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Summary: Mark from Oz
Review: Down here in Australia the Market Growth driven church has started to take a foothold like many have found in the US. When Purpose Driven Life was rolled in our church followed by Willow Creek material, I couldn't help but notice something was wrong. Gary's Book "This little church went to market" put the finger on exactly what was wrong. For anyone concerned about biblical truth above Church numbers this is a book worth reading. Gary takes a Biblically based stand and shows where many of our megachurches have missed the mark.
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Summary: Excellent Exposition on the Church Growth Movement
Review: Gilley proves through and through why the "Market Driven Church" will endanger the future status of Christianity in America. This movement led by such Apostates as Warren and Hybels is more dangerous than the Charismatic movement and is causing destruction in american churches.
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Summary: Excellent Exposition on the Church Growth Movement
Review: Simply an excellent work, practical and not a difficult read. Mr. Gilley hits the nail on the head and if your church is all of sudden enamored with the philosophies of Rick Warren, Bill Hybels or Lee Strobel, spend the money and buy this book. Unfortunately, this book will not get this circulation it deserves. The evangelical church of today is surrounding itself with man-centered philosophies and teachers that are presenting softened gospel-lite messages for itching ears. (2 Tim 4:3-5) Basically, the message of Mr. Gilley is that today's church is giving the unbelieving visitor a non-threatening environment where they can be entertained and fed pop psychology sprinkled with Christian terminology. Doctrines of holiness, judgment, and hell are never taught; only that God is love and wants to answer your selfish Jabez-like prayer for more and more worldly possessions. Well, this heresy is resulting in the dumbing-down of Christians. Yes, there is nothing wrong with preaching of God's love and forgiveness; however, when other clearly taught doctrines are conveniently ignored because they would reduce attendance and cash inflows, we have the state of the modern megachurch in America today. (Mark 8:36??) Mr. Gilley successfuly argues that music and entertainment are also killing the gospel message in the modern church. Too much of christian music today is nothing more than "7-11" songs.... seven words repeated eleven times over. We are attracting too many people to the entertainment and the true message gets watered down because the "cross is a hindrance to the unbeliever." (See 1 Cor 1) I believe the marketing gurus in these churchs are probably sincere. Their plan is to spring the true gospel on these unchurched people after they have made them comfortable walking through the front door. But how often does this really occur? Only God knows. Mr. Gilley argues that today's churches need to return to preaching the Gospel and praying that the Holy Spirit will stir and convict the unbeliever. The marketing philosophy removes the Spirit by emphasizing that music, entertainment and a non-threatening environment will cause them to make that decision. Excellent work and should be read if your church is pushed to study the works of Rick Warren, Bill Hybels, etc. God bless you in your studies.
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Summary: Some valid points, with and ax to grind,
Review: The book presents a case that there is a danger in churches focusing more on marketing than God. He has a valid concern, but he offers no real alternatives. He quotes and takes so much material from O S Guinness, John Macarthur, David Wells, and G A Pritchard that you might as well read those sources as opposed to his. His main focus is on the entertainment aspects of some churches. He uses Willow Creek and Saddleback as the objects of his arguments. He fails to mention many other mega churches that have used marketing for years. Liberty Baptist and Jerry Falwell is an example of a church and minister using marketing to gain attendance. He seems to believe that preaching and ministering to peoples needs is wrong. In their day D L Moody and Charles Spurgeon were known for looking to people's needs, "marketing" themselves, and considered entertainment.
Reading the book, I got the distinct impression that Gilley believes that having fun or being entertained while at church is unscriptural and bad. If you are entertaining people at church then you are doing a disservice to those in attendance. He makes valid arguments that churches that follow a marketing/entertainment model are not making disciples or teaching the scriptures. There does appear to be a serious problem in some mega and non-mega churches not teaching the word and producing mature Christian. He is against psychology as well. As someone trained as a psychologist and a licensed counselor, I find his arguments poor. It appears he has never studied those who have noetic theories, that is, those who include the spiritual realm. Jay Adams comes to mind as a counselor who believes many problems have as their root cause sin. He spends time decrying the evils of preaching that fulfils peoples needs or results in the fulfillment any ones emotional or psychological needs. According to Gilley, fufillment and being entertained at a worship service is wrong, that is, not worshiping in spirit and truth. The book does sound a caution note about the lack of strong biblical teachings. I have the same concerns that strong, biblically based preaching and teaching is greatly needed. I would urge all to people to return to exegesis of the bible, and not to the Fundamentals of Truth.
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Summary: Very Good Biblical Analysis of the "Church Growth" Movement
Review: This is an easy to read book for the layman or pastor who are looking for something other than fawning praise over the "CEO" model pastors, cramming their churches full of hapless souls thinking that because they "feel good" in church and "feel good" about themselves they must be "Christians." He shows how and why the "seeker sensitive" and "purpose driven" models are off base Biblically and the book is always irenic in spirit...far more than I would be if I had written on this topic! Great book, well worth the time and money. Thank you Mr Gilley!
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Summary: Please -- reviewers learn what a review really is!
Review: This Little Church Went to Market is a lucid expose of current trends in churches everywhere. What is distressing is the two reviews posted before this writing, which simply lashed out at the author. Furthermore, I believe they were written by the same person! Tsk! Tsk! When will we ever learn?
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Summary: Highly Recommended!
Review: Though I have never met him, Garry Gilley has had a signficant impact on my life. He was one of two people who was most influential in my decision to begin to review books. His many book reviews were very helpful to me and made me realize that if he could review books and post them on the web, I could too. I have long wanted to read his books and just recently was given a copy of This Little Church Went to Market.
This book is a damning indictment of the market-driven churches that are so popular today. Having extensively studied the issues Gilley writes about in this book, I am comfortable saying that this is the best introduction to "the church in the age of entertainment" that I have read. Gilley contends that the church has sold out to our culture so that the influences of the culture have become the influences in the church. The most significant forces pressing against the church are entertainment, market driven philosophies and psychology. These three are largely absent from the Bible, yet are startlingly prevalent in evangelical churches. The leaders and issues he concentrates on most are Rick Warren and his book The Purpose Driven Church, Bill Hybels and Lee Strobel.
Having discussed the forces that are impacting the church, the author spends several chapters examining how these forces have impacted evangelical churches. He quotes extensively throughout the book from other believers who have covered this topic such as John MacArthur, Os Guinness and Michael Horton as well as from unbelievers such as Neal Postman. Finally he concludes that churches built on seeker sensitive model will be built on the wrong foundation, will teach the wrong message, will focus on the wrong need and will misunderstand preaching and worship. In other words, these churches will bear little resemblance to a New Testament, Christian church.
Through this book Gilley manages to approach the topics in a rational manner and never comes across as being obnoxious or blinded to the heart of the issues. He truly does understand both the New Testament model and the new evangelical model and is able to adequately compare them. The back cover tells us that the book "is a call for the Church to return to its scriptural roots" and that is right on the mark. This book examines contemporay issues and calls the church to return to the source to discover what God would have us be. I highly recommend this one.
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Summary: Hey Kool-Aid !!!!!
Review: What ever you do, don't drink Gary Gilley's Kool-aid! People are never the same afterwards. The underlying theme is that some churches worship the wrong way. Obviously, God appeared to him and told him this. It could not be the fact that he is a bitter man from a failing church. Maybe some churches have just evolved to meet the needs of people in the 21st Century. Now that Christians are no longer executed for their beliefs, we are allowed some latitude without the threat of stoning. Perhaps some churches are losing their message. Who is Mr. Gilley to judge what is the "wrong message"? I think I know who that decision is ultimately up to. If there is a problem, HE will take care of it. Until then Mr. Gilley, worry about yourself.
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Summary: Hey Kool-Aid !!!!!
Review: What ever you do, don't drink Gary Gilley's Kool-aid! People are never the same afterwards. The underlying theme is that some churches worship the wrong way. Obviously, God appeared to him and told him this. It could not be the fact that he is a bitter man from a failing church. Maybe some churches have just evolved to meet the needs of people in the 21st Century. Now that Christians are no longer executed for their beliefs, we are allowed some latitude without the threat of stoning. Perhaps some churches are losing their message. Who is Mr. Gilley to judge what is the "wrong message"? I think I know who that decision is ultimately up to. If there is a problem, HE will take care of it. Until then Mr. Gilley, worry about yourself.
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