The Shaping of Things to Come Book Review

Reading Report Form
Fall 2004

Book Title: The Shaping of Things to Come: Innovation and Mission for the 21st-Century Church (223 pages)

Authors: Michael Frost & Alan Hirsch

Synopsis of content:
In this book, the authors exhort believers to be missional and to live out the gospel within its cultural context. They tell stories about heroes they have met during their travels. They discuss various models as approaches to church planting and church growth as examples of what some missionaries have done to reach people in various cities of the world. They present principles and give suggestions for church leaders interested in becoming a missional church.

Significant Quotes:
“We’ve become increasingly convinced that what the church needs to find its way out of the situation it’s in at the beginning of the twenty-first century is not more faddish theories about how to grow the church without fundamentally reforming its structures.”

“An incarnational ministry draws not-yet-Christians toward God by exciting curiosity through storytelling, by provoking a sense of wonder and awe, by showing extraordinary love, by exploring how God has touched our lives, and by focusing on Jesus.”

Reflection:
To me, this book reads like a guidebook for church leaders on how to reshape the church to become more missional. I think this book is an excellent source of ideas and principles for church leaders today. I would recommend it to others. I think it presents a huge challenge for believers. I like the way the authors cut to the core of needed reforms and talk about incarnational ministry. This book is for those who do not want to hear about the problems of the church again but instead, it is for people who want to hear possible solutions to the problems.