New book just released by Frank Viola. Its called God's Ultimate Passion: Unveiling the Purpose Behind Everything and its about THE CHURCH. Frank sidesteps the maze of ecclesiastic labels to get to the heart of what church really is and how God sees it. Using the biblical metaphors of church, and fleshing them out with the whole sweep of Scripture, Frank gives us fresh insight into the church as Bride of Christ, House of God, as Household, Body of Christ and the Family of God. He even takes my term "deep ecclesiology" around the block and imbues it with a stronger sense of Christ centeredness. Thanks Frank! METAPHORS BE WITH YOU!!.
The book's emphasis on the church as Bride of Christ was the freshest. I feel Frank's unique contribution has to do with passion and romance, elements of God's intention with his people. This is often missing in "missional" books written by men unhealthily driven by purposeful objectives and blinded to the passionate romance of enjoying God forever. It bothers me that our talk of being "missional" often misses this dimension. We see the church dressed in a business suit but never in high heels and evening gown. Frank reminds us that the church is GLAMOROUS and God is concerned with more than just getting the job done. I havent read someone tackle this since Pieter Bos in The Nations Called
Frank is a house church planter, speaker and Bible teacher. His books, especially "Who is Your Covering?" and "Rethinking the Wineskin" are read by a LOT of people in the simple/emerging/organic church world. I have recommended them many times.
Related:
Viola on 5 Fold Ministry
Viola on Emerging Church
Interview with Frank Viola on House Church Chronicles, Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3
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