SoulTsunami

Rating:
Summary: Forecast of a Post Modern Tidal Wave
Review: Acting as a cultural meteorologist, Leonard Sweet wrote Soul Tsunami in 1999 as a forecast of the Post Modern tidal wave that was about to strike the shores of American Christendom. As he predicted, the wave has hit and has left many casualties in its wake. The church body count continues to rise, while wise leaders who prepared for it are thriving.

The book serves as an introduction to ministry in a Post Modern culture. At times he seems to be an apologist for Post Modernity. You probably won't always agree with the writer but he will give you a look into the mind of the culture. His presentation of the current ministry realities makes this a significant book and certainly worth the read.

Sweet is a chaotic, quirky, witty, and sometimes annoying writer. If you want a real experience, listen to the audio book. It is a unique and an attention keeping creation. In fact, I'd recommend the audio version over the written effort.

Rating:
Summary: A gyroscope for the postmodern church
Review: I purchased Leonard Sweet's SoulTsunami looking for a "road map" to postmodern culture. What I got was a gyroscope. But a road map is useless to one adrift in the strange and disturbing waters of postmodernism. That's exactly where we are, church, and that's precisely why we need a new tool - a gyroscope, not a road map -- to navigate through these uncharted waters.

The terra firma of the modern world has given way to the fluid, amorphous culture of postmodernism. It is an ocean on which the "old ship of Zion" must set sail. This book's subtitle, "Sink or Swim in New Millennium Culture," aptly sums up the challenge postmodernism presents to the church.

SoulTsunami is engaging (who could tell from Sweet's straightforward writing style that he's actually an academic?), comprehensive (well researched and chock full of facts), and disturbing (especially, for me, Life Ring #5, "Get Bionomic," a fascinating and soul-agitating glimpse into our future). Yet Sweet's appraisal of the postmodern predicament is honest and right on target. Approach this book with an open mind, accept Sweet's challenges (even if you don't agree with everything he says), and be prepared to "get over" any pre-conceived ideas of how the Christian faith ought to be.

SoulTsunami should be on the reading list of every pastor, cell group leader, choir member, church organist, youth minister/worker, and pew-warmer.

Rating:
Summary: This is a MUST read for postmodern people!
Review: Leonard Sweet has written a book that every person who seeks to live a faithful AND relevant Christian faith in the 21st century MUST read. Not only does he give excellent descriptions of postmodernism, often in contrast to life "wiwak" (when I was a kid), he asks the most important question, SO WHAT? It is a book that I am recommending to all my friends in the church and to several friends who have written the church off because of its irrelevancy to life in today's and tomorrow's world. The book has been written in a style that is both a quick read (simple) and an intense (profound) read.

Rating:
Summary: Good Book
Review: Sweet made some amazing predictions about postmodern culture in this book

Rating:
Summary: Fresh Winds For the Church's Sails
Review: Sweet's soulTsunami is brimming full of creative energy for the church. Study and rumination over this book is crucial for any pastor, any Christian, any seeker of truth. Sweet articulates with such wit, quirkiness, and perception what postmoderns have been feeling in their hearts. I found myself in resounding agreement with each page, as well as provoked towards new thinking. The strength in this book lies in the "double-rings" and paradoxes (i.e. p. 89 "the problem with the church today is that it is 'too traditional'; the problem with the church today is that it is not traditional enough.")Sweet hits the nail on the head when he persuades us to remember that the same gospel message must be continually shaped to reach a new way of thinking that pervades our age. This can only happen by knowing and redeeming the culture. Thank you Leonard, for your prophetic inspiration. This book has become a part of me.