Garden City: Work, Rest, and the Art of Being Human. - Softcover

Comer, John Mark

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0310337348 ISBN 13: 9780310337348

Publisher: Thomas Nelson, 2017

Practical and theologically rich, Garden City is a purposeful guide for the next generation - the book that will help twenty- and thirty-somethings to understand and embrace their calling and purpose as they figure out next steps and direction in their lives.

You’ve heard people say, "Who you are matters more than what you do." But does the Bible really teach that? 

In Garden City, popular pastor and speaker John Mark Comer gives a surprisingly counter-cultural take on the typical "spiritual" answer of the church. Comer explores Scripture to discover God’s original intent for how we are meant to spend our time, reshaping how you view and do your work, rest, and life. 

Here, you'll find answers to questions like:

• Does God care where I work?
• Does he have a clear direction for me?
• What about what I do with my free time or how much rest I get?

In these pages, you'll learn that it's ultimately about the reality that what we do matters, just as much as who we are.

About the Author:

John Mark Comer is pastor for teaching and vision at Bridgetown Church in Portland, Oregon. He holds a Master's degree in Biblical and Theological Studies from Western Seminary and is the author of two previous books: Loveology and Garden City. Comer is married to Tammy and they have two boys, Jude and Moses and a little girl, Sunday.

Review:

In Garden City John Mark Comer takes the reader on a journey--- from creation to the final heavenly city. But the journey is designed to let each of us see where we are to find ourselves in God’s good plan to partner with us in the redemption of all creation. Smack-dab in the middle of this set of ideas is Comer’s excellent sketch of work, a sketch I find both pastorally mature and an exhortation to each of us to know that all we do has value before God. There is in Garden City an intoxication with the Bible’s biggest and life-changing ideas. (Scot McKnight, Julius R. Mantey Professor of New Testament, Northern Seminary)

There is an awakening happening in the Western church. We are rediscovering that God’s mission includes all of creation, not just church work, and he intends for us to be flourishing people, not just religious disciples. John Mark Comer’s book continues this awakening with accessible insight into forgotten biblical truths about the importance of our identity as women and men created in God’s image, the value of our vocations in the world, and a ravishing vision of the beautiful future we are building with God today. Everyone who reads this book will see themselves, their work, and their world with new eyes. (Skye Jethani, author of With, Futureville, and the With God Daily Devotional (WithGodDaily.com))

His writing is informal and infectious, growing on the reader as the topics get more intimate. (Publisher’s Weekly (review of John Mark Comer’s Loveology))

Does what we do for work --- in an office, factory, and kitchen, or studio--- matter to God? Is “the Lord’s work” relegated to those who receive paychecks from churches and nonprofits? In Garden City, John Mark’s unique knack for distilling lofty academic concepts into pragmatic, reader-friendly prose focuses on the hugely important and often overlooked interconnectedness of faith and vocation. Knowing him like we do, it’s easy to see his profound desire to know and live the way of Jesus, and to pursue work that matters to God’s redemptive plan, poured out on these pages. (The elders of Bridgetown: A Jesus Church)

• Publisher: Thomas Nelson
• Publication date: 2017
• ISBN 10: 0310337348
• ISBN 13: 9780310337348
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 336