ie:missional teaching. glocalizing. living. serving. repenting. incarnating. loving. repeating.

I’m very happy to announce the publication of my first book, JOURNEYS: Transitioning Churches To Relevance, co-authored with Todd Wright, pastor of Midway Church in Villa Rica, GA.

From the back cover:

When did the church become our refuge from the world? How did it happen that the church became the place we went when trying to get away from those we are supposed to be trying to reach? How did we ever become convinced that lost people remain lost because they will not come to church, rather than because followers of Christ refuse to live the gospel while sharing the gospel with them?For various reasons, many church leaders today have a tendency to ignore the value of understanding the changing times. Others simply preach against the changing seasons, as if by doing so they will prevent the times from coming.

In JOURNEYS: Transitioning Churches to Relevance, Pastors Todd Wright and Marty Duren share candidly about the road they each traveled as they labored to bring their churches to a place of significance and cultural relevance. Wright and Duren speak candidly about their struggles and their own pharisaical attitudes that for years kept them from experiencing lives lived on mission with Jesus Christ.

JOURNEYS is about seeing every encounter as a divine appointment to somehow bring Jesus to the surface of life. It is a challenge issued to the church to intentionally find areas of need in their communities to be the eyes, ears, heart, and hands of Jesus.

Below you can read what some leaders have said:

This new book by Duren and Wright is a book which will challenge, encourage, and even disturb readers. It is a brutally honest story of the struggle of two young pastors who yearn to see their churches impact culture for the cause of Christ in a way that is truly effective. Their struggles can be identified with most who have diligently sought to break out of traditional patterns and make a unique and powerful difference in reaching people for Christ. They desperately wanted to â??be the church that God was calling us to be in our context and in our time.â? The struggles that they faced are honestly included. The lessons learned truly point to Godâ??s ongoing ministry to His servants.

It is a call to have a Kingdom philosophy of ministry as well as a missional approach to life. I commend this book to you. It is one that will help the next generation as they struggle in a less than easy environment in seeking to reach an ever increasing secular culture.

Dr. Frank Page

This book personifies the amazing persistence of God to graciously shape and effectively use us in His ongoing and always relevant work of restoring relationships with the highest order of His creation-people-of every tribe, tongue and nation. From a missionary point of view, it is a joy to learn of American pastors who are doing the same things that they would expect from foreign missionaries, namely to make whatever transitions are necessary in order to, in a culturally relevant way, faithfully communicate the fullness of Godâ??s love to the people of the host culture. Consider this book as a compelling, educational and transparent missionary journal of two pastors who have led their congregations to become both local and global missionaries to the current generations of unreached people living in the United Statesâ?? Southeast and beyond. May their tribe increase!

Jim Capaldo, Russia Field Director, InterAct Ministries

Lots of people can tell you what to do. Some can do so through research, others through personal observation, and still others through their intuition. In JOURNEYS: Transitioning Churches To Relevance, Marty and Todd take us on a journey and tell us a storyâ??and it is a worthwhile journey and a moving story. Instead of telling you what to do, Marty and Todd tell their journey from religious role-playing to personal transformationâ?¦and from personal transformation to fresh expressions of mission and ministry in their churches. I found myself engaged and challenged and believe you will as well.

Ed Stetzer, co-author of Comeback Churches and Compelled by Love

When it comes to writing books about leading transition in the church, there are three types of pastors. There are those who have led change and do not take the time to write about it. There are those who have not led change but write about how to do it anyway. And there are those that have actually done it well and written it down. Todd Wright and Marty Duren are definitely in the right category.

This book rocks! It is the actual story of how they did it – and provides big insights and big ideas. If your church is in transition, this is a must read!

Dan Southerland, author, Transitioning

JOURNEYS is tremendous; it is compelling, inspiring, challenging…all rolled up in one. I literally could not put it down. All of our staff and elders will be expected to read it as we pray through transitions of our own.

Micah Fries

For the next week or so, you can order JOURNEYS at a pre-publication price of $11.99, from the regular retail price of $14.99 through our publisher, Missional Press, where you can also read the publication press release. Soon, it will be available through Amazon.com and, we hope, at brick-and-mortar bookstores.

Please order a copy for yourself, pastoral staff, leaders in your church, denominational leaders, friends and neighbors, enemies, third cousins and anyone I’ve overlooked. Thanks for considering an order and we pray that these stories will encourage and bless your ministries.