Michael McAfee - Not What You Think: Why the Bible Might Be Nothing We Expected Yet Everything We Need

If youve ever had questions about how relevant Gods Word is to your life, you need this book. Michael and Lauren not only understand your hesitations but come alongside you to process your questions while uncovering the ways Scripture can become a personal lifeline.

LYSA TERKEURST, #1 New York Times bestselling author; president, Proverbs 31 Ministries

Lauren and Michael offer in this accessible work a hopeful vision for millennials and gen Zers who are skeptical of the Bibles claims. May this book encourage you to read and consider with an open mind the most important book in history.

RUSSELL MOORE, president, The Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention

Engaging. Timely. This book invites skeptics and seekers alike to a renewed understanding and embrace of Gods Word. Michael and Lauren are wise and trustworthy guides, encouraging us to find our story within the greatest story of all.

LOUIE GIGLIO, pastor, Passion City Church; founder, Passion Conferences

Lauren and Michael have been friends with my wife and me for some years. Their willingness to listen and welcome challenging perspectives tells me a lot about their character. They value truth over their biases and arent afraid of the uncomfortable questions. That is why they are so well equipped to share what theyve found in this book.

ANDY MINEO, hip-hop recording artist

Not only millennials but readers from every generation will benefit from this fresh perspective on the Bible. This book creates space for the skeptical or casual Bible reader to address the hard questions head on. We need that now more than ever.

GABE LYONS, president, Q Ideas; author, Good Faith

Conversational, clear, compelling, convincingheres a winsome and insightful invitation to experience the most profound and controversial book of history. Are you willing to read this book by the McAfees with an open mind? If so, great surprisesand rewardsawait you.

LEE STROBEL, bestselling author, The Case for Christ and The Case for Miracles

If you are a millennial who has never considered the Bible, drop everything and read this book. Michael and Lauren dare you to see things you may have overlooked about the most popular book in history.

ERIC METAXAS, #1 New York Times bestselling author; host, nationally syndicated The Eric Metaxas Radio Show

Michael and Lauren offer historical, biblical, and practical advice for their generation and future generations to come. You will walk away with a better understanding of the millennial and gen Z generations, and your love for the Bible will deepen in the process.

ROBBY AND KANDI GALLATY, authors, Here and Now and Disciple Her

This book invites the millennial generation to shake off their preconceptions about the Bible and explore its pages for themselves. Michael and Lauren provide thoughtful encouragement in this welcome read.

BOBBY GRUENEWALD, founder, YouVersion Bible App

I encourage you to order a stack of copies of this book and pass them to young people in your life that you care about, as well as reading it for yourself. Together, we can reconnect the next generation with the Word of God.

MATT BROWN, evangelist, author, founder of Think Eternity

Michael and Lauren are a much needed voice for biblical inerrancy in the millennial generation. They challenge all of us to face our questions about the Bible head on and not to dismiss the Bible before reading it. Any of us who care to see our faith transferred to the next generation must read this book.

ESTHER FLEECE ALLEN, speaker; author, No More Faking Fine

The McAfees have articulated an insightful and helpful explanation of how millennials are colliding with the Book of All Books. It will help you, as it helped me, to gain a greater understanding of millennials in your congregation and community.

DR. CHRIS WALL, senior pastor, First Baptist Church of Owasso, Oklahoma

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Please note that endnotes in this ebook may contain hyperlinks to external websites as part of bibliographic citations. These hyperlinks have not been activated by the publisher, who cannot verify the accuracy of these links beyond the date of publication.

ZONDERVAN

Not What You Think

Copyright 2019 by Michael McAfee and Lauren Green McAfee

Requests for information should be addressed to:

Zondervan, 3900 Sparks Dr. SE, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49546

ISBN 978-0-310-35521-2 (hardcover)

ISBN 978-0-310-35523-6 (audio)

ISBN 978-0-310-35522-9 (ebook)

Epub Edition April 2019 9780310355229

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.Zondervan.com. The NIV and New International Version are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.

Scripture quotations marked ESV are taken from the ESV Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version). Copyright 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Any internet addresses (websites, blogs, etc.) and telephone numbers in this book are offered as a resource. They are not intended in any way to be or imply an endorsement by Zondervan, nor does Zondervan vouch for the content of these sites and numbers for the life of this book.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meanselectronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any otherexcept for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher.

The authors are represented by the literary agency of Alive Communications, Inc., 7680 Goddard Street, Suite 200, Colorado Springs, Colorado 80920, www.aliveliterary.com.

Cover design: Faceout Studio

Cover photos: Tamisclao / Shutterstock

Interior design: Kait Lamphere

Printed in the United States of America

19 20 21 22 23 24 25 /LSC/ 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

For Mom

<(o)> <3 U

Michael

To Mom and Dad,

without whom this book

could not exist (literally)

Lauren

CONTENTS

Y ou have in your hands a unique book.

First, it is unique because of who is writing it. There is more skepticism toward the Bible among young people today than there has been in any previous generation in our nations history. There are certainly books written by older authors who (usually rather sternly) lecture younger adults regarding the attitude they ought to have toward Scripture. What we have not had is a volume like this one. It is written by two who are millennials themselves and so are immersed in their generations experiences and culture, who have wrestled with their own relationship to the Bible, and who have emerged to introduce the Bible to their peers with fresh and hard-won appreciation for it.

Second, it is unique because it is several books in one. You can certainly find books on the cultural characteristics of the millennial generation. You can also get good booksand very big and long oneson how to answer common objections to the trustworthiness of the Bible, on the basic teachings of the Bible, on how to read and interpret the Bible, and on how the Bible can be a foundation for spiritual experience of God. The McAfees have read many of these. They have brought many of their seminal insights together and expressed them in the most accessible way. And they address the concerns and questions that millennials would have with it all.