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Reviews of Books & Movies

Book Review: Quit Going to Church

By Bob Hostetler (reviewed by Peter DeHaan)

A book bearing the instruction to “quit going to church” might strike some church-going folk as a text to avoid, one surely full of disrespectful thoughts or even heresy.

This is not so with Bob Hostetler’s book. Bob pens his work, not as one who has dismissed church attendance but as one who desires more from it.

When he says “quit going to church,” this isn’t a bait-and-switch tactic or a marketing ploy to stir up book-selling controversy but a sincere recommendation.

God doesn’t want people whose relationship with him consists merely of going to church; he desires people intent on following Jesus.

However, this book isn’t only about Sunday service. Church attendance is just the beginning, an introduction, if you will. By the time he concludes, Bob reveals a dozen religious practices we need to stop doing.

His list is at first shocking, if not for the reality that he’s right. We do many religious activities out of habit, good intention, or simply because someone taught us to – and in the process we miss what God really desires from us.

I’d list these twelve behaviors, but sharing what to stop doing without offering an explanation is like a doctor proclaiming an illness and withholding the prescription.

You need to read the book to learn the diagnosis—and discover the cure. Don’t delay.

[Quit Going to Church, by Bob Hostetler. Published by Leafwood Publishers, 2012, ASIN: B0081SNX8O, Kindle edition]

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Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.

Read more in his books, blog, and weekly email updates.

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Christian Living

The Good, Better, and Best of Spiritual Understanding

In my post “What I Learned From The Great Divorce,” I shared three levels of spiritual understanding for a book: reading it, seeing it preformed, and discussing it afterward. These have parallels to our spiritual journey.

1. Read

I was intrigued when I read C. S. Lewis’s The Great Divorce. However, my primary reaction was confusion. There was too much for me to grasp, especially in one read.

The same is true about the Bible. It’s certainly an intriguing book, but a common response is confusion. There is much there—and we will never fully grasp it all, especially if we read and study it in isolation.

That’s not to imply reading the Bible is without value. Bible study is important, critically so. But reading the Bible should never be the sole means for spiritual growth and knowing God. We need more.

2. Watch and Listen

Analogous to attending a play is going to church. There’s something valuable about the shared experience. When we see and hear the minister talk about the Bible, our understanding deepens.

However, church is a passive experience. With the extent of our involvement limited to singing along with the musicians, we mostly watch. The rest of the service is one way, with our leaders performing and us observing. There needs to be more.

3. Discuss

Talking about the play (or the book) allows for interaction. It’s with the give and take of dialogue that deeper understanding emerges.

The application is a faith community that allows members to mutually edify and minister to one another, not passively receiving (as in church), but actively engaging with each other: sharing insights, offering encouragement, and suggesting application.

It’s iron sharpening iron, the intersection of belief with practice. It’s spirituality at its best.

Spiritual Understanding

When it comes to spiritual understanding, reading the Bible is good, going to church is better, but existing in community is best.

May we do all three, as we focus on what’s best.

Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.

Read more in his books, blog, and weekly email updates.

Bogged Down Reading the Bible?

10 Essential Bible Reading Tips, from Peter DeHaan

Get the Bible Reading Tip Sheet: “10 Tips to Turn Bible Reading from Drudgery to Delight.”

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Categories
Reviews of Books & Movies

Book Review: Go To Church, Change the World

Go To Church, Change the World: Christian Community as Calling

By Gerald J. Mast (reviewed by Peter DeHaan)

Despite a trend to the contrary, the premise of Gerald Mast’s book Go To Church, Change the World is that church involvement is not a tradition to throw aside, but a practice to embrace.

With a calling to be in community, Christians should not abandon church, but to persist in pursuing it.

“Going to church,” he reminds, “is nothing more and nothing less than two or three gathered in the name of Jesus and under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, around the Word of God…”

Gerald divides his treatise into five parts, each one proclaiming an action of faith: discovering truth, respecting life, serving others, living in community, and becoming priestly.

With pleasing symmetry, each of these five sections sees a three-chapter exploration, moving readers from one aspect of church commitment to an associated expression of church activity to a corresponding application to the world.

Along the way he shares personal stories of his family, church, and associates, as well as from history and the Bible. These serve to nicely illustrate the points he makes.

As a college professor with a PhD, Gerald’s approach is academic, but his writing, although formal, is most accessible.

Being in a church community offers much to Christians engaging faith, not in isolation, but in concert with one another. Read Go To Church, Change the World, to be encouraged in this practice.

[Go To Church, Change the World: Christian Community as Calling, by Gerald J. Mast. Published by Herald Press, 2012, ISBN: 978-0-8361-9564-4, 189 pages.]

Read more book reviews by Peter DeHaan.Save

Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.

Read more in his books, blog, and weekly email updates.

Bogged Down Reading the Bible?

10 Essential Bible Reading Tips, from Peter DeHaan

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Categories
Christian Living

Not Going to Church

I think it was Reggie McNeal who first said, “People…are not leaving the church because they have lost their faith. They are leaving to preserve their faith.”

That statement may be shocking—even heretical—to some, but I suspect that for many it is enlightening, effectively explaining declining church attendance, albeit in a disconcerting and confronting manner.

For a growing number of folks, this quip either gives voice to the ache in their hearts or offers credence to their faith journey.

When I first heard this statement, it immediately resonated with me, explaining spiritual angst that I saw around me. Today, however, my comprehension of this idea has grown to underscore my own spiritual angst.

Though I still attend an institutional church, I suspect that I no longer belong there.

An amazing friend is seeing this played out. Increasingly she is meeting those who love Jesus, but no longer “go to church.”

Although they long for meaningful community and connection with other like-minded believers, they do not find it in the typical Sunday morning church service—so they give up.

How sad.

However, there are a growing number of viable alternatives. For my friend, it is a house church.

For others it may be a “small group,” a parachurch organization, or simply an intentional meeting with others who share their faith journey or faith questions.

To the disenfranchised, I encourage you not to give up. Keep seeking until you find the spiritual community that your heart longs for. It is out there.

Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.

Read more in his books, blog, and weekly email updates.

Bogged Down Reading the Bible?

10 Essential Bible Reading Tips, from Peter DeHaan

Get the Bible Reading Tip Sheet: “10 Tips to Turn Bible Reading from Drudgery to Delight.”

​Enter your info and receive the free Bible Reading Tip Sheet and be added to Peter’s email list.