{"id":4340,"date":"2011-11-07T05:38:23","date_gmt":"2011-11-07T10:38:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/?p=4340"},"modified":"2011-11-06T19:50:48","modified_gmt":"2011-11-07T00:50:48","slug":"book-review-branded","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/?p=4340","title":{"rendered":"Book Review: Branded"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/?attachment_id=4342\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-4342\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-4342\" title=\"branded_large\" src=\"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/branded_large.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"363\" height=\"435\" srcset=\"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/branded_large.jpg 363w, https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/branded_large-250x300.jpg 250w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 363px) 100vw, 363px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>This weekend, I picked up <a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Branded-Sharing-Jesus-Consumer-Culture\/dp\/0825438942\" target=\"_blank\"><em>Branded: Sharing Jesus With a Consumer Culture<\/em><\/a> by Tim Sinclair.\u00a0 I was a bit skeptical when I started reading this book that touted itself as a new marketing plan for Jesus.\u00a0 I was pleasantly surprised to encounter a fresh look at what evangelism looks like in light of the consumer culture that we live in today.\u00a0 This book was a great reminder of what it means to truly look like, act like, and love like Jesus in an effort to win people for the Kingdom.\u00a0 Below are some thoughts I highlighted while reading&#8230;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>We\u2019re pretty good at say-ing, but not so good at do-ing. We\u2019re pretty good at act-ing, but not so good at be-ing. We\u2019re pretty good at pretend-ing, but not so good at truly liv-ing.<\/li>\n<li>Jesus had the remarkable ability to be culturally and socially relevant, while still delivering a powerful, life-changing message.<\/li>\n<li>Lack of competition breeds laziness. Laziness breeds apathy. And eventually, apathy breeds disaster.<\/li>\n<li>According to the World Christian Encyclopedia, the church spends $1,551,466 for each new follower of Jesus.<\/li>\n<li>It\u2019s not exciting the people inside the church enough to go reach people outside the church.<\/li>\n<li>We\u2019ve seemingly created places of worship that keep people in . . . but don\u2019t bring people in. Or send passion-filled people out.<\/li>\n<li>How are children supposed to get a handle on faith if mom and dad can\u2019t agree on one? If one religion is okay for one parent, and another is okay for the other parent, it\u2019s natural for our kids to believe there is no right way or wrong way. It\u2019s no wonder that moral relativism is so prevalent.<\/li>\n<li>Most people no longer think they need what Jesus offers. We\u2019re a self-reliant world with no desire to follow (or cater to) anybody but ourselves.<\/li>\n<li>\u201cPeople are like tea bags. You find out what\u2019s really inside when you put them in hot water.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>Living a better lifestyle doesn\u2019t inspire us to draw closer to God. Drawing closer to God inspires us to live a better lifestyle.<\/li>\n<li>Christians often try to change a person\u2019s culture rather than let God change her heart. We try to force others to act like us, with the hope that they\u2019ll eventually believe like us. That\u2019s entirely backward. Heart changes lead to a change in actions, not the other way around.<\/li>\n<li>It\u2019s not our job to present a perfect person to Jesus\u2014but to present a perfect Jesus to people.<\/li>\n<li>Exceed expectations and you win every time.<\/li>\n<li>Christians, like many social or political action groups, are often known more for what they\u2019re against, rather than what (and Who) they\u2019re for.<\/li>\n<li>For some reason, over time, Christ-followers have put themselves in a boring box. Our packaging (lifestyle) gives the impression that Christianity is more about rules than freedom.<\/li>\n<li>Passionate customers openly share with their friends.<\/li>\n<li>The problem is that we\u2019re forcing the issue. We\u2019re attempting to make people believe, rather than make them want to believe. There\u2019s a big difference.<\/li>\n<li>When love is authentically lived out, it can be seen both up close and from a distance.<\/li>\n<li>In a world full of selfishness and slander, hypocrisy and hate, love sticks out like a pair of white headphones.<\/li>\n<li>When power and influence are based on who you say you are, then it\u2019s only fair for them to be taken away based on who you really are.<\/li>\n<li>What if we were intentional about befriending those people many Christians consider unlovely?<\/li>\n<li>Each time he said, \u201cMy grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.\u201d So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. That\u2019s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong. (2 Cor. 12:9\u201310)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This weekend, I picked up Branded: Sharing Jesus With a Consumer Culture by Tim Sinclair.\u00a0 I was a bit skeptical when I started reading this book that touted itself as a new marketing plan for Jesus.\u00a0 I was pleasantly surprised to encounter a fresh look at what evangelism looks like in light of the consumer [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21,14,28,17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4340","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bible-study","category-book-review","category-integrity","category-leadership"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4340","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4340"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4340\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4340"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4340"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4340"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}