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Chaotic Order

Chaotic Order
The PostModern Christian Leadership Secret

by Captain Danielle Strickland

General Shaw Clifton comments, "If you are in church leadership today, you are wrestling with the impact of post modern culture. Danielle Strickland takes us beyond our comfort zones to a place where we can embrace creative chaos, discerning the formative hand of God in it all. Read and be disturbed. Read and see much that is familiar emerge in a new light. May God bless and use this perceptive book."

What other people are saying about Chaotic Order:

"Danielle makes a convincing case for a new understanding of effective 21st Century Christian leadership. The times demand this sort of edgy, in your face, informing. An inspirational - but challenging read!"
Israel Gaither, lead of The Salvation Army, USA.

"As we emerge from the linear world of modernity, Strickland delineates the virtues of something we believed was virtueless:
chaos. Her book convinces the reader that God uses chaos, and our lives are richer and more purposeful when we embrace it."
Amy Reardon, columnist, New Frontier.

Just when I thought I had God perfectly placed in a box and under my control, Chaotic Order comes across my desk and I find out that "Chaos is a gift used by God for the overthrow of human control to establish His Divine Order." We have always thought and been taught that "God is a God of order." Danielle begins to ask the much needed questions of "What kind of order?" and "Is our idea of order the same as Gods idea of Order?" She sounds an alarm to the 'church' that "order can kill you." This is a must read for any persons in leadership.
Cory Harrison, author, Aggressive Christianity.

Danielle Strickland has come up with a great antidote for control freaks ! It lobs a chaotic mortar shell amongst the little boxes we construct out of our evangelical theology and organisational culture.
May any readers trapped into trying to hold everything together, receive permission to let go and let God.
Harold Hill, Author, Leadership In The Salvation Army.

I recently heard a minister say, "If you are not living on the edge you are taking up too much space." Ordered Chaos is an ingenious, edgy, honest and insightful literary piece about the 'out of bounds' and yet highly functional nature of our God. Not only does Danielle Strickland preach and teach this message but lives it with colour. Prepare to embark on an exciting journey as you read these pages, prepare to have your mental circuits blown and prepare to be forever changed.
Faytene Kryskow Author, Stand On Guard.

The rationalism of modernity has brought undeniable material benefits to many in the affluent West. But it has been at a price which we are only beginning to appreciate as we enter the uncharted future of post-modernity. Not only have the poor and hungry been left outside the party, but even for those of us who have feasted at the banquet, 'modernity has left us famished' in our souls. Danielle Strickland's excellent book prophetically challenges us to face and even embrace the seeming chaos of post-modern thought. Many of us have seen it as the enemy of the gospel. However, if Strickland is right - and I am sure she is - it is, in reality, an unprecedented opportunity to see God at work in our lives and our world. The cold propositional logic of dogma will no longer suffice. The time has come to live in the chaos of God's life-transforming love. This book will surely help us to do exactly that.
Chick Yuill, author, This Means War, We Need Saints, etc.

"Brilliant and beautiful. Bravo!"
Dr. Caryn Wilson

"As an Oasis in the desert, so is this book to all who seek to lead in this generation that is already in great turmoil"
Friday Ayanam, Secretary for Business Administration, The Salvation Army in Nigeria.

Danielle Strickland's book is as essential for an emerging leader trying to make sense of the endless demands for order with a systems-oriented organisation as it is for the frazzled mother struggling to cope with yet another knock at the door. She gives no easy formula other than to embrace the chaos around, allowing it to reveal its own beauty in the joy of relationships. She helped me recognise that my quest for tranquillity begins where I am.
Paul du Plessis, International Secretary of World Evangelisation, The Salvation Army.

For those who are never quite satisfied with the safe, the predictable, the structured, Danielle Strickland is a contemporary Christian muse of venture and vitality. Her new book lures us out of our personal and ministry ruts, and makes us consider what it really means to say that God is forever doing "a new thing" (Isaiah 43:19).
Don't expect eight sure steps to success, the trite formulaism of many leadership books. Don't expect a rail against parachurch/denominational structures and systems, which is what we get from those who have nothing better to suggest. But do expect to ponder and dream, to ask God to do a new thing in you and around you.
Ken Baillie, leader of The Salvation Army, central United States.

Danielle Strickland is a Salvation Army Officer who is presently engaged in an incarnational ministry. Danielle lives and works in the Lower East Side of the City of Vancouver in an area known as "the poorest postal code in Canada" Chaos is the order of the day! Into the midst of this chaos Danielle brings, by the presence of Christ in her life, a profound sense of order.
Don Copple, leader of The Salvation Army in British Columbia.

"The Holy Trinity as post-modern leadership! Who knew? In Chaotic Order, not only will you get a fresh glimpse into the essentials of contemporary leadership for the church in the post-modern context, but you'll also view differently, the way the Godhead models this type of leadership from eternity. A fascinating read."
Janet Munn, Ambassador of Prayer and Spiritual Formation, eastern United States.

I wholeheartedly recommend Chaotic Order as a book that will get you thinking about the possibility of thriving in the midst of human chaos, recognizing that God as the Divine Order often uses chaos as the genesis for new beginnings. This book will encourage you to hold on to God as the One who creates good things out of the void of chaos. With this perspective, you might even learn to enjoy chaos!
Randy Wollf, Strategy Coordinator for The Journey (a network of small churches)

Danielle Strickland does not bring order to the chaos of leadership literature. She throws the paradigm for a loop, offering a fresh, Biblically-based, culturally-informed perspective on how to lead with God. Read at your own risk.
Stacey and Wesley Campbell, authors of Pray The Bible, Be A Hero.

''Chaotic order' does not come out of an ivory tower in academe but out of a costly ministry in an urban slum. The writing will provoke furious thought. The writer's personal commitment should challenge those in comfortable pews.'
Wesley Harris, author, Battle Lines, Proverbial Leadership, etc.

Strickland provides the reader with a stimulating framework from which to consider whether or not specific forms of chaos should be welcomed as the friend of the earnest leader. Often, to our surprise, we can find order as being at the root of our failings, a benign and silent enemy - the challenge put to us in this book is to accept that godly chaos is part of that mysterious blessing that is offered us in our faith - let go and let God.
Jim Mancuso, Mancuso Chemicals Limited.