Future Church

by Jim L. Wilson

Publisher:

B&H

, 2004

Overview

The church today is poised on a precarious balance between culture and content, between cultural relevance and doctrinal integrity. Like a seesaw, the church swings back and forth, compelled both to reach an entertainment-driven culture and to remain true to the Gospel.

In Future Church, Jim Wilson presents seven clear principles which become fulcrum points: principles that will give the Church real leverage to reach people and push them upward toward the hand of God. These seven points are illustrated in real-life settings, as Wilson takes us on visits to churches that are utilizing them. This is the way of ministry in a post-seeker age. This is Future Church!

Contents

Top Highlights

“The yearnings to believe, belong, and become.’ Today the church doesn’t ask, ‘How do we attract unbelievers?’ or ‘How do we meet the needs of Christ’s followers?’ Instead we ask, ‘How do we bring people into a place where God’s presence will cause them to yearn for wholeness?’” (Page 17)

“The form of communication does not change the content of the truth, but it may change how it is received.” (Page 33)

“It is prostitution, turning the church into whatever the market demands it to be.’” (Page 51)

“In an editorial for On Mission, Henry Blackaby wrote, ‘This is our greatest hour as Christians. The world’s values have failed, and many know this well—with great brokenness and pain! People are searching for what is true, stable, real, and safe.’ He continued, ‘People sense a spiritual vacuum in their lives, and they know the world does not have real and certain answers for them.’⁷ This is not a time for the church to be fearful but a time to be faithful and fill the vacuum for truth left in an age when people no longer believe in absolute truth.” (Page 150)

“Any church with fixed structure in a fluid environment will become outdated and irrelevant. What the church was calling ‘contemporary’ wasn’t. So McManus began leading them into the future.” (Page 47)

Product Details

• Title: Future Church
• Author: Jim L. Wilson
• Publisher: B&H Publishing Group
• Publication Date: 2004
• Pages: 242

About Jim L. Wilson

Jim L. Wilson started preaching when he was 17 and became a pastor when he was 18. He is the director of the Doctor of Ministry Program and an associate professor of leadership formation at Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary, where he teaches leadership and preaching seminars to DMin candidates.

Wilson is an award-winning writer with hundreds of pieces in print in 60+ publications, including some published by Christianity Today International, Focus on the Family, and Lifeway Christian Resources. He is author, contributor, or co-author of more than a dozen books, including Future Church and Soul Shaping.