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Broken: Restoring Trust Between the Sacred & the Secular
A bold call to mend the broken relationship between the church and culture.
The growing disconnect between the instructions of Jesus and the actions of his followers has caused a rift. Instead of reaching out beyond our walls, we hold tight to traditions that seem outdated. Instead of exploring other faith perspectives, we shake a judgmental fist at a secular society.
This book is a call to restore the trust that we have lost in our relationships with each other and with God. Expounding on stories from the Bible, history, culture, and his own experiences, Fromholz explores the source of the disconnect and provides a blueprint for reconnection.
A snowball fight between soldiers and students demonstrates that trust can overcome fear. The biblical story of Abraham and Sarai shows how restoring trust can restore faith in God. The author’s seventeen-year search for his father sends a powerful message: new trust brings a new future. Through authentic, honest, and challenging prose, Fromholz examines the power trust has in freedom, forgiveness, and reconciliation. Recognizing that we are part of this culture and life around us, Broken will inspire us to be who we were always created to be, connected and restored, so that we can find—and multiply—hope.
The growing disconnect between the instructions of Jesus and the actions of his followers has caused a rift. Instead of reaching out beyond our walls, we hold tight to traditions that seem outdated. Instead of exploring other faith perspectives, we shake a judgmental fist at a secular society.
This book is a call to restore the trust that we have lost in our relationships with each other and with God. Expounding on stories from the Bible, history, culture, and his own experiences, Fromholz explores the source of the disconnect and provides a blueprint for reconnection.
A snowball fight between soldiers and students demonstrates that trust can overcome fear. The biblical story of Abraham and Sarai shows how restoring trust can restore faith in God. The author’s seventeen-year search for his father sends a powerful message: new trust brings a new future. Through authentic, honest, and challenging prose, Fromholz examines the power trust has in freedom, forgiveness, and reconciliation. Recognizing that we are part of this culture and life around us, Broken will inspire us to be who we were always created to be, connected and restored, so that we can find—and multiply—hope.
208 pages, Paperback
First published August 18, 2015
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28 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
October 10, 2015
Broken yet Trusting
In Broken, Greg Fromholz has more to say about the individual micro-level of being church than about the mid- to macro levels that would more closely consider local congregation / parish, then ecclesiastical judicatories, and ultimately the church catholic all over the world. That's relatable, since every one of us spends most of our days at the micro-level.
Greg Fromholz decided to stop "...taking God places and decide to participate in what God was already doing there when I arrived..." [page 11], because everything is and every person is coram Deo―before the face of God. [page 113]
"This book is a journey of trust." [page 54] "trust / relationship" [page 74]
Doing my part to restore "trust between the sacred & the secular" and to participate in what God already was doing there when I got there, I read the last half of Broken in the nearby 24-hour Subway® sandwich shop. Unlike Greg, I didn't grow up in a legalistic home and church setting, but like Greg and like everyone else, I need reminders of the sometimes curious, frequently surprising ways God stays with all creation all along The Way. I need reminders that God's self-reveals at least as much in the broken, the stranger, the other-than-us as in the well put-together (who's that? where are they?), the familiar, the almost exactly like us. Midwestern USA-born and raised Fromholz provides some autobiographical background along with reflections on his current living and ministry setting in Ireland; he also reads his own experiences into some scriptural narrative in a manner that models what we could do as individuals, in a bible study or other group setting.
Intriguing chapter titles each begin with "Trust and..." and continue to details that include Presence, Posture, Peace, Home. Trust. Now that's scary, and it's essential. Trust is what every one of the sixteen chapters in this book Broken is about. "Share your stories, your scars, and begin to trust again." [page 164]
God is active everywhere, already there before we arrived on the scene, yet as the sacraments remind us, rather than *always every single time* being instantly visible and easy to recognize, God often is paradoxically hidden in the strange one, the shattered situation, the scarily unfamiliar. We are the church. To others and to ourselves we can be strange, broken, and so unfamiliar we no longer recognize ourselves. We are the church and we are the only bible many people ever will read. No matter what else is going on, "I must ... continue this story on Me Street." [page 191]
Greg's writing is naturally easygoing and brings the reader along with the author wherever he goes. Remember "participant-observer?" Similar to a half dozen books I've read over the past year or so, Broken: restoring trust between the sacred & the secular could form a template for my own journaling, observations, obsessions and reflections. This will be a good one to donate to the church library, and probably pick up to reread again later.
In Broken, Greg Fromholz has more to say about the individual micro-level of being church than about the mid- to macro levels that would more closely consider local congregation / parish, then ecclesiastical judicatories, and ultimately the church catholic all over the world. That's relatable, since every one of us spends most of our days at the micro-level.
Greg Fromholz decided to stop "...taking God places and decide to participate in what God was already doing there when I arrived..." [page 11], because everything is and every person is coram Deo―before the face of God. [page 113]
"This book is a journey of trust." [page 54] "trust / relationship" [page 74]
Doing my part to restore "trust between the sacred & the secular" and to participate in what God already was doing there when I got there, I read the last half of Broken in the nearby 24-hour Subway® sandwich shop. Unlike Greg, I didn't grow up in a legalistic home and church setting, but like Greg and like everyone else, I need reminders of the sometimes curious, frequently surprising ways God stays with all creation all along The Way. I need reminders that God's self-reveals at least as much in the broken, the stranger, the other-than-us as in the well put-together (who's that? where are they?), the familiar, the almost exactly like us. Midwestern USA-born and raised Fromholz provides some autobiographical background along with reflections on his current living and ministry setting in Ireland; he also reads his own experiences into some scriptural narrative in a manner that models what we could do as individuals, in a bible study or other group setting.
Intriguing chapter titles each begin with "Trust and..." and continue to details that include Presence, Posture, Peace, Home. Trust. Now that's scary, and it's essential. Trust is what every one of the sixteen chapters in this book Broken is about. "Share your stories, your scars, and begin to trust again." [page 164]
God is active everywhere, already there before we arrived on the scene, yet as the sacraments remind us, rather than *always every single time* being instantly visible and easy to recognize, God often is paradoxically hidden in the strange one, the shattered situation, the scarily unfamiliar. We are the church. To others and to ourselves we can be strange, broken, and so unfamiliar we no longer recognize ourselves. We are the church and we are the only bible many people ever will read. No matter what else is going on, "I must ... continue this story on Me Street." [page 191]
Greg's writing is naturally easygoing and brings the reader along with the author wherever he goes. Remember "participant-observer?" Similar to a half dozen books I've read over the past year or so, Broken: restoring trust between the sacred & the secular could form a template for my own journaling, observations, obsessions and reflections. This will be a good one to donate to the church library, and probably pick up to reread again later.
August 26, 2015
Trust is the foundation on which relationships are built. But we are not very good at it. Institutions and individuals have betrayed us. We have betrayed trust given to and received from others. We live in an environment permeated by fear. How can relationships possibly exist in such a climate?
Greg Fromholz examines the issue of trust and how to build it in Broken: Restoring Trust Between the Sacred & the Secular. He uses personal stories, Bible stories and passages, and research data to suggest ways in which we as individuals, groups, and churches can return to a trusting environment. The writing is engaging, and humor is frequently used to release tension in an otherwise heavy topic.
There are sixteen chapters across 222 pages (excluding endnotes). Each chapter discusses an aspect of trust - what hinders trust and what can help build it. Among the issues discussed are: forgiveness, fear, faithfulness, love, peace, and hope.
Gromholz issues a stinging indictment against the modern church and how it has communicated a separation between faith and trust, and how faith (the believing, intellectual kind) has become the most important thing in many churches. He that because faith has become so predominant, it has diminished and has even hidden love in the life of the church, communicating to any who participate and observe that love isn't that important to God. His indictment extends to the structures and systems that the church has placed around herself, to protect and to control; that such systems have replaced love in churches and in church life. The implicit message: where systems, structures, and control are important, trust is not. Organizations, small and large, seek to conserve and maintain -- by their very nature, they fear freedom. But without freedom, there can be no trust.
God allows great freedom to untrustworthy humans. God does not impose his will, but seeks to collaborate with humanity. As the bride of Christ, the church (and her individual members) should take a look at how God relates to us and seek to model our interactions with the world around us in the same way. This, I believe, is the message that Fromholz is communicating to his audience through this book.
(This review based on ARC supplied by publisher through NetGalley.)
Greg Fromholz examines the issue of trust and how to build it in Broken: Restoring Trust Between the Sacred & the Secular. He uses personal stories, Bible stories and passages, and research data to suggest ways in which we as individuals, groups, and churches can return to a trusting environment. The writing is engaging, and humor is frequently used to release tension in an otherwise heavy topic.
There are sixteen chapters across 222 pages (excluding endnotes). Each chapter discusses an aspect of trust - what hinders trust and what can help build it. Among the issues discussed are: forgiveness, fear, faithfulness, love, peace, and hope.
Gromholz issues a stinging indictment against the modern church and how it has communicated a separation between faith and trust, and how faith (the believing, intellectual kind) has become the most important thing in many churches. He that because faith has become so predominant, it has diminished and has even hidden love in the life of the church, communicating to any who participate and observe that love isn't that important to God. His indictment extends to the structures and systems that the church has placed around herself, to protect and to control; that such systems have replaced love in churches and in church life. The implicit message: where systems, structures, and control are important, trust is not. Organizations, small and large, seek to conserve and maintain -- by their very nature, they fear freedom. But without freedom, there can be no trust.
God allows great freedom to untrustworthy humans. God does not impose his will, but seeks to collaborate with humanity. As the bride of Christ, the church (and her individual members) should take a look at how God relates to us and seek to model our interactions with the world around us in the same way. This, I believe, is the message that Fromholz is communicating to his audience through this book.
(This review based on ARC supplied by publisher through NetGalley.)
October 3, 2016
In this text we find that Greg Fromholz is challenging us to look at our culture around us and see where the disconnects are happening. Between our faith as Christians and the societal and moral values that are changing within our spheres of influence. In Broken we look at the fact that trust has been lost between the church and society. That trust use to say that you turned to the church when you faced a crisis in your life, but now the society around us no longer trusts that the church has any answers or that it can provide any help for us in those times of crisis.
Greg speaks from his own experience in that he lost his trust in certain things in life as he grew up. He felt abandoned, crushed, beaten and disillusioned. But as he sought more answers from God and the church he was able to discover how the Bible is still relevant to our world today, if we just take time to read, dwell upon, contemplate and discover how things can be addressed and changed.
The book is not so much an in depth theological look at issues as it is a good devotional read that will encourage your heart and give you hope that the chaos around you does not have to consume you, but you can actually address it and use it to help others see God in all areas of our lives.
Greg speaks from his own experience in that he lost his trust in certain things in life as he grew up. He felt abandoned, crushed, beaten and disillusioned. But as he sought more answers from God and the church he was able to discover how the Bible is still relevant to our world today, if we just take time to read, dwell upon, contemplate and discover how things can be addressed and changed.
The book is not so much an in depth theological look at issues as it is a good devotional read that will encourage your heart and give you hope that the chaos around you does not have to consume you, but you can actually address it and use it to help others see God in all areas of our lives.
September 21, 2015
For anyone who has lost trust in the church or faith in God, pick up this book and find hope.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews