Sense Of Belonging, A

God rescues through relationships. He put on flesh and came among us. From the rich vein of this golden truth Norman Bales has mined a treasure of timely help for churches serious about rescuing alienated wanderers. There is no magic to keeping members healthy, growing and vitally involved in the life of the church. God's design simply calls for genuine relationships! Meaningful relationships, however, are costly. They are not only time-consuming but emotionally draining. Perhaps this painful reality may explain the tendency of churches to replace the fruitful art of "people-sensitive" service with manipulative tactics wrapped in slick packaging. But these easy solutions which appear promising in the short run ultimately prove disastrous.

Helpful steps suggested in this volume are long overdue. Norman Bales pin-points a number of simple and practical things churches can do to engage alienated and unchurched believers. While his book is intensely practical it is by no means shallow. His thoughtful insights are both theologically astute and scripturally sound.

Throughout the volume, one-note consistently sounds: We must treat people as God treats people, or all the well-oiled programs we may contrive will not off-set our insensitivity.