Why Cities Matter: Read Keller's Foreword and Chapter 1
Here is a free download of a sampler for my new book (coauthored with my friend, Dr. Stephen Um), Why Cities Matter: To God, the Culture, and the Church. Read Tim Keller’s foreword, the Introduction, and Chapter 1 of the book in PDF format here. The book just launched on Amazon and is currently available on Amazon for 48% off. Please help spread the word about this important new resource!The following is an excerpt from the Introduction:IntroductionThe city is more important than it’s ever been. Right now, more people live in cities than at any other time in human history. Never before has the majority of the world’s population been an urban population.Cities have always played a central role in human history and in God’s redemptive plan for the world. Cities have long stood as powerful places of cultural development, influence, and invention—offering hope, refuge, and new beginnings. But never before have cities been as populated, powerful, and important as they are today.The world is changing. Our world is experiencing the largest movement of urban growth in history. Our world is now predominately urban, and there’s no going back. This new reality, this new world, presents a historic opportunity for Christians.Cities shape the world. What happens in cities doesn’t stay in cities. What happens in cities spreads—as the city goes, so goes the broader culture. Think of cities like you think of a factory. What is produced in the factory (city) gets shipped outside the factory and distributed throughout the world. The products shipped by the factory shape life far beyond the walls of the factory. Cities ship and shape. Cities are so important because they possess a far greater “shipping” and “shaping” power than other human settlements, such as a suburban community or a country village.Cities are the center of cultural and economic development in our 21st century world. Cities produce the people, economic resources, businesses, the arts, universities, political policies, research and development—the cultural goods—that shape and define our modern society. What happens in London or Beijing today will effect the American financial market more than what happens in the suburbs of Chicago. Tomorrow’s technological innovation in Silicon Valley will soon impact Manila, Tokyo, and Cape Town along with their respective countries and neighboring communities.Cities no longer shape just their surrounding regions, cities now shape the whole world. This new world presents Christians and the church with an unprecedented opportunity to bring the gospel of Jesus Christ into every dimension of human life. God is doing something new and big in our cities, and he’s calling some of us to participate in it.