Carpe Manana: Is Your Church Ready to Seize Tomorrow?

by Leonard Sweet

Book Overview

A naturalization manual to help Christians lead in this strange new world of postmodern culture. Leonard Sweet, an outside the box thinker, offers strategies for leaders to put their faces, not their backs, to the future.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0310250129
• ISBN13: 9780310250128
• Release Date: February 2003
• Publisher: Zondervan
• Length: 208 Pages
• Weight: 0.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 6.6" x 8.6"
• Age Range: 18 years and up

Customer Reviews

Required reading

As a baby boomer with native children (college and post-college) Carpe Manana gave me wonderful insight into their spirtuality and others whom I shepherd. For parents and elders wondering what in the world is happening in our churches and among the so-called natives (post 1962)Leonard Sweet has written the handbook. This book should be required reading for anyone who doubts that God is working in this generation. Sweet's most telling comment is that the GenXers are the most spiritual in decades but the last place they look for the spirit is in church. A hard lesson to be learned.

Solid/Not Revolutionary

Carpe Manana is a good book for Baby Boomer "immigrants" who want to find out what in the world in going with PostModerns. This book is a continuation of Sweet's work on this topic, and he provides a relevant text for those wishing to understand why the landscape is changing. For those out there who don't like Sweet's writing style, get over it. He has a good message that is well informed and thought out, and he is relevant. Sweet is an example of someone who realized things changed, and he wanted to be a part of it. From a Gen-X perspective, this book is fairly boring because, it is how it is for us, we do not know any differently, save those modern Gen-Xers who refuse to change. This book will either challenge you, bore you, or make you angry. I hope you check it out.

seizing tomorrow or freezing yesterday?

i'm sure in all generations there have been and will always be those who doggedly refuse to admit that change is an essential element of life...leonard sweet is not one of those individuals.as a young (36) pastor i am confronted every day with the postmodern society about which mr. sweet writes. its effects, moods, swells and non-linear characteristics make it on of the most frustrating, yet challenging tasks of ministry.in the midst of it all, i find myself engaged with sweet's static, conversational and image-dense thoughts on the church and the powerful need to adapt our methods to speak to society's nature.adapting the gospel to culture is a difficult, eye-opening effort. as fast as we realize that the gospel does not change, we are twice as fast confronted by the fact that to reach our society, we must.seizing tommorrow is a powerful mandate to a church that is many times intent on "freezing yesterday". i for one enjoy a passionate, eye-opening, trek into tommorrow, and leonard sweet's word images have become an important voice in the road there.let go of yesterday, carpe manana!

You need to get it

I totally disagree with the previous reviewer's philosophical criticisms. Yes, Sweet's writing style is bits-n-pieces and "postmodern". If you're looking for a Romans-style or Francis-Shaeffer-style tome, Sweet's not your man.And you do have to be willing to put your prejudices aside to read Sweet. The previous reviewer evidently feels that the Word is immutable, therefore the presentation medium and style must also be immutable. If you also like "that old time religion", you'll be insulted by this book.Sweet's message (among many other things) is that the presentation (medium, style, language) must continue to be culturally-driven in order to be relevant. The message does not change, but the medium and style must.If you think the NIV is a gimmick and rock-n-roll is evil, do not get this book. If you don't think there's really anything to this postmodernism except hype and a continued moral decline, you'll waste your money.But if you want to read about a possible change in a culture's worldviews and means of communicating and understanding, if you want to by _all_ means win some, Sweet's the guy on the cutting edge.