Disruption
Repurposing the Church to Redeem the Community
- Church Leadership & Ministry
- Publisher: Thomas Nelson
- Published: 2017
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Publisher's Description
Current church planting, growth, and development strategies cannot be sustained. We need to work smarter in our rapidly changing world. We must become disruptive. And yet we typically hesitate to embrace change. We like our traditions. We prefer our familiar patterns and comfortable ruts. Still, America has dramatically changed. And make no mistake, such change is affecting the church, and more change is coming. So the way we understand things must also change. We must disrupt the status quo, create new patterns, embrace new models, and promote new forms to advance the gospel in our increasingly diverse and cynical society. In Disruption, thought-leading author and pastor Mark DeYmaz presents a proven, practical guide to help you rethink your approach to church. Whether your congregation is currently growing, plateauing, or declining, if you are a church planter or pastor, or a denominational or network leader, this book is for you. Mark will help you understand why we need to challenge conventional wisdom, learn what new practices to establish and how current metrics are not the primary measure of a church's influence. Disrupters turn the way we do things on its head. They... break the mold, change our thinking, and then hand us new rules for how things work can see and sense what lies ahead, around the next corner not only envision the future, but create and establish it challenge what is and inspire what is to come Mark DeYmaz is a disrupter. And in Disruption he challenges you to join him in preparing the American church for the unpredictable future. To advance spiritual, social, and financial transformation in your city, read this book to become more like Christ—a disruptor.
Endorsements (17)
“Mark’s passion to bring diverse people together as one in Christ is a well-known fact. Lesser-known is his credible work and the measurable results achieved by his church in advancing biblical justice and economic development in the city of Little Rock. In Disruption, he not only shares the story but more importantly a transferable model, not dependent on size or resources, that any local church would do well to embrace.”
“Mark DeYmaz lays out an incredible blueprint for the church. Unlike normal blueprints, this one is designed to disrupt that which has already been built. This is a holy disruption, one God calls His church to, and it looks a lot like Christ’s ministry on earth. Read this book!”
“Jesus was the Great Disrupter; and in this beautiful book, Mark DeYmaz calls the church to embrace the kind of disruptive innovation that will show the world what true justice, peace, and racial reconciliation looks like. Visionary, inspiring, practical, and full of wonderful stories about the church disrupting the status quo.”
Dr. Michael Frost
“It can’t be done” and dared anyway. Mark provides a balanced and biblical account of why, now more than ever, the church is called to bring incarnational change spiritually, financially, and socially. Disruption’s innovative message makes it a must-have for every leader’s bookshelf.”
“There is a time to break down and a time to build up.” In modern-day terminology one could say there is a “time to disrupt and a time to restore.” DeYmaz’s book makes it clear that without disrupting structures and systems in today’s society and in the church, a truly credible witness of the power of gospel is not possible. Dare I say DeYmaz implies true disciples are disruptive before they can really be redemptive. If you are serious about living out kingdom principles, then this book is a must-read.”
“Discipleship and Leadership, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, Charlotte Director of Graduate Programs in Counseling Director of the Center for the Development of Evangelical Leaders Professor of Preaching We have been created in the image of God. In Mark DeYmaz’s book, Disruption, our God’s disruptive ways will provoke you to take risks and reevaluate the picture of His kingdom in the local church. Oh that we would respond as unquietly as Jesus did to the Father’s discontent!”
“A vision for the future. Mark has articulated the very disruption that needs to happen in order for churches in the West not only to survive, but also to thrive. Times are changing. Is your church ready? Let Mark be your guide to usher you into this new reality. Daniel Im Director of Church Multiplication at NewChurches.com, and Teaching Pastor Co-author, Planting Missional Churches This is a thoroughly captivating book that helps the church navigate the future while engaging the culture. It helps you think beyond the norm and the too-often-prescribed. Sadly the church gets stuck in the past and becomes a keeper of the tradition, instead a prophetic voice to the future. The book contains many great stories that enable you to see practically how this is done.”
“This work by Mark is moving beyond describing multiethnic church ministry to mentoring change agents. We are a lonely lot, who are charged with an “inconvenient Truth.” Like prophets we are disrupters called to challenge conventional wisdom. While we often are not well received, we can still hone our message better. Mark can teach us how to trade in our “sticks and stones” for a common language to help us speak together, nudging our churches forward. What I, as a somewhat effective denominational disrupter, have backed into by trial and error, Mark is helping provide an intentional systematic approach to help disrupters unite to awake the sleeping church to its finest hour! It is not too late! “Wake up, O sleeper!” (Eph. 5:14) Dr. Alejandro (Alex) Mandes Director of Immigrant Mission/All People Evangelical Free Church of America As the world is turning upside down, the Holy Spirit is challenging the church to be courageous and boldly live, emulating the kingdom of God here on earth. Mark does this by seeking authentic relationships in shifting diverse communities. He is an authentic disruptor of status quo and fully engages the richness of our diverse communities.”
Rev. Stephanie Moore Hand
“Every denominational leader and pastor desperately needs the brand of disruption Mark so powerfully describes. This type of disruption will lead to an eruption of health and fruitfulness in our ministries. I am getting this book for all the pastors I oversee.”
Dr. Larry Walkemeyer
“Mark DeYmaz has captured a critical piece of necessary church strategy for this century: the integration of disruptive business practices and church-led community development. This book offers a detailed menu of opportunity for pastors and congregations that are serious about engaging our rapidly urbanizing and globalizing realities in America. I’m going to purchase copies of this book for all of the young disruptors I am coaching!”
“Pastor Mark DeYmaz believes in a disruptive gospel of grace, and practices it too! In Disruption he encourages church leaders to step out from the status quo and fixation with sustaining past ministry successes to break new ground for community transformation involving spiritual, social, and financial strategies. Your ministry won’t look the same after you read and apply this book, nor will the surrounding culture, as God turns your world upside down for greatest impact. Get ready.”
“Given the church’s historical complicity in muting the evidence of systemic racism, which is intricately connected to poverty, violence and injustice, we would do well to challenge the status quo with the vision of a disruptive, innovative church. DeYmaz not only embraces the advancement of a multi-colored, united bride of Christ, but one who incarnates the good news in redemptive redemptive form via socio-economic development in our marginalized communities. God is a God of justice and His bride ought to embody His justice and summon His kingdom. Inés Velásquez-McBryde Former Pastor of Cross-cultural Engagement and Missions, Mosaic Church, Little Rock, AR M.Div. Student, Fuller Theological Seminary I believe Mark is more than a pastor and preacher; he is a prophet and seer, who sees a kind of church God sees. In Disruption, he boldly proclaims the message God has for us, the church, both today and tomorrow. It is an honor to call him friend.”
“Church planters must be mavericks who follow Jesus without regard for conventional wisdom. Mark DeYmaz, an exemplar of the multiethnic church movement, offers a challenge and an invitation to join him on a journey of transformation.”
Dr. John Teter
“the gods” to act as a gadfly to the Athenian state. He saw the state as a “great and noble steed,” which had to be reminded of its proper duties. Mark DeYmaz and Disruption remind remind us in the church of our proper duties and original call to “make disciples of all nations.”
“There are few I know who are as committed as Mark DeYmaz to making the gospel of Jesus Christ visible to our divided and racialized culture through the faithful witness of local churches. This is not something Mark merely talks or writes about; it’s what he’s given his life to. For years Mark has been a constant source of encouragement and wisdom for me and our church as we have sought to bear witness to the kingdom of Christ through our engagement in matters of race, class, and culture. I’m so thankful for his generosity and continued willingness to share the lessons he has learned along the way with all of us about how to do that.”
“Mark has a unique, God-given ability to quickly capture and articulate principles for the rest of us. Not only that, his principles are not simply taken from theory or casual second-hand observation. Rather they come from deep and continual reflection born out of both his personal experience and the experience of many others on the cutting edge of Jesus’s kingdom work. Disruption reflects the best of Mark’s abilities and passions. You’ll encounter one of our country’s most important apostolic voices. His passion and vision, grounded in a real and deep abiding in Jesus, will push you to dream and love Jesus’s church and mission in a more holistic and practical way. Don’t miss this opportunity to be mentored by a front-line practitioner and leader.”
“Disruption is a timely book that challenges the church to move away from a simplistic and personalized view of the gospel. Rather the church must also be equally about the gospel of the kingdom, particularly in the area of social justice. Recognizing justice itself flows from the heart of God, it is an essential and critical part of every church’s calling.”
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