I heard Alan Hirsch speak at a church planting congress in Ottawa last year. It was an incredible experience. His talks indicated a passion for God and the church that was refreshing. He has written The Forgotten Ways as an exploration of the essence of the church as the missio Dei.
I came across an interview with Alan Hirsch done by Christianity Today. He has some helpfully provocative things to say regarding small groups and their relation to the church.
He endorses the Evangelical Manifesto, which is an attempt to reclaim the good Evangelical name from the excesses with which it has become associated.
I love what Alan Hirsch brings to the evangelical world. He is a breath of fresh air with his willingness to take a critical look at where we are and how we got here, and then where we should be and how to get there. I am often nervous when I hear nostalgic comments about the apostolic church, but he uses the term in its original sense of being people sent into the world with the good news (evangel) of Jesus the Christ. Theology is an important part of this good news, but we have too often made our particular version of theology the core of the gospel, when the core must always be Jesus Christ.
