Deep Church: A Third Way Beyond Emerging and Traditional
Written by Jim Belcher
Narrated by Sean Runnette
4/5
()
About this audiobook
Jim Belcher
Jim Belcher (PhD, Georgetown) is President of Providence Christian College in Pasadena, California and former associate professor of practical theology at Knox Theological Seminary in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. He is the founding and former lead pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church (PCA) in Newport Beach, California, where he served from 2000-2010 and led a period of steady growth. He is the author of the award-winning book Deep Church.
Related to Deep Church
Related audiobooks
The Church of Us vs. Them: Freedom from a Faith That Feeds on Making Enemies Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Pastor: A Memoir Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Conversion and Discipleship: You Can't Have One without the Other Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Untamed: Reactivating a Missional Form of Discipleship Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Disruption: Repurposing the Church to Redeem the Community Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLiturgical Mission: The Work of the People for the Life of the World Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Mission of God: Unlocking the Bible's Grand Narrative Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Better Together: Making Church Mergers Work Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Pastor Paul: Nurturing a Culture of Christoformity in the Church Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Pastor Theologian: Resurrecting an Ancient Vision Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Gospel-Centered Ministry Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Who Runs the Church?: 4 Views on Church Government Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Hybrid Church: The Fusion of Intimacy and Impact Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Together for the City: How Collaborative Church Planting Leads to Citywide Movements Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The New Parish: How Neighborhood Churches Are Transforming Mission, Discipleship and Community Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Mission of God's People: A Biblical Theology of the Church’s Mission Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Good Faith: Being a Christian When Society Thinks You're Irrelevant and Extreme Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5King Jesus and the Beauty of Obedience-Based Discipleship Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Pentecost (Fullness of Time series): A Day of Power for All People Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFlesh: Bringing the Incarnation Down to Earth Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Best Kept Secret of Christian Mission: Promoting the Gospel with More Than Our Lips Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Joy for the World: How Christianity Lost Its Cultural Influence and Can Begin Rebuilding It Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Future Church: 7 Laws of Real Church Growth Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5In Church as It Is In Heaven: Cultivating a Multiethnic Kingdom Culture Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Restoration of All Things Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Life in Community: Joining Together to Display the Gospel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Welcome Holy Spirit: A Theological and Experiential Introduction Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Kingdom Called Desire: Confronted by the Love of a Risen King Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Christianity For You
Anxious for Nothing: Finding Calm in a Chaotic World Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Holy Bible in Audio - King James Version: The Complete Old & New Testament Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Return of the Gods Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here For? Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Winning the War in Your Mind: Change Your Thinking, Change Your Life Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Switch on Your Brain: The Key to Peak Happiness, Thinking, and Health Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Boundaries Updated and Expanded Edition: When to Say Yes, How to Say No To Take Control of Your Life Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Girl, Wash Your Face: Stop Believing the Lies About Who You Are so You Can Become Who You Were Meant to Be Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Little Book of Letting Go Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Boundaries: When To Say Yes, How to Say No Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Wild at Heart: Discovering the Secret of a Man's Soul Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus: Third Edition with Bonus Content, New Reflections Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Decluttering at the Speed of Life: Winning Your Never-Ending Battle with Stuff Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Get Out of Your Head: Audio Bible Studies: A Study in Philippians Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Gay Girl, Good God: The Story of Who I Was, and Who God Has Always Been Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5His Needs, Her Needs: Building a Marriage That Lasts Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The 5 Love Languages Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Mere Christianity Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Good Boundaries and Goodbyes: Loving Others Without Losing the Best of Who You Are Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5More Than a Carpenter Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Cost of Discipleship Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Road Back to You: An Enneagram Journey to Self-Discovery Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Total Money Makeover: A Proven Plan for Financial Fitness Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Boundaries in Marriage: Understanding the Choices That Make or Break Loving Relationships Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Four Loves Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory: American Evangelicals in an Age of Extremism Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Uninvited: Living Loved When You Feel Less Than, Left Out, and Lonely Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Reviews for Deep Church
43 ratings4 reviews
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Somewhere between 3 and 4 stars. This book is basically commenting on the need for embracing the Tradition in order to overcome divides within evangelicalism (and does so holding onto Calvin as the interpreter of that tradition). It was good for me as a survey of the development of emergent Christianity and for thinking through practical ecclesiology.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Very well researched and thought out. Excellent book written by Jim Belcher that attempts to unite the polarized views of the emerging church movement with the traditional church, thus creating a third way called "Deep Church". Belcher does a great job in remaining objective and I sincerely applaud his efforts in attempting to bring the two different views together. His heart for unity, grace, and truth are very evident in the way he presents himself throughout this book. And, I learned more about the emerging church and what they believe, along with their protests against the traditional views. Although a noble attempt, I believe Belcher falls short in bringing about reconciliation between these two views. He touches on seven issues at which the two sides are at odds: Truth, evangelism, Gospel, worship, preaching, ecclesiolgy, and culture. In each chapter he systematically presents the emerging view, the traditional view, and then describes what the third way should look like. In most part it seems that Belcher has succeeded in reconciling the two views. However, as a minister in the Presbyterian church he can't help but revert back to the institutionalized and dogmatic ways of the traditional view. After all, he has a presbyter that he is held accountable to. Although Deep Church seems compelling, it seems a bit imbalanced, favoring the traditional views. In his review of Deep Church, conservative and neo-Reformed author/theologian Kevin DeYoung thinks Belcher went too easy on the emerging church, while I think Belcher went too easy on the traditional church. Perhaps this is indicative that the two sides are too polarized. However, if we can remain united on the fundamentals then I am hopeful that someday there will indeed be a Third Way that we can all agree on. Until then, I hope both sides will look past their differences and continue to impact our culture for Jesus Christ.Here are some of my favorite quotes taken from the book:When the stress is only on how people are saved from sin, Christianity turns into nothing more than "fire insurance" for the end of life. It does not teach how we are to live and witness in the here and now. (page 41)The church is known for what it is against more than what it is for. (page 43)How do we get to the point where both sides can talk about their differences and learn from each other without being accused of heresy? By first agreeing about what binds Christians together. It is that simple. We have to arrive at what John Stott calls the "unity of the Gospel". (page 53)We place doctrinal purity over unity, or we stress relational unity over sound doctrine. The reality is that Jesus wants us to be equally committed to both. (page 54)The best description of a twenty-first century human is a person watching TV alone. (page 73)A third way rejects classical foundationalism and hard postmodernism. This i what it means to be the deep church. (page 83)I think its legitimate to have an unbounded set with no barriers to the church community so that non-Christians can wander in and out. But the bounded-set of the traditional church also has positives, there are reasons for pushing people to make a decision to accept certain truths in order for them to understand that they are being converted from one way of life to another. (page 100)The more I study the Bible and reflect on the life and teachings of Jesus, the more I think most of Christianity as practiced today has very little to do with the real Jesus found there. (page 108 quoting Brian McLaren)For Jesus, the kingdom wasn't something we build or advance or expand. It was something we see and enter and receive. (page 118 quoting Brian McLaren)In the quest for truth, nothing can be privileged over the community, and certainly not a theology that had been worked out in the fourth and fifth centuries. (page 146)Christianity can't exist without boundaries. Being a Christian in any biblical sense requires that we not only say yes to many things, but that we are also willing to say no to a number of beliefs and behaviors. (page 150 quoting Kevin DeYoung)God's vision for the church is one of thrilling mission, not one of ingrown tribalism. (page 162)The traditional church is pacifist in the area off culture but not in the realm of politics, and the emerging church is pacifist in the realm of politics but not in the realm of culture. (page 190)
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Deep church is yet another book looking at the subject of the 'emerging church'. In in the author, Jim Belcher posits a 'third way' between traditional evangelical churches locked into foundationalist Enlightenment thinking, and some of those in the emergent movement who tend towards a relativistic 'hard postmodernism.' Belcher is pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian church, and a Calvinist, but I won't hold that against him. Unlike some others in the Reformed camp, he approaches things with a healthy degree of 'cognitive humility', maintaining that the only essentials that we must agree on as Christians are basic creedal Orthodoxy as believed my virtually all Christians in all times an places (ie Apostles and Nicene creeds).Belcher suggests that our churches should not be defined by the boundaries of specific doctrine, but rather should focus at the wellspring at the centre of our communities - Jesus. His church is open to all who are seeking the life giving water that Jesus provides, regardless of what beliefs or life experiences they come with.As the book progresses Belcher looks at some of the emerging criticisms of traditional church in areas including evangelism, worship, preaching, ecclesiology, and culture. Many of these critiques he sees as quite valid, it's just in some places the emerging crowd in their alternatives go too far in another direction. Belcher affirms the need of postmodern Christians to engage with these issues (de)constructively as a sort of dance, yet he affirms that you cannot dance without a floor to dance on, and that floor is the bedrock of Nicene Christianity.Ultimately Belcher's "Third Way" isn't always clearly spelled out, but it seems to me to be basically a traditional church structure with a healthy dose of postmodern cognitive humility and creativity thrown in. Probably wouldn't satisfy those on either extremes of the Traditional / Emerging debate, but it sounds good to me, and would quite possibly be the sort of place that might just appeal to those people outside the church who have no idea about these sort of debates anyway. And that's what's most important.As I thought again on the subject of postmodernism and the church today I realised that we don't need one set kind of church anyway - we still need Traditional churches and Modern churches doing things in their way (although without some of the critical attitudes and political baggage please!) and we need emerging postmodern ministries doing things in new ways. Because our culture is not homogenous - there are still plenty of people locked into a modern mindset - probably the majority even of younger people. What we need is churches of all varieties focussing on the mission we have been given, throwing aside all the non-essential debates that "so easily entangle" so that we can most effectively reach the people around us who desperately need to hear about and experience the love of God.A thoughtful book, which speaks to where I am - a postmodern Gen-Xer who still feels called to serve in a (relatively) conventional church community. Well worth reading, especially if you too find yourself inhabiting this sort of space.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5This outstanding book cogently addresses the contrast and conflict between the traditional evangelical churches and the emergent churches. He clearly identifies the three groups within the emergent church communities and shows how difficult it is for them to understand and communicate with each other. It is fulled with specific examples and documented conversations as well as with examples of the strong voices in each section failing to comprehend or validate their lateral brothers and sistes within the Christian communites. He shares much of his own pilgrimage from the traditional mega-church to an entireley new perspective drawing heavily from the history of the ancient church. He puts for several helpful tools for assessing where your church operates and how we might establish transformational communities. Jim says that postmodern persons (and perhaps all people) need to belong before they can believe. This reverses the normal process where one has to check off the required points of local orthodoxy in order to accepted into the face community. This book is also on the top 12 list for reading as recommended by Christianity Today in January 2010.