by Jim Henderson, Matt Casper, George Barna
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Product Description
Jim Henderson pays people to go to church. In fact, he made national news when he "rented" a soul for $504 on E-Bay after its owner offered an "open mind" to the highest bidder. In Jim & Casper Go to Church, Hendrson hires another atheist--Matt Casper--to visit ten leading churches with him and give the "first impression" perspective of a non-believer. What follows is a startling dialogue between an atheist and a believer seeing church anew through the eyes of a skeptic, and the development of an amazing relationship between two men with diametrically opposing views of the world who agree to respect each others' space. Foreword by George Barna.
FEATURES: - Unique perspective of both Christian and atheist on the church & Christians in the USA
- Intelligent and respectful, seeking dialogue between key characters
- Helps the Christian understand the change in attitudes and actions required when shifting from defending the faith to defending "sacred space"--from talking to listening, from strength to weakness, from debate to dialogue, from manipulation to intentionality
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Average Customer Review:
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
 Rating The Churches is One Thing This Book Teaches Friendship, 2008-08-12
Jim has found a quality idea, instead of spending millions to make our churches "seeker sensitive" why don't we just ask outsiders. Are we as christians above focus groups? Basically what Jim Henderson has, is a one man focus group.
Of the ten chapters, its interesting to see what Jim and Casper have to say about the megachurches, but i'd read the chapters on Lawndale Community Church and Drummer's Church as quality examples.
Look passed the critique system as well, look at the friendship that is created between these guys. This is a quality example of friendship, dialogue, and not getting caught up in debate (which usually just makes people mad).
Heres a link to a podcast, where Jim and Casper have a reading from the book
http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=286366987
"Jim and Casper Go To Church" (The Off The Map Podcast Episode 3)
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
 Enjoyable, just not very helpful, 2008-04-30
The premise of this book is what initially intrigued me because our church culture can often be a stretch for first time visitors to comprehend, perhaps more especially for those who are genuine atheists. Like most pastors, I desire to effectively communicate the Word of God/Gospel in understandable terms (insofar as that is possible) to those who are un-churched, or "missing." I'm sorry to say that I did not find this book helpful or insightful. Most of the valid points made about the services and how awkward they can be have already been noted by those who have genuinely reflected on what we do at church, and why we do it. Having said that, I enjoyed reading this book for the following reasons:
- I enjoyed the dialogue vs. debate, especially the humorous jabs between the two men.
- I liked the genuine friendship that these two shared. I believe this is a good example for us to follow - becoming genuine friends with those of differing, even opposing beliefs/backgrounds.
- I enjoyed "vicariously" attending churches that I am unable to visit at this time, churches that I have been interested in seeing.
Here are a few negatives:
- Although the premise of the book is intriguing, the results are not really relevant considering that the opinions were only of the two men, and that nothing we didn't already know came to light.
- There isn't anything here that advances the Great Commission. No evangelistic insight, or disciple-making principles. Although some of the evangelistic models referred to are predictable and weak (in my opinion), nothing was brought to our thinking about any practical alternatives.
- If the aim was to increase the church's sensitivity in making things more accessible to the masses of un-churched, we must take into consideration that not even Jesus was understood by all his contemporaries. He used parables to make truth accessible, and they still did not understand (Matt. 13:14, 15).
One thing I would like to see is a response from the pastors of churches visited. This would be an interesting, perhaps helpful addition to this book.
For me, this book was entertaining and enjoyable, but, I can't say it is a serious contribution to my thinking or philosophy of ministry. I invite your comments.
0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
Jim and Casper Go to church, 2008-04-15
It was a very good book to read. My Pastor ask for a copy of the book, so I bought him one. Well worth reading.
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
jim and casper, 2008-03-10
I totally enjoyed this book through and through. I could not recommend it enough. I am buying copies for our staff for us to read together and just talk about. If you are a nuts and bolts kind of person you probably would not enjoy this book but if you want to get a glimpse how an outsider sees what we do,especially on Sundays it is a great read. It is limited to just a glance at churches on Sunday mornings so some will feel like it is a bit unfair but if you can get past that and just enjoy the humor and also the great question Casper asks, " Is this really what Jesus asked you to do Jim?" you will be challenged. One of my all time favorite books.
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
Jim & Casper go to church, 2008-03-05
This was a great book with some wonderful information on churches from an atheists view. I would recommend it to anyone who serves in any ministry.
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