My Read of the Month:

Title: Changing Church: How God Is Leading His Church Into the Future
Author: C. Peter Wagner
Published: 2004
Genre: Church Growth/Spiritual Leadership
Ratings:

There’s no denying that God is doing a new thing in His Church in this 21st century. But what exactly is He doing? This is what this book attempts to uncover.

Peter Wagner, of whom I had the privileged to watch preached, does a fantastic job in succinctly presenting the changing trends of the Church. I really wish someone had recommended me this book earlier before.

According to Wagner, we are now in an era termed the Second Apostolic Age. This describes the age of the 21^st century in which the Holy Spirit is strongly speaking to the churches of our generation to initiate a paradigm shift from being church-centred to being kingdom-centred.

In other words, the concept of the Kingdom of God has begun to expand significantly. And this has led to a radical shift in understanding  what being the Church means and as God destined.

For instance, he explains that “no longer is it adequate to suppose that our ultimate task here on Earth is the growth of the Church. Church growth remains crucial, but the Kingdom goes beyond that”.

In the old wineskin as he coins, the Church emphasizes on evangelism and church planting as activities central to the mission. But with the new wineskin, territorial domination with quantifiable terms is not the main goal. The goal then, is service to God which translates to nothing less than the transformation of society.

Another reason why this book is a pleasure to read in spite of it being written in a scholarly manner is because Wagner shares his personal experiences and opinions. This provides not only credibility but a good depth into this subject.

As mentioned, I wish I had read this book earlier with its insights that would have served me well to make sense of my past situation. Nonetheless, reading it now has affirmed and confirmed the revelations and deductions I received.

This is a must-read for every Christian as Wagner covers a number of compelling arguments such as the corporate spirit of religion and religious covenant. With better understanding where we are and where we’re heading, would serve us well to evaluate our values and priorities towards aligning with God and His Kingdom.

Who should read it: For Christians especially church leaders or pastors, that are hungry for God and His will for the Church.