Reader Reviews That Take 5Q To The Next Level

We are still celebrating the *NEW* release of 5Q: Reactivating the Original Intelligence and Capacity of the Body of Christ ! We would like to take another weekly post and express our deepest gratitude for all of you who have received your copy, read it and then took the time to write a blogpost or leave an Amazon review.

Today, once again, we are going to feature your reviews, your posts and your engagement with the 5Q movement. To our readers, please make sure to click on the links and support these bloggers and reviewers. Let’s build one another up with encouragement, conversations and doing the work of making the online 5Q community the unstoppable, permanent revolution Jesus has designed us to be!

[bctt tweet=”Help make the online #5Q community an unstoppable, Permanent Revolution!” username=”@5QCollective”]

Check out this post from Pastor Ben. You can follow him on Twitter @benmarshall3. Thanks, Ben, for the thoughtful interaction with the new book. We appreciate your insight and the overall depth of your engagement. Enjoy an excerpt from his post!

 

This book is not for the faint of heart. It is not an easy, quick read.

“I would highly recommend this book for any and every church leader who feels the tension of “something feels like it’s missing…” in how church is done, who church is reaching, and the call to go into the world and make disciples. This book will change the way you see the world, change the way you see yourself, and change the way you see your church and ministry. It will open your eyes and soften them.

Go. Start by reading Ephesians 4:11-16. Then go read 5Q. Pray the whole way. You won’t regret it.”

[bctt tweet=”#5Q will change the way you see the world, yourself and the Church through open and softer eyes. ” username=”@5QCollective”]

Thomas Mepham (@thomasmepham) has really invested a lot of energy and thought in his post. You can read the full article here. Thomas, we are super grateful that you took the time to share your approach to 5Q with our readers. We believe it will be really helpful!  Thomas writes:

Mepham writes, “Alan Hirsch has been consistent in his task to prod the church toward fresh thinking5Q is his most recent book, and in it he makes a broad case for the use of some specifically fresh language. The title is a play on ‘intelligence quotient’ (IQ) and other such measurements, and Hirsch has repurposed the idea to describe the form of “symphonic” communal intelligence that arises out of a combination of different perspectives, gifts and motivations.”

One of the aspects of 5Q that we haven’t written much about on the blog yet, is the work that Alan has done connecting APEST to the Marks of the Church (Brilliant!). Mepham does a fantastic job of summing up the book content in about a paragraph.

Here’s another excerpt from the blog: “Hirsch however takes issue with the impossibility of the “catholic” part. For it to be a true mark of the church, “there must be a visible unity of structure and confession.” True catholicity may well exist in a mystical, “communion of the saints” kind of way, joining believers across the boundaries of space and time. But based on our current situation, there can be no truly structural and confessional world-wide “catholic” church. A more helpful way to think of the marks of the true church is using the APEST framework. The true church is marked by Missional impact (A), Covenant faithfulness (P), Gospel proclamation (E), Reconciled community, (S), Deep wisdom (T).

Wrapping it up, Mepham writes, “Putting 5Q into practice should lead to lots of new insights for church life ‘on the ground,’ and the second half of the book is helpful in fleshing some of these [insights] out. It will be interesting to see who picks up the challenge posed by Hirsch in the spheres of systematic and trinitarian theology and see what further explorations of 5Q might be undertaken at that level. Most of all, I’ll look forward to seeing a bit of rage (hehe) as people grapple with the fivefold ‘marks of the church’. “

[bctt tweet=”Putting 5Q into practice should lead to lots of new insights for church life ‘on the ground'” username=”@5QCollective”]

From Amazon Reviewer Garman’s Pub

The APEST model isn’t just for the church but the entire body. Last week I started implementing within my pub. Finding some of my staffs passions and turning them loose to better their jobs and other around them has already enhanced our culture and work habits. Thankful for the words on paper and encouraging me to rethink a few areas of life.”

Thanks for mobilizing 5Q in mission!

From Amazon Reviewer Sam Rockwell:

“5Q is theological-conceptual-practical-original. It challenges the status quo while simultaneously laying the groundwork for a new way to think about how the gospel intersects the culture through the church. Alan integrates a wonderfully eclectic array of ideas and perspectives into a coherent “frame” through which one can “see” ministry anew. Read it for praxis and read it for high concept because it somehow accomplishes both.”

Nancy Watta (@NJWatta), who regularly blogs at Journey Together Through Discipleship, has posted her experience with the book. It’s a fresh approach to reviewing 5Q and we are really excited to share it with you. Thank you, Nancy, for taking time during your book launch to read and review! Cheers!

Nancy writes, “I felt the author was leading me along a path and not pressuring me to agree with his view, but instead to be open to think through and see where I stand on the topic of APEST and taking a deeper look.

Hirsch opens up the many facets of the titles and meanings like watching a flower slowly open.

Many times throughout my reading I stopped reading, filled my glass with sun tea, and simply meditated on a page or a paragraph.

My copy of the book is filled with underlines, pink post it notes as markers, circles, question marks, and exclamation marks. The marks represent my aha moments.

In the meantime check out 5Q, and instead of speed reading the book, give it a slow read, and ponder what you read.”