From Publishers Weekly
Organized as a series of conversations, this book explores the lively edge of Christianity in the U.S. and the U.K. Sine, who wrote
The Mustard Seed Conspiracy in the early 1980s, has always championed Christian subversives and exiles who act in small but significant ways to care for the poor and marginalized. This book begins by delineating four streams of Christian expression that greatly challenge the norms and assumptions of traditional churches. These streams—emerging, missional, mosaic and monastic—frequently flow into one another, and Sine does a fine job of defining them as separate but interdependent entities. Sine looks to these streams for tentative answers to several difficult questions, such as Did we get what it means to be a disciple wrong? and Did we get what it means to be the church wrong? As he explores these questions, Sine considers the context, particularly what he calls the global mall, in which the church must define and distinguish itself. Sine is unflinching in his assessment of Christian consumerism, but his tone is never angry. Rather, he exudes childlike enthusiasm as he shares example after example of Christians all over the world who are expressing their faith through profoundly countercultural acts of mercy, justice, love and compassion.
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Review
"As I travel around the world I am noting that even the most insensitive are sensing that something is happening! The question is, what is happening? The thing that most people in the church and in the community are grappling with is, what sort of future can we help create? In The New Conspirators Tom Sine has gathered a collective of understandings and has woven them together to give an emerging image of what the future could look like. It is insightful and essential reading for anybody wanting to make a difference and live out the prayer that God's kingdom might come on earth as it is in heaven." --
Fuzz Kitto, director, Spirited Consulting, Sydney, Australia"Perhaps you are like me and sometimes wish the world would stand still so we could catch our breath, figure out where we are going, develop a travel plan, and then enter back into the global community all fresh and ready to enter its busiest places. Tom Sine reminds us that the world is not slowing down but we can still map where it is headed. Some of the most imaginative, courageous Christians are already on the path into the emerging edge, and Tom Sine maps what folks are already doing. Let's join this veteran Christian futurist as he maps where these young Jesus-following conspirators are journeying." --
Scot McKnight, Karl A. Olsson Professor in Religious Studies, North Park University"This book is vintage Tom Sine: Always grounding us in the biblical narratives and never allowing us to domesticate our reading of them. Always highlighting the holistic nature of the gospel, never allowing us to diminish and privatize its reach. Always keen to highlight the role of the small and local but never allowing us to lose the global perspective of the kingdom. Always reminding us of the fundamentally communal nature of the faith but never for a moment diminishing our individual role and responsibility in God's plan of redemption. A great book from a great teacher and genuinely wise guide." --
Alan Hirsch, author of The Forgotten Ways and The Shaping of Things to Come (with Mike Frost), and founding director, Forge Mission Training Network"Through the years, Tom Sine's writing has repeatedly knocked me out of my comfort zone and challenged me to see the good news of God in richer and deeper dimensions. He repeatedly inspires me with hope and encouragement, both through his writings and his friendship. His new book is rich with challenge and inspiration, and it's full of signs that the tide is turning, a warm spring sun is shining, and good things are afoot in the church and for the good of the world. If you've never read a Tom Sine book before, here's the one to read, and if you have enjoyed his previous works, you'll want to come back for a second helping." --
Brian D. McLaren, author/activist (brianmclaren.net)"Tom Sine lays bare the church's Inconvenient Truth. Taking a broad overview of the challenges that we have to address in the twenty-first century, Tom has sounded a wake-up call that beckons us to reassess the way we have sold out to the values of modernity. Laying out an alternative future, this book is a bold challenge to all who think that the kingdom of God can be built from the starting point of compromise and comfort." --
Andy Harrington, executive director, Youth for Christ: Vancouver
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