The Road Trip that Changed the World The Unlikely Theory that will Change How You View Culture, the Church, and, Most Importantly, Yourself

What if the problem is us? Sixty years ago a goatee beard would have gotten you beat up in a lot of places. Chin fuzz was the symbol of the Beats or Beatniks, a mid-century, marginal group who pioneered a new kind of lifestyle. Their approach to life was hedonistic, experiential, fluid, and individualistic. Their contradictory approach to spirituality combined a search for God with a search for 'kicks'. In 1947, these Beatnik heroes set out on a road trip across America re-writing the "e;life-script"e; of all future generations. Theirs was a new kind of lifestyle for a secular age. Their lives then (like so many of our lives now) were built upon experience, pleasure, mobility and self-discovery. They would also model a new approach to faith: desiring Christ, while still pursuing a laundry list of vices. Yet this dream would turn into a nightmare and the open road would lead back to an ancient half-forgotten path. This was a path trodden by millions of feet over thousands of years. It was a path that began with a single step of faith as a pilgrim named Abraham stepped away from a cynical culture. A path of devotion that would lead to a cross on a hill named Golgotha.

MARK SAYERS is a cultural commentator, writer and speaker, who is highly sought out for his unique and perceptive insights into faith and contemporary culture. Mark is the author of The Trouble with Paris and The Vertical Self. Mark is also the Senior Leader of Red Church. Mark lives in Melbourne, Australia with his wife Trudi, daughter Grace, and twin boys Hudson and Billy.

Part 1:CHAPTER ONE: A TALE OF TWO ROADSCHAPTER TWO: HOW WORSHIP BECAME ENTERTAINMENT CHAPTER THREE: FROM HOME TO THE ROADCHAPTER FOUR: THE JOURNEYCHAPTER FIVE: THE SECULAR WORLD CHAPTER SIX: AN IMMANENT WORLDCHAPTER SEVEN: CARVING OUT A LIFE OF MEANINGCHAPTER EIGHT: THE SIXTIESCHAPTER NINE: THE CALIFORNIA SELFCHAPTER TEN: SUPERFLATCHAPTER ELEVEN: FEELINGS VS FAITHCHAPTER TWELVE: THE SLAVERY OF ABSOLUTE FREEDOMCHAPTER THIRTEEN: FAITH ON THE ROADCHAPTER FOURTEEN: THE ROAD TURNS INTO A NIGHTMARECHAPTER FIFTEEN: AT THE END OF THE ROAD A CROSSPart 2:CHAPTER SIXTEEN: THE ROAD HOMECHAPTER SEVENTEEN: AN OLD KIND OF CHRISTIANCHAPTER EIGHTEEN: LEAVING URCHAPTER NINETEEN: BREAKING INTO HEAVENCHAPTER TWENTY: HOW GETTING GOD RIGHT CHANGES EVERYTHINGCHAPTER TWENTY-ONE: HOLY VANDALISM CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO: FINDING TRANSCENDENCE IN THE ORDINARYCHAPTER TWENTY-THREE: THE RELATIONSHIP THAT CHANGES THE WORLD CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR: CULTIVATING CREATIONCHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE: FINDING HOPE IN AN ATOMIC HOLOCAUST CONCLUSION