This Beautiful Mess: Practicing the Presence of the Kingdom of God | 
|  | | | Title: | This Beautiful Mess: Practicing the Presence of the Kingdom of God | | Author: | Rick Mckinley
Donald Miller (Foreword) | | Publisher: | Multnomah Books | | Type: | Book / Paperback | | Publication Date: | 30 September, 2006 | | ISBN / ISBN-13: | 1590525019 / 9781590525012 | | List Price: | $13.99 | | You Save: | $2.80 | | Amazon Price: | $11.19 | |
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| Editorial Review / Publisher's Information:
Product Description
Already Not Yet
When Jesus announced, “the kingdom of God is at hand,” what did He mean? Uncover the reality of the kingdom of God and what it might look like if followers of Christ practiced its in-breaking presence. What happens when we view life through the lens of the kingdom? How does the beauty of Jesus’ reign break into the mess of our broken lives and world? What if we lived as though a world other than this one was here today? This Beautiful Mess launches a paradigm-shifting journey inviting us to experience the kingdom of God in the ordinary miracle of our everyday lives.
"The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field.
When a man found it, he…
sold all he had and bought that field.”
—Matthew 13:44
Jesus’ sayings about the kingdom of God just might be the most overlooked of his teachings. Yet the Good News of the kingdom—a treasure beyond price—was what he came to preach.
It’s time to ask:
What is the kingdom Jesus talked about?
Could it be already here, hidden from sight? If so, where is it?
How can I be a part of it?
A new generation is tuning in to the teachings of Jesus and to their revolutionary implications. Could it be that living under Christ’s reign is not merely a future vision but a present reality?
Rick McKinley’s exploration is fresh, accessible, and timely. With careful attention to historical texts, he unveils new understandings of authentic personal and social transformation. The time is now. Your opportunity is here. In the mess of everyday life, you can live in the beautiful presence of the kingdom.
Story Behind the Book
”When we started Imago Dei Community, it was with a passion to be people who live in love with Jesus and live out the values of His kingdom in our city. But we had no idea how to do that. God let us stumble into grace and discover the wide-open plains of His kingdom. This has ruined us in the best way possible. Because once you taste untamed life in the kingdom, you will never go back to the sterile hallways of religion. The beautiful, transforming grace of Christ shows up in the messiness of life and the kingdom breaks in as a beautiful mess.”—Rick McKinley
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Customer Reviews:
• Kaleidoscopic Christianity 02 January, 2008
This book struck me as profound and unsettling at the same time. McKinley challenges the reader to transcend traditional Christianity and live out the gospel the way it was meant to be lived. I resonated with his "beautiful mess" motif in that the Christian life is messy--filled with mistakes and regrets.
Yet, the answer is not in abandoning historic Christianity. Rather, embracing the traditions of Christianity that God is working through, and developing a kaleidoscopic Christianity that appreciates every limb beneath the head of Christ.
Shameless plug--check out my new book Sex, Sushi, and Salvation: Thoughts on Intimacy, Community, and Eternity
- Reviewed by customer ID: A1ARNGML07P797
• Brilliant Yet Simple 18 September, 2007
This is so brilliant yet easy to understand. This world is simultaneously beautiful, because God created it, but a mess, because sin entered in and oh yes, because we live here and make mistakes.
I learned so much about the kingdom of God and the fact that we're living IN it, not waiting FOR it.
A really, really, really great read...see for yourself!
- Reviewed by customer ID: A3AK6Q7136Q7KF
• Insightful, 22 May, 2007
Good, quick read. Refreshing views on the bible and christianity in general and what some are calling the emerging church which, in most cases, not all, is simply the church being "doers" the word as opposed to just being students of it.
- Reviewed by customer ID: A2TYTRGJR9PJSB
• The New Religion 29 August, 2007
This Beautiful Mess by Rick McKinley is a book about living in the present world's mess in the way Jesus described the Kingdom of God. Rick is the pastor of Imago Dei Community in Portland , Oregon and he challenges the reader to go beyond the traditional religiousity of churches and get down and dirty among all the people at hand and practice faith and gratitude every day and experience the Kingdom of God at hand in doing so, even in the worst circumstances and among undesirable people.
- Reviewed by customer ID: A36F8TTQHLAXGM
• Kingdom Living 05 August, 2008
In his book, This Beautiful Mess, Pastor Rick McKinley shares his thought about what it might be like to live a faith that acknowledges that the "Kingdom of God" that Jesus proclaimed is not just something for the future but is here, in this messy and broken world, right now. In boiling down a good deal of complex theological thought into prose that is accessible to the average reader, McKinley shows how it is possible to live a life of faith in a way that moves beyond a "Jesus is coming back someday to take me home" sort of mentality to see God's saving work in our lives and our world right now.
There are two places where I felt the book spoke most clearly and movingly. The first was in the chapter ending "Voices" sections where the poetry and writings of individuals associated with McKinley's Imago Dei community are shared with the reader to look into the messy but profound lives of people trying to live kingdom lives. The other portion of the book that seemed to most clearly speak of this were the four or so chapters that form the third section of the book. In this section, McKinley discusses several specific applications of kingdom living by sharing the work of those who see the reality of God's inbreaking grace in this present world. These stories are powerfully encouraging.
In closing, I would recommend This Beautiful Mess to any person of faith who wants to see what Jesus might have meant when He said that "the Kingdom of God IS like.." McKinley's writing bridges between the academic discussions of an "Already, Not Yet" Kingdom and what it looks like to live in a way that knows the reality of God and His love in today's messy creation.
- Reviewed by customer ID: A3IEC372RS8CHF
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