Book Review: On The Block by Doug Logan

Over the past few years, the term "missional" has appeared a lot in Christian circles. From blogs to books to conferences, being missional is what a lot of believers are needing to hear and address these days. Being missional is simply being on mission with everyone around you in everyday life and most of it takes place beyond the four walls of a church building.

Doug Logan, who is a pastor of Epiphany Fellowship Church in Camden, NJ, has written a book that addresses being missional upon the foundation of Scripture and shares his stories on being missional. The book is titled, On The Block. Logan begins the book with looking at the Biblical foundation for being missional. He begins with Adam, which I was a little surprised because we normally associate him with the Fall. Logan shows us that when Adam fell, God was the one who went to Him. In our missional context, we need to be the ones going the people, not the other way around. He continues on with Nehemiah, Jesus, and the Apostle Paul on how they were missional during their ministry.

The next part of the book is Logan's story of how he came to be mission work in the city of Camden, NJ. Camden is a city plagued with violence, drug abuse, and poverty. He also shares that part of being on mission through the local church to know your community. We are talking just facts and figures, but know who the people are. Finally, Logan concludes the book with how we can be missional where are. We must overcome fear and being submissive to God's Word. We also must realize that God through the church sends his people out to be on mission whether it is in another country or across town.

I really have enjoyed this book. Logan writes very clear and has a way of engaging the reader as he/she goes through the pages. This is not an oversized manual, but rather a simple book on being missional from someone who knows about engagement in a tough place.

Thanks Moody Publishers for letting me review this book.