Ordinary Miracles: Mess, meals, and meeting Jesus in unexpected places

Like many, I have long been an admirer from afar of the Eden teams, the incredible, faith filled work in Manchester, and the work with young people on the estates. I am also an admirer from afar of plenty of other church planting movements and pastors and authors and conferences etc etc. I am also an accidental church planter and have spent many a moment wondering why everyone else seems to have such incredible stories of miracles to tell and such glory-filled instagram feeds, while I contemplate paying people to come to church just to boost my numbers!The brilliance and beauty of Chris, and this book, is his total lack of ego, his eye-catching honesty, and his passion for Jesus & His Kingdom. I have been disillusioned by some things which nearly disillusioned him too - but his faith kept him going. I have walked past miracles in my town which he has had the wisdom to stop and be part of. I have written off stories as no good cos they're not glitzy enough while Chris gently points out that these are the very stories we should be rejoicing in.My fav line (of many) is "Everyone wants to change the world but nobody wants to do the washing up". So so true, and so so pregnant with meaning. I have a strong suspicion having read this book, that Chris and his band of 'washer-uppers' are actually elbow deep in the business of changing the world without any fanfare. That's what I want to do when I grow up too.

Thank you for this. Brilliant. More importantly i've learnt so much from it. It most certainly will be on my shelf of most influencial books, to me in my life, to my calling, heart etc. It will sit next to The Irresistable Revolution by Shane Clairborne, Dirty Glory, and The Hiding Place. I've already bought your book for a friend who is working in a very deprived area in Wirral.Btw, none of those books just stay on the shelf, they get picked up again and again, and lent out. The gold i've received won't just stay on a shelf either.

This book is beautiful. It’s not flashy, it’s real. It’s not hype, it’s honesty. It connects you into God’s heart for people, whatever background they have, whatever life struggles they are facing and whoever they are. Finally it suggests ways to embrace a fuller, more enriching vision of all that church and by extension church family can be. Chris challenges us to dive in and adventure with God. Brilliant.

I loved Chris Lane's memoir Ordinary Miracles for many reasons. Firstly, his anecdotes and observational humour had me laughing out loud, but in no way did they take away from the sound bible teachings which were interwoven throughout, a thought provoking reminder of what church should really all be about and what, as Christians, we should aim for in life. This story had heart and soul. It was honest, brilliantly crafted, and I enjoyed every page. Well done Chris!

I loved this book because Chris is his hilarious self in the stories, and he manages to get across some very radical important points about following Jesus.The book probably makes most sense if you are already interested in church, but I'd recommend it to anyone. His explanation of the big picture story of the Bible reflects the massive amount of reading and study Chris does, and is a really refreshing description of what its all about. The theology of meals and eating together as central to following jesus is really well explained.There are some amazing and hilarious stories of people getting healed outside greggs the bakers, and just great encouragement to keep going when things are hard.Highly recommended.