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“Their recorded discussion is titled The Tides of Change
and was packaged as part of an ongoing series called
‘Choice Voices for Church Leadership.’ … According to
information on the tape set, this presentation was
about ministry on the emerging ‘new frontier.’”
“Challenging pastors to make changes in their ministry
to meet the emerging postmodern culture and the
changing times, Sweet and Rick Warren present
themselves not only as pastors but also as modern-day
change agents. In their conversation together, Sweet
enthusiastically remarked to Warren: ‘I think this is
part of this New Spirituality that we are seeing birthed
around us.’”
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“‘New Spirituality’ is the term that most New Age leaders
are now using instead of ‘New Age Spirituality.’ …
Emerging church figures like Sweet, Brian McLaren, and
others are also employing the term ‘New Spirituality.’ They
use it to describe the ‘new’ Christianity they are practicing
as ‘New Christians’ and ‘New Light leaders.’”
“What has become clear over the last decade is that the
‘New Spirituality’–with its bottom line belief that God is ‘in’
everything–is, in reality, the foundational New Age ‘hub’ for
the coming New World Religion. This panentheistic New
Age/New Spirituality teaching that God is ‘in’ everything
will be the ‘common ground’ melting pot belief that the
coming New World Religion will ultimately rest upon.”
(Warren Smith Blog, http://www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com/blog/?p=997
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“This witty, yet substantive primer explores the
basic concepts and vernacular of postmodern
ministry. This ‘postmodern ministry-fordummies’ will help ‘immigrants’ learn to speak
PSL (postmodern as a second language), so
they can better live, minister, and make a
difference in the emerging postmodern
context.”
(http://www.christianbook.com/html/static/leonard_sweet.html)
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
“I cannot find a single redeeming feature to
this tragicomical book. The authors are earnest,
but they are completely clueless about the
philosophical concepts they are trying to
summarize and employ.” (By Timothy McGrew
"Philosopher" (Kalamazoo, MI)

(http://www.amazon.com/A-Is-Abductive-Leonard-Sweet/productreviews/0310243564/ref=cm_cr_dp_qt_hist_one?ie=UTF8&filterBy=addOneS
tar&showViewpoints=0)
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“The gospel presents a life-changing NUTS wisdom
that conflicts with normal ways of making sense of the
world. There is the World According to Normal. There
is the World According to NUTS . . . where NUTS is an
acronym for Never Underestimate the Spirit. The
wisdom of Jesus is a NUTS wisdom. ---From the book
All people are different, but some are more different
than others. Christians are meant to be the most
different of all. Yet we often 'normalize' God. We judge
what is a successful Christian and a successful church
by the world according to Normal, not the world
according to NUTS, the wisdom of Jesus.”
(http://www.amazon.com/Jesus-Drives-Crazy-Leonard-Sweet/dp/0310232244/
ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1347782062&sr=1-20)
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“I think: This book is a complete waist [sic] of time and
money. The price of $.95 is a statement of it's value.
Every page is work to read and understand. The
content is all over the place like ADHD had a hand in
this. … If you are trying to understand more about
Christianity and our relationship with God - THIS IS
NOT THE PLACE TO FIND IT! We read this book as a
Sunday school project and chose to abandon it as a bad
idea. I don't normally go off on things like this. (Bad
ideas get thrown in the trash) But this is so extreme I
just had to.” (By E. McManus (Chattanooga, TN)
(http://www.amazon.com/Jesus-Drives-Crazy-Leonard-Sweet/productreviews/0310232244/ref=cm_cr_dp_qt_hist_one?ie=UTF8&filterBy=add
OneStar&showViewpoints=0)
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“What should the church look like today? What should
be the focus of its message? How should I present that
message? We live in as pivotal and defining an age as
the Great Depression or the Sixties--a period whose
definition, say some cultural observers, includes a
waning of the church's influence. The result? A society
measurably less religious but decidedly more spiritual.
Less influenced by authority than by experience. More
attuned to images than to words. How does the church
adapt to such a culture? Or should it, in fact, eschew
adapting for maintaining a course it has followed these
last two millennia?”
(http://www.amazon.com/Church-Emerging-Culture-FivePerspectives/dp/0310254876/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=134803
2449&sr=1-1&keywords=the+church+in+emerging+culture)
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“Brian McLaren … talks way too much. The man had
to put his two cents on everything, and recap everyone.
It didn't seem like a even handed presentation of 5
views with McLaren giving the last word in every
chapter.”
“Useful to see contrasts. Too much of McLaren. Would
like to seen more ‘orthodox’ participants in line of
Horton. “
(http://www.amazon.com/The-Church-Emerging-Culture-Perspectives/productreviews/0310254876/ref=cm_cr_pr_hist_3?ie=UTF8&filterBy=addThreeStar&sho
wViewpoints=0)
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“George Fox Journal: What is the emergent church?
Len Sweet: It probably would mean something
different to everyone you would ask, but from my
perspective, the ‘emergent church’ is an ongoing
conversation about how new times call for new
churches, and that the mortar-happy church of the last
half of the 20th century is ill-poised to face the
promises and perils of the future. In fact, attempting to
define the ‘emergent church’ betrays the essence of the
movement because the emergent consciousness
questions the notion that there is such a thing. Rather,
there are only individual emerging churches that are
missional in orientation that grow out of the
indigenous soils in which they are planted. In other
words, no two emerging churches are alike.”
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“George Fox Journal: Are there some common
practices in emerging churches?
Len Sweet: Pews are now antiques. Since the focus of
emerging churches is on community, their worship
space is flexible. Some have tables and chairs. Others
have a more living room look and feel. But emerging
churches are proving to be very surprising. For
example, hymns are now back. And the church’s
liturgy and Eucharist are being rediscovered in creative
and compelling ways. A lot of emerging churches are
very ‘smells and bells’ in their worship. Whatever the
diversity of spiritual practices, the key words for
emerging churches are incarnational, missional, and
relational.”
(http://www.georgefox.edu/journalonline/fall05/emerging.html)
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“You can learn to pay attention like never before,
to identify where God is already in business right
in your neighborhood. The doors are open and the
coffee is brewing. God is serving the refreshing
antidote to the unsatisfying, arms-length spiritual
life---and he won't even make you stand in line.
Let Leonard Sweet shows you how the passion
that Starbucks has for creating an irresistible
experience can connect you with God's stirring
introduction to the experience of faith.”
(http://www.christianbook.com/html/static/leonard_sweet.html)
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“Most books have both good and bad points in
them. But every so often, I run across a book that
has practically no redeeming value. This was one
of those books. Bluntly, it was one of the worst
books I've read in a while. …
It is ridiculous and offensive (not to mention just
plain wrong) to imagine God saying, ‘Wow,
Starbucks has a great thing going there. Let's try
that.’ (By the way, the Epilogue is entitled ‘Jehovah
Java.’)” (By Nathan Markley (Lawrence, KS)
(http://www.amazon.com/The-Gospel-According-Starbucks-Passion/productreviews/1578566495/ref=cm_cr_dp_qt_hist_one?ie=UTF8&filterBy=addOneStar&
showViewpoints=0)
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“Should believers follow Christianity ... or
Christ? Should we point others to core values ...
or the cross? Charging that today’s church has
mistakenly framed conversion as a change of
direction rather than a change in connection,
Sweet and Viola offer a corrective ‘manifesto’
featuring 10 crucial ways to restore the
supremacy of Jesus himself.”
(http://www.christianbook.com/jesus-manifesto-restoring-supremacysovereignty-christ/leonard-sweet/9780849946011/pd/946011?product_
redirect=1&Ntt=946011&item_code=&Ntk=keywords&event=ESRCP)
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“The Christian church is falling apart and in
desperate need of a revival. According to Professor
Sweet and bestselling author Viola, what is lacking
is a groundbreaking revelation of Christ that
boggles the mind and enraptures the heart. …
[T]his insistent, impassioned essay condemns as
pharisaic those preachers who forgo a Christcentered theology in favor of a cute, singular
slogan or mission. The authors urge churches to
focus on the man who embodies the entire
religion.” cont.
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“To do so, readers must learn the subtle distinction
between following Christ and realizing Christ
already lives within them. Some may find this
message controversial, even pantheistic. Yet the
biblical passages show the message is rooted in
Scripture. The authors provide a lot to digest, but
quotations from poets and philosophers break up
the text and help readers grasp abstract concepts.
Though most applicable to pastors and
seminarians, all Christian readers will discover a
new perspective and deeper purpose.”
(http://www.amazon.com/Jesus-Manifesto-Restoring-SupremacySovereignty/dp/0849946018/ref=tmm_hrd_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1347790411&sr=
8-1)
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“In the incarnation, the beating heart of the universe became
a human heart.13 …
“‘Breath on Me, Breath of God’ is more than a metaphor and
a hymn. It’s a testimony of the risen Christ who breathes in
you and me. Christ dwells in us. Why don’t we also let Him
breathe through us by our lives as an offering to Him?
Singer/song-writer Maria McKee has a song called ‘Breathe’
in which she does exactly that: she presents an offering of
herself to Christ:
I will let you breathe through me
I will let you be with me…
My heart beats your blood;
your breath fills my lungs. 15” (Jesus Manifesto, p. 64)
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“BREATHE ON ME,
BREATH OF GOD”
“BREATHE”
MARIA MCKEE

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“At first I was scared when I
opened up my head and the
motor that was running was
the mind of you, I was scared
when I looked at my
reflection and the shine I saw
were the eyes of you….
Whenever I'm alone and
you're lost out there I can feel
you breathe cause our lungs
we share, When I'm alone
anytime, anywhere, I can feel
your heart beat, 'cause our
blood we share.”
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“Breathe on me, breath of God, Fill me
with life anew, That I may love what
Thou dost love, And do what Thou
wouldst do.
Breathe on me, breath of God, Until my
heart is pure, Until with Thee I will one
will, to do and to endure.
Breathe on me, breath of God, till I am
wholly Thine, Until this earthly part of
me glows with Thy fire divine.
Breathe on me, breath of God, so shall I
constant be, And live with Thee the
perfect life Of Thine eternity.”
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“There are good reasons to be concerned about
contemporary Christianity. But must the answer always be ‘a
fresh alternative -- a third way’ (pg. xiii)? In the case of Jesus
Manifesto, authors Leonard Sweet and Frank Viola construct
a ‘third way’ that bears little resemblance to the ‘narrow
road’ (Matt. 7:13-14) which Jesus Himself preached.”
“[T]he authors begin with a series of sweeping, but
predictable, generalizations about the grim state of affairs:
‘The world likes Jesus; they just don't like the church. But
increasingly, the church likes the church, yet it doesn't like
Jesus’ (pg. xvi), … This kind of ‘bash the church’ rhetoric is
at the heart of the postmodern, post-evangelical movement,
and propels much of what Sweet and Viola unpack.
Apparently, for many "emergent" Christians, problems with
the church are a license to reconfigure the gospel. And,
ultimately, Jesus Manifesto seems determined to do just that.”
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“Along the way, the authors teeter between sublimity and
absurdity. On the one hand, Sweet and Viola do a terrific job
pulling everything back to Christ, showing how Scripture and
biblical history center around the Son of God and all our causes
and convictions should be subordinate to Him. Their language is
exultant, their praise effusive. But the closer we examine the
Christ they acclaim, the less He seems like the biblical one.”
“The ‘hard sayings’ of Christ about hell, damnation, and judgment
are nowhere to be found in this book (unless intimated toward
religious elites). As such, the Jesus of Jesus Manifesto is the friend
of sinners NOT the ‘judge of the living and the dead’ (Acts 10:42).
The Jesus of Jesus Manifesto comes to bring unity NOT ‘division’
(Lk. 12:49-57). The Jesus of Jesus Manifesto carries an olive branch
NOT a ‘sword’ (Matt. 10:34). The Jesus of Jesus Manifesto ushers
souls to heaven NOT ‘eternal punishment’ (Matthew 25:32,46).”
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“It is this ecumenical evasiveness that spoils Jesus Manifesto.
The Bible teaches that the Good Shepherd will one day
return with ‘the armies of heaven... to strike the nations’
(Rev. 19: 11-16), that the cross of Christ ‘offends’ people
(Gal. 5:11) and its message is ‘foolishness to those who are
perishing’ (I Cor. 1:18). Sadly, it is this ‘offense’ that Sweet
and Viola jettison in favor of uncritical inclusion.”
“One of the ways Jesus Manifesto attempts this is by
downplaying ‘doctrine.’ The authors write, ‘The apostles'
message throughout Acts is not the plan of salvation. It's not
a theology or a set of doctrines either. It is a person – Christ’
(pg. 12), and ‘According to Scripture, Jesus Christ (and not a
doctrine about Him) is the truth’ (pg. 80).”
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“Can theology get in the way of relationship with Christ?
Absolutely! Is Jesus more than a doctrinal system? Of course! But
the assumption that a doctrine or ‘theological system’ ALWAYS
impedes a relationship with Christ is untenable. On the contrary,
good theology fires a right relationship with Jesus. In fact, how
does one even ‘grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and
Savior Jesus Christ’ (II Pet. 3:18) without embracing a series of
biblical prepositions about Him?”
“Scripture is filled with exhortations about believing correctly. In
fact, it was those same apostles (the ones who [supposedly] did
not preach ‘a theology or a set of doctrines’) who cautioned
against ‘false Christ’s (II Cor. 11:3,4; 13-15) and admonished about
a time when men ‘will not endure sound doctrine’ (II Tim. 4:3).
The apostle Peter warned about ‘false teachers’ who ‘secretly
introduce destructive heresies’ (II Pet. 2:1).”
(http://www.amazon.com/Jesus-Manifesto-Restoring-Supremacy-Sovereignty/
product-reviews/0849946018/ref=cm_cr_dp_qt_hist_two?ie=UTF8&filterBy=addTwo
Star&showViewpoints=0)
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“Sweet’s and Viola’s manifesto starts with a purge. The
authors go right to the heart of the matter of the
supremacy of Jesus Christ by calling us to re-examine
what is meant by Acts 2:42′s mention of ‘the apostles’
doctrine,’ noting all the debris that modern churches
tend to teach has nothing to do with that doctrine,
which is Christ Himself. We get sidetracked into
eschatology, how to live by faith, spiritual warfare,
evangelism, holiness, Bible memorization, and on and
on. That list of diversions features a large number of
sacred cows the authors eventually gore and then ask
readers to purge. No Christian is left unchallenged.”
(http://ceruleansanctum.com/2010/06/book-review-jesus-manifesto.html)
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