From Publishers Weekly: Inspired by and supported with a foreword by David Kinnaman, author of the bestselling unChristian, this tandem book/DVD puts faces on Kinnaman’s findings on Christianity’s image problem. In four cities, the authors interviewed Christians but also agnostics, atheists, Muslims, gays, and other groups Christians are believed to reject. At the heart of the problem, they’ve discovered, is a Christian “swagger” that repels would-be Christians. They advocate the persuasive power of listening and truly liking people, choosing to use the word “like” rather than the overused “love.” In their words: “Jesus is the God who likes people.” Each chapter includes tie-ins to the DVD interviews and a reader’s guide for discussion. The book’s narrative, which recreates the road trip the authors took to do their interviews, seems self-indulgent and boring. But the combined impact of the book and DVD is stunning: the authors have heard and noted important ways Christians can improve their outreach by being more like Jesus, who meets people where they are. (July)
Outsider Interviews
Greg Taylor
My wife, Jill, and I have three children: Ashley, Anna, and Jacob. We live in Broken Arrow and I preach for The Journey: a New Generation Church of Christ in Tulsa (www.thejourneychurch.faith). I have a B.A. in Journalism and an M.Div. from Harding School of Theology in Memphis, Tennessee. Before coming to Tulsa, we lived in Nashville, Tennessee four years, where I worked with The Zoe Group and Wineskins Magazine. From 1994-2001 we lived in Jinja, Uganda, where we worked with a church planting team, an experience that forever changed our lives. With Randy Harris, I co-authored Living Jesus: Doing What Jesus Says in the Sermon on the Mount and you can learn about other books I've written at my web site, www.gregtaylor.org. My most recent book co-authored with Randy is Daring Faith: Meeting Jesus in the Book of John.
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