⋙ Read Butterflies in the Belfry Serpents in the Cellar An Unintended Pursuit for a Natural Christianity J Michael Jones 9780997759105 Books

Butterflies in the Belfry Serpents in the Cellar An Unintended Pursuit for a Natural Christianity J Michael Jones 9780997759105 Books

Download As PDF : Butterflies in the Belfry Serpents in the Cellar An Unintended Pursuit for a Natural Christianity J Michael Jones 9780997759105 Books

Butterflies in the Belfry Serpents in the Cellar An Unintended Pursuit for a Natural Christianity J Michael Jones 9780997759105 Books

This is the most complete, thoughtful and personal understanding of what is wrong with Evangelicalism and how to fix it. It should be a must read for everyone who has left the Church, who is disillusioned with the Church or who knows people who are. If you like NT Wright's Surprised by Hope, Donald Miller's Blue Like Jazz or William P. Young's The Shack, Butterflies in the Belfry will completely Butterflies in the Belfry -- Serpents in the Cellar: An Unintended Pursuit for a Natural Christianityblow your mind.


Tags : Butterflies in the Belfry -- Serpents in the Cellar: An Unintended Pursuit for a Natural Christianity [J. Michael Jones] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. In 1988 while working for a demanding Christian organization, Michael Jones moves his family to the Middle East to serve as missionaries to Muslims. Though Michael finds the Muslim people to be extremely hospitable,J. Michael Jones,Butterflies in the Belfry -- Serpents in the Cellar: An Unintended Pursuit for a Natural Christianity,Naked Christian Press,0997759100,Biography & Autobiography General,Biography: General

Butterflies in the Belfry Serpents in the Cellar An Unintended Pursuit for a Natural Christianity J Michael Jones 9780997759105 Books Reviews

J. Michael Jones asked the questions why am I the way I am? Why is my church the way it is? This book is his decade and 1/2 journey to find the answers. It is a journey we all should take for we all have "butterflies of pretense" in our belfry's and "scheming servants" in our cellars
Jones shares with us his personal history as he descends the cellar stairs first with a flashlight then a spotlight and finally a floodlight. Even that was not enough to give them the answers he needed. He then takes a serious look at history and describes the multiple "isms" that have influenced, infused and infected the church for centuries and thus the individuals within it. This book echoes what many of us who have grown up in the "church" and or involved in para-church organizations have experienced. The millions who have been damaged by these institutions is incalculable. Most of us live lives of quiet despair or endless activity unaware of how we been affected. Not so J. Michael Jones. He is taken the narrow road, the often lonely path, the dangerous and difficult way to a more natural Christianity. This is not a book to just read. It is one to study and emulate. I eagerly look forward to his next book in which I hope he further develops the concept of a natural more organic faith that bypasses all the "isms" philosophies and traditions of men and put the focus on Jesus, the Savior.
Reading J. Michael Jones's book, I realized in a fresh way how churches and Christian organizations so often fail to nurture faith. Indeed, some of his experiences made me wonder how he kept his faith at all. In the name of Jesus, he was treated with an astonishing lack of simple human kindness and consideration. However, rather than abandon it all, Michael sought to understand why people of faith so often fail in the most basic aspects of human relationships. One philosophical thread that runs through the history of Western Christianity that he found is the problem of dualism -- dividing reality into the "spiritual" vs. the "worldly." Nothing can have real meaning or significance unless it is spiritualized. Such thinking separates Christians from their neighbors and denies the essential common ground between them that provides opportunities for sharing genuine love. I think this is an important insight with many ramifications for people of faith and their institutions. So Jones's book is an important read. But more than that, it's a story of rescue -- how God delivered this thoughtful and gifted man from a religion that would have denied him his best thoughts and most valuable gifts.
J. Michael Jones has written an intriguing and poignant memoir in which he describes his journey from the destructive aberrations of Christian evangelicalism to a more holistic and “natural” style of Christian faith. His journey takes him from East Tennessee to Egypt where he experiences a crisis of faith. Upon returning to the States, suffering deep depression and failing to find healing in the evangelical churches and ministries he had previously known, Jones begins the “unintended pursuit” for understanding the Christian faith as it has developed in Western culture. The author shares this journey with the reader as, through his study and travel in other cultures, he comes to see the destructive impact that Greek philosophy has had in Christian culture. Philosophical dualism, whether of the Platonic or Aristotelian variety, has, in his view, resulted in unbiblical or unnatural forms of Christian faith. In sharing his experiences, Jones offers the reader a more honest and healthy way of faith than is found in perhaps most churches of modern Western culture.
The author is an excellent writer. I found myself close to tears as he narrates the desperation of his family's crisis in Cairo, and I felt the joy of his healing as he marvels at the goodness of God's creation. This book is an intelligent and honest portrayal of one man's struggle of faith in the contemporary world—it perhaps can bring healing and hope to others. It deserves a wide readership and I highly recommend it.

This is a fine book and I am very glad he published it.
Very good book
This was an interesting view of a conflicted life of a man I knew and didn't know, as viewed through a picket fence. It represents an intense external study, and introspection that probably most of us have, but not at the depth that the author has laid it out. It was insightful, and important in today's world. A very good book.
Beautifully written search for true Christianity! Couldn't put it down! This writer has a message that everyone should have a chance to read! LOVED IT! Highly recommend as an explanation for what's currently happening in our times!!!!!!!!!!!
This is the most complete, thoughtful and personal understanding of what is wrong with Evangelicalism and how to fix it. It should be a must read for everyone who has left the Church, who is disillusioned with the Church or who knows people who are. If you like NT Wright's Surprised by Hope, Donald Miller's Blue Like Jazz or William P. Young's The Shack, Butterflies in the Belfry will completely Butterflies in the Belfry -- Serpents in the Cellar An Unintended Pursuit for a Natural Christianityblow your mind.