God's Global Mosaic: What We Can Learn from Christians Around the World - Softcover

Chandler, Paul-Gordon

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0830822518 ISBN 13: 9780830822515

Publisher: IVP, 2000

Synopsis

God's people around the world form a mosaic. Each piece of the picture is different but contributes to a beautiful portrait of who God is and what he is doing among his creation. As you learn from these many cultural expressions of Christianity, your own faith will be made more complete. Drawing from scriptural illustrations, Paul-Gordon Chandler highlights cultural themes and tells inspirational stories from believers around the world. Ranging from the streets of Hong Kong to the shores of a village in Guatemala, these stories illuminate each region's culture and history. You'll be drawn into the mystery of God with Christians in Eastern Europe. You'll learn perseverance from fellow believers in the Middle East. Latin American churches exuberantly share joy in Christ. And brothers and sisters in Africa, Asia and India also open their hearts to help you understand God from their point of view. As you begin to see God through the eyes of other Christians, new windows of devotion, encouragement and growth open. And you will see God--a God who is as big as the whole world--as you have never seen him before.

About this title

About the Author:

Paul-Gordon Chandler is an author, a U.S. Episcopal priest, interfaith advocate, art curator, and social entrepreneur who has lived and worked in North Africa and the Middle East for many years. He grew up in Senegal, West Africa, and has served throughout the Islamic world in executive leadership roles with churches, faith-based publishing, and relief and development agencies. He is the founder and president of CARAVAN, a peacebuilding non-profit that uses the arts to builds bridges between the creeds and cultures of the Middle East and West. From 2003-2013 he was the rector of the historic St. John’s Church in southern Cairo, Egypt.

Review:

"In this inspiring book Paul-Gordon Chandler, through his extensive travels and his natural identification with Christians on all continents, provides the reader with a unique perspective on what God is doing around the world. He gives us an appreciation for the varied 'flavors' of the gospel as it is expressed and lived out in very different contexts." (Ramez L. Atallah, general secretary, Bible Society of Egypt)

"God's Global Mosaic is a wonderful tapestry of faith in God, who transcends the paradigms of culture and individual experience. This is a book that defines the term world Christian. My faith was challenged in reading God's Global Mosaic. There is much to be learned through people who know and experience God outside the familiar box of our own culture and background." (Ron Nikkel, president, Prison Fellowship International)

"Paul-Gordon Chandler, with a background of extensive world travels and experience, has remarkable sensitivities and unusual insights into other cultures. He has drawn creative lessons for the Christian life from observing the customs of Christians in many regions of the world. Christians in the West can profit immensely from the lessons given in this book." (David M. Howard, former international director, World Evangelical Fellowship)

"God's Global Mosaic is a refreshing original book. Chandler intellectually celebrates the beauty of world Christianity's diversity and unity. This should be required reading for anyone who purports to be a world Christian." (Lyle W. Dorsett, professor of Christian ministries and Evangelism, Wheaton College)

"Throughout time the story has been the form by which we relate profound truth to one another. In God's Global Mosaic, Paul-Gordon Chandler relates stories that communicate the deep and multifaceted truths of men and women who experience the love of Christ and the grace of God as they follow him down very desperate paths of life. This pilgrimage is at the same time one, and yet strikingly unique. Paul captures the essence of both the oneness and the uniqueness." (Paul McKaughan, president/CEO, Evangelical Fellowship of Mission Agencies)

"It is an unfortunate fact that the culture we live in determines much of how we read the Bible and even experience God. Fortunately, God's Global Mosaic takes off those cultural blinders and exposes us to the profound and sometimes provocative perspectives of non-Western Christians." (Wesley K. Stafford, president, Compassion International)

"Churches with white steeples, people arranged in orderly pews, choruses of 'Rock of Ages' and 'Great Is Thy Faithfulness'--this is often the limited view Americans have of the Christian faith. In God's Global Mosaic, Paul-Gordon Chandler reveals a broader, richer and compelling view of the Christian faith as a world-wide faith; a view that speaks to the bigness of God and the diversity of his purposes for all the nations." (Richard E. Stearn, president, World Vision)

"An around-the-world trip, understanding much of what God is doing on other continents, learning lessons that make the journey a life-changing experience--all for the price of a book! A great read and one that changes our perspectives with every chapter! Highly recommended." (Clive Calver, president, World Relief)

"Paul-Gordon Chandler, through his multicultural viewpoint developed in his many years of international ministry, helps us to see that the kingdom of God is truly a mosaic and that God in his sovereignty can easily be grasped by anyone regardless of culture, for God is cultureless. As Billy Graham has often said, 'When I preach the Gospel with authority in any country of the world, God drives it into the human heart.' Such is the simple proclamation of God's Global Mosaic. It is an expression of the adventure of peoples throughout the world finding the relevant Creator who can address them personally in the midst of their society." (Tom Phillips, president/CEO, International Students)

"Having traveled widely in the cause of the gospel myself, I was excited by this outstanding account, far more extensive than my own experience. Chandler gives us brilliant personal insights into the diversity of Christian ministry all over the world. We need this book to enlarge our vision, stimulate our compassion and enrich our understanding of the good news." (Michael Green, advisor in evangelism to the archbishops of Canterbury and York)

About this edition

• Publisher: IVP
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 0830822518
• ISBN 13: 9780830822515
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 142