Soultsunami: Sink or Swim in New Millennium Culture - Hardcover

Will the tsunami wave of change sweep Christianity away? Or will religious followers be able to ride the cresting tidal wave of cyberterrorism and social malaise that threaten Christian values in the 21st century? Rather than sink into denial or flee to safe bunkers, Sweet suggests that devout Christians "hoist the sails" just as Noah did when faced with a flood. "While the world is rethinking its entire cultural formation, it is time to find new ways of being the church that are true to our postmodern context," writes author Leonard Sweet, vice president of postmodern Christianity at Drew University in Madison, New Jersey. This book is packed with suggestions (framed as "Life Rings") for keeping Christianity a thriving and vital global force. "Life Ring" chapter titles include "Get Glocal--the Global Renaissance," and "Get De-Churched-De-Everything." Although the tsunami metaphor feels overextended, devout Christians appreciate the savvy and passionate vision of this popular author.

Road rage, animal rights, cyberporn, crystal healing, doctor-assisted suicide--everywhere we look, the signs all tell us we're living in a post-Christian culture. Or are we? Leonard Sweet--cultural historian, preacher, futurist, creatologist, and preeminent thinker--firmly believes we live today in a pre-Christian society, fraught with challenges, dangers, critical choices, and above all, tremendous potential for the church. The outcome will depend on our response to today's flood of religious pluralism that threatens to sweep us away. What will we do? Deny the reality of the incoming surge? Hunker in the bunker, hermetically sealing ourselves in an increasingly out-of-touch church counterculture? Or will we boldly hoist our sails, and--looking to God for guidance and strength--move with confidence and purpose over the waves. SoulTsunami is a fascinating, even mind-numbing look at the implications of our changing world for the church in the 21st century. With uncanny wisdom and trademark wit, Leonard Sweet explores ten key futuribles (precision guesses that fall short of predictions), expanding on and relating topics ranging from the reentry of theism and spiritual longing in contemporary society, to the impact of modern technology, to the global renaissance, to models for the church to reach people caught in the cultural maelstrom. Here are eye-opening perspectives on the church from within and from without--from its surrounding society. Lively, well-written, and provocative, SoulTsunami is a clarion call for Christians to remove their tunnel-vision glasses and take a good look at the swelling postmodern flood. It also is a voice of encouragement, affirming the church in its role as God's lifeboat. And it is a passionate, prophetic guide, pointing the way to reach a world swept out to sea.