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Reader Reviews
How the transformation of the church from a group of tightly knit families into a professional religious organization has sapped its spiritual vitality and undermined Christian community.
"In The Casual Christian, Craig Olson offers a detailed analysis of the problems facing the church today and provides a startling explanation. The problem is not persecution from outside, but atrophy from within the body of Christ."
Kyle Chezum
Los Osos, CA
"Craig Olson is an excellent writer who is extremely intelligent, logical, and well organized. The book is filled with many interesting stories that keep you engaged and wanting to read more... If you want a challenge to help you in your Christian walk, read this book."
Ed Warda
Romeoville, IL
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Book Review
The Casual
Christian
Recipe for Revival
By Craig Olson
The Casual Christian is the story of a church that started out 2000 years ago as small groups of believers scattered throughout the Middle East. They risked their fortunes and their very lives to identify publicly with their Savior, Jesus Christ. Their love for one another was so strong that they shared sacrificially with those in need. Others were drawn to them by their extraordinary love in a land that was known for its brutality. Though oppressed and persecuted, this little band of believers spread from Palestine eastward all the way to India and north as far as Great Britain, growing from 25,000 members in the first century A.D. to over 20 million by the end of the fourth century.
Today The Christian church they
founded has lost its way. It has replaced Biblical truth and divine
authority with humanistic psychology, a pseudo-scientific view of
origins, moral relativism, commitment to a political philosophy
that denies God, a perspective of history that trivializes the
roles of men and women of faith, a capitalistic vision of the
church that equates size and prosperity with success, and a
mistaken notion of the relationship between faith and public policy
that rules out Christian activism. A creeping professionalism has
taken the role of ministry out of the hands of regular believers
and placed it into the hands of formally trained clergy and a group
of elite religious experts.
In The Casual Christian, author Craig Olson takes a look at modern
church practices and contemporary Christian ministry through the
lens of apostolic practices. He shows how biblical teaching has
simply been set aside in preference for the prevailing practices
and values of a secular culture.
Olson reaches out to those who are disillusioned with today’s
church. Based on historical Christian practices, he suggests ways
to revitalize the church and make it relevant to the times in which
we live.
Read the Casual Christian Online:
What Readers Say About
The Casual Christian
Blending real-life examples, biblical history, and world history, the author effectively demonstrates how far Christians have retreated from their call by God. ... If all Christians shared this author’s zeal and clarity of purpose, no doubt the church would not be facing the challenges and ridicule that is suffers today.
Crossbook Editors
The Casual Christian brought to light shocking historical facts about Christianity. Olson does a great job of spelling out the terrible pain of disheartened believers. The thorough research of the facts in the book amazed me, but many would rather ignore the facts, sticking their heads in the sand.
Mike Hels
Glen Ellyn, IL
If you're not a Christian, who can blame you? Many of the
stories in The Casual Christian illustrate how Christians have done
far more harm than good in their communities, hurting more often
than helping the very people they have been commissioned to serve
and to care for. The Casual Christian will show you the true
face of Christianity in spite of the failings of the believers you
may have met in your life.
Kyle Chezum
San Clemente, CA
My prayer is that we will not quench the Holy Spirit, but allow Him free reign and access to our hearts and minds. I don't want to be a casual christian! I want to experience the power of God in the most commonplace things!
Belinda Hood
Chicago
