Free PDF Gray Matters: Navigating the Space between Legalism and Liberty, by Brett McCracken
If you obtain the printed book Gray Matters: Navigating The Space Between Legalism And Liberty, By Brett McCracken in online book establishment, you may likewise locate the very same trouble. So, you should relocate establishment to store Gray Matters: Navigating The Space Between Legalism And Liberty, By Brett McCracken and hunt for the readily available there. But, it will certainly not take place right here. Guide Gray Matters: Navigating The Space Between Legalism And Liberty, By Brett McCracken that we will certainly offer right here is the soft documents principle. This is just what make you could conveniently find and get this Gray Matters: Navigating The Space Between Legalism And Liberty, By Brett McCracken by reading this site. We offer you Gray Matters: Navigating The Space Between Legalism And Liberty, By Brett McCracken the most effective product, constantly and also constantly.
Gray Matters: Navigating the Space between Legalism and Liberty, by Brett McCracken
Free PDF Gray Matters: Navigating the Space between Legalism and Liberty, by Brett McCracken
Just what do you do to begin reviewing Gray Matters: Navigating The Space Between Legalism And Liberty, By Brett McCracken Searching the book that you love to check out first or locate an interesting publication Gray Matters: Navigating The Space Between Legalism And Liberty, By Brett McCracken that will make you intend to check out? Everyone has difference with their reason of reviewing a publication Gray Matters: Navigating The Space Between Legalism And Liberty, By Brett McCracken Actuary, reading routine has to be from earlier. Lots of people could be love to review, however not a publication. It's not fault. Somebody will be tired to open up the thick e-book with small words to check out. In even more, this is the genuine problem. So do take place possibly with this Gray Matters: Navigating The Space Between Legalism And Liberty, By Brett McCracken
Well, e-book Gray Matters: Navigating The Space Between Legalism And Liberty, By Brett McCracken will make you closer to exactly what you want. This Gray Matters: Navigating The Space Between Legalism And Liberty, By Brett McCracken will be consistently buddy at any time. You may not forcedly to consistently finish over reading a publication in short time. It will certainly be only when you have spare time as well as investing couple of time to make you feel enjoyment with what you read. So, you can get the definition of the notification from each sentence in the book.
Do you understand why you must read this website and just what the connection to checking out book Gray Matters: Navigating The Space Between Legalism And Liberty, By Brett McCracken In this modern period, there are lots of methods to get guide and also they will certainly be considerably simpler to do. Among them is by getting guide Gray Matters: Navigating The Space Between Legalism And Liberty, By Brett McCracken by online as exactly what we inform in the web link download. The e-book Gray Matters: Navigating The Space Between Legalism And Liberty, By Brett McCracken can be an option considering that it is so appropriate to your necessity now. To obtain guide on the internet is really simple by only downloading them. With this opportunity, you could check out guide anywhere as well as whenever you are. When taking a train, awaiting listing, and also awaiting an individual or other, you could read this on-line e-book Gray Matters: Navigating The Space Between Legalism And Liberty, By Brett McCracken as an excellent friend once more.
Yeah, checking out a publication Gray Matters: Navigating The Space Between Legalism And Liberty, By Brett McCracken can include your buddies lists. This is just one of the formulas for you to be effective. As understood, success does not imply that you have terrific things. Comprehending and also recognizing greater than various other will certainly give each success. Beside, the message and perception of this Gray Matters: Navigating The Space Between Legalism And Liberty, By Brett McCracken could be taken and also picked to act.
Culture is in right now for Christians. Engaging it, embracing it, consuming it, and creating it. Many (younger) evangelicals today are actively cultivating an appreciation for aspects of culture previously stigmatized within the church. Things like alcohol, Hollywood's edgier content, plays, art openings, and concerts have moved from being forbidden to being celebrated by believers. But are evangelicals opening their arms too wide in uncritical embrace of culture? How do they engage with culture in ways that are mature, discerning, and edifying rather than reckless, excessive, and harmful? Can there be a healthy, balanced approach--or is that simply wishful thinking?
With the same insight and acuity found in his popular Hipster Christianity, Brett McCracken examines some of the hot-button gray areas of Christian cultural consumption, helping to lead Christians to adopt a more thoughtful approach to consuming culture in the complicated middle ground between legalism and license. Readers will learn how to both enrich their own lives and honor God--refining their ability to discern truth, goodness, beauty, and enjoy his creation.
- Sales Rank: #541349 in eBooks
- Published on: 2013-08-01
- Released on: 2013-08-01
- Format: Kindle eBook
Review
"[McCracken] has a strong, C.S. Lewis-like approach to navigating the space between excessive consumption and legalistic abstention." -Christ and Pop Culture
"A balanced and versatile book." -The Gospel Coalition
"If I were still involved in youth or college ministry, I would be leaving copies of this book laying around on every horizontal surface in my office, to be perused by students, parents, pastors, and ordinary church members." -Fred Sanders, The Scriptorium
"An accessible, readable approach to the issue of 'culture' ... a helpful introduction to thoughtful and spiritually-aware engagement of the created order." -Christianity Today
"A valuable guide for any Christian who seeks to live out an incarnational faith... packs a lot of wisdom for anyone who just wants to be a better--more thoughtful, informed, discerning--consumer of culture." -IMAGE Journal
From the Back Cover
Culture. As Christians we're encouraged to engage it, create it, redeem it. And today many of us are actively cultivating an appreciation for aspects of culture previously stigmatized within the church. Things like alcohol, R-rated movies, and secular music have moved from being forbidden to being celebrated. But are we opening our arms too wide in uncritical embrace of culture? Can there be a healthy, balanced approach--or is that simply wishful thinking?
With the same insight found in his popular Hipster Christianity, Brett McCracken examines some of the hot-button gray areas of Christian cultural consumption, helping to lead us to adopt a more thoughtful approach to consuming culture in the complicated middle ground between legalism and liberty.
"McCracken charges headfirst into controversial questions and leaves no stone unturned. The result is a truly spectacular book that carves a path between an oppressive, rules-based religion and a powerless, free-for-all 'faith.' If you start reading it, beware--you won't be able to put it down."--Jonathan Merritt, faith and culture writer; author, A Faith of Our Own: Following Jesus Beyond the Culture Wars
"A helpful, critical, reflective exploration of how we should consume culture as Christians, one that is neither reactionary nor defensive, triumphalist nor despairing. Few younger Christians have navigated these turbulent waters with as much even-handed clarity as this book does, which makes it an important read."--Matthew Lee Anderson, MereOrthodoxy.com; author of Earthen Vessels: Why Our Bodies Matter for Our Faith
"Idealism is all the rage among bright young evangelicals today, but Brett McCracken brings something all too rare to the table: he holds his earnest idealism in tension with lucid good sense and winsome moderation. May his tribe increase!"--John Wilson, editor, Books & Culture
"Martin Luther said the world was like a drunken man, first falling off one side of the horse and then the other. With a fresh and thoughtful look at challenges such as food, music, film, and alcohol, Brett McCracken has offered a new generation a way to stay on the horse."--Roberta Green Ahmanson, writer and speaker
Brett McCracken is a Los Angeles-based journalist. He is the author of Hipster Christianity and has written for many publications, including the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, Books & Culture, Christianity Today, and Relevant. A graduate of Wheaton College and UCLA, Brett currently works as managing editor for Biola magazine and teaches journalism at Biola University. Follow him at his blog, The Search, at www.stillsearching.wordpress.com.
About the Author
Brett McCracken is a Los Angeles-based journalist. He is the author of Hipster Christianity and has written for the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, CNN.com, the Princeton Theological Review, Mediascape, Books & Culture, Christianity Today, Relev
Most helpful customer reviews
38 of 41 people found the following review helpful.
Ch. 7 betrays the reader's trust McCracken's spiritual discernment
By C. Williams
Having read Gray Matters last month, I came away agreeing with McCracken more often than not. He also helped to positively shape my thinking in some areas. I esp. benefitted from his thoughts on consumption in general as well as the historical context he laid out in each major section.
But I did have one hangup and definite caveat to recommending the book to others. Though I appreciate his focus on knowing where to draw the line in chapter 7, too many statements in that chapter and less than subtle movie recommendations gave me reason for concern. I really could not imagine much benefit that one might gain from watching movies with explicit sexual content. Despite the current pornography epidemic we're facing in our day, he seemed to presume that most readers would not struggle with sex and nudity in movies (with artistic and storytelling value) save for the few exceptions who have an abnormal struggle with pornography. This seemed to me a naive assessment of our culture. And culture is his area of expertise. I can think of few stumbling blocks more pervasive in our sex-crazed culture than sex in our film-watching. And more than that, when it comes to sex in movies, no matter the artistic telling of the narrative, Christians need to remember that the actors and actresses are real people with real mothers and fathers. Personally, I would grieve deeply over the knowledge that my daughter was taking her clothes off for the world to watch, no matter how artistic or beautiful the tale the film told. These factors alone would seem to overshadow any potential merit that could come through such movies.
I think Josh Harris' advice in "Sex is not the Problem (Lust Is)" proves to be less complicated: "This is not a simplistic test, but wholesomely biblical. If you can't bow your head and sincerely thank God for a movie or a symphony or a newscast or a novel--then for you that activity is wrong. Stop arguing with yourself, and move on to something else." His challenge shortly thereafter is to take Psalm 101:3 seriously.
John Piper shares a brief but needed reminder which could certainly speak to McCracken's movie recommendations.
http://www.desiringgod.org/resource-library/ask-pastor-john/my-husband-is-okay-with-racy-scenes-i-hate-it
I hate to leave such negative feedback since much of the book was really quite beneficial. But when less than subtle movie recommendations for films like "Eyes Wide Shut" and "Knocked Up" are made, more than a few questions of concern were raised in my mind. To answer McCracken's own questions: "Would my time be better spend doing something else? Will the artistic benefit outweigh the rough content?" ...I have a hard time ever answering in any way but "yes" to the former and "no" to the latter when it comes to explicit sex and nudity.
Consequently, chapter 7 revealed to this reader that the author writing about "gray areas" brings less spiritual discernment to the table than I might have hoped. I would very much appreciate a reprinting of this book to include major revisions of this chapter.
8 of 9 people found the following review helpful.
Great book for Conservative Millennials!
By Brandan Robertson
I am a fan of Brett McCracken. As a young evangelical I can relate to a lot of the thoughts and sentiments that Brett writes/blogs about. When I read his book Hipster Christianity last summer, I was encouraged and informed about many of the movements taking place within modern Western Christianity. So when I recieved the manuscript of his newest book from Baker Publishing, I was thrilled.
In his new book, Gray Matters, Brett tackles a very important issue that most young evangelicals are facing today- how are we to view things like smoking, drinking, cussing, and secular media. Because for most of us who grew up in the Evangelical subculture, we were taught never to drink, never to smoke, never to watch anything over a PG rating, and to stay away from "secular" music. However, most of us who grew up in that mindset now smoke, drink, watch everything, and listen to everything (or at least don't have a problem with any of those things). In this book, Brett attempt to shed some light on these "gray matters" and helps young evangelicals to think through these issues from a fresh and biblical perspective.
The book is broken into four main sections addressing four major gray issues for evangelicals- Eating, Listening, Watching, and Drinking.
Now, If you did not grow up in conservative evangelicalism, you may find the need for such a book laughable. Mainline-Progressive-Emergent-Liberal Christians generally all have no problems with these issues and have never dealt with these ideas as "gray matters". This book is really not for those people. It is rather for young evangelicals who really do have serious questions about these issues. For those of us who were raised in fundamentalist churches that told us anything short of Passion of The Christ was demonic and that wine in the Bible is actually grape juice, this book has a lot to offer.
This isn't so much a book of answers as it is a tool to help us process through these questions scripturally and sanely. Brett writes from a mildly-progressive Evangelical perspective that truly strives to be fair and balanced. I don't agree with everything he says, but I do appreciate his opinion and perspective none the less. If you are a young Evangelical who has real questions about these "gray matters" you should most definitely get your hands on this valuable resource and think through them with an author who really does get our generation (because he's part of it!)
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful.
Take your cultural analysis to a higher level
By Paul Mastin
I have to admit, I am a pretty voracious consumer of culture. I watch a lot of movies and read a lot of books, some good, some bad, some edifying, some not. Christian approaches to the consumption of various media range from teetotalism to unrestrained embrace, and most guidance for Christians tends toward legalistic black and white evaluation. Brett McCracken, author of Hipster Christianity, offers some guidance of a different sort in his new book Gray Matters.
McCracken's main target is younger Christians who come from the teetotalism end of the spectrum: no drinking, no secular music, no movies, or at least no R-rated movies. He notes that Christians, especially 30 and under Christians, have become much more open to such cultural expressions. Given that openness, McCracken wants to provide guidelines for "consuming culture well: discerningly, maturely, thoughtfully . . . a more mature consumption of culture, . . . to help us think about how a healthy consumption of culture honors God, enriches the Christian life, strengthens community, and advances the Christian mission."
Covering four major areas of consumption, food, movies, music, and alcohol, McCracken holds to some solid scriptural benchmarks. First of all, "whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God." But, he continues, we should always be aware of the "weaker brother" so that we don't cause him to stumble, as well as paying attention to our own weaknesses, while acknowledging that what is permissible may not be beneficial.
I enjoyed his take on food and alcohol. Think about what a kind and generous God we serve, who created such a variety of plants and animals, gave us the acuity to put them together in creative ways, and supplied us with the capacity to taste and enjoy them. Scripture is full of admonitions to enjoy creation. McCracken does warn against the temptation to, as we refine our tastes, succumb to pride, as we disdain common tastes in food and beverages. However, he seems to lean towards a superiority complex himself in his discussion of alcohol, dismissing "Coors, Bud Light, Heineken, and Shock Top" as "swill" that people drink only because "it's a cold beverage and gives them a buzz."
At this point, I have to question his discussion of alcohol. He talks about enjoying it as a blessing, enjoying the smell and taste, but then points out that "alcohol has never existed without the accompanying problem of drunkenness." He argues that when we drink, we should no do so for the buzz, only for the taste and experience, "a richer experience of a well-made beverage." So you're only drinking for the taste, not the buzz. I don't know, this sounds like someone who reads Playboy for the articles, or maybe to appreciate some of God's beautiful feminine creations. . . .
On music and film, McCracken challenges especially those Christians who won't listen to secular music or who limit their movie viewing to only "Christian" movies or to movies without cursing, nudity, etc. In music, great truth and experience of the divine can be experienced even if there are no lyrics, or if the lyrics don't point specifically to God or quote scripture. Surely anyone who has been moved by a classical piece or a rousing drum solo will attest that music alone can point us to God.
Likewise, movies can, as a work of art and/or entertainment, communicate important messages, even without explicit Christian or biblical themes. Of Christian films he laments that they sometimes suffer from "a prioritizing of content over artistry and an emphasis on message over excellent craft." The Christian film guides that enumerate the number of cuss words and provide details of sexual content can be helpful, especially for parents who wish to limit their children's exposure to such content. But those guides alone can't and don't point to what films may be edifying or not.
In spite of my mild criticisms, I found McCracken's approach to be spot-on. He's not a checklist guy (like the movie guides) but I did find his "20 Questions for Christian Consumers" to be a most helpful and insightful summary. In sum, Christians, he writes, must be "first, foremost, and passionately consumed by Christ" to be good consumers. Only then can we eat, drink, watch, and listen "for the purposes of knowing and glorifying God."
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the complimentary electronic review copy!
Gray Matters: Navigating the Space between Legalism and Liberty, by Brett McCracken PDF
Gray Matters: Navigating the Space between Legalism and Liberty, by Brett McCracken EPub
Gray Matters: Navigating the Space between Legalism and Liberty, by Brett McCracken Doc
Gray Matters: Navigating the Space between Legalism and Liberty, by Brett McCracken iBooks
Gray Matters: Navigating the Space between Legalism and Liberty, by Brett McCracken rtf
Gray Matters: Navigating the Space between Legalism and Liberty, by Brett McCracken Mobipocket
Gray Matters: Navigating the Space between Legalism and Liberty, by Brett McCracken Kindle
Tidak ada komentar:
Posting Komentar