Born Again and Again: Jesus' Call to Radical Transformation

by Megan K. Westra, Lisa Sharon Harper (Foreword by)

Overview

Got salvation? What if salvation is not one more thing to acquire but an invitation to radical transformation?

Christians often turn life—and faith—into one big quest for the good life. We expect to “get” a good job, loving spouse, a life of comfort, personal satisfaction—oh, and salvation with a cherry on top. Our acquisitive impulses aren’t limited to lattes and designer jeans; Christians in power throughout history have focused on getting people saved, possessing the land, and gaining dominance in government. But what if Christianity isn’t about striving for something more, but about renouncing the power and privilege that prevent us from receiving God’s abundant life? What if we are called not to treat salvation as one more thing to pursue but as an invitation to conform to Christ?

Born Again and Again is the story of how a religion birthed on the margins of the Roman Empire became functionally the official religion of today’s largest military superpower. Pastor and blogger Megan K. Westra takes on the self-serving form of Christianity that has birthed the doctrine of discovery, planet-killing lifestyles, and civil religion. She leads readers into an encounter with the Jesus who gave up everything to come to us and invites us to give up everything to come to him. Conforming to Christ radically reorients our lives, priorities, and faith away from the pursuit of our own interests and toward a pattern of discipleship, setting us free from fear-based consumption and creating new possibilities for connection and belonging within the community of God’s people.
 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781513806761
Publisher:	MennoMedia
Publication date:	08/11/2020
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	226
File size:	3 MB

About the Author

Megan K. Westra is on the pastoral staff team at Transformation City Church in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. A dynamic and passionate public speaker, Westra has presented at the Christian Community Development Association’s national conference in 2015 and 2017. Westra is pursuing her MDiv at Northern Seminary. She lives in Milwaukee with her husband of eight years, Ben, and their six-year-old daughter, Cadence.
 
Megan K. Westra is on the pastoral staff team at Transformation City Church in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. A dynamic and passionate public speaker, Westra has presented at the Christian Community Development Association’s national conference in 2015 and 2017. Westra is pursuing her MDiv at Northern Seminary. She lives in Milwaukee with her husband of eight years, Ben, and their six-year-old daughter, Cadence.

Table of Contents

Foreword
Introduction
Chapter 1: How I “Got Saved”
Chapter 2: You’re Invited: Reimaging Personal Salvation
Chapter 3: Connection Over Consumption: Expanding Our View of Salvation
Chapter 4: The Authorities Are God’s Servants: Connection over Consumption in Politics
Chapter 5: We Are All One in Christ, Separately Please: Connection over Consumption in Relationship Across Race
Chapter 6: Forgive Us Our Debts: Connection over Consumption in Relationship to Finances
Chapter 7: Rule and Subdue: Connection over Consumption in Relationship with Creation
Chapter 8: I Do Not Permit a Woman: Connection over Consumption in Relationship to Gender
Chapter 9: Consuming Christ: What Broken Bread Teaches Me About Salvation
The Author
 

Editorial Reviews

Beautiful and insight-filled.”
 

LISA SHARON HARPER

A wide-ranging, historically informed, and hopeful book that centers diverse voices and helps us see new possibilities for the church. Megan Westra expands our view of what the church can be in the future with a personal, communal, and public faith.”

 

ED CYZEWSKI

Megan Westra’s Born Again and Again offers an especially winsome example of a new post-evangelical spirituality and ethic that is emerging in our time. This book gives me hope for the future.”
 

DAVID P. GUSHEE

Megan Westra has found a way of being Christian in the world that values and honors the voices of all God’s people. If you are doing the work of reimagining your faith, read this book. You’ll find hope and inspiration here.”
 

AMY K. BUTLER

For churches seeking to rediscover their ‘born again’ life in Jesus’ cruciform, other-oriented gospel—and to be saved from consumerist narratives embedded in North American evangelicalism—Megan Westra’s passionate, practical book is an able companion.”
 

CHERITH FEE NORDLING

Born Again and Again nails it! Megan Westra gives a way forward that creates in the reader a love for Jesus. Her writing is compelling and page turning. A must-read.”
 

JO ANNE LYON

A strong, sharp, and wise theologian. . . . Megan Westra has knocked it out of the park with this one.”
 

DANIEL WHITE HODGE

This book should be required reading for every Christian! If you have been left empty and disappointed by a personal relationship with Jesus that failed to address the injustices in the world, this book will challenge and encourage you.”
 

KAREN GONZÁLEZ