Don't Take the Deal: God Is More Awesome Than You Think and the Church Shouldn't Suck as Much as It Sometimes Does
About this ebook
Many Christians, unfortunately, have already accepted the deal. They routinely validate pastors and leaders, attending weekly services and giving only enough money only to keep the lights on and the activities rolling. In exchange, they receive civil, encouraging, and self-help messages that never ask for anything more. Both parties in this deal also believe they are doing what God wants.
The senior pastor at Watermark Community Church, Dallas, Texas, Todd Wagner says these believers are missing out on what Jesus has in mind for his beautiful bride (Rev. 19:7), from whom he withholds no good thing (Psalm 84:11). If in regular church attendance, some Christians feel they are barely holding it together spiritually, Wagner offers them the abundant life (John 10:10). He guides them in understanding that the church is to proclaim the excellencies of him who has called her out of darkness into his marvelous light (1 Peter 2:9) and communicate his boundless grace and liberating truth to the world (John 8:32), including family and friends.
Wagner calls every churchgoer to honestly ask, Does my current way of living accurately reflect what God says will bring glory to him and abundant joy to me?
In a message as audacious as Crazy Love and Radical, when they were first released, Don’t Take the Deal challenges Christians to live together boldly for Jesus. In this way, life is found, and church becomes a place of great joy and incredible life-change.
About the author
In November 1999, Todd Wagner and a small group of friends established Watermark Community Church in Dallas, Texas, out of a desire to connect people with the richness, adventure, and fullness of life that comes through Christ alone and to reach the unchurched, de-churched, dead-churched, and unmoved. Todd serves as Senior Pastor and Elder at Watermark, which has become one of the largest and fastest-growing churches in the United States. Watermark is also home to The Porch, one of the largest ministries to young adults in the country, as well as the Church Leaders Conference, which exists to encourage and challenge other leaders and faith communities with God’s vision for His Church. Under Todd’s leadership, Watermark was recognized by the Dallas Morning News in 2019 as the “Best Places to Work” in Dallas-Fort Worth. Out of conviction, Watermark has operated debt-free since its inception. Todd is the author of Come and See: Everything You Ever Wanted in the One Place You Would Never Look. He has been a keynote speaker at national and international leadership conferences and a guest contributor to the Dallas Morning News and other media outlets. His weekly video podcast, Real Truth Real Quick, reaches tens of thousands of people each month. Todd and his wife, Alex, alongside their six children and grandchildren, love to live, laugh, and serve together in Dallas.
