Flipped: The Provocative Truth That Changes Everything We Know About God

by Doug Pagitt

Overview

We all have stories in our heads about God, humanity, life, and the meaning of it all. One of the most common—and misleading—stories is “If I’m faithful in doing this, then God promises to do that.” Jesus didn’t believe it and neither should you. God does not insist that you play by the rules before he will respond to you. A careful reading of the Bible will free all of us from trying to make a deal with God, inviting us instead to live in God.
 
How would your life change if you flipped your understanding of God?
 
Doug Pagitt takes a new look at provocative statements made by Jesus, Paul, and the prophets. Jesus turned the tables on religious assumptions every time he began with “You have heard it said, but I say to you…” Paul quoted a pagan poet when he revealed the truth that we live, move, and have our being in God.
 
Come along on a journey of discovery and change, leading to a flip in your view of where God is and where we are in relation to God. Set aside the rules of religion and know the freedom of living in God.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781601426376
Publisher:	The Crown Publishing Group
Publication date:	02/17/2015
Pages:	224
Sales rank:	1,269,883
Product dimensions:	5.10(w) x 7.90(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Doug Pagitt is widely known as primary cofounder (with Tony Jones) of the emerging church, a movement that responded to stasis in the traditional church. He is pastor of Solomon’s Porch, a congregation in Minneapolis that focuses on addressing human needs in the neighboring community and facilitating a more personal encounter with God. He is also host of Doug Pagitt Radio and the author of several books, including A Christianity Worth Believing, Body Prayer, and Evangelism in the Inventive Age. Pagitt and his wife, Shelley, live in Minneapolis.

Table of Contents

Introduction 1

1 Getting Flipped 7

How Being Turned Upside Down Makes God Interesting Again

2 Flipping Out 17

Change Is Part of Being a Spiritually Alive Person; Don't Fear It

3 What It Means to Live, Move, and Exist 33

How Living In God Makes All the Difference

4 God Without the Adapter 51

Flipping the Religious Requirements That Stand Between You and God

5 Together from the Start 65

What If God's Requirements Are Nothing Like What We Thought?

6 Reading Jesus Through a Jesus-Flip Lens 85

How the Religious System Stacked the Deck and What We Can Do About It

7 Love Is Never the Wrong Way 107

The One Reliable Guide for All Flips

8 Your Invitation to a Full Life 125

How to Stop Competing with God and Start Living in Integration with God

9 Who Is the Light of the World? 143

We Call Jesus the Light of the World, and He Says the Same About Us

10 Free to Be 165

How to Find Complete Freedom In God

11 You Can Run, Bui There's No Need to Hide 185

Experience the Freedom of Living, Moving, and Existing In God

Notes 205

Editorial Reviews

Instead of taking sides in contentious us-them debates, Doug Pagitt points a way through the tensions to a wider, better place. He uncovers hidden treasures from the Bible and flips conventional  understandings. A wise, insightful, and stimulating book!”
—Brian D. McLaren, speaker, author of We Make the Road by Walking

“Bravery with kindness can transform—invitingus into new ways of living and thinking. Doug has been doing that in my life for years. Flipped is an invitation that so many of us need, offered with bravery and kindness.”
—Shauna Niequist, speaker, author of Bread and Wine (www.shaunaniequist.com)

“I know of no one more skilled at rigorous and flexible inquiry than Doug Pagitt, who is a masterful and down-to-earth guide to flipped living. Flipped presents a vision of faithful Christianity that is hopeful, love-affirming, serious about Scripture, and passionately committed to the way of Jesus.”
—Mark Scandrette, founding director at ReImagine, speaker, author of Practicing the Way of Jesus

“This is Pagitt at the top of his game . . . and his game is as deadly serious as his title for it is flip. Never has a low-key, conversational tone been more seductively—or effectively—employed in the business of exegetical brilliance than here. This one really is a thought expander as well as a faith enhancer.”
—Phyllis Tickle, author of The Great Emergence 

“Several years ago, I was having another fascinating conversation with Doug. He spoke of his desire that everyone he comes in contact with would know they’re loved, they belong, they matter. Doug is obviously extremely intelligent and passionate and articulate but above all else he has a giant heart of love. That’s a rare and much-needed combination, and I’m thrilled to know he’s out there doing his thing. The world needs more people like Doug.”
—Rob Bell , speaker, author of The Zimzum of Love and What We Talk About When We Talk About God

“Flipped lets you see that God wants to trespass over the fences we have put on grace and unlock the chains we’ve put on love. This book is Doug Pagitt’s invitation to start afresh with God and not let religious folks hold the Spirit hostage.”
—Shane Claiborne, activist, author of The Irresistible Revolution, coauthor of Red Letter Revolution (www.redletterchristians.org)

“Doug Pagitt is a fully engaged questioning theologian whose thoughtful teaching and writing illuminate what it means to live in faith.”
—Sara Miles, author of Take This Bread and City of God

“Doug reminds us of just how upside down and powerful the revolutionary call of Jesus can be. Flipped will challenge many of your Scriptural paradigms, breathing a fresh freedom and wholeness into your faith as you seek to follow Jesus, the all-time Master of the Flip.”
—Mike Slaughter, activist, speaker, pastor, author of Dare to Dream and Renegade Gospel(www.mikeslaughter.com)

“Doug Pagitt is a lighthearted soul on a serious mission: to help us see the world and ourselves through Jesus’s eyes. Reading Flipped, I felt a weight I didn’t realize I was carrying fall off my shoulders. Read it for yourself. It will change your life.”
—The Rt. Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington

From the Publisher