COMING OCTOBER 2008

Who is the Jesus we’re showing? What is the Story we’re telling?

These honest questions sit at the heart of this punchy, provocative book by Jeremy Bouma. Throughout his debut title, Jeremy seeks to drive a conversation within the Church about how She is showing Jesus and telling His hopeful Story because America is progressively skipping toward post-Christendom. Many within America are increasingly disinterested in Jesus, skeptical of His followers, and ambivalent toward His good, hopeful message.

Why is this the case? If Jesus and His message are what people have been waiting for their whole life, why are so many people leaving and avoiding Him, His community, and gospel Story? Who is the Jesus people are seeing? What is the Story people are hearing? The time is right to cast a new vision for showing and telling.

The (un)offensive gospel of Jesus sketches a fresh portrait of the good Jesus and hopeful gospel found in the Holy Scriptures. Based on his experiences in the American Church, conversations and friendships, studies in theology and the Gospels, and the joy of personally following Jesus, Jeremy explores how Jesus and His gospel are inherently inspiring, reassuring and good. More importantly, he reminds the Church that we are responsible for the Jesus we show and the Jesus people see, the Story we tell and the Story people hear. In the end, the author helps us all understand why the person and message of Jesus are more hopeful than many of us think.

About the Author

Jeremy Bouma spent 5 years in Washington D.C. working on Capitol Hill, and now works at a small church in Grand Rapids, MI. While on Capitol Hill, he worked for a United States Senator and later pastored among this community of people, leading bible studies and mentoring congressional staffers in the Way of Jesus. This experience and vantage point, coupled with his Bachelors of Arts degree in Political Science from Cedarville University, gave him a unique perspective on faith, Church and the American experience that he hopes will help others live in the tension of faith Jesus and postmodern America.

Currently, he is pursuing the Master of Divinity at Grand Rapids Theological Seminary and helps pastor a small missional community just outside Grand Rapids. While this is his first book, he regularly writes at www.novuslumen.net.

Published by novus•lumen books. www.novuslumenbooks.com