The Surprising Offense

The other book I’m reading right now is the latest from 9Marks ministries, by Jonathan Leeman,The Church and the Surprising Offense of God’s Love: Reintroducing the Doctrine of Church Membership and Discipline. Just like the book by James Davison Hunter I recommended on Saturday, I recommend this one full-throatedly — even if this is not a complete review by any means.

If Hunter’s book is a game-changer for your view of church, culture, and politics, this book is the game-changer that, frankly, I wish I had written. Leeman’s book is unbelievably-careful to begin at the beginning or the idea of “church” and end at your front door, challenging you to be what God wants you to be among the other people called out to be the church together.

Both of these books deserve a chapter-by-chapter treatment in order to fully and fairly review them — and there’s no way I’m going to get that done this week. However, you could get a leg up on that endeavor by buying either one and starting to read them for your own edification.

There is not a more important issue for Evangelicals today than the topic(s) covered by this book by Leeman, and from a different approach angle by Hunter. I look forward to leveraging both of them with you in the future here.

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