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Vintage Church
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$ 17.59
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$ 21.99 |
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| Item Number |
91675 |
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Item Description...
Overview
This popular-level theology book paints a portrait of the church that is timeless in all that it believes and timely in all that it does.
Publishers Description
Defines a biblical church as one that properly balances the eternal truths of Scripture with timely, relevant methods designed to engage the culture. The book in the popular Re:Lit series picks up where Vintage Jesus leaves off, beginning with a focus on the person and work of Jesus and then exploring the confessional, experiential, and missional aspects of his church. This study grows out of the vintage concept of taking timeless truths from Scripture—truths about church leadership, preaching, baptism, communion, and more—and blending them with aspects of contemporary culture, such as multi-campus churches and the latest forms of technology, to reach people with the gospel. While Vintage Church is helpful for pastors and church leaders, it is the kind of book you could hand to someone who has questions about ecclesiology but finds the very term ecclesiology intimidating. The authors put forth twelve practical questions about church doctrine and answer them in clear, biblical language that lay people and new believers can understand. |
Item Specifications...
Pages 335
Dimensions: Length: 1.25" Width: 5.75" Height: 9"
Weight: 1.1 lbs.
Binding Hardcover
Release Date Jan 1, 2009
Publisher Crossway Books/Good News
ISBN 1433501309
EAN 9781433501302
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Availability 20 units.
Availability accurate as of May 30, 2012 05:12.
Usually ships within one to two business days from New Kensington, PA.
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Reviews - What do our customers think?
 | An extremely helpful look at what makes the church the church May 19, 2010 |
What is a church?
This question is one that all Christians need an answer for. Today, we have all kinds of churches--seeker-sensitive churches, emerging churches, missional churches, purpose-driven churches, blogging churches, house churches, multi-site churches... You name it, there seems to be a church for it. But, these really have more to do with style and theological leaning than defining what a church is.
In Vintage Church, Mark Driscoll and Gerry Breshears attempt to define exactly what the church is and how it can fulfill its mandate to transform the world as Christ has commanded.
For the majority of Christianity's history, the definition of the Church has been assumed. The Nicene Creed states that "we believe in one holy and apostolic church," but does not elaborate further than that. Cyprian, the Bishop of Carthage, wrote The Unity of the Church in 251, and no significant contribution to the subject was made until Wycliffe wrote The Church in 1378 (pg. 36). For 1000 years, it was essentially left untouched.
Realizing the importance of defining the Church before being able to really talk about it, Driscoll and Breshears establish the following definition, based on Acts chapter 2:
"The local church is a community of regenerated believers who confess Jesus Christ as Lord. In obedience to Scripture they organize under qualified leadership, gather regularly for preaching and worship, observe the biblical sacraments of baptism and Communion, are unified by the Spirit, are disciplined for holiness, and scatter to fulfill the Great Commandment and the Great Commission as missionaries to the world for God's glory and their joy" (pg. 38).
This definition fuels everything else addressed within the pages of Vintage Jesus. Church leadership is defined (in large part built upon Driscoll's A Book You'll Actually Read On Church Leadership) as qualified men who meet the qualifications of biblical eldership (from 1 Tim. 3:1-7 & Titus 1: 5-9), under Jesus Christ. I found this to be a very important distinction to make: Jesus is the Senior Pastor of our church. Everyone, pastors/elders, deacons, ministry leaders, members... all of us are under His authority. This is a very humbling reminder that it's Jesus who plants, grows, and (if needed) kills a church.
The sacraments (baptism and Communion), the necessity of unity, the importance of church discipline, how love is expressed, what it means to be a missional church, and multi-site churches are all covered in depth, and based primarily from Driscoll's experience with Mars Hill Church in Seattle. I found these chapters particularly helpful in that they were not saying "this is the way to do XYZ," but rather, "this is how Mars Hill works... perhaps some of it might be useful for your context."
One of my favourite chapters was on the importance of preaching. I am passionate about good, strong biblical preaching. I get excited whenever I hear gifted men like Piper, CJ Mahaney, Matt Chandler, and so many more present the Scriptures faithfully and unapologetically. I love it whenever my own pastor preaches about what he's really passionate about: the Gospel. This chapter is really an affirmation for those who preach Christ as the center of every sermon and every text, and I would say a soft-ish rebuke to those who would place man at the center of the biblical narrative.
Another thing I greatly appreciated was a maturity in the humor that is found within the pages of Vintage Church. Many of the jokes in Vintage Jesus, the "prequel" to this book, are somewhat juvenile, and sometimes down-right crass, and I am thankful that Driscoll reigned it in this time around.
In the end, I believe Vintage Church does an excellent job providing a helpful definition of the church for the 21st century believer, one that may be of great help to many churches that are struggling to define themselves and move forward in the work which Jesus has called them. | | |  | Getting back to the truth!!...and moving forward. Sep 30, 2009 |
| Culture and religion have twisted the definition of the church. This books helps us get back to the true definition so that we move forward in that truth. Logical presentation. Well written. Eye opening. | | | | Driscoll Swings, and Hits. Sep 16, 2009 |
Mark Driscoll, the fearless and sometimes controversial founder and Pastor of Mars Hill church in Seattle, writes books the way he preaches. In fact, most of his recent books are transcribed from earlier sermons series. Sure, there's some editing and polishing, but if you're familiar with his preaching, the content of his books is no surprise.
In Vintage Church: Timeless Truths and Timely Methods, Driscoll attempts in each chapter to address a question about the church, including what it is and how and by whom it should be led.
In all, the book is a great resource for church leaders and planters. Aside from the bits of humor, the book reads very much like a course text, with Driscoll, who has been there and done that and lived (barely) to tell about it, as it's narrator. He is also aware of his church's status as a "megachurch", which puts it in a vast minority of churches on the planet and rather than focusing too much on "here's how we do it", he focuses on "here's why we did it this way". His insights and recommendations are based on principles more than particulars.
Driscoll's penchant for humor usually works well live from the stage, but in print it serves more as an annoyance than a useful distraction. In addition, he uses the same humorous anecdotes too often. New comedic material is the lifeblood of a good comedian and since he has studied the great comedians, he should see that his current crop of quips needs a makeover. (For example, the joke about Mars Hill starting at about the size of Mormon family is getting difficult to chuckle at.)
At one point he relates a story about someone giving him a sermon on tape, even though, as he points out, he has not seen a tape player since "the days when Michael Jackson was male." While this seems even more offensive since Jackson has since died, it still seems unwarranted. The Gospel is often offensive by nature; comments like this, I would argue, offend people for the wrong reasons.
In one sense, you could say that Driscoll is trying to augment the offense of the Gospel with his own form of offensiveness. It requires no such assistance.
A better strategy might be to include the many instances for humor he seems to find opportunities for when preaching. Whether speaking or writing he delivers a lot of facts, straight up. Delivered without humor, they lack life; delivered with the same tired anecdotes he's been using for years, facts become eye-rolling opportunities to take a jab at some group or other.
Those who have Driscoll pegged as simply an old-school pastor with a new-school mouth will find a few surprises here. For example, he endorses the active participation of non-believers in the life of the church.
As someone who is quite familiar with his writing and preaching, I have watched him mature as a leader, teacher, and preacher, increasing in humility along the way. Here's hoping that trajectory continues so that more people will be drawn to his teaching than are repelled by his sometimes necessary crudeness. (Yes, that means that I believe that some of what he says that is counted as "crude" is actually appropriate.) If you can get by the instances of unnecessary crudeness - and you should be able to - there is much to be learned. At heart he is a caring and, according to current demographic data, young Pastor who, like the rest of us, is seeking to grow in godly maturity.
Driscoll's passion for the local church - yours, mine, and his - is undeniable. His ability to accept criticism and wisdom is surprising for a man of his personality type, and this makes him rare. These traits are one that I am personally indebted to Driscoll for showing me and I have benefited greatly in my own journey as a Pastor.
Vintage Church is a good read, packed with resources and wisdom. You will not agree with it entirely, but that's true of any book. If you are a church leader of any kind who is concerned with both relevance and unchanging truth, I recommend you read this book. | | | | Awesome Sep 2, 2009 |
| Best printer for a college kid. Period. Cheap, efficient, fast, go buy it! | | |  | Disappointed Jul 14, 2009 |
| I am very disappointed with the text. Of course it ensured that it explained the scripture in such a way to the reader, that women were excluded from pastoring churches. Sadly enough, the reality is that women all over the globe are pastoring churches and millions are being led to Christ threw these churches. Once again, this book is very typical of males who insist on using scripture, to further their own cause and not that of Jesus Christ. I refuse to read anymore of it. Thanks for your time. | | | Write your own review about Vintage Church
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