Trolls & Truth: 14 Realities about Today's Church that We Don't Want to See - Softcover

Dorrell, Jimmy

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1596690100 ISBN 13: 9781596690103

Publisher: New Hope Publishers, 2006

Synopsis

Trolls & Truth is the story of a local church of homeless people, college students, middle-class Christians, some poor and some rich, black, white, and brown, drunks, materialists, mentally ill, and former inmates who meet beneath the noise of 18-wheelers and rushing traffic under an interstate bridge in Waco, Texas. As they live out biblical mandates across cultural barriers and institutional baggage, they remind us that the gospel cannot be shaped by socially accepted values and remain “good news.”

About this title

About the Author

Jimmy Dorrell is the pastor of Church Under the Bridge, an interdenominational church that grew from a Bible study with five homeless men in Waco, Texas, in 1992 underneath an interstate bridge. Today, there are 300 diverse people of many races and economic backgrounds who meet outside under the same interstate bridge each week. Dorrell is no stranger to ministry among the poor. While still in his 20s, Dorrell and his wife sold their home and traveled the world to witness world poverty firsthand. They returned to Waco and purchased a 4,000-square-foot house occupied by a woman with 40 cats, two mentally ill veterans, and a wild 19-year-old. They have lived there for 27 years, using the space as a harbor for ministry. Dorrell and his wife, Janet, founded Mission Waco in 1992, a Christian, holistic nonprofit to empower the poor. Dorrell remains Mission Waco’s executive director. Dorrell holds an MDiv from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, an MA in environmental studies from Baylor University, and a DMin from Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary. He is on the board of the Heart of Texas Homeless Coalition and has founded four nonprofits that benefit the poor. He has written for numerous newspapers and periodicals and is an adjunct professor teaching urban mission classes at George W. Truett Theological Seminary and civic education classes at Baylor University. He and his wife, Janet, have four children, Seth, Josh, Zach, and Christy.

From Publishers Weekly

Dorrell, a Waco, Tex., pastor, calls the "corporate" Christian church to repentance for insulating itself against some of Christ's most profound and challenging teachings. Dorrell speaks from a position of considerable moral authority, as he's intimately involved in the lives of the urban poor and founded a flourishing church that meets under a Texas freeway overpass (the Church Under the Bridge) whose constituents range from mentally ill homeless substance abusers and tattooed bikers to college students and middle-class housewives. Dorrell's challenge to live more radically (i.e., biblically) is divided into 14 chapters on subjects like appearance, creativity, friendship and families, each illustrated with life examples from the "troll-like" people in his congregation. The Western church, he writes, "has lost its prophetic voice in the culture": church budgets don't always reflect Christ-like priorities, and members would rather merely give money to the poor than sit down and eat with them. Dorrell urges both individuals and Christian communities to break down the protective walls that shield them from dysfunction and to make the difficult choice to welcome all. Though the writing can be sermonic, Dorrell's temple-cleaning message is powerful and his stories compelling. (Sept.)
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About this edition

• Publisher: New Hope Publishers
• Publication date: 2006
• ISBN 10: 1596690100
• ISBN 13: 9781596690103
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 215