StormFront: The Good News of God (Gospel and Our Culture) [Paperback]

James V. Brownson (Author), Inagrace T. Dietterich (Author), Barry A. Harvey (Author), Charles C. West (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 2003 | Series: Gospel & Our Culture

How does one authentically hear and live out the gospel in North America? This new book attempts to answer this question in a way that reveals much about the nature of Christian faith today and its relation to contemporary culture. In keeping with the aims of the acclaimed Gospel and Our Culture series, StormFront investigates how the gospel intersects American culture and seeks to reorient the church to its full and proper missional vocation. Four authors noted for their understanding of modern church life offer a sober yet hopeful critique of American culture that focuses on consumerism and the privatization of religion, and they challenge the Christian church to embrace its corporate task to be salt and light to the world. Amid the many books on the subject, this one is distinctive in its concern for application. By constrasting contemporary life with a thoroughgoing reading of the biblical narrative, the authors help American Christians discern how our cultural location makes it difficult to live out the transformative message of the gospel. Few readers will fail to be engaged by the lessons offered here.

Product Details

• Paperback: 129 pages
• Publisher: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company (October 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0802822258
• ISBN-13: 978-0802822253
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #474,101 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Get the whole story..., October 28, 2003

By 

S. Wright "Steve Wright" (Ladera Ranch, CA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: StormFront: The Good News of God (Gospel and Our Culture) (Paperback)

Finally, a resource to clarify "missional" ideas in a way that helps ordinary people grasp the significance of the storm we are in. The authors do an excellent job of charting a course that is faithful to God and inviting to all who want to participate in the grand mission of God.
As the pastor of a new church in a new community, I continue to wrestle with the implications of this book: "The church is a witness to the world, in the world, of God's coming reign in Christ over the powers of the world" (91). The book is a valuable resource for all who are tired of "paint-by-numbers" approaches to the church. "Stormfront" is a book for all who long to discover God's alternative to consumer-driven models of ministry. Buy it. Read it. Share it with your friends. Discuss it. Live it, believe it and so be a participant in the "Missio Dei."

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Unpacking the gospel in all of its richness and depth, October 28, 2004

By 

David E. Eagle (Victoria, BC, Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: StormFront: The Good News of God (Gospel and Our Culture) (Paperback)

What is the gospel? A seemingly simple question, but deep down, one that requires us to examine the very foundation of our Christian faith. StormFront: The Good News of God sets out to answer this very question, what is the gospel? StormFront is the latest book in the Gospel and Our Culture Series, which seeks to help the church more faithfully engage North American culture with the gospel. Other volumes have included The Missional Church, and The Continuing Conversion of the Church.
The title is meant to evoke the image of two masses of hot and cold air running into each other and creating a violent storm. One of these air masses is the Kingdom of God, the other is the Kingdom of this World. The church finds itself at the intersection, caught in the clash between these two forces. It is in this "dynamic and tumultuous" intersection where God engages our world.
The authors claim that many North American Christians act as if the gospel were a small ocean breeze, rather than a raging storm. The North American gospel, they argue, primarily centers on how God can meet my needs and how God can fulfill my desires. It has little sense of God's greater purposes in this world. They contend a Biblical understanding of the gospel looks a lot different. The gospel concerns God's activity to redeem the whole creation. The gospel isn't about me getting what I want. The gospel invites us to enter, receive, and participate in God's Reign, initiated by Jesus' life, death and resurrection. This gospel should radically reorient our lives.
Through the book's five chapters it examines our dominant understanding of the gospel, God's intentions on earth as found in the Old and New Testaments, the role of spiritual powers, the place of discipleship, and the practices that help us embody the gospel. The section connecting the gospel in the New Testament to the Old Testament is particularly helpful.
Few books accomplish what they set out to do. Impressively, StormFront does effectively answer the question: What is the gospel? And beyond that, on the practical level, it issues a significant challenge both for individuals and the church to participate more fully in God's purposes on earth.
Although this book is targeted to lay-readers, it is a dense and difficult read. It contains a great deal of theological language that can be at times hard to sift through. But for those willing to take the time and effort, they will find their understanding of the gospel deepened, and their faith commitments inspired and challenged.

5.0 out of 5 stars Faith in the 21st century, August 16, 2005

By 

Mary Lou E Klassen (Kitchener, Ontario Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: StormFront: The Good News of God (Gospel and Our Culture) (Paperback)

This book has been greatly helpful for me to understand the current state of affairs in the church. I have lived in many other countries in my adult life and "coming home" has not been easy. Despite the book's focus on the USA context, it is also an immensely appropriate resource for reflecting on our context in Canada. The book's thesis that the church has been caught up so seductively in all aspects of a "consumer" culture that we approach our faith and religious experience with the same value system is powerful and deeply sobering. While "easy-reading" the book is not an "easy read" since its premise demands that we refocus our lives on our call to be a community living out God's vision for hope and grace and justice in the world.