Stormfront: The Good News of God

This book has been greatly helpful for me to understand the current state of affairs in the church. I have lived in many other countries in my adult life and "coming home" has not been easy. Despite the book's focus on the USA context, it is also an immensely appropriate resource for reflecting on our context in Canada. The book's thesis that the church has been caught up so seductively in all aspects of a "consumer" culture that we approach our faith and religious experience with the same value system is powerful and deeply sobering. While "easy-reading" the book is not an "easy read" since its premise demands that we refocus our lives on our call to be a community living out God's vision for hope and grace and justice in the world.

What is the gospel? A seemingly simple question, but deep down, one that requires us to examine the very foundation of our Christian faith. StormFront: The Good News of God sets out to answer this very question, what is the gospel? StormFront is the latest book in the Gospel and Our Culture Series, which seeks to help the church more faithfully engage North American culture with the gospel. Other volumes have included The Missional Church, and The Continuing Conversion of the Church. The title is meant to evoke the image of two masses of hot and cold air running into each other and creating a violent storm. One of these air masses is the Kingdom of God, the other is the Kingdom of this World. The church finds itself at the intersection, caught in the clash between these two forces. It is in this "dynamic and tumultuous" intersection where God engages our world. The authors claim that many North American Christians act as if the gospel were a small ocean breeze, rather than a raging storm. The North American gospel, they argue, primarily centers on how God can meet my needs and how God can fulfill my desires. It has little sense of God's greater purposes in this world. They contend a Biblical understanding of the gospel looks a lot different. The gospel concerns God's activity to redeem the whole creation. The gospel isn't about me getting what I want. The gospel invites us to enter, receive, and participate in God's Reign, initiated by Jesus' life, death and resurrection. This gospel should radically reorient our lives. Through the book's five chapters it examines our dominant understanding of the gospel, God's intentions on earth as found in the Old and New Testaments, the role of spiritual powers, the place of discipleship, and the practices that help us embody the gospel. The section connecting the gospel in the New Testament to the Old Testament is particularly helpful. Few books accomplish what they set out to do. Impressively, StormFront does effectively answer the question: What is the gospel? And beyond that, on the practical level, it issues a significant challenge both for individuals and the church to participate more fully in God's purposes on earth. Although this book is targeted to lay-readers, it is a dense and difficult read. It contains a great deal of theological language that can be at times hard to sift through. But for those willing to take the time and effort, they will find their understanding of the gospel deepened, and their faith commitments inspired and challenged.

Finally, a resource to clarify "missional" ideas in a way that helps ordinary people grasp the significance of the storm we are in. The authors do an excellent job of charting a course that is faithful to God and inviting to all who want to participate in the grand mission of God.As the pastor of a new church in a new community, I continue to wrestle with the implications of this book: "The church is a witness to the world, in the world, of God's coming reign in Christ over the powers of the world" (91). The book is a valuable resource for all who are tired of "paint-by-numbers" approaches to the church. "Stormfront" is a book for all who long to discover God's alternative to consumer-driven models of ministry. Buy it. Read it. Share it with your friends. Discuss it. Live it, believe it and so be a participant in the "Missio Dei."