learn more



or
Sign in to turn on 1-Click ordering
More Buying Choices
Have one to sell? Sell yours here
Start reading So Beautiful: Divine Design for Life and the Church on your Kindle in under a minute.

Don't have a Kindle? Get your Kindle here, or download a FREE Kindle Reading App.
Sorry, this item is not available in
Image not available for
Color:
Image not available

To view this video download Flash Player

 

So Beautiful: Divine Design for Life and the Church [Paperback]

Leonard Sweet Ph.D
4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)

List Price: $16.99
Price: $14.97 & FREE Shipping on orders over $25. Details
You Save: $2.02 (12%)
o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o
Only 12 left in stock (more on the way).
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com. Gift-wrap available.
Want it tomorrow, May 22? Choose One-Day Shipping at checkout. Details

Formats

Amazon Price New from Used from
Kindle Edition $9.99  
Paperback, Bargain Price $6.80  
Paperback, April 1, 2009 $14.97  
Audio, CD, Audiobook, CD, Unabridged $20.53  
Audible Audio Edition, Unabridged $14.95 or Free with Audible 30-day free trial
Image
Save on Popular Books This Summer
Browse our Bookshelf Favorites store for big savings on popular fiction, nonfiction, children's books, and more.

Book Description

April 1, 2009

More than 50 years ago scientists made a remarkable discovery, proclaiming, "We have found the secret of life ... and it's so pretty!" The secret was the discovery that life is helixical, two strands wound around a single axis—what most of us know today as the model for DNA.

Over the course of his ministry, author Leonard Sweet has discovered that this divine design also informs God's blueprint for the church. In this seminal work, he shares the woven strands that form the church: missional, relational, and incarnational. Sweet declares that this secret is not just pretty, but beautiful. In fact, So Beautiful!

Using the poignant life of John Newton as a touchstone, Sweet calls for the re-union of these three essential, complementary strands of the Christian life. Far from a novel idea, Sweet shows how this structure is God's original intent, and shares the simply beautiful design for His church.


Frequently Bought Together

So Beautiful: Divine Design for Life and the Church + Nudge: Awakening Each Other to the God Who's Already There + Viral: How Social Networking Is Poised to Ignite Revival
Price for all three: $44.05

Buy the selected items together


Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The prolific Sweet—author of articles, sermons, books—turns his vast knowledge of culture and faith toward what he calls the secret of life: an MRI church where 'M' = Missional, 'R' = Relational, and 'I' = Incarnational. He digs deep into MRI theology, calling it the only theology worth bothering with and offering leaders and laypeople a new paradigm for bringing Christ to the world. Sweet outlines the characteristics of each element: missional—The church is 'sent' to be Jesus; relational—Biblical truth... feasts on relationship and revelation; incarnational—The Incarnational life strikes it rich by multiple connections with community and context. Readers will find much to ponder, but they'll have to wade through Sweet's metaphor-heavy, rambling and jumpy writing style, plus his confusing, frequent use of quotation marks around words and phrases as if tweaking their meaning. His vision for following Christ individually and as the church is commendable; his presentation, however, is confounding. (Apr.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

About the Author

Dr. Leonard Sweet is the Vice President of Academic Affairs and Dean of the Theological School at Drew University. He also serves as a consultant to many of America's denominational leaders and agencies. In 2006 and 2007, he was voted "One of the 50 Most Influential Christians in America." Dr. Sweet is the author of more than one hundred articles, over six hundred published sermons, and a wide array of books. To learn more, visit him at www.leonardsweet.com.

Product Details

  • Paperback: 304 pages
  • Publisher: David C. Cook; New edition (April 1, 2009)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1434799794
  • ISBN-13: 978-1434799791
  • Product Dimensions: 0.9 x 6.1 x 8.9 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #445,819 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Len Sweet (www.leonardsweet.com) 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

4.7 out of 5 stars
(10)
4.7 out of 5 stars
The writing style is unique, quite deep and not avoiding large words, and yet remarkably clear and witty. Laurence T. Baxter  |  4 reviewers made a similar statement
During the drive, I put my iPod ear buds in and listened to the "So Beautiful" audio book. Jeff Rhodes  |  3 reviewers made a similar statement
Every vocation is a missionary vocation. David Phillips  |  3 reviewers made a similar statement
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
16 of 17 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Unpacking the Missional Nature of the Godhead March 23, 2009
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Almost 3 years ago, I heard Len Sweet talk about the MRI Church during our first advance for my D. Min. program. In his new book, So Beautiful: Divine Design for Life and the Church, Len explores and explains the importance of this idea.

In the book, Len talks about the implications of practicing APC Churches: Attractional, Propositional and Colonial churches. APC churches create members, believers and consumers. However, the MRI Church (Missional, Relational and Incarnational) creates missionaries, disciples, and world changers.

The book is quite thick at over 300 pages. In addition, there are only five chapters, including the introduction. Each of the MRI topics are covered in an individual chapter, along with an introduction and epilogue. Each chapter, however, is broken up into sections that make it easy to take a break in the midst of 40-70 page chapters. I knew this book would be big back in September as Len told me at dinner that each of the topics were 100 pages each and his editor would have to get it down to a manageable size.

Despite it's size, however, it is not a difficult read. But you do have to put your thinking cap on. Len's verbal imagery is very real. He reframes word meanings based on origin and use quite a bit. It is will cause you to pause and consider how you use language yourself. In addition, this a book that draws from a great myriad of sources, as most all of Len's books do. You get a true education by reading Len's book, not just in ministry and life topics, but in science, literature, history, etc.

Content
In the book, Len calls on people and churches to blend together the three MRI strands into one beautiful life.

In Part 1: The Missional Life, Len speaks of God's "going". God is a God of motion, movement and mission. Mission is not an activity of the church but part of the character of God. He is a missionary God. Disciples of Christ are mission-shaped. Every vocation is a missionary vocation. In this section, he fleshes these concepts out in a clear and compelling way.

In Part 2: The Relational Life, Len describes a life where the primary reality is relations and relationships. All of life is about relationships: with God, ourselves, others and creation. In this chapter, he describes the primacy of Relational Truth over Propositional Truth. This is a particularly interesting and needed discussion. I appreciate greatly how he unpacks this concept.

In Part 3: The Incarnational Life, Len describes how instead of pulling people and concepts out of their context, we need to be entering other contexts and in doing so localizing the church within that context. One particular thought that I found very compelling and helpful was this: "Jesus was at home everywhere, but naturalized nowhere. The incarnational life pays homage to context by celebrating regionality, by honoring particularity, by domesticating the missional and the relational. God didn't choose to send us a Superman. God chose to send us an Everyman - `Joe, the Plumber,' `Jesus, the Carpenter' - one like ourselves in every way." (pg. 153) He speaks on how the genius of Christianity is its ability to integrate pagan customs with Christian faith and practice. It uses those customs to communicate itself through indigenous and local expressions of worship.

The final chapter, the Epilogue is practical. It gives you a mirror with which to look at your life and church to see if you are a MRI church. In the epilogue Len provides ten ways to know if your church is MRI. This is a strength of the book.

Additionally, the book is not anti-APC as much as it tries to note the primacy of the MRI over the APC.

Final Thoughts
In a world when most of the attention goes to large, attractional churches, who are by their sheer size considered successful, it is encouraging for someone with such influence noting the need for a different way of being the church. Len does a remarkable job in this book of reframing the idea of church and being vs doing church. It creates energy to infiltrate the world and the marketplace and be the church. It also creates the theological and practical energy for that as well.

Having gotten to know Len over the past 3 years, I admit a bias. But I truly believe that this is one of the best books on being the church and on being a church that influences the context in which we live. It would be a foundational book were I teaching a class on Missional Theology and Practice.
Comment | 
Was this review helpful to you?
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars Sweet or Not? Read the Book of Acts first. September 2, 2009
Format:Paperback
So Beautiful: Divine Design for Life and the Church by Leonard Sweet comes with mixed emotions neither good or bad, just undecided.

To summarize the book with one quote from page 162, "When the one lung breathes in the Missional (God's Power) and the other lung breathes in Relational (God's Presence), the body comes alive and exhales the risen incarnate life of Christ."

Leonard paints a picture throughout the book of this DNA of MRI or Missional, Relational, and Incarnational. Nothing new, right?

Some think that this is a new way to look at the church or an old way recently discovered. Many people are searching for a meaningful body of Christ that not only worships on Sunday morning, but breathes with a mission, that extends to relational communities, and takes the message of Christ out into their everyday life or what Sweet calls MRI.

This is a very wordy book. I am not into repeating oneself. Sweet early on even mentions that if "you have not noticed I am saying the same thing in a different way (paraphrased)". One can simply turn to the book of Acts and read about this Missional, Relational, Incarnational way of the church. Sweet is humbly putting modern words into a language that some seem to have forgotten.

Keeping with the Sweet writing pattern he weaves multiple quotes throughout the book that unites everything together in a seamless manner. If you desire to have a renewed vision of the church reread Acts first and then read So Beautiful by Len Sweet. If you have not begin to ponder a deeper meaning for the body of Christ this may jump start your engine. Enjoy Len's words as he casts a vision that needs to be renewed for the body of Christ so others will begin to know, see, and hear that God is really among us (I Cor 14:25).
Comment | 
Was this review helpful to you?
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Prolific author, speaker and professor of evangelism at Drew University, Leonard Sweet just keeps getting better. Widely lauded as one of the "50 Most Influential Christians in America," Sweet's disarming style and candid approach on matters of life and the church are both contagious and welcoming. His newest offering to fans and newcomers alike will delight, captivate and challenge formerly held assumptions about what it means to "do church" American-style.

Sweet opens his text with an introduction to acronyms...and very cunningly leads into his own, which describes the So Beautiful, or MRI, church on which this text is focused: "M" = Missional, "R" = Relational and "I" = Incarnational. Formerly (currently?), many churches operate under the APC Christianity style, or the ABC Church: Attendance, Buildings and Cash. As Sweet notes, "[S]ome things can be good for you for a short time but bad for you over the long haul." He spends the next couple hundred pages helping fellow Christ followers understand, define and take a much closer look at their faith lives and how it works itself both within and without the confines of a church setting.

The author quite engagingly admits that, through his travels he is finding, "God is 'up to something,' stirring part of the body very slowly to rouse the rest." Exciting. Daunting. Challenging. Eye-opening. Yes, to all of these adjectives.

Beginning with a description and overview of the Missional Life: God's "GO," Sweet tells believers that as soon as they become Christians and tell Jesus they're "in," he turns right around and tells them you're "out." This means to go OUT into the world, don't stay clustered inside a stuffy church building where members only congregate and bewail the woes of the larger world. Go, and be part of that world because we all belong together in it.

Sweet then shares the nuts and bolts of what a Relational Life: God's "YES" looks like...and yes, it's all about getting close to people and making life connections that count. He interestingly notes that to predict those with economic success, look for people who have strong social connections. To predict sound mental and physical well-being, look for close family ties and high-quality relationships. Similarly, those individuals who enjoy spiritual well-being also have tight-knit relationships. As Sweet notes, all of life is about relationships, one to another, and everyone to God.

Closing up this work, Sweet details the Incarnational Life: God's "NO," in which he discusses how "Incarnants" are "those who are in touch with the culture but in tune with the Spirit, embracing and estranging the culture simultaneously." Yet, this is a good thing as believers need to "disturb the world" but do so in love and with a commitment to serve, stand alongside, and bring redemptive repair.

Readers will find great value and a highly practical resource in SO BEAUTIFUL. Be prepared to be challenged, encouraged and motivated to start living an MRI lifestyle.

--- Reviewed by Michele Howe
Comment | 
Was this review helpful to you?
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars Worth reading!
Do you want to be challenged out of complacency? Find out what Mr. Sweet has to say. This is worth your consideration, to be sure!
Published 14 months ago by Priscilla
5.0 out of 5 stars Viewing MRIs from a Sweet perspective
Have you ever had an MRI exam? I have. As a radiographer (RT-R), I have studied about MRI machines, how they work,and what they show in the human body. Read more
Published on October 30, 2009 by T. Hyrkas
4.0 out of 5 stars A Rich Read
Len Sweet offers his MRI church as a picture of what could be a church (and therefore Christ-followers) that is "So Beautiful. Read more
Published on August 21, 2009 by Darien Gabriel
5.0 out of 5 stars Absolutely Beautiful
This morning, I finished Leonard Sweet's new book, So Beautiful.

I'm still basking in the afterglow and the best words I can use to describe it is: "So Beautiful!! Read more
Published on July 1, 2009 by Mark O. Wilson
5.0 out of 5 stars This book is so..."Sweeeet!"
This book is "sweet"!

Yeah, I know that's corny considering the auther is Leonard Sweet, but I am quite serious. It hit the "sweet" spot. Wow, I did it again. Read more
Published on June 4, 2009 by Jeff Rhodes
5.0 out of 5 stars A Potential Tipping Point in the Reformation of the Church
In an age of privatized, commercialized, and culturalized Christianity, Leonard Sweet heralds a much-needed call to rediscover the biblical life, power, and purpose of the church. Read more
Published on April 30, 2009 by S. Michael Craven
5.0 out of 5 stars It's time for the Body to get an MRI
Leonard Sweet has written an engaging and challenging book in "So Beautiful: Divine Design for Life and the Church". Read more
Published on April 1, 2009 by Laurence T. Baxter
Search Customer Reviews
Only search this product's reviews

What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?


Forums

There are no discussions about this product yet.
Be the first to discuss this product with the community.
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
 



So You'd Like to...


Create a guide


Look for Similar Items by Category