The Other Half of Church: Christian Community, Brain Science, and Overcoming Spiritual Stagnation
Digital Verbum Edition
Overview
Could brain science be the key to spiritual formation?
Why does true Christian transformation seem fleeting? And why does church often feel lonely, Christian community shallow, and leaders untrustworthy? For many Christians, the delight of encountering Christ eventually dwindles—and disappointment sets in. Is lasting joy possible?
These are some of the questions Michel Hendricks has considered both in his experience as a spiritual formation pastor and in his lifetime as a Christian. He began to find answers when he met Jim Wilder—a neurotheologian. Using brain science, Wilder identified that there are two halves of the church: the rational half and the relational half. And when Christians only embrace the rational half, churches become unhealthy places where transformation doesn't last and narcissistic leaders flourish.
In The Other Half of Church, join Michel and Jim’s journey as they couple brain science with the Bible to identify how to overcome spiritual stagnation by living a full-brained faith. You’ll also learn the four ingredients necessary to develop and maintain a vibrant transformational community where spiritual formation occurs, relationships flourish, and the toxic spread of narcissism is eradicated.
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- Combines brain science with the Bible to identify how to overcome spiritual stagnation
- Presents the four ingredients necessary to develop and maintain a vibrant transformational community
- Half-Brained Christianity
- How Do People Grow?
- Joy: The Face of Jesus That Transforms
- Hesed: Our Relational Glue
- Group Identity: What Kind of People Are We?
- Healthy Correction: Stop Being So Nice
- Narcissism: The Relational Infection
- A Full-Brained Christianity
This book is genius. It will soon be a standard among discipleship experts. If you have ever been frustrated at the hit-or-miss success of the church's ability to guide people into real life change, this book is for you. It not only explains why traditional discipleship has struggled; it offers practical advice for creating a truly transformational discipleship culture. Jim's expertise along with Michel's experience and easy reading style make this book a game changer in discipleship ministry.
—Marcus Warner, President, Deeper Walk International
This masterfully crafted book about God's design for our brains and how it influences spiritual growth unmasks left-brain dominance in the church and skillfully shows that the right brain is the primary driver of character change and spiritual formation. Biblical teaching, measurable strategies, and practical exercises unfold how to nurture right-brain graces of covenant love, joy, gratitude, and group identity, resulting in the goals of personal and congregational transformation. In decades of ministry, I haven't engaged a book with such spiritual potential and power. Enthusiastically recommended.
—Bruce Damarest, Author and Senior Professor of Christian Formation at Denver Seminary
Reviews
1 rating
Phil Webb
8/1/2024
I wish I could rate this book lower. This book is an absolute atrocity and nothing short of an injection of poison into the lifeblood of your church. The ideas in this book essentially come from the school of thought that says that the gospel is not sufficient and that scripture is not finally authoritative. The basic idea is that in order for your church to grow, your church must realize that scripture is not sufficient, inerrant, and infallible and that other ideas must be "Bolted on" and followed in order for your church to grow. This sort of nonsense comes from the same wellspring that gave us the heresies of the Enneagram and Peter Scazzero. Despite the authors awkwardly using some Hebrew to give a sheen of authority, the ideas are complete bunk. It is this sort of pseudo-theological, pseudo-psychological, flawed hermeneutic that is the gravest danger to the church today, and if you care about the souls of your people, you will avoid this sort of thing. If you do not, you will be injecting a cancer into your church and will have much to answer for. I know. It happened to my church.
