Just read the quote out of the book “The Coffeehouse Gospel” by Matthew Turner.

“The message of Jesus is freeing, unassuming, and provocative. It makes thinkers out of the most shallow of people. The good news needs room to move and an atmosphere that provokes thought, meditation, and open discussion. The message that often remains stifled up inside the haughty walls of church buildings finds new life when displayed in a non-formulaic manner within an open environment where the opinions of all are respected and honored.”

Good stuff. As a leader in the church, I see one of my key jobs as a Creator of The Atmosphere. An environment that gives the message of Jesus room to breathe. I agree with Turner in that a lot of these conversations need to take place outside of church. But I also believe that the church has to partner with its people to create these environments with its walls as well.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 26th, 2006 at 5:49 am and is filed under Books I'm Reading, The Church. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.