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    Rumors of God: Experience the Kind of Faith You've Only Heard About
    Rumors of God: Experience the Kind of Faith You've Only Heard About
    Rumors of God: Experience the Kind of Faith You've Only Heard About
    Audiobook4 hours

    Rumors of God: Experience the Kind of Faith You've Only Heard About

    Written by Darren Whitehead and Jon Tyson

    Narrated by Darren Whitehead and Jon Tyson

    4.5/5

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    About this audiobook

    Where is the life God promised us? Life is busy. We live like slaves to our fast-paced, suffocating schedules. We spend our energy and time in triviality, relegating God to the background. He seems distant to us, and we resist the idea that God wants to give, say, and show us more; we dismiss it as rumor. But Jesus calls us to a better way. Another dream-an unimagined future. Close the gap between what you hear about and what you see.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherOasis Audio
    Release dateJul 1, 2012
    ISBN9781621880530
    Author

    Darren Whitehead

    Originally from Australia, Darren Whitehead founded Church of the City in Nashville, Tennessee, in 2013. Each weekend around 6,000 people worship at one of the five locations across the metro area. Darren holds both his masters and doctorate degrees in ministry, with his dissertation research focusing on Millennial engagement in the Western Church. He lives with his wife, Brandy, and their three daughters, Sydney, Scarlett, and Violet in Nashville, Tennessee.

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    Reviews for Rumors of God

    4.5/5

    15 ratings3 reviews

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    • 4/5
      I received this book from BookSneeze in exchange for an honest review.The authors, both from Australia, received a revelation new to them, that “God’s strategy for redemption on the earth was to be carried out by the church.” They were moved to prayer, relocated to the USA where “the future of the Western church is hanging in the balance”, and set into place in ministering to hearts and lives as part of that strategy. In this book, Darren Whitehead and Jon Tyson share their vision in a clear and sincere, heartfelt manner. They include wonderful teachings, stories, and insights, which reveal “God’s kingdom coming to earth.”Rumors of God is divided into ten chapters, each with a subtitle. The Sculptor’s Shop: Rumors of Abundant Life Hostages of the Mind: Rumors of Another Dream The Great Reversal: Rumors of Generosity The Faith You’ve Only Heard About: Rumors of Love Getting the Gospel in Order: Rumors of Grace Giving Up Your Rights: Rumors of Freedom The Radical Individual: Rumors of Commitment Loving Beneath the Surface: Rumors of Community The Greenroom: Rumors of Justice Our Burning Revolution: Rumors of HopeAt the back of the book is a section with questions based on each chapter, good questions to make the reader think and soul search. What could be a problem, though, is that the scriptural references they use throughout the book are mostly just noted in the back and not written out in full in the text of the book. This could prevent many from getting the full impact intended.A comment that I was surprised to read was one written in chapter 5 about when the woman who was caught in adultery was brought to Jesus. The author said that Jesus “continued finger painting in the dust”, dismissing the seriousness of His meaningful action as a frivolous idle moment.It was unclear to me as to whether the authors were always referring to church as being “church” – the organization under man’s leadership in works, or “Church” – the Body of Christ under the spiritual headship of God and from which relationship the works come.There are some other things to watch out for, but Whitehead and Tyson made some excellent points and provided interesting – and surprising – stories to express their enthusiasm. It is a good read. On the whole Rumors of God is a book of encouragement to those who seek to be inspired and motivated in their faith.
    • 5/5
      It's no secret that one of the most maligned "institutions" of our day is the church. Most people have a jaded view of the church. Some of that can be blamed on people's misunderstandings and misapprehensions; far more of the blame falls upon the people who comprise churches for failing to come anywhere near the New Testament expectation of how the church is to function. It is one thing to be a fallible, sinful human being; it is quite another to continually willfully distort what God established.Nevertheless, God continues to expect His people to associate with one another on the basis of their shared walk in Christ (1 John 1:7). And congregations of God's people, for all of their faults, still do provide blessings and have the opportunity to provide many more.Such is the premise of a new book by Darren Whitehead and Jon Tyson, Rumors of God: Experience the Kind of Faith You've Only Heard About. The authors are Australians who happen to work at large Evangelical churches in the Chicago suburbs and in New York City, respectively.The book serves as both critique and encouragement for Christians in their personal faith and in their participation within the Body of Christ. Subjects addressed include finding true life in Christ; the insidious influence of marketing, advertising, and consumerism, and their impact on believers in terms of how they view themselves, their goals in life, and where they direct their resources; what it means to truly depend on God and His love; great emphasis on grace; the challenge of individualism and God's mandate for community; the need to work for justice; and the hope that is provided through Christ.Many of the premises of the book are similar to material that is being popularized within Evangelicalism, particularly to the younger generations. The influence of Timothy Keller can be ascertained here; much of what is said is entirely consistent with David Platt's Radical books, and Gabe Lyons of Q ideas is one of the people who writes praise for the book. In this sense most of the material is fully consistent with the recent emphases on faith, love, grace, and justice within Evangelical Christianity.There are some interesting nuggets in the book that go beyond what some others have written. The demonstration that Greek dikaiosune, often translated "righteousness," also incorporates the idea of justice (thus fusing the Hebrew tsdaqa, "righteousness," and mishpat, "justice") is valuable information and does change the way one views many New Testament passages. The critique of marketing and consumerism not just in terms of where we expend our resources but also in terms of forming one's imagination and goals in life is also rather profound in application.And I would be remiss to not note some challenges. As Evangelicals, there is evidence of the faith only and imputed righteousness positions, although their discussion of grace and the human condition, as written, is Biblically consistent. In chapter 6, the authors use Jonah and the Assyrians to discuss the challenges of forgiveness and prejudice. The imagined scenario of Hitler becoming repentant for killing people and thus being able to be forgiven was quite good, and the intent of the authors in the use of the Jonah example is right on. Nevertheless, in their discussion of the Jonah story, it seems that they use later historical events to describe why Jonah feels as he does about the Assyrians; they also speak of Assyrians moving in and marrying Israelite women so as to create the Samaritan ethnic group in Israel, based on Shane Hipps and Dan Carlin as sources. I'm still trying to figure out how one extrapolates that from 2 Kings 17; it would seem from 2 Kings 17 that the Assyrians almost fully exile all Israel from its land and import foreigners who learn of YHWH from a Levite sent back to Israel by Assyria (2 Kings 17:23-41). Perhaps the information comes from Josephus; but how can one separate truth from propaganda? Granted, 2 Kings 17 is rather prejudiced against the Samaritans, but it at least comes from much closer in time to the events specified than Josephus and whatever Samaritan accounts existed from the first century CE. Chapter 10 is a retelling of the story of Jesus meeting the disciples on the road to Emmaus in Luke 24. The authors make much of a possible connection between the two going to Emmaus and Emmaus as the place where Judas Maccabeus won his great victory over the Seleucids. It is an interesting theory, but entirely uncorroborated; one can imagine a hundred other reasons why the two disciples were going there.Rumors of God is built on the premise of the "rumor"-- a murmuring, a report that some things might be happening-- and the authors invite the reader to turn the "rumors" regarding God, Jesus, love, hope, grace, justice, generosity, forgiveness, etc. into realities in their lives. Even if one is well-versed in the present emphases in Evangelicalism, this book is still a good reminder of what is really important in life. It maintains a good mixture of encouragement and critique, balancing both the good and the not so good within the current "Christian" environment. Rumors of God will challenge you and hopefully inspire you toward greater faithfulness toward God and living in relationship with Him in obedient service.Kindle version: I recently obtained a Kindle and received this book in the Kindle edition. I noticed a couple of small editing mistakes, but otherwise the digital edition was well-organized, easily read, and free of major difficulties.*-- book received as part of early review program
    • 5/5
      In Rumors of God, Darren Whitehead and Jon Tyson teamed to unwrap scripture, bringing a freshness that quickens, and a vibrancy that inspires authenticity. Habakkuk prayed, “Lord, I have heard of your fame; I stand in awe of your deeds, Lord. Renew them in our day, in our time make them known; in wrath remember mercy.” The authors invite us to turn a captive ear to what God is doing among his people today, shouting for abundance of life rather than settling for mediocrity and substitutes, becoming a people whose dreams and actions reflect commitment and deep faith. We are challenged to weigh our mundane dreams against God’s desires for us, choosing goals that bring worry and strife in lieu of bringing restoration and hope to a world in need. While the world wonders if the rumors of God’s generosity, love, grace, commitment, freedom, relationships, justice and hope are true, God seeks to confirm the rumors through his people. The authors share countless stories validating that the rumors are true, God is working in the church, and He is using His church (people) to bring about wonders. This inspirational work creates the desire to live out one’s faith as a simple response of gratitude and love to the most faithful God. Whether individually, or in groups, this should be at the top of reading and study lists.This is an honest review based on an advance review copy through NetGalley from Thomas Nelson publishers. Thank you for the opportunity to review this book!