ABC’s Intercultural Ministry Professor Frank Emrick calls this book a must read. Here is why he chose the Insanity of Obedience: Walking With Jesus in the Tough Places by Nik Ripkin as the primary text for the upcoming Church Planting & Leadership Development modular course January 7-11.
“I was looking for a book for the History and Issues in Missions course I was going to oversee. As a current issue, I believe many Christians need a better understanding of the persecuted church. I was also wanting students in the course to be moved to a deeper commitment to The Great Commission (Mt. 28:19-20). I thought what better way than to read true stories of the most committed Christians on earth, the persecuted. Portions of the book were assigned to read.
Ripken (not his real name) went to several areas of the world to talk with and learn from those who are persecuted. Reading the book, although I found much that I anticipated, I did not anticipate the personal conviction of the areas I fall short in my service to Jesus our King. Many chapters have a story or simply a statement that challenged my way of thinking and the way I live my Christian life.
Another reason I initially chose the book was the title, “The Insanity of Obedience.” When I was a seminarian, I was introduced to the concept of “Obedient Oriented Training” through church planting and discipleship courses I took. I was reading the book to see if it would suit the course above for the Fall Term. However, so many examples stood out as important to church planting that I was certain that it would suite the purposes of the Church Planting and Leadership Development course for this Winter Term. The lead instructor for the course, agreed with me and we decided to list the book as the text for this course too.
This is not so much a textbook in the academic sense. It is however, a book that reveals that obedience to Christ’s commands and application of Biblical principles are key to the spread of the Gospel, discipleship, leadership development and church planting movements. Each chapter makes one want to read the next. I found it a compelling read.”
“[teach] them to observe all that I commanded you…” Mt 28:20″