Reaching the Unreached: Becoming Raiders of the Lost Art

by Peyton Jones, Alan Hirsch (Foreword)

For too long church leaders have focused on increasing the size of their church rather than increasing their reach outside of the four walls of the church building. The result? Church life becomes a predictable set of routines with predictable results. Church members struggle to reach the neighborhoods they drive through on their way to church programs, unable to penetrate their surrounding communities in a meaningful way. Reaching the Unreached recounts the stories, struggles, and triumphs of individuals and churches that have reinvented themselves to meet the world where it is, working to reach the ones that no one else is reaching. The search for the “silver bullet” of success has diverted us from tapping into the timeless principles found in the book of Acts, says author, pastor, and front-line church planter Peyton Jones. Yet the spiritual climate that Paul and the Apostles stepped into is not all that different from the brave new world the church faces today. From accidentally planting a church in a Starbucks in Europe, to baptizing members of the Mexican mafia in Long Beach Harbor, Jones has been on the frontlines of today’s missional movement and has lived to tell the tale. In Reaching the Unreached , he teaches church planters, pastors, and church leaders how to convert pew jockeys into missionaries and awake the sleeping giant of Christ’s church, one person at a time. Today there are two types of those who put their proverbial heads in the sand, and those who champion 1st century principles, meet the challenges head on, and embrace the adventure of mission in community. Tomorrow, only one type of church will survive—those that accept the challenge to reach the unreached.

Genres: Evangelism

256 pages, Paperback

Published May 16, 2017

About the author

Peyton Jones is a serial church planter. Meaning that if he plants a church, he'll probably strike again, and leave a trail of church plants in his wake. He likes to be called a Ninja-planter, because it sounds cooler. Like the apostle Paul, Peyton obtains his mission directives, strikes into an unsuspecting community with the gospel, then steals back into the shadows, until it's time to strike again.

A Huntington Beach, California native, Peyton went into ministry at 19 years old. He was intending to temporarily keep the seat warm while his mentor dealt with a family illness. Years later, Peyton was ordained, chucked his career as a psychiatric/drug rehab nurse, and embarked for 12 years to Wales, the most unchurched part of the UK, with less than 1% church attendance.

It was in the UK that Peyton began discovering the New Testament principles of church planting laid out in the book of Acts. Starting off as the Evangelist at Dr. D. M. Lloyd-Jones's legendary "Sandfields" church, Peyton assisted their launch of a church plant. After that, he became a evangelistic "preacher for hire" of sorts, called in for evangelism by Pastors. Paul's ministry jumped off the page at him, and New Breed Church Planting was formed. New Breed began a wave of church planting in unlikely places such as Starbucks coffee shops, ghettos, pubs, and surf hangs.

To this day, Peyton plants churches as a means to an end; to disciple, raise up, and equip a new breed of church planter, who will plant a new breed of church.

Peyton has lectured at various Universities, and is currently teaching courses on church planting at Calvary University. He received his MA Theology: Pastoral Studies in 2010 from W.E.S.T. in the UK. He lives in Southern California with his family.

Reviews

[Rich Thornton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not for the faint of heart

Peyton Jones has done it. Not everything, but it. He has shared the love of Jesus with people he didn't start out to love. He isn't perfect and he knows it but he hasn't let that stop him from listening to God and attempting to do what he heard.

In this book he encourages us to let the Holy Spirit do what only the Holy Spirit can do and for us to do what we can do, listen and act.

Great stories. Great call to action. Great kick in the gut. Now let's do it.

[Bryan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. It can be read by those who are warriors at sharing their faith and those who have been complacent. It can be read by seminarians and those who are just learning to share their faith. It can be read by seasoned pastors or church planters, and those learning to first share their faith. I first was exposed to Jones's unorthodox style of using pop culture to keep you engaged coupled with church history and mission methods in his first book Church Zero. This is no different and will change you from being a compliant disciple of Christ into a committed raider of the tomb of evangelistic zeal it is designed to turn you into. Buy this book, you will not be disappointed, but be careful because you will be challenged.

[Lea Peters · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another excellent read by Peyton Jones. While I’m not a movie buff, the analogies throughout the books were easy to connect. The fire of the Holy Spirit is the catalyst to reaching the unreached. The difference between the early church and today’s church hovers around the absence of the power of the Spirit. We’re more about presentation than action. I highly recommend this book. It will inspire you to walk where Jesus expects us to go - to the unreached.

[Mark Conroy · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great reminder

Love the book reminds me for what and for whom Jesus has left me here for to continue HIS mission of spreading kingdom boundaries and reconciling back Gods children to him.