What if God is not the scary, white-bearded old man in the sky with a million rules but and expansive, creative Being whose greatest delight is to break through boundaries, confound our expectations, pop up in unexpected places, and ask us to do likewise?
This book seeks to tell the story of God not as a one of preservation, but of exploration and expansion, a God who delights in breaking through boundaries, relishes popping up in unexpected places, and favors the outsider over the institutional insider. For the growing number of people who have rejected religious answers that have suffocated their experience of God, this is good news. Recasting God's story as one of expansion and exploration will provide the reader with a new paradigm through which all of faith can be understood. Seeing God's story as a story of boundary breaking will open the reader's imagination and encourage the reader to live as a person of hopeful purpose who attempts to change the world for the better. Rather than compartmentalizing faith to a spiritualized realm, faith in the boundary-breaking God engages life at every corner--social, economical, political, intellectual, ecological--and informs the way we faithfully respond in an increasingly complex world.
Religious institutions are in the preservation business. They want to preserve ideals and certain interpretations and customs that have been held for generations. This is not always a bad thing, but a growing population of Americans has become disillusioned with the story of preservation they have heard from mainstream Christianity. They retain faith in God, but they have lost faith in the story of God they have been told through institutional religion. Prepackaged church answers and trite anecdotes from Scripture are no longer tenable amid the reality of their complex, postmodern lives. They are desperately searching for a new story, one that is big enough to hold every aspect of modern life and show them what is truly means to follow Jesus.
- Engaging young female writer with compelling idea: Danielle's personal story combined with her ability to help break God out of the narrow, exclusive evangelical box will be appealing to younger readers and those who are intrigued by Jesus but turned off by institutional Christianity.
- A fresh take on a perennial topic: As a young, creative pastor leading an innovative church community, Danielle is well equipped to pose key questions and present a compelling vision of who God is what God wants for creation.
- Strong endorsements and connections: Because Danielle frequently speaks and presents at a variety of conferences and is in demand as a compelling new voice, she will be able to draw on her networks to help promote the book. Her endorsements will be drawn from the most creative voices and writers, including best-selling writer Shane Claiborne (The Irresistible Revolution, Jesus for President).
Readers of Rob Bell, Shane Claiborne, Brian McLaren, Donald Miller; Christians tired of the same old same old; young readers intrigued by God and Jesus but turned off by institutional Christianity.
