About a week ago I received an email from Leadership Network introducing a book from an author I'd never heard of, Brandon Hatmaker. I was caught by the title, Barefoot Church: Serving the Least in a Consumer Culture. And like any good consumer I quickly found the title on Amazon, 1-clicked it to my iPad Kindle app, and gobbled it up over the past week.
In just over two hundred pages Brandon efficiently challenges me and the modern American church to examine it's current methods, structure, and focus. Are we doing church in a way that allows Jesus to build his church effectively (Mt 16:17, p152)? When we look at how the church has been marginalized in much of society there is a simple conclusion, no.
Barefoot Church is challenging, encouraging, refreshing, instructional, raw at points, and overall I found a very good message inside. Pastor Hatmaker is genuine in his desire to follow Jesus' instructions to serve the least in our world. His approach, along with the people of Austin New Church (ANC), is opening doors of opportunity to those many never consider.
I am looking forward to re-reading it as it's more of a primer (instructional) than I expected. Rather than just an emotional appeal to help those in need, Brandon has shared the real and effective experiences of ANC. He fully acknowledges that their experiences are not to be prescriptive, working for everyone, everywhere. Rather he encourages us to pursue Jesus in a way that allows us to flexibly review our practices and positions for alignment with Jesus' heart and instructions.
Hopefully you will take some time and read Barefoot Church soon. I would love to hear your comments and review too. Below is a link to the book if you'd like to purchase your own copy too. As always, if you purchase through one of my affiliate links, I'll get buckets of cash!* Thanks for that.
* Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any compensation for writing this post. I have no material connection to the brands, products, or services that I have mentioned. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
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Thanks so much!