Brad Stanley - Finding God in the City: Making Sense of an Urban World

Brad Stanley believes the city is holy ground, the new Promised Land. I agree. When we pray for nations, we should not be surprised the nations come to us. If we cant or wont go to them, God brings them to our doorstep so the great commission can be fulfilled and the heart of God made known to a paralyzed church and a lost people.

Migrations to cities are taking place, not just to cities in their own lands, but a vast, eclectic disapora of cultures and ethnicities are piling into cities from one continent to another. This is good. It is Gods doing. In Brads words, it is a modern day miracle. People from hundreds of unreached people groups are moving to cities where the gospel is readily available and the church is reaching out.

Just as there were divinely appointed cities of refuge in the Old Testament, so God has appointed cities to have certain roles, or anointings if you will, today. He gives individuals, nations and cities callings to fulfill His plan of redemption and transformation.

When that calling goes unfulfilled it creates a spiritual vacuum, and the city declines. Without obedience, a city and nation makes room for the enemy to hold sway. To look at the fallen city without seeing it through Gods eyes, is to miss the purposes of God. Far too many people see the sin but not the unfulfilled covenant and broken promises of God over a city.

Finding God in the City is a moving, faith building, eye opening call to see how God sees. When Jesus saw Jerusalem and wept over the city, He mourned what could and should have been. What He saw affected what he felt. This book will enable you to do the same, to see and feel and think as Jesus does. I highly commend it. It is a prophetic voice, calling us with tears and wisdom back to the heart of God.

FLOYD MCCLUNG
ALL NATIONS
CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA

If we are going to see the world come to Christ then we need to see thousands of young people take up the challenges of living, ministering and transforming neighborhoods and cities. More than 50 percent of the world lives in small, medium and mega cities around the world and the trend of the world moving to urban areas continues. Brad has the experience and track record to help show us how to do that. His passion for the unreached and his heart to know God in the midst of the urban jungle will inspire you to see the city as God sees it. If you are called to work in a city amongst the poor, the unreached, the upper class, the street kids, drug addicts or business people Brads book Finding God in the City is for you. Brad Stanley has inspired me to dig my feet deeper into the challenges that living in a city presents. If you want a challenge that is bigger than you then read Brads book and let God speak to you about how he can use you in the city.

TIM SVOBODA
YWAM SAN FRANCISCO
AND BAY AREA COORDINATOR
YWAM INTERNATIONAL CITIES DIRECTOR

Fresh thoughts! Timely and very motivating! A must read for urban practitioners! Strong blend of stats, calling, Scripture and reaching the nations in our cities. Brad has earned the scars to write this book. He exhorts us to truly be a generation of urban Christians and reminds us that our Lord is at work in the city! God help us to heed your admonition and example of over two decades of selfless service. We hear you, and your YWAM comrades Brother! Keep on!

DR. JOHN FUDER
DIRECTOR, JUSTICE AND COMPASSION MINISTRIES
AUTHOR, A HEART FOR THE CITY

Brad and I have known each other for the last ten years and share a common call to reach the ethnic peoples of the world. He has led me by the hand into the rich, diverse neighborhoods of Chicago that he has written about. Together we are planting a multiethnic church in the epicenter of these 150 nations. He is still leading me by the heart to see an urban mission revival among these miracle near nations. This prophetic book is a must read for every believer and will be a new standard textbook for modern mission!

DICK BASHTA
PASTOR, LIVING STONES CHICAGO
DIRECTOR, GLOBALROAR

BRAD STANLEY

FINDING GOD IN THE CITY:
MAKING SENSE OF AN URBAN WORLD by Brad Stanley
Published by Creation House
A Charisma Media Company
600 Rinehart Road
Lake Mary, Florida 32746
www.charismamedia.com

This book or parts thereof may not be reproduced in any form, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any meanselectronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or otherwisewithout prior written permission of the publisher, except as provided by United States of America copyright law.

Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are from the Holy Bible, New International Version of the Bible. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, International Bible Society. Used by permission.

Scripture quotations marked ESV are from the Holy Bible, English Standard Version, Copyright 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. Scripture quotations marked KJV are from the King James Version of the Bible.

Scripture quotations marked NKJV are from the New King James Version of the Bible. Copyright 1979, 1980, 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc., publishers. Used by permission.

Some names have been changed in order to preserve and protect the anonymity of the individuals involved.

Design Director: Bill Johnson
Cover design by Nathan Morgan

Copyright 2011 by Brad Stanley
All rights reserved

Visit the authors website: www.findinggodinthecity.com

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data: 2011936195
International Standard Book Number: 978-1-61638-690-0
E-book International Standard Book Number:
978-1-61638-691-7

While the author has made every effort to provide accurate telephone numbers and Internet addresses at the time of publication, neither the publisher nor the author assumes any responsibility for errors or for changes that occur after publication.

First edition

11 12 13 14 15 987654321
Printed in Canada

Dedication

To the first Urban Generation and those who
long to carry that distinction with vision and
purpose.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

D URING EVERY CULTURAL shift, as well as in modern mission movements, there have been prophetic and pioneering voices. The same has been true in the last fifty years as the world experienced the phenomenon of global urbanization. It has been my hope to both honor some of those voices as well as introduce them to a new generation, having adopted the very thing they prophetically spoke about. These pioneers of urban vision have included men like Roger Greenway, Harvie Conn, and Ray Bakke, who were willing to dream for the city when much of church culture sought a way to get out. It included men like Floyd McClung, John Dawson, and Jack Dennison who called us to believe in what God could do in the city. Men like John Perkins and Wayne Gordon showed us that even the most troubled neighborhoods could be transformed by the presence of Gods people.

All of these men have inspired me by their vision and practical faith as they spoke about a world becoming urban and what we could do as Gods people in that environment. I have quoted many of them throughout the book and have included many of their books in the bibliography. Their books sit on my shelves along with many others that I have not mentioned. My gratitude is immense for those men and women who marked out a trail of vision toward the city that this millennial generation is now able to run on.