How did the number of Christians in the world grow from as few as 25,000 one hundred years after Christ's death, to up to 20 million in AD 310? How did the Chinese underground chu rch grow from 2 million to over 100 million in sixty years despite considerable opposition? In The Forgotten Ways, Alan Hirsch reveals the paradigmatic insights he discovered as he delved into those questions.
Hirsch identifies six latent potencies in God's people that lie dormant and forgotten until something catalytic prompts the rediscovery of them. These elements are clearly seen in the church during times of phenomenal growth and impact, but he suggests that they are actually always present and can be reactivated to create apostolic movement. Church leaders, strategists, seminary professors, and students will benefit from Hirsch's discoveries and his ability to put those ideas to work in contemporary churches and ministries.
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5 out of 5 stars
Reviewed by David R Bess (Charleston, West Virginia), November 16, 2007
This title is the best I have read yet on the missions church concept. While it is not an easy read, it does provides a multitude of insights on what it means for the church to go beyond the four walls of the church. Hirsch begins by defining the true missionary spirit of being a follower of Jesus Christ. He describes how the dawn of the age of Christendom stifled that spirit, and how the church has suffered enormously as a result. He then speaks of "Apostolic Genius" and "Communitas," two phenomenons both rooted in the early, New Testament church prior to Christendom.
This book is a great read. Just be forewarned: it will shake to the core the traditional, "attractional" way of doing church!
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