“Through our research we found that churches who are reaching the unchurched and dechurched understand this trend of creating community. Most of them offer a third place in their churches. While only one out of five churches with recent facitlity additions built a third-place facility, almost three-fourths of the formerly unchurched say they were attracted to a church with a third-place facility” (page 61-62).

“This line of conviction and argumentation perhaps worked with older generations, but it does not resonate with the latest generation of young adults…

“Our research revealed what many pastors and church leaders already know anecdotally: the youngest generation doesn’t necessarily leave their faith; rather they leave their church” (page 27).

“80 percent of high school students do not plan to leave their church once they graduate” (page 28).

“To be blunt, God has converted our children, but we have failed to disciple them. Our children grow up in the church and experience all the programs and fellowship, but they do not engage the truths of Scripture” (page 30).

“But the church is not capturing and engaging these students’ spiritual interests. In fact, the church is doing the opposite. We’re losing them because the church is uninteresting to them.
“The major source of disillusionment within the church stems not from the expected differences of worship style wars, time slots, day of worship, or even geographic location of the church. While some do leave for these oft-stated reasons, the major loss originates from the lack of discipleship within our churches” (page 32).

“Church is not a chore, no should it be viewed as such. Lost somewhere is the idea that we are to grow discipled warriors fro God. Church can be fun; fellowship is many times viewed as one of the essential purposes of the church. But our churches should produce and grow disciplined, God-glorifying people, not callow Christians” (page 35).

“At issue in many churches are the vast number of programs and ’spots to fill.’ Our youth see adults in the church begrudgingly serving in areas for which they have little passion. They see their parents and others getting sucked into the vacuum of church service. But if we show these young adults that serving the church is more about using their God-given gifts and less about filling a spot in a program, they are less likely to want to break from church” (page 36).

“Churches should not attempt to ’sell’ this generation on church. They want their church to be authentic and real. They want the truth, even if they disagree with it. They want to know where you stand. They may not like it at first, but they will respect you…Fanciness may attract a crowd for a while, but assimilation will never occur unless a church is truly authentic, transparent, and real…And we should be training and discipling them, placing them in pertinent leadership roles and holding them accountable. When the bar is set high and excellence is demanded, the church will then attract and keep those who truly seek to assimilate and make a difference in ministry” (page 39).

“The signs of a more intense drought are occurring in our great country. It has been going for some time; it is a drought in our churches. This drought stretches from coast to coast. With many people-particularly young adults-leaving the church every week, the church needs to get back to the basics.
“We must pray for a pouring out of the Holy Spirit. Our society needs water, but it has abandoned the fountain of living water and dug cisterns for itself-a double evil because the Lord is abandoned and people resort to their own pursuits (see Jer. 2:13). The powers of darkness are bringing the heat and causing extreme spiritual droughts” ( page 43-44).

Top Ten reasons Church Dropouts Steopped Attending Church

1. *Simply wanted a break from church
2. Church members seemed judgmental or hypocritical
3. *Moved to college and stopped attending church
4. *Work responsibilities prevented me from attending
5. *Moved too far away from the church to continue attending
6. *Became too busy though still wanted to attend
7. *Didn’t feel connected to the people in my church
8. Disagreed with the church’s stance on political or social issues
9. *Chose to spend more time with friends outside the church
10. *Was only going to church to please others

*Didn’t find church attendance to be essential

“Imagine a scenario where every church in America more than doubled its worship attendance in one week. And imagin that the increase was sustained with an influx of regenerate, dedicated members.

“We estimate that, on a given Sunday, about 85 million people in America attend a Protestant church. What would the spritual impact on our nation look like if that number suddenly increased to more than 150 million?

“That is the exciting scenario we would witness if our churches could stem the tide of exodus of young adults from our churches. And though we are not so naive as to believe there is a formulaic approach toward this reality, we do believe that some biblical realities could curb this massive exodus” (page 5).

1. Simplify
2. The church moves its members to deepen their knowledge of God’s Word and His truths. These congregtions have resisted the temptation to “dumb down” bilbical teachings in an attenpt to draw a crowd or to avoid tough issues.
3. High expectations
4. Multiply members spritually

“Despite the growth of the nation, the SBC is baptizing no more people today than it did in 1950.

“Worse yet, the church is losing influence in cultutre. Local churches are having trouble relating to their local community and the younger generation. While some peg this irrelevance as the major underlying factor of declining churches, we believe that it is merely symptomatic of a much greater issue: the church is no longer essential to peole’s lives” (page 8).

“Charles Spurgeon, famed pastor of London’s Metropolitan Tabernacle in the late 1800’s, wrote the following in his book The Soul Winner

In the next place, we do not consider soul-winning to be accomplished by hurriedly inscribing more names upon our church-roll, in order to show a good increase at the end of the year. This is easily done, an there are brethren who use great pains, not to say arts, to effect it; but if it be regarded as the Alpha and Omega of a minister’s efforts, the result will be deplorable (page 10).

“Any traveler to Western Europe will marvel at two aspects of the local churches: how intricately and monstrously beautiful they are as well as how empty they are of parishioners” (page 11).

“Believers in the United States should not make the assumption that we are free and clear from this dilemma. In fact, we are just a little further behind on the road of irrelevancy” (page 11).

Stagnation equates to dying. Your church may look the same week in and week out, but if you are not winning the next generation for Christ, then you are losing the battle.

1. Doctrine Dilution – Watering down Scripture is not the answer to reaching a younger generation for Christ. They do not want to be mollycoddled with tough doctrinal truths. Diluting the truth to cater to eighteen to twenty-two-year-olds may work for a time, but low-dose Christianity stings the church much worse in the long run.
2. Loss of Evangelistic Passion – Dying churches have little evangelistic passion
3. Failure to Be Relevant – Churches taht do not find ways to become relevant in their respective communites will eventually falter. Churches that keep their internal culture unchanged for fifty years while the world around them goes through continual periods of metamorphosis typically die with that old culture
4. Few Outwardly Focused Ministries – As crucial as Bible studies and fellowship are, dying churches gorge themselves on closed study groups and churchwide fellowship events while neglecting outreach in the community
5. Conflict over Personal Preferences – When the power of personal preference overcomes the calling of the Great Commission, major myopia spreads among the congregation. They do not see the imperative to win people for Christ due to the blurriness of their won selfishness.
6. The Priority of Comfort – Dying churches are comfortable with their ministries. But ‘The way we’ve always done it’ will not pass muster if the American church is to thrive.
7. Biblical Illiteracy – One of the major sins of a dying church is the neglect of theological teaching. If a church member does not understand the basics of Scripture, then they are hampered in their witness.

Simplify – The church develops a clear structure and process for making disciples.
Deepen – The church provides a strong biblical teaching and preaching.
Expect – The church has an attitude that communicates to its members that they must be committed to the local congregation.
Multiply – The church has an outward focus, drivng to reach people for Christ and starting new churches (page 16-21) .

written by David Kinnaman and Gabe Lyons (From The Barna Research Group)

Quotes:

“Young outsiders generally do not get the impression that Christians have good intentions when it comes to trying to ‘convert’ them. Most reject the iddea that Christians show genuine interest in them as individuals” (page 68).

Development of the Christian Mind:

1. Thinking
2. Loving
3. Listening. (page 81-82)

“A faith that does not effectively address convoluted and thorny issues seems out of tune with a generation asking big questions and expressing candid doubts. Spirituality that is merely focused on ‘dos and dont’s’ rings hollow” (page 126).

“Are we trying to please God or polishing our holy credentials in front of fellow insiders?” (page 186).

“And so, to move from unChristian to Christian, young people need to see Christianity rejecting self-preservation and insularity and embracing true concern and compassion for others. This is important for Christian young people as well as Mosaics and Busters who are on the outside, watching to see if the efforts of ‘those Christians’ are worth joining” (page 215).

“What if millions of us are living for ourselves, even while we are going through the motions of religion? What if we seek comfort for ourselves rather than giving comfort to other people? What if our spiritual efforts re focused on maintaining equilibrium rather than addressing the significant spiritual needs of others?” (page 219).

“I believe part of the reason Christians are known as unChristian is because the church has lost its ability and willingness to love and accept people who are not part of the ‘insider’ club. This failure is draining the vigor from our faith. We say we love outsiders, but in may cases we show love only iof it is on our terms, if they are interesed in coming to our church, or if they repect our way of life.
“We want young generations to participate in our churches, but we expect them to play by the rules, look the part, embrace the music, and use the right language. We condemn the moral compromises of Mosaics and Busters, but we lack the patience to restore them. We want them to be ccome mature Christ followers, through we are unwilling to submit to the significant task of our own spiritual formation” (page 219).

“Respondents to our surveys believe Christians are trying, consciously or not, to justify feelings of moral and spiritual superiority. One outsider described it like this: ‘Christians like to hear themselves talk. They are arrogant about their beliefs, but they never bother figuring out what other people acutally think. They don’t see to be very compassionate, especially when they feel strongly about something’” (page 182).

“To be judgemental is to point out something that is wrong in someone else’s life, making the person feel put down, excluded, and marginalized” (page 182).

“Our research shows that do-it-yourself morality is gaining momentum, and it is the way most Mosaics and Busters sift through moral decisions” (page 183).

“Yet an entire generation of those inside and outside the church are questioning our motives as Christians. They believe we are more interested in proving we are right than that God is right. They say Christians are more focused on condemning people than helping people become more like Jesus” (page 184).

“The perception is that Christians are known more for talking about these issues than doing anything about them”(page 184).

“In a recent study, we asked outsiders, churchgoers, and pastors to describe whether they perceive Christian churches to be loving environments, places where people are unconditionally loved and accepted regardless of how they look or what they do. Only one out of five outsiders said they perceived churches in this way. Surprisingly, few2er than half of churchgoers, including born-again Christians, felt strongly that their church demonstrates unconditional love” (page 185).

“Are we trying to please God or polishing our holy credentials in front of fellow insiders?” (page 186).

“In addition to Jesus’s cautionary words, the Bible makes it clear that God, not humans, should judge. It is God’s job, and he does it impartially while exposing the true motives of people’s hearts” (page 192).

“We have to start seeing ourselves and those around us for the people we really are-needy and hurting but with great potential as God’s sons and daughters. Maybe thenwe would reject arrogance as adamantly as we do any other sin, because it is especially corrosive to the faith of Christ followers” (page 193).

“Outsiders understand the nuances of differenct situations, and we discovered that, when their Christian peers gave them input within the context of relationship and with respect, in general they appreciated it. Human beings are attracted to acceptance and genuine respect: they are repelled by rejection and an air of superiority.
“Outsiders suggested the following guidelines for facilitating mutual esteem:

1. Listen to me.
2. Don’t label me. Using terms that put people into boxes is generally offensive to people. Words like ‘lost,’ ‘pagans,’ and ‘nonbelievers’ are not particularly endearing.
3. Don’t be so smart. Don’t pretend to have all the answers.
4. Put yourself in my place. Christians seem to be concerned only about what people do or don’t do-such as whether they go to church and have acceptable behaviors. But outsiders want you to understand some of the things they have suffered and gone through.
5.  Be genuine
6. Be my friend with no other motives. Outsiders say they sometimesget the feeling that Christians have befriended them with the ulterior motive of getting them into church. (page 194).

“We need to move beyond expecting people to behave according to our expectations, and instead try to help connect them to God’s purposes” (page 195).

“There is someone I love, even though I don’t approve of what he does. There is someone I accept, though some of his thoughts and actions revolt me. There is someone I forgive, though he hurts the people I love the most. That person is me. There are plenty of things I do that I don’t like, but if I can love myself without approving of all I do, I can also love others without approving of all they do” (Jud Wilhite, page 198).

“One of our weaknesses is that we’re far more concerned with being right than being righteous. We become like the Pharisees whenever we focus on issues rather than people” (Margaret Feinberg, page 200).

“I’m perplexed at how anyone can hear the story of Jesus dying in our place and rescuing us out of our helplessness and have it produce arrogance in their life” (Rick McKinley, page 201).

“Grace is our central issue, and for us to simply ignore this finding will certainly be our unhinging. We will slide down the slippery slope toward irrelevance, and our message of the gospel will no longer be credible in our culture. Why? Because it appears at some level that the secular world is capable of ‘doing grace’ better than we are. Chrsitianity’s main export has been co-opted by nonbelievers”(Mike Foster, page 202).

“Our lives should reflect Jesus, which includes not just how we vote, but every element of our political engagement-our conversations about politics as well as our attitudes about idealogical opponents. This may seem obvious, but based n our research on this subject, we must realize that our political activism, if expressed in an unChristian manner, prevents a new generation from seeing Christ” (page 155).

“Christians need to be aware of their reputation in this arena, not only because it influences their politcal engagement, but because it affects their ability to connect with new generations who are innately skeptical of people who appear to use political power to protect their interests and viewpoints. This perception may not always be accurage but it contributes to outsiders’ mistrust of Christians.
“The stakes are high. Future elections are liely to be shaped by these attitudes, as will tyhe outcomes of the spiritual search of millions of young adults” (page 156).

“Since every group seems to have a political presence and agenda, why should Chritians be subject to special criticism? Are outsiders asking us to stay out of politics? According to our research, not exactly. Many outsiders clarified that they believe Christians have a right (even an obligation) to pursue political involvement, but they disagree with our methods andour attitudes. They say we sem to be pursuing an agenda that benefits only ourselves; they assert that we expect too much out of politics; they question whether we are motivated by our economic status rather than faith perspectives when we support conservative politics; they claim we act and say things in an unChristian manner; they wonder whether Jesus would use political power as we do; and they are concerned that we overpower the voices of other groups” (page 165).

“‘A lot of times the church would take a conservative Republican stance, and anyone who did not fit into that mold was judged as not as good a Christian as everyone else’ ” (page 166).

“We should make an effort to engage in other culture-shaping activities in addition to politics” (page 168).

“There is nothing gained by winning elections if we lose our soul in the process” (page 168).

“Guard your attitudes and what you say about outsiders. Our political engagement should not be the only yardstick by which outsiders measure our faith. Our words and actions shape people’s experiences and impressions of Jesus” (page 169).

“Christians do a lot of complaining about the society and how bad things are in politics, but they don’t do much more than complain. The pont is that you have to offer more than an opinion”(page 170).

“Christians talk about being driven by family values when they volte, but a lot of their families are in bad shape too” (page 170).

“In the aftermath of the Religious Right’s ascendancy, it is not an accident that ‘antihomosexual’ is the number one perception of Christians in America these days, followed closely by ‘judgmental’ and ‘hypocritical’ and ‘insensitive.’ Young people today could, if we had taken a wiser path for the last few decades, think ‘antipoverty’ or ‘pro-environment’ or ‘pro-fidelity’ or ‘antivoiolence’ when they hear ‘Christian’ or ‘evangelical.’
“We need more Bible-but we also need a better, more holistic and profound understanding of the Bible and what it says about justice, compassion, the future, power, poverty, money, war, sex, and the kingdom of God. Yes, we need more maturity-but we also need a better and more holistic maturity, a maturity willing to face the historic and social realities of our so-called Christian pat: a past that includes antiSemitism, racism, chauvinism, holocaust, colonialism, apartheid, slavery, attempted genocide of native peoples, and much else that is ugly and calls not for excuses and minimization but for forthright repentance” (Brian McLaren, page 172-173).

“It is a huge mistake to become married to an ideology, because the greatest enemy of the gospel is ideology. Ideology is a man-made format of how the world ought to work, and Christians instead believe in the revealed truth of Scripture” (Chuck Colson, page 174).

“Every time Christianity has fallen into the trap of using politics to achieve its means, it has lot its power and effectiveness. Relevant Christianity never loses sight of the reality that in the kingdom of God, everything is upside down when contrasted with the world’s pursuits…He said that our job as followers of Christ was to promote Jesus, not political bias” (Tri Robinson, page 175).

“In addition, politics is not everything. We are not going to se aright the sexual revolution on the floor of the Senate. We need new and ’saltier’ forms of cultural engagement” (Mark Rodgers, page 178).

“Outsiders think Christianity is out of tune with the real-world choices, challenges, and lifestyles they face. Only one-fifth of young outsiders believe that an active faith helps people live a better, more fulfilling life. Three-quarters of Mosaics and Busters outside the church said that present-day Christianity could accurately be described as old-fashioned, and seven out of ten believe the faith is out of touch with reality. Most outsiders and nearly half of young insiders say that Christianity is confusing” (page 122).

“If you have spent much time with people in their twenties or thirties, you know that Mosaics and Busters are the antithesis of ’sheltered.’ This is one of the reasons Christianity, in its sheltered, clueless, non-intellectual form, makes no sense to them” (page 125).

“Mosaics and Busters thrive on unexpected experiences and enjoy searching for new sources of input…A vast portion of their typical day is spent consuming media and exploring the burgeoning realms of the Internet” (page 125).

“A majority of Busters, including most born-again Christian young people, believe that the spiritual world is too complex and mysterious for humans to understand. Millions of young people admit that life itself is too complicated to really grasp” (page 125).

“Young people’s perspectives about the world are not neat and tidy. They find themselves brushing aside thoseunwilling to expolre life’s intricacy and irony and idiocy, as they would say. A faitht hat does not effectively addresss convoluted and thorny issues seems out of tune with a generation asking big questions and expressingcandid doubts. Spirituality that is merely focusd on”dos and don’ts” rings hollow” (page 126).

Fractured generations

1. Busters have grown up in a social setting more violent than that of their Boomer parents.
2. Family structures have undergone dramatic changes since the times when Boomers were growing up. Currently more than one-third of children born in the Unity States are born to unmarried mothers.
3. At least two out of every five Busters and Mosaics admit to viewing some type of pornography in a typical month.
4. 75 percent of young people approve of sex before marriage.
5. The average age when a young woman lost her virginity is 15. And Busters are twice as likely as Boomers to have had multiple sex partners by age eighteen.
6. One out of seven admits to dealing with an addictuion. One-third describe themselves as overweight. One-sixth recognize they are already in serious debt. Almost one out of every four Busters who have been married has already experienced a divorce.
7. Halv of young adults say they are trying to find a few good friends. One-eighth are lonely. One-quarter feel unfulfilled in life. Nearly half say they are stressed out.
8. Suicide is the third leading cuase of death among people aged fifteen to twenty-four (pages 126-128).

“Being salt and light demands two things: we practice purity in the midst of a fallen world and yet we live in proximity to this fallen world. If you don’t hold up both truths in tension, you invariably become useless and separated from the world God loves. For example, if you only practice purity apart from porximity to the culture, you inevitably become pietistic, separatists, and conceited. If you live in close proximity to the culture without also living in a holy manner, you become indistinguishable from fallen culture and useless in God’s Kingdom” (Mike Metzger, page 133).

“This may not surprise you, but the perception that Christians are sheltered is most significant among the subculture of intellectuals and influentials. Our research shows that upscale outsiders-those with advanced educational and financial profiles-are much more likely than average to express resistance and skepticism toward Christianity. The sheltered perception-that Christians are ignorant and uninformed is most common among young intellectuals” (page 135).

“These young Christian leaders realize that they must display excellence at their craft. Their credibility as Christians depends on their ability to do a great job” (page 136).

“So how do you stay connected? Relationship. Talk to people. Anyone. Everyone. Ask questions. Lots. Liten closely to the ansers. Open up your life to strangers, visitors, and friends of friends” (Margaret Feinberg, page 141).

“We’ve tried too long to educate their minds instead of engaging their lives. The more we try to change the way we do church so this generation will join us, the more they seem to stay away…We have discovered a short window of time during the teenage years when students need to experience something beyond church as a spectator sport. If a young person is not challenged by hands-on personal minsitry, their faith will likely be sidetracked and even sabotaged” (Reggie Joiner, Page 142).

“It really bothers me that Christians are perceived as boring. Other perceptions may pass, but the idea that Christinaity is boring will not, unless we work hard to recover the true robust nature of the gospel. We have succeeded in making Christianity tepid. We are lukewarm, and God says that he will spit us out. Current forms of Christian practice have become a poor substitue for the real thing. That is way this perception exists.
“The excitement of Chritinaity won’t come back because of ‘happy music’; it will come back when we begin to understand the vibrance and vitality of the biblical story of what the kingdom of God is all about” (Chuck Colson, page 144).

“Most born-again Christians have a hard time knowing how they should respond to the lifestyles of homosexuals as well as how to respond to the political efforts of gay and lesbian activists” (page 94).

“May Christians continue to be very skeptical about donating to HIV/AIDS causes, even overseas, despite Christians’ generosity in many other arenas” (page 95).

“It is one thing to be against homosexuality, to affirm that the Bible rejects the practice of same-sex lifestyles, but it is another to be against homosexuals, to let your disagreement with their behavior spill out in your feelings and words toward them as people” (page 96).

“We encountered significant resistance among some Christians to having their views about gays and lesbians challenged. Apparently they have already made up their mind that they have nothing to learn. Consider some of the inaccurate assumptions Christians embrace:

1. Homosexuals are incapable of acting morally.
2. Homosexuals are an organized movement with the purpose of subverting conservative Christianity. Another assumption is that all homosexuals are of the same mind regarding their political engagement as well as in their antagonism toward Christians.
3. Homosexuality is a simple issue…Many Christian psychologiests and pastors consider human sexuality to be a complex puzzle of personality, our tainted sin nature, an individual’s history, and personal needs.
4. It is best to avoid any friendships with homosexuals. (pages 97-98)

Biblical Responses

1. Acknowledging the complexity. The biblical response to homosexuals should be to deal with the fundamental needs that all men and women have. We must acknowledge that everyone has sexual baggage but also has the potential for sexual wholeness. There are major problems across the spectrum of sexuality that the church needs to address. For example, a majority of born-again Busters believe that cohabitation and sexual fantasies are morally acceptable.
2. Opening doors with conversations. A vital  element of engaging homosexuals is to elevate the importance of conversations. Christians expect overnight results and are impatient with the need to cultivate deep, candid relationships and interactions of trust.
3. Treating other Christians with respect. If we don’t work at developing meaningful relationships with our co-workers, whether gay or straight, how can we expect them to respect us and our beliefs? When we get to know and love homosexuals because they are people, perhaps they will grow to love and appreciate us and maybe even listen to what we believe.
4. Having the right perspective. Even if we could “win” every legal, legislative, and political battle-a reality that will become increasingly difficult as Mosaics and Busters take center stage-the chasm between Christians and outsiders will only deepen. We cannot assume that politics is the only or best way to influence people.
5. Expressing concern for kids.
6. Having compassion. ‘Nothing that we despise in the other man is entirely absent from ourselves. We must learn to regard people less in the light of what they do or don’t do, and more in light of what they suffer’ (Deitrich Bonhoeffer)” (page 104-107).

“Among young adults, process trumps product and the journey is more important than the destination” (page 68).

“Youth outsiders generally do not get the impression that Chritians have good intentions when it comes to trying to ‘convert’ them. Most reject the idea that Christians show genuine interest in them as individuals” (page 68).

“When outsiders question our motives, it neutralizes their interest in Christianity. Only one-quarter of young outsiders firmly perceive that Christinaity offers them ‘hope for the future’ (23 percent), and only one out of every seven strongly believes say that Christianity is ‘genuine and real’ (15 percent). Despite the fact that most young outsiders say that Christianity has good values and principles (79 percent), a majority say that the Christian faith teaches pretty much the same basic ideas as other religions (81 percent)” (page 69).

“The most effective efforts to share faith are interpersonal and relationship based. When we asked born-again Busters to identify the activity, ministry event, or person most directly responsible for their decision to accept Jesus Christ, 71 percent listed an individual-typically their parent, a friend, another relative, or a teacher”(page 70).

“In our research with some of the leading ‘mass evangelism’ efforts, we found that often these measures create three to ten times as much negative response as positive” (page 71).

“Obeying the command to make disciples does not give us license to offend people, especially when those offenses are actually inhibiting us from fulfilling that very commandment”(page 71).

“Most people, by personality, are not logical thinkers and are not likely to change their beliefs because of elegant argumentation or apologetics” (page 72).

A person with a biblical worldview believes that:

1. Jesus Christ lived a sinless life,
2. God is the all-powerful and all-knowing Creator of the universe and he still rules it today,
3. Salvation is a gift from God and cannot be earned,
4. Satan is real,
5. A Christian has a responsibility to share his or her faith in Christ with other people,
6. The Bible is accurate in all of the principles it teaches,
7. Unchanging moral truth exists,
8. Such moral truth is defined by the Bible. (page 75)

“Only one out of seven outsiders describes Christianity as something that seems genuine and real. Just one-third believe that Christians show genuine interest in them”(page 77).

“Many outsiders actually miss the chance to experience true life in Christ because we cheapen the message of Jesus to church membership or denominational loyalty” (page 79).

“Most people do not have a clear sense of what spiritual transformation is or what it should look like” (page 80).

“People who have a biblical worldview are much more likely to act like Jesus because they see such things as life, people, and crises differently than most people do…We are learning that one of the primary reasons that ministry to teenagers fails to produce a lasting faith is because they are not being taught to think” (page 81).

“If we are being transformed by our faith, the way we perceive and love people, including outsiders, will change” (page 81).

“A third outcome of transformation is the ability to listen-to God and to others…God is constantly communicating with his people, How can we orient our efforts as Christians to learn and respond to the ways he speaks?” (page 82).

“It is a picture of what the Hebrews called shalom, or peace, or wholeness, extending to every facet of lief: the sick healed, the captives freed, the oppressed released, right relationships restored with God and humanity” (page 86).

“The local church has to be responsible for ‘making the invisible kingdom visible” (page 87).

“The gospel cannot be merely a private transaction. God didn’t break through history, through time and space, to come as a babe, be incarnated, and suffer on the cross just so you can come to him and say, ‘Oh, I accept Jesus and now I can live happily ever after.’ That’s not why he came…Jesus came as a radical to turn the world upside down. When we believe it is just about Jesus and yourself, we miss the whole point” (page 87 – quote taken from Chuck Colson).

“Here’s my advice to Christians who want to change culture’s perception of Christianity:’Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.’ In other words, do something that causes people to look favorably in God’s direction. I still believe that everybody spends eternity somewhere. If tht’s the case, getting this right isn’t a marginal issue. It is the issue” (page 88-89 – quote taken from Andy Stanley).