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Daniel1210
September 14th, 2008, 01:12 AM
This book should be every church library and should be required reading, read on:

So You Don't Want to Go to Church Anymore
by Wayne Jacobsen and Dave Coleman

Editorial Reviews
Review
I left my church after 12 years and felt I needed to be in a church until I read your book and discovered it was not about going to church but being the church. And that is to be done everywhere I go and in everything I do. I am now fellowshipping in a small house group and feel at home. This book will definitely inspire you to be the church and not just go to church. Ronda, Mother and care-giver, Canby, Oregon --Lifestream.org

This is an exceptional story that will make you laugh, cry and be in awe of the love that Father has for all his children! It will challenge you to rethink what church is all about! Chris, Student, East Tennessee State University --Lifestream.org

A reader review:
This book is perfect for people who have been alienated by the Christian church and/or by Christians, but also for people who are happy with the Christian church. It is actually a book about how to be in love with Jesus, and how that can manifest in today's church environment. I am sharing this book with everyone I know who is a Christian, and will read it again myself.

It doesn't matter what your denomination is or what your beliefs are; if you want to return to a "first love"-type relationship with Jesus, buy and read this book. You will not be able to put it down.

It is written as a novel, with a mysterious character who may be the disciple John, and a burnt-out pastor as the main character, Jake. Pastor Jake's life is suspenseful over the four years that the novel takes place, and the changes that take place in his life and in his thinking are riveting.
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This is really worth reading.

Note:
Jake Colsen is a pseudonym for the combined work of Wayne Jacobsen and Dave Coleman. Both are former pastors.

This is from a website called http://www.lifestream.org which is mentioned at the end of the book, and well worth reading:

Why I Don't Go to Church Anymore

Why I Don't Go To Church Anymore!

BodyLife • May 2001

From the author's website:

Where do you go to church?

I have never liked this question, even when I was able to answer it with a specific organization. I know what it means culturally, but it is based on a false premise--that church is something you can go to as in a specific event, location or organized group. I think Jesus looks at the church quite differently. He didn't talk about it as a place to go to, but a way of living in relationship to him and to other followers of his.

Asking me where I go to church is like asking me where I go to Jacobsen. How do I answer that? I am a Jacobsen and where I go a Jacobsen is. 'Church' is that kind of word. It doesn't identify a location or an institution. It describes a people and how they relate to each other. If we lose sight of that, our understanding of the church will be distorted and we'll miss out on much of its joy.
Continues:
http://www.lifestream.org/LSBL.May01.html

denny272
September 15th, 2008, 03:42 AM
:thumb Exactly!

Be the church, be the church. The church is what you are, not where you go. :nod

:yeah I'm glad to see somebody else gets it and put it in a book. :nod
http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc171/denny272/bliss.gif

I hate it when somebody says, "where do you go to church?" What they really want to know is if you go to one with social status, the cities mega churches. Or, if you go to the right denomination of church (whatever theirs is of course). :puke

mary rae
September 15th, 2008, 10:18 AM
This does indeed look interesting! Thanks!
I'm one of our church's librarians, and I will seriously consider purchasing , reading and putting it in our library.

all things
September 16th, 2008, 10:15 PM
For those that are leary about "The Shack" be advised that Windblown Media publishes both these books. I haven't read either one, so am not commenting on the content, but one should read the reviews at Amazon for some perspective.

Daniel1210
September 16th, 2008, 11:56 PM
There's a reader review in the OP.

I read this book in three days and my wife read it in four. If you've ever been involved in church, even just attending, you will see things in this book that you will relate to.

It is a great read.