Book Discussion: Hope of Nations by @JohnSDickerson

“They (Oxford Dictionary) noted that our society now defines truth by feelings rather than by facts.” John S. Dickerson “Hope of Nations”

Reading books on culture and being in culture helps a person serve online. I rarely read introductions in a book, but this one is necessary. When Dickerson spoke about a parent bringing his child to a bondage sex fair in California and how morality has shifted, becoming skewed, I see that every day online (in Facebook groups most notably). The past solid Christians are aging out of influence. Dickerson’s generation will see a rise in brutality and violence.  What can we do now?

  • Read the Bible. Seek to understand and apply it both to your online and face-to-face world.
  • Explore why you feel a lack of urgency for your community and the world to know Christ.
  • Audit your social media. Is it an accurate depiction of you and your faith walk? Are you having real conversations with people online? Or are you hitting the share button more than the comment button? Are you reflecting Christ in your responses or reactions to others? Are you expecting unbelievers to live as believers? Are you thinking like a missionary?
  • Living out your faith is being different than your culture. Are you allowing sin in your life? Are you understanding who God is and seeking His face?
  • It’s the little things, too, that make a difference. Unbelievers do acts of kindness. You could say it’s a trend. What makes our acts of service and kindness different than others? What makes us different?
  • Serve online. God has given us this great tool to further love others. The church is still grappling with social media and feels a love/hate relationship with it. Add to this the marketing tactics used by Christians to sell a product, like cloaking a number to make it look like a local one, is not a good testimony. Jesus doesn’t need marketing help. He needs us to live in obedience to His calling in our lives. Reflecting this online is powerful.
  • Make time for people you don’t know on and offline.

I stopped reading this book for now because you can’t read a book like this without a highlighter. More blogs on this book later! 

*Book given by publisher to review.