Glocalization: How Followers of Jesus Engage a Flat World (Hardcover)

~ Bob Roberts Jr. (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"In Glocalization, Roberts...outlines six practices the church should adopt to be wise as serpents and innocent as doves in the glocal world. All six are excellent, and by confronting some well-established missionary habits, a few have the potential to be revolutionary....Roberts' inspiring stories from Communist and Islamic nations reinforce his claim that no country is closed to the gospel, just to our usual methods of bringing it....Many pastors have learned ministry techniques by mimicking corporate strategies and good management. In the new flat earth, the entire church must learn to be missionaries, and this will once again require all of the Holy Spirit's gifts, comfort, counsel, power, and fruit....After reading the book, I'm inspired to take the gospel into all the world, starting in my own cul-de-sac." — Leadership journal

(Leadership journal )

Product Description

A new world that’s both global and local—glocal—is being born. What does this look like for believers and the church? How can we adapt to this new world? Glocalization offers an intriguing look at the future of Christianity and how individuals and churches can connect to the future.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 208 pages
• Publisher: Zondervan (February 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0310267188
• ISBN-13: 978-0310267188
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.2 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #361,754 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Church Which You Must Understand, June 8, 2007

By	Samuel Carmack "Ph.D." (Colleyville, TX USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

There is only a handful of people whose life demands a read and careful study. Bob Roberts is one of those persons. What his church has done is unique. It is one of the few churches in the United States that has taken cultural transformation global while maintaining an Evangelical message. This book reveals the heart of such a pastor and presents many practical points of application.
I'm puzzled by the critical review of Isaiah. He's disappointed by a local church only adopting a few locations? Bob teaches that churches need to learn to specialize, pick a city or country and develop a relationship-better, a friendship, and encourage another church to do the same thing. To try to everything is to do nothing.
Isaiah's opening line, "If you believe you can just tell people about Jesus without caring for their physical needs, you may want to read this book." suggests he hasn't read the book very well. The book is all about cultural impact which is completely about ministry to the whole person.
It is especially disappointing to see a reviewer use pejorative terms--"self indulgent" does not describe this book or Bob Roberts.
Obviously there is a vital issue at stake. Read the book.
I rate the book with 4 stars, because I would like for it to be a little more systematic in its approach. While not being a systematic treatise, it is the heartfelt cry of a pastor who is doing something very significant and inviting many others to go along on the journey. As I think about it, perhaps the lack of system is a plus in a post-modern world. I guess my professorial habits have found me out.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Movilizing, Activiating and Connecting Individuals around the world! , October 1, 2007

By	Sergio Ramos (Texas) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The book is vital because it brings personal experience of a man that has put a side his old mental models and traditions in order to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit. The book is not written in systematic style, but rather in a pragmatic way.

The author does a good job of engaging his readers. He develops a framework to describe the importance of focusing on a particular "people group" for the purpose of establishing true relationship, which in turn will produce transformation from the inside out.

Glocalization offers an exciting opportunity for those churches and individuals who are seeking a different approach in touching others people's life through relationship, respect and acceptance to impact this changing world for Christ.

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Book For All Domains, February 15, 2007

By	Scott Beebe - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book is for you only if in you fit into one of the domains of society (i.e. government, art, education, business, etc.). If you are a pastor, you cannot help but be motivated at your revised job description, namely, "to get the people sitting in our pews to use their vocations in a natural way to connect locally and internationally". Your new gauge of effectiveness is "How many laypeople am I mobilizing?"

If you are a Westerner, then you will be pointedly asked if you can "see and submit to what God is doing and be a servant to the East instead of a leader".

If you are a Western professional, you will be challenged to go engage emerging nations and seek the stability of those around it. You will get a crash course in being glocal, and seeing this not as a clever church program/strategy/platform, but a legitimate mindset for the integration of your faith in God and practice of your trade.

Finally, Bob is a student of Friedman, Zakaria, Jones, Ghandi, Bono and Capra. This atypical pastor is providing leadership into an atypical, but extraordinary, societal/global transformation. Take your leaders through this book, whoever you are.