A COMMUNITY
CALLED TAIZE
Jason Brian Santos
IVP
The Taize community may sound
vaguely familiar due to their popular musical prayers often sung in many churches.
In his book, A Community Called Taize, Jason
Brian Santos offers a look inside the history,
goal, and reality of this present-day Protestant ecumenical community.
Santos was just an average Master of
Divinity student when he began to explore the beginning and meanings behind
the Taize Community, an ecumenical monastic community founded on love for the
less fortunate, and known for their meditations. As part of a thesis project, Santos
traveled to France to visit the Taize people
and began on a journey he never expected. Beginning with a passionate forward
from Desmond Tutu, Santos writes with
such eloquent and descriptive words, you
will begin to feel like you are watching a
movie, not reading a book. His reserach
on the development of the community
is well composed; a beautiful merge of
capturing the passion of Brother Roger (a
Taize proper , and founder, whose death
brings about Santos’ love and understanding for the mission of the Taize community), as well a glimpse into the time of
WWII and Brother Roger’s living out the
gospel by harboring war refugees. It is a
beautiful story of a community that aims
for reconciliation of the Church, looking
after those less fortunate, and a simplistic lifestyle of prayers, communal living,
sustainability, and Christ-centered giving.
This book is a wonderful example of a
community that is living out the gospel
in a unique way, with an understanding
of God’s provision and love beyond our
western idea of PowerPoints and Sunday
meet and greets.
DISCIPLESHIP RELEASES
PURE PRAISE
Dwyane Moore
Group
Who has time for a nine-week, once-
a-day-for-30-minutes Bible study? That was
an honest first thought, because in this culture, we want our “Jesus transformation” to
happen quickly like speed reading, easy like
talking, and with quick results like a juice
diet. But in his book, Pure Praise, Dwayne
Moore does not give us this Jesus, because,
well, that sort of change is not the real thing.
Real change takes time.
Dwayne Moore is the founder of Next
Level Worship, and his forte is discipleship. Pure Praise is a nine week devotional
designed to ignite passion in the hearts of
worship leaders through Moore’s mentor-ship, with the main focus on God’s Word.
Moore breaks up this discipleship tool into
nine weeks, each with a different purpose.
He explores topics of mission, music, ministry, and means, allowing people to see his
creativity in each section. Worship leader
and teacher for over 30 years, Moore not
only has experience, but also wisdom. His
day-to-day readings are not for you, Mr. Fast
paced. They are written with sincerity and
depth, sometimes drawing upon a historical
understanding of the Temple of Jerusalem,
incorporating today’s spontaneity, while
quoting Paul and other writers of the New
and Old Testaments. This is where the book
really stands out: Moore encourages you,
and almost forces you (unless you enjoy
wandering around the pages with no explanation) into your Bible—no lesson is taught
without it.
He suggests 30 minutes because he is
the only person in this world, or perhaps
in your ministry, that is not trying to rush
you. He includes places to journal, reflect,
confess, and praise. And he even has group
sessions in the back. Finally, a book worth
passing out to your leaders, and one they
will want to share with their teams.
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