See buying choices for this item to see if it's one of the millions that are eligible for Amazon Prime.

18 used & new from $4.92

Have one to sell? Sell yours here
 
 
This Little Church Went to Market: The Church in the Age of Modern Entertainment
 
See larger image
 
Tell the Publisher!
I’d like to read this book on Kindle

Don’t have a Kindle? Get yours here.
 
  

This Little Church Went to Market: The Church in the Age of Modern Entertainment (Paperback)

by Gary Gilley (Author)
3.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (14 customer reviews)


Available from these sellers.


5 new from $6.00 13 used from $4.92

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

This Little Church Stayed Home: A Faithful Church in Deceptive Times

This Little Church Stayed Home: A Faithful Church in Deceptive Times

by Gary E. Gilley
5.0 out of 5 stars (7)  $10.19
This Little Church Went to Market: The Church in the Age of Entertainment

This Little Church Went to Market: The Church in the Age of Entertainment

by Gary E. Gilley
4.7 out of 5 stars (12)  $11.19
Explore similar items

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
With many evangelical churches being subscribed to pragmatic rather than scriptural patterns for worship this book calls for the Church to return to its scriptural roots.

Product Details

  • Paperback: 145 pages
  • Publisher: Xulon Press (May 25, 2002)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1591600499
  • ISBN-13: 978-1591600497
  • Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.1 x 0.4 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 6.2 ounces
  • Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.com Sales Rank: #872,395 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

This Little Church Went to Market: The Church in the Age of Modern Entertainment
46% buy the item featured on this page:
This Little Church Went to Market: The Church in the Age of Modern Entertainment 3.6 out of 5 stars (14)
This Little Church Went to Market: The Church in the Age of Entertainment
43% buy
This Little Church Went to Market: The Church in the Age of Entertainment 4.7 out of 5 stars (12)
$11.19
This Little Church Stayed Home: A Faithful Church in Deceptive Times
11% buy
This Little Church Stayed Home: A Faithful Church in Deceptive Times 5.0 out of 5 stars (7)
$10.19

Tags Customers Associate with This Product

 (What's this?)
Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
Check the boxes next to the tags you consider relevant or enter your own tags in the field below.

Your tags: Add your first tag
 
Help others find this product — tag it for Amazon search
No one has tagged this product for Amazon search yet. Why not be the first to suggest a search for which it should appear?

Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store

If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store. Learn more

 

Customer Reviews

14 Reviews
5 star:
 (6)
4 star:
 (3)
3 star:
 (1)
2 star:
 (2)
1 star:
 (2)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
3.6 out of 5 stars (14 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
54 of 56 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars If your church is starting a marketing effort, READ NOW., April 5, 2003
By John Wicklund (Twin Cities, MN United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
Simply an excellent work, practical and not a difficult read.

Mr. Gilley hits the nail on the head and if your church is all of sudden enamored with the philosophies of Rick Warren, Bill Hybels or Lee Strobel, spend the money and buy this book. Unfortunately, this book will not get this circulation it deserves.

The evangelical church of today is surrounding itself with man-centered philosophies and teachers that are presenting softened gospel-lite messages for itching ears. (2 Tim 4:3-5) Basically, the message of Mr. Gilley is that today's church is giving the unbelieving visitor a non-threatening environment where they can be entertained and fed pop psychology sprinkled with Christian terminology. Doctrines of holiness, judgment, and hell are never taught; only that God is love and wants to answer your selfish Jabez-like prayer for more and more worldly possessions.

Well, this heresy is resulting in the dumbing-down of Christians. Yes, there is nothing wrong with preaching of God's love and forgiveness; however, when other clearly taught doctrines are conveniently ignored because they would reduce attendance and cash inflows, we have the state of the modern megachurch in America today. (Mark 8:36??)

Mr. Gilley successfuly argues that music and entertainment are also killing the gospel message in the modern church. Too much of christian music today is nothing more than "7-11" songs.... seven words repeated eleven times over. We are attracting too many people to the entertainment and the true message gets watered down because the "cross is a hindrance to the unbeliever." (See 1 Cor 1)

I believe the marketing gurus in these churchs are probably sincere. Their plan is to spring the true gospel on these unchurched people after they have made them comfortable walking through the front door. But how often does this really occur? Only God knows.

Mr. Gilley argues that today's churches need to return to preaching the Gospel and praying that the Holy Spirit will stir and convict the unbeliever. The marketing philosophy removes the Spirit by emphasizing that music, entertainment and a non-threatening environment will cause them to make that decision.

Excellent work and should be read if your church is pushed to study the works of Rick Warren, Bill Hybels, etc.

God bless you in your studies.

Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
20 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Highly Recommended!, December 8, 2004
By Tim Challies (Oakville, Ontario) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   
Though I have never met him, Garry Gilley has had a signficant impact on my life. He was one of two people who was most influential in my decision to begin to review books. His many book reviews were very helpful to me and made me realize that if he could review books and post them on the web, I could too. I have long wanted to read his books and just recently was given a copy of This Little Church Went to Market.

This book is a damning indictment of the market-driven churches that are so popular today. Having extensively studied the issues Gilley writes about in this book, I am comfortable saying that this is the best introduction to "the church in the age of entertainment" that I have read. Gilley contends that the church has sold out to our culture so that the influences of the culture have become the influences in the church. The most significant forces pressing against the church are entertainment, market driven philosophies and psychology. These three are largely absent from the Bible, yet are startlingly prevalent in evangelical churches. The leaders and issues he concentrates on most are Rick Warren and his book The Purpose Driven Church, Bill Hybels and Lee Strobel.

Having discussed the forces that are impacting the church, the author spends several chapters examining how these forces have impacted evangelical churches. He quotes extensively throughout the book from other believers who have covered this topic such as John MacArthur, Os Guinness and Michael Horton as well as from unbelievers such as Neal Postman. Finally he concludes that churches built on seeker sensitive model will be built on the wrong foundation, will teach the wrong message, will focus on the wrong need and will misunderstand preaching and worship. In other words, these churches will bear little resemblance to a New Testament, Christian church.

Through this book Gilley manages to approach the topics in a rational manner and never comes across as being obnoxious or blinded to the heart of the issues. He truly does understand both the New Testament model and the new evangelical model and is able to adequately compare them. The back cover tells us that the book "is a call for the Church to return to its scriptural roots" and that is right on the mark. This book examines contemporay issues and calls the church to return to the source to discover what God would have us be. I highly recommend this one.
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
17 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Mark from Oz, November 4, 2004
By M. Gilmour (Mount Martha, Vic Australia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
Down here in Australia the Market Growth driven church has started to take a foothold like many have found in the US. When Purpose Driven Life was rolled in our church followed by Willow Creek material, I couldn't help but notice something was wrong. Gary's Book "This little church went to market" put the finger on exactly what was wrong. For anyone concerned about biblical truth above Church numbers this is a book worth reading. Gary takes a Biblically based stand and shows where many of our megachurches have missed the mark.
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)


Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
 
 
 
Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars A book that asks what God wants in church...fascinating!
I am a mother of many children and have grown up in a Reformed church where God and what He wants has always been at the centre of the Church's worship and beliefs... Read more
Published 10 months ago by Leoni R. Duff

2.0 out of 5 stars Denouncing the megachurches
First of all, I will give you my background. I was raised as a Fundamental Baptist as was my pastor and his wife was United Pentecostal. Read more
Published on January 10, 2006 by J. D. Stewart

5.0 out of 5 stars A Passionate Plea for a Return to Scripture Alone
I have greatly enjoyed reading Gary Gilley's book THIS LITTLE CHURCH WENT TO MARKET: THE CHURCH IN THE AGE OF MODERN ENTERTAINMENT. Read more
Published on October 29, 2005 by Roy Ingle

4.0 out of 5 stars A serious book for a silly church
As a seeker looks upon the recent track record of the church, they may have the perception that the church has never been more relevant than ever before. Read more
Published on October 17, 2005 by D. McHone

2.0 out of 5 stars Hey Kool-Aid !!!!!
What ever you do, don't drink Gary Gilley's Kool-aid! People are never the same afterwards. The underlying theme is that some churches worship the wrong way. Read more
Published on June 13, 2004 by Tim C.

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Exposition on the Church Growth Movement
Gilley proves through and through why the "Market Driven Church" will endanger the future status of Christianity in America. Read more
Published on May 5, 2004

4.0 out of 5 stars Churches on the "down-grade"
I appreciate this book, as well as Ashamed of the Gospel by MacArthur. As a person who attended a market-driven, pop-psychology sermonized, "fun," and "hip"... Read more
Published on April 6, 2004

3.0 out of 5 stars Some valid points, with and ax to grind,
The book presents a case that there is a danger in churches focusing more on marketing than God. He has a valid concern, but he offers no real alternatives. Read more
Published on March 25, 2003 by Erich E. Geary

5.0 out of 5 stars Please -- reviewers learn what a review really is!
This Little Church Went to Market is a lucid expose of current trends in churches everywhere. What is distressing is the two reviews posted before this writing, which simply... Read more
Published on March 15, 2003 by ROBERT L. GRUPP

1.0 out of 5 stars Go to your own market
Why does this author always tear down others beliefs? This author (pastor) should concentrate more on his "fold" and stop trying so hard to make other Christians feel... Read more
Published on March 6, 2003

Only search this product's reviews



Customer Discussions

 Beta (What's this?)
New! See all customer communities, and bookmark your communities to keep track of them.
This product's forum (0 discussions)
  Discussion Replies Latest Post
  No discussions yet

Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
  [Cancel]


Active discussions in related forums
   
Explore more


Product Information from the Amapedia Community

Beta (What's this?)



Look for Similar Items by Category


Summer Sales

Omaha Steaks Hamburgers
Shop the summer food sale and save up to 50% on salsas and spreads, steaks and burgers, seafood, oils and vinegars, and desserts, only at Amazon Gourmet.

See all sale items

 

Big Savings in Books

Bargain Books
Find great titles at fantastic prices in our Bargain Books Store.
 

Tidy Up Your Tools

Shop for tool organizers
Whether you're searching for tool cabinets and chests, or boxes and belts, the Storage & Home Organization Store has the selection you need.

Shop for tool organizers

 
Shop for Garage Storage Products
Make No Bones About It Create a place to store your Bone Creeper. Browse through garage shelving and accessories in the Home Improvement Store.
 

 

Feedback

If you need help or have a question for Customer Service, contact us.
 Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
Is there any other feedback you would like to provide?

Your comments can help make our site better for everyone.



Where's My Stuff?

Shipping & Returns

Need Help?

Your Recent History

  (What's this?)
You have no recently viewed items or searches.

After viewing product detail pages or search results, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in.

Look to the right column to find helpful suggestions for your shopping session.

Continue shopping: Top Sellers
Free
Free by Chris Anderson
Paranoia
Paranoia by Joseph Finder
My Soul to Lose
My Soul to Lose by Rachel Vincent
Glenn Beck's Common Sense

Conditions of Use | Privacy Notice © 1996-2009, Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates