Böcker av Matt Hyam

There Must Be More to This is a book about social justice. To get there it may have to unpick a lot of evangelical assumptions that, perhaps, you did not know you were allowed to unpick, and it may need to ask questions, that, perhaps, you did now know you were allowed to ask. In the end, hopefully, we will be able to rediscover ancient truths that much of Western evangelicalism has discarded or forgotten. Like many, Matt Hyam was brought up within evangelicalism, believing that it was the only true Christianity, but when he looks at how many supposedly core doctrines simply do not stand up to scrutiny, particularly when held up in the light of the views of many of the most influential the Early Church Fathers and Mothers, he had to start questioning this. The picture that begins to emerge is of a devoted God who loves his entire creation, who always sides with the oppressed, and who urges his church towards social justice, love and care for those who are vulnerable.

Many Christians believe the primary reason for following Jesus is to escape eternal punishment in Hell and thus, the gospel message presented takes the form of the threat, "believe this or you will be punished." This thesis focuses on the Gospel of John, in order to establish whether Jesus presented the gospel this way and to ascertain how much judgment is part of his evangelistic message. By paying careful attention to the etymology of the key words and their context, the methodology was to examine: 1) John 3:16 as a distillation of the message, particularly the use of ä¿νιος ζω¿, π¿στις and ¿π¿λλυμι; and 2) the use of κρ¿σις in three passages in the Fourth Gospel - John 3:17-19, 5:24-30 and 12:44-50. In each of these judgment discourses, the person to whom Jesus was speaking was a member of the Jewish ruling council and his message was one of rebuke. The implications of these findings are that the good news invitation of Jesus in the Gospel of John does not contain the threat of judgmen and thus, raises the question whether that message has changed today.

""As Matt Hyam chronicles the transformation of his faith community, his personal honesty about bewildering questions is a fresh reprieve from those who would spin their journey as an act of pastoral genius. He allows us a glimpse of the uncontainable wind of the Spirit in the life of a congregation and its minister."" Dr. Bradley Jersak, Author, Editor-in-Chief, CWR Magazine ""If you are wondering what is going on with young Christian leaders and value honest reflection over ''spin'' or self-promotion--euphemistically called ''marketing''--then I Still Have More Questions Than Answers is spot on. Herein Matt candidly displays the scrapbook of his journey to follow Jesus and ''do church'' in ways that make sense for current culture. It is an enjoyable and enlightening read.""Rt. Rev Todd Hunter, Bishop, Diocese of Churches for the Sake of Others; Former president of Alpha (USA) ""How refreshing to find someone willing to shine a light on the subtle shadow that lingers behind many of the practices we do in ministry and church life. Matt''s tone is not condemning nor accusatory, but honest and inviting. Through sharing his story he invites us all to look a little deeper into the ''why''s'' and ''how''s'' of our faith journey.""Dr. Eric Sandras, Author, Lead Pastor of Sanctuary Church, Colorado SpringsMatt Hyam is the senior pastor of the Southampton Vineyard. Over recent years his journey has involved a process of rethinking many of his basic assumptions about the Christian life that he previously took for granted. His new understanding has had a significant impact on his lifestyle and the way he leads the congregation.