A Mile Wide: Trading a Shallow Religion for a Deeper Faith.

Author and TV personality Hatmaker, once the leader of his local church, experienced a series of events that made him reconsider his role within his congregations and made the conscious choice to give more to his church community. Instead of encouraging his congregants to attend a traditional church service, he asked them to become more active in the community, helping the homeless, hungry, and lonely. His church members became church “partners,” and their faith became missional and deeper. In this newfound role, Hatmaker formed the Legacy Collective, a giving community that focuses on sustainable solutions to social issues. In this insightful book, Hatmaker describes the deepening of his faith in a conversational manner, sprinkling the narrative with references to Scripture and explaining how Jesus created disciples through his example of compassion and caring. By exploring topics such as identity, discipleship, community, and justice, Hatmaker explores how the Gospel works in the lives of believers to enhance their faith. Aiming his book at Christians who may be struggling with their faith because of a lack of enthusiasm for attending a traditional church, Hatmaker offers an opportunity for a paradigm shift that puts the onus on the individual to make a difference in the lives of others, rather than becoming absorbed in their own. (Sept.)