Dangerous Church by John Bishop

Sadly, statistics tell us that most churches are either confused about what it means to reach people for Christ or too comfortable to reach people for Christ, thus not changing the way they attempt to reach the world. Churches have become too safe (Rick Warren).

This statement from Rick Warren was written in the Foreword of John Bishop's book Dangerous Church. Bishop is the founding and senior pastor of Living Hope Church in Vancouver, Washington. This book is about being a church that is willing to take risks to reach people for Jesus and not being comfortable with just simple fellowships and church programs. Basically it is a call to be what the church was in Acts 2, dangerous.

This book calls churches to risk everything even if it means doing things that are uncomfortable, leading well, release people for ministry, and give God all the praise for what He does through and in your church. I loved reading this book. Every time I read this, I kept thinking what the church can be if we can just get out of our comfort zone. There was one point that I did not agree with and that deal with preaching. Bishop said one thing to do to keep people interested in preaching is changing the style and translations every once in a while. My thing is, are we suppose to preach the word with passion or entertain? If we change translations, does that mean we are to confuse people with multiple translations of the Word especially if a pastor goes through books of the Bible.

One thing about this book that was unique was the endorsement from leaders with different philosophies in ministry and preaching styles: Mark Driscoll (if Driscoll endorses a book, you know it is going to be good), Brian Houston, Kerry Shook, Ed Young, and more. I recommend every church leader to read this book and pray what can your church do to be "dangerous."

Thanks to Zondervan for letting me review this book.