Radical Reformission: Reaching Out Without Selling Out

Rating:
Summary: Tony Robbins meets Jesus Christ
Review:
Pastor Mark Driscoll is first and foremost a great businessman. He has an excellent ability to mix self-help and humour with the messages of christianity. I respect him for that but I'm disheartened by the fact that so many people mindlessly digest everything that he says on a weekly basis as something that is matter of fact. My only hope is that someday people in America will wake up to the fact that the messages that pastor mark preaches are important irrespective of the teachings of christianity.

I am neither christian, nor atheist, nor muslim, nor jew which provides me the unique opportunity of being able to accept people for who they are irrespective of what they believe in. Pastor mark preaches that you need to spread the word of christianity to non-believers so that everyone may hear the word of god. Only a religion that is founded on such shaky beliefs would be so insecure that it would need to spread itself like a virus around the world. Unfortunately most religions are founded with the same goal in mind. If christians, muslims, jews, atheists, agnostics, etc... would just be comfortable in their own foundational beliefs and accept other people for who they are and what they believe in then the world would probably be a much better place. While I fully respect pastor mark's faith in christianity and agree with a lot of the common sense values that he talks about, I disagree wholeheartedly with his position that you need to go out and spread the word of god to every sad sap you meet on the street. Then again if it's better for business then the more the merrier. I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone unless you've really put a lot of time and energy into understanding people who believe in other things and are comfortable with accepting them for who they are.

Rating:
Summary: demands a response
Review: Contra one of the other reviewers I found Mark Driscoll's "The Radical Reformission" anything but boring. This is a thoughtful, creative and forceful book worth engaging if your desire is a "God intoxicated" engagement with the world.

Mark's often prophetic voice flies in the face of the emergent mystique; which is why I find this text important. The book cries out for a "pure" gospel embodied by a pure people of God who are very much in the world. I found myself nodding in agreement while simultaneously vehemently arguing with Mark.

Though I wouldn't recommend this text as the first or the last book a person read regarding missional engagement in a postmodern context, I do recommend a person read it alongside other texts. It is a clarifying book. You will not put it down without having a response and it is for this reason I recommend "The Radical Reformission."

Love it or hate it, you will think more clearly about God, yourself, your faith community and what it means to embody the Gospel in today's world.

Rating:
Summary: I can't believe he just said that.
Review: Driscoll's sense of humor is rather twisted. His willingness to say aloud what others forbid themselves to even think is refreshing. His views are thought provoking. His concepts in practice are enlightening. Some people "will" find parts of Radical Reformission offensive. My parents were offended by the copy I gave them. But they are now buying more copies and recommending it to everyone. RR will show you how to use your freedom to set others free. Thank you Jesus for Pastor Driscoll.

Rating:
Summary: Applicable outside the USA
Review: I'm a church planter in the south of France who found Mr. Driscoll's book both humorous and helpful. I especially appreciated his treatment of the subject of Christians and alcohol. Though he is writing primarily to the American church, I believe that European readers will find good principles and good laughs as well.

Rating:
Summary: Living the message-
Review: It is one thing to be able to write with humor, it's another to offer sound biblical principles to your message, but to do so while living out the message you preach is the main catalyst to the success and influence this book has.

I have the pleasure of being the preaching elder of a daughter church that Mars Hill is funding and helping to guide and plant here in San Diego, and I can say with full confidence that the reason this book is gripping (even after hearing many of these great stories and principles in our network) is because it is not some pie in the sky ideology about missional living, or some cold, removed, theological discussion with no connection to Christ. This message which Pastor Mark brings is absolutely critical as we face a post-Christian, post-modern, post-everything, culture which sees the church at times better than we do. We need to return to the often chanted and rarely applied mantra of semper reformanda. And we must be willing to cut dead weight from our traditions, and kill innovative programs for the sake of pragmatism, so that we can return again to the one, true God who reigns over history and has commissioned us to preach the God glorifying, sin crushing, people freeing gospel in our day.

David Fairchild




Rating:
Summary: new reformation
Review: Mark Driscoll's work on living on the balance of syncretism/sectarianism is critical to the church as we struggle between moralism and 'selling out'. His work has had a profound impact on his church and church pastors across the country. This book is a must read whether you are an 'emerging' pastor or if you have been in the ministry for decades. I pray it is a wake up call to a radical but necessary place of tension.

Rating:
Summary: Reads like Mark preaches and that's great.
Review: Started attending Mars Hill Church, where Mark Discoll is the head teaching elder, a little over a year ago. Only very serious problems can keep us away on Sunday. I'm twice the age of the average member/attendee, but Mark preaches old time religion applied to today's culture and I and about 2,500 others seem very comfortable with both. Mark is very real, sometimes shocking and shows real grace. Week after week my wife and I ask each other "Is that the best sermon we've ever heard AGAIN?"

What you get in RR is what I see happening at Mars Hill, along with Mark's humor and wisdom that's beyond his years. I've been a believer for 35 years and I'm as excited about Jesus as I've ever been and due in no small part to the vision you read about in this book. Would I feel the same way if I wasn't watching Mark practice what he preaches up close and personal? Maybe not, but when I read it, I could honestly say I saw RR being worked out and it's authentic.

Read RR, log on to the MHC web site, stream the sermons, praise God and have a blast.

Rating:
Summary: zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.........
Review: There are much better books out there on the exact same topic. This one was rather boring.

Rating:
Summary: Nothing to contribute to the discussion, I'm afraid...
Review: There's an incredible amount of energy being devoted, both in print and on the lecture/conference circuit, to the cultural relevance of the church, the "emerging church movement", and all that goes along with that. While it's a valuable discussion to have, and the church in general needs to not shy away from honestly assessing its effectiveness and mission, this book honestly brings nothing new to the table. There's nothing being said here that hasn't been said, written, read, and discussed ad infinitum in evangelical Christian circles for years. I respect that some reviewers seem to think this is a wake up call and a prophetic voice, but I would say that you need to raise your standards. Look at the broad array of materials available...Check out the discussions poeople have been having and continue to have the world over...Discover the incredible creativity of many solidly Bible-teaching churches in this country...then re-read the book. Its principle contribution seems to be in the area of repackaging notions and philosophies in supposedly "new" ways, but which are, in fact, old news. I guess getting published isn't so very difficult anymore...At the risk of sounding mean-spirited, which I don't intend, this is basically a waste of time. There's much better stuff out there, both in content and delivery.