Own The Moment

Carl Lentz

• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Year: 2017
• eBook ISBN: 9781501177019
• Topic: Personal Development
• Subtopic: Personal Success

This engaging and inspirational book by Carl Lentz, the rock star pastor of Hillsong NYC, shows us the way toward a more connected, spiritually-grounded, and fulfilled life.

When you think of a Christian pastor, you probably don’t envision a tattooed thirty-something who wears a motorcycle jacket, listens to hip-hop music, references The Walking Dead and Black Lives Matter in his sermons, and every Sunday draws a standing-room only crowd to a venue normally used for rock concerts—in godless New York City, no less.

But then you clearly have never met Carl Lentz.

As lead pastor of the first United States branch of global megachurch Hillsong, the former college basketball player is on a mission to make Christianity accessible in the 21st century. In Own The Moment, he shares the unlikely and inspiring story of how he went from being an average teenager who couldn’t care less about church to leading one of the country’s fastest-growing congregations—how one day he is trying to convince a Virginia Beach 7-Eleven clerk to attend his service, and just a few years later he is baptizing a global music icon in an NBA player’s Manhattan bathtub.

Amid such candid personal tales, Lentz also offers illuminating readings of Bible passages and practical tips on how to live as a person of faith in an increasingly materialistic world. How do you maintain your values—and pass them onto your children—in a society that worships money and sex and fame? How do you embrace your flaws in this Instagram era that exalts the appearance of perfection? How do you forget about “living the dream” and learn to embrace the beauty of your reality?

These are just a few of the many important questions Lentz answers in Own The Moment—a powerful book that redefines not just Christianity but spirituality as a whole.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Dedication
• Disclaimers
• Introduction
• Chapter One: Surprise! What You See Is Not What You Get
• Chapter Two: That’s Just the Way It Is
• Chapter Three: Rearview Mirror
• Chapter Four: Fear
• Chapter Five:: Gold in the Garbage
• Chapter Six:: To All the Ladies in the Place with Style and Grace
• Chapter Seven:: The Deserted Island Challenge
• Chapter Eight: Occupy All Streets
• Chapter Nine: Your Security Is Your Serenity
• Chapter Ten: Living the Dream
• Chapter Eleven: If Jesus Had Instagram
• Chapter Twelve: I Have No Idea Where I’m Going
• Chapter Thirteen: The Walking Dead
• Chapter Fourteen: It’s Not as Bad as You Think It Is
• Chapter Fifteen: That Girl Is Poison
• Chapter Sixteen: Being Uncool Has Never Been Cooler
• Chapter Seventeen: You Don’t Have to Be Good at Everything
• Chapter Eighteen: I Demand Something Different
• Chapter Nineteen: I’m Listening But I Don’t Hear You
• Chapter Twenty: The Problem Called People
• Chapter Twenty-One: I Am in the People Business
• Chapter Twenty-Two: Maybe We Are Not So Different After All
• Chapter Twenty-Three: It Ain’t the Dealer’s Fault
• Chapter Twenty-Four: If You’re Racist and You Know It, Clap Your Hands
• Chapter Twenty-Five: Culture, in Three Acts
• Chapter Twenty-Six: In a Hurry to Nowhere
• Chapter Twenty-Seven: The Lies We Love
• Chapter Twenty-Eight: You Don’t Need to Save the World
• Acknowledgments
• About the Author
• Copyright