i recently dug out the rabbit and the elephant by tony and felicity dale thinking i would just put it back within a day or two. dang was i wrong! this book is as equally disturbing and provoking as my first read through shane claiborne’s the irresistible revolution a couple of years ago. at any rate, i just wanted to share some of my highlighted quotes from the first forty pages so far…
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Statistics show that the best means of evangelism within an American context is starting a church. 13
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…We considered a number of reasons that seemed to indicate that we, too, should multiply small churches rather than seeking to get larger. 13
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At various times in history, seismic changes have occurred. These changes have not been gradual or planned. Instead, they represent the convergence of ideas and technology in such a way that a dramatic shift of opinion, a genuinely new way of looking at things, emerges. What most people just see as sociological change is actually the God of history advancing His kingdom. 23
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…And for the past seventeen centuries, church has been an event to attend…25
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The phenomenon that is occurring in front of our eyes is a re-birthing of the church–God is taking an event-based institution and re-forming it so that it is becoming life- and relationship-based. 30
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The focus is no longer on professionals and programs, but rather on enabling every-member ministry. Instead of precious resources being used internally to maintain staff and buildings, they are now being used to fund missions and mercy ministries to a world looking for a relevant [local] church. 30
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Liberated from endless meetings, we have time to get involved in our communities and to reach out to a world that so desperately needs the Lord. 32
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Simply changing the structure or location of the [local] church, however revolutionary it might seem, is not an end in itself. God is after far more than this. He wants a body of people that is dependent on Him and that will follow wherever the Holy Spirit leads. He wants us to go beyond re-formation of the church to transformation of society. 34
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According to the Old Testament, the children of Israel committed spiritual adultery by giving allegiance to the gods of all the nations around them. But we of the church era have done no better. Christians in the West have have followed the gods of the American dream, of materialism, of pupularity, of numbers. We have become performance driven rather than love motivated. 41
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if any of you have read this book, please feel free to share your thoughts! also, are there any of you who are a part of an “organic” or “simple” local church community? and what has your experience been?
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You are capturing the heart of what we are trying to convey with these quotes from our book. Thank you! Would love to hear more of your journey.
@felicity – first, thanks for stopping by, reading, and commenting – i am humbled and greatly appreciative! i would say i can’t stop reading your book, but the truth is, i HAVE to stop every few paragraphs to pray over what i just read – which is fantastic!
also, i would love to share my story and perhaps ask you guys some questions once i finish reading through ‘the rabbit and the elephant’.
many, many blessings on you and yours! and thank you for giving so many people a brilliant and raw look into this beautiful scene unfolding within the kingdom.