Description
What do the music of Metallica and Bach, the film Crash, and stories about Batman have in common? According to author and pastor John Van Sloten, God can speak through all of them—if we're listening. Out of his own often startling and sometimes wrenching journey of discovery, Van Sloten shows how God can speak to us through anything and everything—heavy metal music, R-rated films, sports, and even the latest fashions. This book might just change the way you hear God's voice—and how you live in today's world.
Reviews
"The Day Metallica Came to Church is a very worthwhile book. Van Sloten does not need to be imitated by every preacher, but he certainly has something to say to all of them and he says it well." —Rev. Andrew Kuyvenhoven, retired pastor in the Christian Reformed Church
"If only I knew how to find him" (Job 23:3). Job, meet John. John Van Sloten has developed a spiritual radar-system which picks up the vibes of the Spirit in the culture and the church. In this amazing book he shows us how we too can read the divine by radar, stay on course, and lead a supercharged life." —Leonard Sweet, Drew University, George Fox University; Author of Nudge; www.sermons.com
"Calvin called it sensus divinitatis. We might call it the oddly spiritual feeling we get when we look at a Van Gogh painting, watch a Terrence Malick film, or listen to Sigur Ros song. John van Sloten helps us understand what this feeling means—and why it matters—in his excellent book, The Day Metallica Came to Church. Packed with lively examples from pop culture and infused with a sense of reverence and awe, Metallica is a book that eloquently seeks to broaden the Christian's range of vision beyond the "sacred" and "secular." It's a book that helps us tune our ears, focus our vision, and refine our tastebuds for the sensuous signposts of God's glory that exist all around." —Brett McCracken, author of Gray Matters: Navigating the Space Between Legalism & Liberty and Hipster Christianity: When Church & Cool Collide
"An artistic and playful reminder that, though the Church is God's primary instrument for changing the world, that doesn't mean God is limited to religious stuff. Scriptures are filled with God working in unlikely and scandalous ways, through brothel owners and adulterous kings and reborn terrorists. And just as the Scripture says the rocks can cry out, John Van Sloten reminds us that so can the rock stars. May we find something of God in these pages that can help us love better... and change the world." —Shane Claiborne, author of The Irresistible Revolution; freelance troublemaker and instigator of holy mischief; www.thesimpleway.org
"John Van Sloten finds divine revelation in a cup of cappuccino and at an NHL hockey game, but he's far from naive; indeed, his brand of faith is as deep and expansive as his joy is infectious. These are the profoundly humble, intelligent, yearning ramblings of a seeker with wide open eyes and the courage to shove aside conventions of church-culture to discover grace and goodness. Van Sloten manages to turn everyday events such as getting on a plane, watching the Discovery Channel and listening to a Beatles' song into startling acts of love and hope." —Jacquie Moore, Senior Writer, Swerve magazine, The Calgary Herald
"Don't go—or refuse to go!—to another rock concert or soccer match without first reading this marvelous book. It is a reliable and inspiring guide to hearing the Lord speak to us in new and exciting places." —Richard J. Mouw, President and Professor of Christian Philosophy, Fuller Theological Seminary
"I have just finished reading The Day Metallica Came to Church and very much enjoyed it. I felt that it captured quite well the importance of a biblically informed faith and the need to embrace and explore the existential and mystical elements of faith and revelation, yet it was written from a Reformed perspective. While the theology is something we have embraced for centuries, the author captures it from our current cultural times, which refreshes and grounds the theory well. This book speaks into the post- evangelical mainstream that is discovering a kingdom vision within and for current culture." —Jonathan Vandenberg, Denominational Youth Coordinator, Christian Reformed Churches of Australia
"These stories will inspire, challenge, encourage, and equip you to join God in his amazing work through the 'business as mission' movement." —Dr. Ken Eldred, author of God is at Work