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This Little Church Stayed Home: A Faithful Church in Deceptive Times
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Average Rating:  out of 7 Reviews
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Price: $14.99
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Sale: $8.96
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Manufacturer: Evangelical Press
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EAN (European Article Number): 9780852346037
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Number of Items: 1
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Binding: Paperback
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Author: Gary E. Gilley
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Publisher: Evangelical Press
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Publication Date: 2006-06
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Reading Level: 190
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Description: If you have attempted to read through books like the series David Wells wrote (No Place for Truth, God in the Wasteland, Losing Our Virtue, and Above All Earthly Pow'rs), but found them cumbersome and difficult, a shorter and easier-to-read option is Gary Gilley's two works This Little Church Went to Market and This Little Church Stayed Home. The second of these two is what this reviewer has recently completed. Gilley has subtitled this book, A Faithful Church In Deceptive Times. Good choice. Let me say at the outset that both books should be read. They will open your eyes. While not as in-depth and thorough as the work Wells has done, the audience Gilley will speak most effectively to is the average lay person, not the scholar or professional minister who is more the target of Wells. That being said, many pastors who have been caught up in "fad Christianity" would benefit from This Little Church Stayed Home.
This Little Church has four sections dividing up fifteen chapters. Section 1 (chapters 1-5) explains postmodernism and how this philosophical outlook has impacted the church's view on propositional truth. Section II (chapters 6-8) deals with the church's responsibility to build up the body of Christ, giving attention to biblical church growth. Section III (chapters 9-11) has to do with the Bible, specifically, and how that is currently being misused and misinterpreted by some in order to push their distorted concepts of the gospel. Section IV (chapters 12-15) explains current challenges to the church: mysticism and the Emergent Church. There is more to these chapters than I have touched on, but these descriptions are only broad summaries.
Not enough good things could be said about This Little Church. Gilley takes on the dangers of the current fad of mysticism sweeping through the church, and calls the Emergent Church movement what it is: false teaching. Most commendable is his absence of fear in naming some of the biggest names in evangelicalism (and some not so big) in an effort to warn the church of heretical teaching. Some examples include Robert Schuller (p. 74), a poster boy for false teaching, Rick Warren (pp. 89-100), Dallas Willard and Richard Foster (p. 117), Karen Mains, wife of radio teacher, David Mains (pp. 137-38), David Seamand, who has appeared on Focus on the Family with James Dobson (pp. 138-39), Greg Boyd (p. 139), and George Barna (pp. 174-78). Other names are mentioned as well, but are not as readily recognizable. I wish there were more Christian leaders like Gilley who had the backbone to say what needs to be said and point out who specifically has strayed away from orthodoxy. Leaders are so often afraid to do this for fear of being accused of being judgmental, that they cower away from carrying out their God-given responsibility. Examples of this in Scripture include 1 Timothy 1:20, 3 John 9, and 2 Timothy 2:17, where Paul compares the influence of Hymenaeus and Philetus to the spreading of gangrene.
An example of his straightforward style is found in this quote: "Celebration of Discipline alone, not even referencing [Richard] Foster's other writings and teachings and ministries, is a virtual encyclopedia of theological error. We would be hard pressed to find in one so-called evangelical volume such a composite of false teaching" (p. 119). Bold and accurate! Other examples are found when he confronts Rick Warren's The Purpose-Driven Church and The Purpose-Driven Life: "Both, for instance, offer some good sound advice, helpful biblical insight and practical suggestions---and both are riddled with errors throughout" (p. 89); "In Warren's gospel presentations no mention is made of sin, repentance or even the Cross" (p. 90); "I found forty-two biblical inaccuracies, eighteen out-of-context passages of Scripture, supposedly used to prove his point, and another nine distorted translations" (p. 91). In the chapter in which these quotes are found, Gilley has a subsection entitled "Torturing Scripture," where he lists ten specific examples where Warren has clearly misrepresented the Bible.
This is a great read for any Christian who wants to understand some of the modern winds currently blowing through the church. It would be highly profitable to use this book for a Sunday School class or mid-week group discussion. Buy it, read it, pass it on. - Ray Hammond, www.ChristianBookPreviews.com
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Customer Reviews
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Review Summary: Worth the read - if you care about what's happening. |
Date: 2008-09-13 |
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Details: Gary Gilley's treatment of difficult issues within evangelicalism is both objective and well documented. Gary means no harm when he points to the critical issues we are facing and the path we are taking which meanders further from the scriptures all the time. Gilley is equally occupied with providing constructive biblical answers. A good read for both pastors and believers in general. |
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Review Summary: Must read for all Christians |
Date: 2008-01-05 |
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Details: I can't say enough good things about this book in the light of the major failures of New Evangelicalism in 2007--from the defection to Romanism of the President of the ETS to Ted Haggard and Richard Roberts and the Grassley investigation. The exchanged gospel has its consequences, and we're only beginning to see the cracks last year. Gilley ably traces the false gospel that's penetrated the Evangelical world and turned it on its head, and he does so with a pastor's heart. You can sense that he's upset to see that wolf among the sheep, just as the Lord was when He saw the multitudes as sheep without a shepherd--or worse.
Having said that, I see two shortcomings in the book:
1. Although intended to be a portrayal of the positive, of the church that didn't go to market but stayed home, the book seems to have wandered back to the market perspective of Gilley's earlier work. Other than the well-flogged quote fr that Liberal Kirsopp Lake (p. 14), he doesn't really list the names of the obedient churches. D.A. Carson is cast in good light (and deservedly so for his stand against mysticism and pluralism), but Gilley needs to pay more attention to leaders n seminaries that do take a "stayed home" stance in the midst of rampant compromise. It's a pity he wound up using the book as an excuse to extend his tirade against the "went to markets" although that's an important theme, too. Maybe he could write a third book on what was missed!
2. Gilley's attack on Dynamic Equivalence lacks the kind of evidence that he produces for the other points in the book. Yes, Rick Warren's Purpose Driven Life and many pastors rip verses out of context to bolster their theses. No question of that. But that's totally different fr how DE is usually parodied. Fact is, the Scriptures themselves exhibit DE rather than Formal Equivalence (FE) with startling regularity, which shouldn't be startling if one acknowledges that languages map differently (in terms of syntax, semantics, semiotics--i.e. word order, vocab n meanings, significance of certain expressions in society) from one another. That so, good translations should bear but happenstance correlation in form to the original text. In other words, a sentence in Chinese, for instance, Duolonduo juowan fashenle dianduan (lit. "Toronto previousnight happen electricchop") wld sound better in English using DE than Formal Equivalence: "There was a black-out in Toronto last night." So in many passages where the NT quotes the OT, or the LXX does so, the Greek bears scant resemblance to the Hebrew, but Christ ( e.g. in Luke 4) and the Apostles regarded DE translations as "the Scripture" no less. Interestingly, that was also Luther n the Authorized Version's translators' position, as seen in his Open Letter and their 1611 Preface, respectively.
Case in point: in Gilley's comparison of four versions on p. 85, the FE's "you are not in the flesh" communicates images that are alien to the original text, e.g. Roman Christians were disembodied spirits, or had a dualist hatred for their bodies, or were not yet swallowed by wild animals in the Colosseum. What Paul means, using the Greek form (sarx) that he chose under inspiration, has nothing to do with animal meat but has to do with the sinful nature. Nor does he mean by "in" one's physical location but one's being controlled--by that sinful nature. So comparing the KJV and NASB vs LB and the Message, the latter pair (DEs) actually come out being more accurate and faithful to the meaning of what Paul and the Holy Spirit wanted to communicate, had they spoken in English.
Despite my protests above, Gilley should be congratulated for taking a strong stand against the knock-off gospels out there. Better yet, save those congratulations and pass your copy of the book to your key contacts and pray for some much-needed Holy Spirit conviction and repentance. |
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Review Summary: Great background to current winds blowing in Bible claiming churches |
Date: 2007-12-27 |
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Details: I found this book an excellent source of background information and whats-in-the-head of the younger church goers. I have read a number of books promoting the post modern mindset and was looking for something which gave the other side of the picture using the Bible as a source of direction and worldview.
This book is very good at that pointing out that the integrity of the church and the gospel delivered must remain true to the Bible or otherwise become the fabrication of mere men. Giving women and men "what they think they need in hope of giving them what they really need" is touched on from several angles by this book. Experience as the measure and substance of truth is discussed as to the mindset of some persons today who are in or looking for a church home. "what does it mean to me" many persons ask rather than looking to an objective standard that rises above the cultural winds of today. The book covers a lot of aspects of the baby busters "who do not want to be lectured; they expect to be entertained". The book will lead the reader to the conclusion that post modernism applied to religous doctrine (various mutually exclusive subjective assertions) are contradictory and irrational. One can read the book and think that at some point a future generation may well dismiss much that is religous for this point alone.
Market research is discussed showing how this approach to head counting and budget success is flawed and that the true issue is sin, "not felt needs". A good number of points are made about the adaptation of marketing ideas being the souce of church growth experts and their ardent followers. A great point is made by the author in that who we listen to and follow is who we want to please. The conclusion of a Bible student working through the scriptures and this book would easily be that unless we are for him we are against him. I know of no church growth expert that has suffered the hardships or loss of life for the church as did the apostles and Jesus himself. Loyalties should go the the most deserving or the most educated?
Another good discussion in the book is the idea that the church(s) have "drunk from the well of secular psychology for decades....." and this has influenced the message and attendant communication in a negative self destructive way.
It is a good discussion of the irrational drive to the conclusion that if nobody is right then everybody is right.
My conclusion is that the author was thinking along the lines of the ancient Bible hero Joshua who said that If Jehovah be God then follow him. |
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Review Summary: Thought-provoking.... |
Date: 2007-05-24 |
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Details: I purchased this book after reading it at the library. I was very impressed with the viewpoints expressed and the insight into current religious trends. I have recommended it to several friends and family members. |
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Review Summary: Great for understanding some trends blowing through the church today |
Date: 2007-01-21 |
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Details: If you have attempted to read through books like the series David Wells wrote (No Place for Truth, God in the Wasteland, Losing Our Virtue, and Above All Earthly Pow'rs), but found them cumbersome and difficult, a shorter and easier-to-read option is Gary Gilley's two works This Little Church Went to Market and This Little Church Stayed Home. The second of these two is what this reviewer has recently completed. Gilley has subtitled this book, A Faithful Church In Deceptive Times. Good choice. Let me say at the outset that both books should be read. They will open your eyes. While not as in-depth and thorough as the work Wells has done, the audience Gilley will speak most effectively to is the average lay person, not the scholar or professional minister who is more the target of Wells. That being said, many pastors who have been caught up in "fad Christianity" would benefit from This Little Church Stayed Home.
This Little Church has four sections dividing up fifteen chapters. Section 1 (chapters 1-5) explains postmodernism and how this philosophical outlook has impacted the church's view on propositional truth. Section II (chapters 6-8) deals with the church's responsibility to build up the body of Christ, giving attention to biblical church growth. Section III (chapters 9-11) has to do with the Bible, specifically, and how that is currently being misused and misinterpreted by some in order to push their distorted concepts of the gospel. Section IV (chapters 12-15) explains current challenges to the church: mysticism and the Emergent Church. There is more to these chapters than I have touched on, but these descriptions are only broad summaries.
Not enough good things could be said about This Little Church. Gilley takes on the dangers of the current fad of mysticism sweeping through the church, and calls the Emergent Church movement what it is: false teaching. Most commendable is his absence of fear in naming some of the biggest names in evangelicalism (and some not so big) in an effort to warn the church of heretical teaching. Some examples include Robert Schuller (p. 74), a poster boy for false teaching, Rick Warren (pp. 89-100), Dallas Willard and Richard Foster (p. 117), Karen Mains, wife of radio teacher, David Mains (pp. 137-38), David Seamand, who has appeared on Focus on the Family with James Dobson (pp. 138-39), Greg Boyd (p. 139), and George Barna (pp. 174-78). Other names are mentioned as well, but are not as readily recognizable. I wish there were more Christian leaders like Gilley who had the backbone to say what needs to be said and point out who specifically has strayed away from orthodoxy. Leaders are so often afraid to do this for fear of being accused of being judgmental, that they cower away from carrying out their God-given responsibility. Examples of this in Scripture include 1 Timothy 1:20, 3 John 9, and 2 Timothy 2:17, where Paul compares the influence of Hymenaeus and Philetus to the spreading of gangrene.
An example of his straightforward style is found in this quote: "Celebration of Discipline alone, not even referencing [Richard] Foster's other writings and teachings and ministries, is a virtual encyclopedia of theological error. We would be hard pressed to find in one so-called evangelical volume such a composite of false teaching" (p. 119). Bold and accurate! Other examples are found when he confronts Rick Warren's The Purpose-Driven Church and The Purpose-Driven Life: "Both, for instance, offer some good sound advice, helpful biblical insight and practical suggestions---and both are riddled with errors throughout" (p. 89); "In Warren's gospel presentations no mention is made of sin, repentance or even the Cross" (p. 90); "I found forty-two biblical inaccuracies, eighteen out-of-context passages of Scripture, supposedly used to prove his point, and another nine distorted translations" (p. 91). In the chapter in which these quotes are found, Gilley has a subsection entitled "Torturing Scripture," where he lists ten specific examples where Warren has clearly misrepresented the Bible.
This is a great read for any Christian who wants to understand some of the modern winds currently blowing through the church. It would be highly profitable to use this book for a Sunday School class or mid-week group discussion. Buy it, read it, pass it on. - Ray Hammond, www.ChristianBookPreviews.com |
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