Perimeters of Light: Biblical Boundaries for the Emerging Church

by Elmer L. Towns, Ed Stetzer

How far do we go to connect with our culture' Can we "sell" the Gospel like the world sells soft drinks? Where are the boundaries?

The church today is walking a tightrope. On the one hand, we need to proclaim, and more importantly, live the Gospel in such a way that it connects with both seekers and younger people looking for community and authenticity. Yet at what point does this fall into "feel good" ministry at the expense of biblical truth?

These are issues that God's people are now beginning to wrestle with. Elmer Towns and Edward Stetzer provide an intergenerational perspective that sheds biblical light on some tough challenges facing the church.

208 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 2004

About the author

Dr. Elmer Towns is a college and seminary professor, an author of popular and scholarly works (the editor of two encyclopedias), a popular seminar lecturer, and dedicated worker in Sunday school, and has developed over 20 resource packets for leadership education. He began teaching at Midwest Bible College, St. Louis, Missouri, for three years and was not satisfied with his textbooks so he began writing his own (he has published over 100 books listed in the Library of Congress, 7 listed in the Christian Booksellers Best Selling List; several becoming accepted as college textbooks. He is also the 1995 recipient of the coveted Gold Medallion Award awarded by the Christian Booksellers Association for writing the Book of the Year, i.e., The Names of the Holy Spirit.

He was President of Winnipeg Bible College for five years, leading it to receive American Accreditation and Provincial authority to offer degrees (1960-1965). He taught at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, in greater Chicago, Illinois, in the field of Religious Education and Evangelism (1965-1971).

He is co-founder of Liberty University, with Jerry Falwell, in 1971, and was the only full-time teacher in the first year of Liberty's existence. Today, the University has over 11,400 students on campus with 39,000 in the Distance Learning Program (now Liberty University Online), and he is the Dean of the School of Religion.

Dr. Towns has given theological lectures and taught intensive seminars at over 50 theological seminaries in America and abroad. He holds visiting professorship rank in five seminaries. He has written over 2,000 reference and/or popular articles and received six honorary doctoral degrees. Four doctoral dissertations have analyzed his contribution to religious education and evangelism.

His personal education includes a B.S. from Northwestern College in Minneapolis, Minnesota, a M.A. from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas, a Th.M. from Dallas Theological Seminary also in Dallas, a MRE from Garrett Theological Seminary in Evanston, Illinois, and a D.Min. from Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California.

Reviews

[Nick Jones · Rating 2 out of 5]

Better than I anticipated. I loved the call to remain faithful to the scriptures, especially in evangelism. Some of the chapters were great, others were meh. The main problem is that the central “perimeters” idea is not fully formed or fleshed out. There are too many lingering questions.

[Tracy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Raised a lot of thought-provoking questions about what is and isn't church, what is and isn't Christianity. Not a lot of hard lines were drawn, but the authors thoroughly emphasized the importance of Christ and the Gospel over all other non-essentials. Leaves what is considered "non-essential" very, very vague, and leaves readers with no real tools to navigate the "gray areas." This book is less of a practical guide and more of a lens through which to view the gospel in the context of culture. A light read, nothing revolutionary.

[Frances · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is about just what are the essentials of Christianity and how to make that relevant in lives without corrupting it with the culture. Using a parable they invented, the authors try to point to the issues that surround the question of what makes someone a Christian and how much doctrine, practical living, etc, is really required to get there. This is obviously written with pastors in mind but others might find it interesting. The authors call for discussion and realize that they don't have the final answers. Only God does, but they want us to rethink how we do evangelism.

[Philip Mantler · Rating 5 out of 5]

Towns and Stetzer do a wonderful job of presenting in plain, easy to read and understand, language issue that the western (particularly the North American) church is facing when trying to deal with a postmodern society. They do a good job of explaining why some things that have worked well over the last century or so no longer work and why so many churches are struggling or have gone off the rails. A must read for pastors and denomination leaders who want to see the church continue to serve the Kingdom in a vastly different world than what many grew up in.

[Tyrone Steele · Rating 2 out of 5]

Eh. So, so.

[Brian Reagan · Rating 1 out of 5]

Terrible book that lacks good theology, and frankly does not have a clue of the real nature of postmodernism. Waste your time if you want, or use it for kindling.