Since the beginning in the Garden of Eden, man has been battling distractions and contrary forces vying for his attention that would seek to undermine his ability to cooperate with the will of God. In turn, God has been “longsuffering” with mankind, trying to get His free will agent of change to focus on relationship with his Creator and the purpose of the ages. With The Fall, man has been dealing with spiritual death, a disfunctional soul, the flesh, over-stimulated five senses, temptations, evil spirits, principalities and powers, the world system, God’s enemy (satan), the natural world, and fellow fallen people. When Jesus Christ came, God introduced a way (though be it narrow) to triumph over all that suppressed man’s role in relation to the Lord’s ultimate intention. Only Jesus Christ Himself can rescue us from our wretched condition. He overcame the world, ransomed us, and reversed the affects of the curse. Now as living stones who are in Him, built together by the Sprit’s life, The Church stands as the corporate Christ in the earth - fully supplied for fulfilling her destiny. This is her new situation and her identity in reality. The problem that persists though is most of us are still waiting on a greater manifestation of this new condition on a grander scale. A realization of these heavenly realities – visible, touchable expressions in cities all over this planet. A total Christ of full stature, residing on the earth, ushering in complete transformation of the Creation. If we have been given all things then what do we still lack? Why is The Church still largely in such pitiful shape, two thousand years later, especially since about 300 AD? Slightly behind such major factors as 1) we do not know the New Testament story chronologically, 2) the Christian faith has been infected with pagan practices and traditions for the better part of 1700-1800 years, 3) the need for restoration of the kind of Christian workers that existed in the first century, and 4) rampant division and disunity, is the fact that God’s people are sorely given to distractions. We exist in a dreamlike state of being blinded to God’s actual purpose and thus to our own in the scheme of things. The religious landscape is a part of the culture of the world system that we are called to overcome and yet most believers it seems, are content to simply play the victim card lying down. Especially within the ranks of American Christianity, where we produce 90% of the gospel to the world, surrounded by so many freedoms and options, we are entertained to death. With itching ears and the attention span of a five year old we run toward the latest trend and marketing gimmick, cleverly peddled to us as the cutting edge of reform - only to be disappointed in the end as we discover we have once again been tricked into thinking a new fad was actually “new” and not the same old show dressed up in different clothes. What I am speaking of here is the habitual tendency of God’ people to get caught up in para-movements and peripheral emphasis’ that ultimately keep us at arms length toward seeing a restoration of God’s house in the earth. Since the early church we have been outrageously off center in relation to God’s eternal purpose. Our only center and focus is Jesus Christ Himself. A walking revelation of His Person is our only ark in this life. All other centers occupy us temporarily with trivial topics about Him but we are not knowing Him and His purpose. It is time for the Bride of Christ to shake and wake herself out of this drug-induced slumber and to arise to a new day of sobriety and alertness to the way God truly moves and to how He builds for His glory. We CAN be a people who cooperate fully with our Lord. In order to do so we must cultivate a deep capacity for God’s ways of life within The Church. In the rest of this chapter I would like to briefly visit examples in the Old Testament, the New Testament, Church History, and modern times of the tendency of God’s chosen ones toward distraction. I will conclude with a hopeful and practical vision of how we can turn the tide on church history and see a return to ancient ways of realizing the eternal purpose of our God, ways hardly seen since the first century.
The Old TestamentAbraham and Sarah grow weary of waiting on God’s promise so they concoct their own plan for producing the chosen seed. After Isaac finally comes, Hagar and Ishmael are shown the door. The ripple effects from this “manufacturing” can still be felt today in the Middle East.
Even after the children of Israel witnessed the ten plagues, were delivered mightily from Egypt, escaped across the Red Sea on dry land, ate bread that fell from heaven, drank water from a rock, and trembled with fear at the sights on Mt. Sinai, they still made (with Aaron’s help!) a golden calf, worshiped it and sacrificed to it, and said “These are your gods O Israel, that brought you up out of the land of Egypt!” Wow! Talk about short-term memory loss!!!
Contrary to God’s command, the Israelites after Joshua did not fully drive out the inhabitants of the land. This became as “thorns in their sides” during the time of the Judges as it lead to intermarriage, idolatry, and eventually servitude. In the case of mighty Samson, his affections gravitated foolishly toward Philistine women. Perhaps he should have listened to his parents and chosen a wife from among his own (Israelite) people? Because he was in “love” he allowed himself to be tricked by Delilah and fell way short of his calling and potential.
At a time when King David should have been out fighting with his men, he remained in Jerusalem. In a moment of idleness he saw Bathsheba taking a bath and had to have her. Next thing you know the “man after God’s own heart” was a deceiver and a murderer! I like the prophet Nathan’s creative confrontation so much I named my second son after him!!
In Solomon’s later years he loved many foreign women who turned his heart away after other gods. This eventually lead to the dividing of the kingdom into Israel to the north and Judah to the south.
After 70 years of exile in Babylon, provision was made for the Israelites to return to Jerusalem to rebuild their spiritual and civic identity. Surprisingly, only small numbers chose to answer the call for restoration. Far too many Jews had grown comfortable in their captive foreign land. Construction of the second temple was halted shortly after it had begun, largely due to opposition from surrounding inhabitants. Quickly falling into lethargy, the children of Israel had to be exhorted by figures such as Haggai to prioritize rebuilding over their own personal pursuits. The age old problem of intermarriage also resurfaced to frustrate the efforts of Ezra and Nehemiah.
The New Testament In the Gospels, Jesus is frequently engaged in dialogue that concerns the condition of the heart. He is simultaneously searching for fidelity in His hearers as well as actively exposing the weakness, idolatry, covetousness, lust, and fear that lurks deep within fallen humanity. He is showing Himself the Savior – the only one who is completely devoted to the Father. He is showing us our desperate need for Him. In the parable of the sower and the soils, we see how God’s enemy works tirelessly through the sin and shortcomings of man to try to keep the word of Christ from growing richly in a person’s life. We also see how even “good things” can accumulate into worries of the world, deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things can draw us away from the simplicity of faithfulness to Christ. In the encounter with the rich young ruler, the passage says Jesus felt a love for him but He had to hit him where it hurt – his wallet. The young man went away grieving because his earthly, temporal treasures were more valuable in his heart than the newly discovered heavenly riches he was attracted to. Jesus proceeds to explain to the disciples how hard it will be for the wealthy to enter the kingdom of God. Again, Christ demonstrates that He will not share us with other lovers. At other times, like in the parable of the dinner, Jesus revealed the tremendously high cost of following Him. Whether it was filtering excuses such as burying a parent, saying goodbye to loved ones, buying land or oxen, and getting married or by demanding allegiance above natural family members or increasing the offend-ability of His messages (eat flesh & drink blood!), Christ was raising the bar above and beyond. Also toss in a few betrayals and denials and you begin to truly see how determined He was to establish a certain quality of heart devotion that is unmatched in any possible human relationship.
In Paul’s letters to the churches he was frequently encouraging the saints to walk in a way that was compatible with their new nature and their identity in Christ. He knew that if the believers continued to live in the Spirit, touching the Lord together, that they would steer clear of distractions that could pull them away from their center. His way was to remind them of their place within the eternal purpose and of the steadfast love of the Father. Paul trusted in heavenly vision as well as practical helps to guide the churches out of bondage and into freedom.
Peter’s writing is full of exhortations on how to endure persecution, trials, and sufferings that come because of the testimony of Jesus Christ. These encouragements were especially pertinent for the scattered Jewish Christians who would more often succumb to cultural pressures against their faith than their Gentile sisters and brothers. With a shepherd’s heart, Peter also teaches the churches how to deal with false teachers and evildoers in their midst. With a unique combination of power, courage, and grace, he reminds the saints of their hopeful expectation in the Lord as their victory.
John, the apostle of love, writes as a father to his little children in the faith, charging them to not allow their affections to be intertwined with the world system. The believers are to overcome all that is in the world – lust, the pride of life, the antichrist spirit – by their faith in the Son of God. Because the saints abide in the Father and have been perfected in His love, the world does not receive them. John exhorts them to test the spirits to see if they are from God because there are many false prophets. He reminds the elect lady to love one another. He reassures her that she has eternal life as well as the Spirit of truth.
The seven churches in Asia Minor that are addressed in John’s revelation of Jesus Christ certainly have a significant historical context in the first century prior to AD 70. They also give us a glimpse into the kinds of distractions that churches will encounter while attempting to stand as a testimony for the Lord. There were a number of things Jesus expected the “lampstands” to adjust in order to be more compatible with His Spirit and to be able to overcome their current tribulations, issues such as: much activity leading to leaving your first love, being faithful in the face of death, following false teachings that lead to immorality, being courted by false spiritual leaders, the need to wake-up from lethargy, passivity, and weakness, the need to gird up when confronted by satanic opposition and during times of extreme testing, resisting becoming lukewarm and double-minded, and maintaining a repentant heart so that you can guard against deception.
Church History At approximately 300 AD, one of the worst things to happen to the Christian faith occurred. The Roman Emperor Constantine made Christianity the official state religion and subsequently crippled the Christian faith for millennia, nearly beyond recovery. It has been argued that this was a “Godsend” because it put an end to persecution but the fruit thereof would suggest otherwise. The combination of creating a defiling mixture with pagan religions and the lack of Christian workers of the first-century mold served to plunge The Way into a satanic darkness of untold apostasy, dissipation, debauchery.
The Dark Ages (so aptly called) produced a Church that was catholic, hierarchical, lavish, decadent, domineering, oppressive, deceptive, and truly demonic. The Church resembled nothing like its humble origins but instead became a governing empire instilling fear throughout its dominion. Certain images seem to characterize this period: papal supremacy, rituals, religious garb, cathedrals, relics, ceremony, priestly promenading, superstition, the Spanish Inquisition, the Crusades, and conquest of indigenous peoples. Most tragic of all was the persecution the Catholic church administered to its own – to the dissenters who were standing for a pure expression of Christ and calling into question the gross abuses of the Church. The Church of the Dark Ages was a perfect example of how absolute power can corrupt man – especially with spiritual things thrown into the mix. I cannot imagine a more thorough misrepresentation of God than in what took place during this period of history. The Church of this time peddled an Old Covenant gospel practice with a disturbing New Covenant smile. Outside of a relatively hidden remnant, love, grace, and truth were nowhere to be found.
With the Reformation, some light finally came to give humanity hope again. While secular society was enjoying a Renaissance, the world of The Church was being challenged by some bold upstarts who were inspired by being able to read the Scriptures in the original languages. By the likes of Luther, Zwingli, and Calvin, the Catholic excesses were being called out on the carpet in unprecedented fashion. While their efforts certainly caused a whirlwind in their day and time, they did NOT go far enough through the open door they had. While on their way from being church-centered to becoming Christ-centered, they stopped short and settled for being Bible-centered (a major problem!). They dumped most of the pomp and circumstance of Catholicism but also gave birth to the modern pastor (who is nothing more than a slightly reformed priest) and the sermon focused Protestant church service (and Sunday morning ritual). While it is said that they desired to see a return to true New Testament church practice, because they were not able to see the chronological first-century story, they retained much of the institutional and pagan ways of the Catholic church. It is also known that Luther was quite anti-Semitic and that Calvin was a tyrant – dishing out an Old Covenant justice and sorely lacking in the mercy and grace department. These characteristics grossly betrayed their gospel and their reforms. The brightest spot in my view was actually the Anabaptists. Their radical (for the time) ways came closer to seeing a restoration of God’s house than the movements of their contemporaries - paying a heavy price for it too.
Exploration and colonialism, especially by the English, Spanish, Dutch, introduced a new kind of Christian animal to parts of Asia, Africa, and the Americas. Primarily taking place in the 17th and 18th centuries, “the gospel” began to be distributed as part of a package deal to native lands and indigenous people groups. These “Christian” empires frequently sent out (Roman Catholic and Protestant alike) envoy teams, including “missionaries” (a colonial term), that would personally export bundles of civilization, commerce, and conversion to unsuspecting natives. Many times this came by way of exploitation and violence (sounds Christian to me!). Other times it came by way of settlements by transplanted Europeans who forced natives out of their lands. This disgusting mixture method was a far cry from the ways of first-century workers such as Peter, John, Paul, Barnabas, Silas, Titus, and Timothy. The only civilization they brought in their foreign work was the kingdom of Jesus Christ and they left the native people alone to discover and express that kingdom on their own. That is the only way to work on foreign soil. The only Christianity that was sent during the colonial period was the English, Spanish, Dutch, and American versions – not the pure Jesus Christ kind. That’s the difference between a “worker” and a “missionary”. This foolishness unfortunately continues today. And I wish it would stop.
Modern Examples In addition to a powerful missionary movement (unfortunate), the nineteenth century was the time of the second awakening, evangelicals, revivalism, rescue missions, organized mass evangelism, frontier groups, camp meetings, Sunday school, and Bible societies. The major characters of this period were the likes of Booth, Darby, Williams, Spurgeon, Roberts, Moody, and Finney. The most problematic distractions to come along during the 1800’s were largely topical: evangelism, morality, dispensationalism, education, social reform, and a hyper-individualistic gospel. Largely due to Darby’s teachings and Moody’s revival theology, the corporate pursuit and the church were all but lost from view. The person of Christ was truly overshadowed by saving souls, revival, iconic figures, denominations, urbanization, and organizational power.
With such a sweeping panorama of events, ideologies, and advancements, it is extremely difficult to briefly summarize the attention and focus of the church world during the twentieth century. It could easily be treated as five to ten periods. Nonetheless, because of time and space, I will do my best to capsulate. With science and technology coming on strong in the early part of the century, the church became defensive and turned to apologetics to combat the perceived threats of liberal theology. Pentacostalism began to emerge with its focus on speaking in tongues, signs and wonders, and the gifts of the Holy Spirit. There were small unity movements among the denominations that led to increased mass evangelism, the rise of countless para-church organizations, and feminism interests. On the heels of this were the faith healers and teachers. The Charismatic movement began to touch every corner of the modern church world – Catholic and Protestant alike. College campus outreach was at an all time high and touched off the Jesus People movement which was populated by anti-establishment young people who were searching for a non-institutional experience of Christian life. Soon after this time, the age of mass media began to rise to prominence and the evangelicals purposed to take full advantage of it. From print to radio to television, to music, art, theatre, education, and eventually the internet, they had a strong presence in all facets of programming, advertising, production, and distribution. Coupled with the advent of globalization and strong economic times, never before in history had so much “Christian” been so available to so much of the world at such a fast pace. This seemed to create a business model, marketplace, mega-church subculture. Next would come a renewed political activism among evangelicals and Catholics. This time also saw the rise of the “Third Wave” Pentacostal/Charismatic movement which had strong emphasis’ on authority, power, success, creative expression, and the “five-fold” ministry gifts. If ever there was a zenith of distraction in church history it was certainly at the close of century 20. Trends , fads, movements, and shooting stars wiz by at ridiculous speeds. With every possible form of media at our fingertips and sensation inducing services and events to entertain and occupy us, God’s ultimate purpose was sure to be missed among the readily available oceans of activity that existed. A more quiet, largely hidden, grass roots, movement was also building steam in the late 80’s and early 90’s, a movement made up of people who had a growing disdain for the ingenuity and manufactured institutional Christianity of the post-WW II era. These people were searching for the authentic, the genuine, and the depths in the midst of a shallow Christianity. Their desire was for more relational forms of gathering. These new generation sensitivities were being represented in the Vineyard, community church, high church, and house church, and emerging church conversation movements. It would be these growing counter-cultural attitudes that would set the stage for a new tone in the post-modern, post-Christian, new millennium, 21st century.
The scene of the first decade of this century, so far, is one of an eroding Christian (religious) culture as our increasingly globalized society is becoming more and more integrated, tolerant, and secular. This is actually a good thing from my perspective but the institutional establishment is sweating it. A less religious culture is a better breeding ground for an authentic Christian expression to arise. Organized religion will feel a sense of dread because their whole system is based on the false assumption that man can produce morality for the long term. Lest we forget, there was the tree of the knowledge of “good” and evil in the Garden of Eden. The good of man is just as much of a hindrance to the ways of God as is evil. That simple fact is monumentally important and virtually unknown in practice! According to church trend monitors like George Barna, believers are emptying the denominations and traditional settings in unprecedented numbers. Many in this throng are sincere, devout followers of Christ who are burned out on forms and structures that do not release life. They are looking for an organic, relational expression of church life that matches their new birth instincts. They are more inclined to do “church” in the context of a para-church organization, a home bible study, an inner-city outreach, a short-term mission trip, and a social justice network than to be a member of a traditional church and to sit on a pew. Many, many Christians in America and around the world feel this way but very few are actually willing to radically alter their lifestyles in order to realize significant change over the status quo. And therein lies the big distraction question for our current time: Who is willing to brush aside the comforts and conveniences of a detached, homogenous, sterile, safe, predictable, and acceptable life in order to be caught up in God’s purpose of the ages in simplicity? Sure, we read cutting edge books, listen to stirring messages, and become acquainted with history but are we willing to sacrifice anything to answer the call and to see something truly fresh and different? It is much safer to just have “virtual” church on the internet, watch a TV broadcast, and order books and videos. It’s less messy! One thing is sure, God is not going to alter the manner in which He works through man to build His Church and fulfill His purpose. He is content to wait until there is a group of Christians who have decided that it is worth it enough to go all out for their Lord, even if it means life and limb. God is looking for a group who is so captured by His beauty that they don’t love their little bubble lives more than Him. Looking for those who could see their economic and emotional securities dashed on the rocks for the opportunity to see glory in actual, fleshed-out reality. So, the question for our time is: As you grow more cynical, dissatisfied, entertained, conformed, and logical. As you continue to witness the trusted institutions of our culture fail to satisfy the deepest longings of humanity. As you push the button for your next virtual fix. Will you hurdle your cubicle and decide to finally abandon all, regardless of the cost and unpredictability, to live for Christ’s satisfaction in daily community with other Christians and change the course of church history or will you simply be content to watch this synthetic life pass by through your little web cam portal? There’s got to be some people out there who want the real Jesus Christ in all of His terrible reality?! We’re already post-modern, post-Christian, and post everything else. What are you waiting for? There is no virtual tour of the authentic Christian life!
A Vision As you can see, history is replete with examples supporting the fact that humanity is exceedingly distracted by bunny trails, side tracks, vain imaginations, ambition, pride, lust, ignorance, deceptions, power, corruption, and politics (everything under the sun!) in relation to God’s ultimate purpose. Obviously, there is a common problem found in every example we visited. Sometimes we can be blinded to how deep The Fall actually goes. It touches everything in the experience of man. And it is a revelation in and of itself. The nature of The Fall and satanic deception is independence from God, striving to attain a synthetic spirituality, attempting to manufacture a righteousness and justice of our own, estrangement, and fear. The reality then is that fallen humanity cannot see and participate with God in fulfilling His purpose in Creation. In his letter to the Roman saints, Paul describes this frustrated condition (ch. 7). In our fallenness we are unable to produce that which God desires. The conclusion then: I echo the sentiments of Paul, “Wretched man (mankind) that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!” Jesus Christ is the only undistracted one! He is the only one who is completely sold out and unwavering toward His Father’s passion and business. He and His Father are one in purpose and goal. And when Christ had finished His process (resurrection, ascension, and glorification), becoming a life-giving Spirit, He became dispensable and able to occupy those who would receive Him. He made it possible to build a new humanity that could fulfill the original intention of the Creator. After the day of Pentacost in year one, following the Twelve, a new society was birthed that was joined to Christ. This group of down-and-outers were new creatures, filled with His Spirit – knowing Him, loving Him, and reflecting Him. They were in love with each other too. They knew a freedom that only an organic, indigenous, instinctive, pristine, and simple atmosphere could support. They were living stones, built together to form a dwelling place for God in the Spirit. God’s house. God’s crib (smile). The way He likes things. A place He can put up His feet. That is what He has been longing for in the Earth. And The Church was designed to give it to Him.
At this point I would like to revisit a question I asked earlier in this chapter: If we have been given all things in Christ then why is The Church still in such pitiful shape some two thousand years later? You’d think we would have perfected things by now, been further along in fulfilling God’s purpose (?). Why is being born-again and Spirit-filled and preaching and evangelism and worship seem to not be enough? We have just briefly revisited church history. Outside of small remnants periodically, The Church has been a distracted, dysfunctional landscape. So, what’s wrong? What’s the missing piece of the puzzle? I submit to you: The way we approach and practice church life!!! God has His way of building The Church. It is on and through the person of Jesus Christ alone and by the power of The Spirit – never by human ingenuity. God desires a people who have humbled themselves before Him, received Him, depend on Him, respond to His inner workings, allow Him to join them to other called out ones in love, give themselves to living in a “building site”, allowing God to construct His home built of gold, pearl, and precious stone. He simply needs a yielded people He can work through, not a group franticly working for Him that hopes He is working through them! Church history since about 300 A.D. is a story of far too many Ishmaels being made for God when all along He has had an Isaac prepared for us. That is why para-movements, trends, fads, gimmicks, and topics are so ultimately frustrating to the building God wants to accomplish. That’s why a Church working in the flesh is so destructive to the image God wants portrayed in the Earth. So He waits, in every generation, to see if there will be a people who will see Him and fall on the rock of His ways, instead of being crushed by them at the end of their own devices. He can accomplish all that is in His heart through a yielded people and very little through a busy people. There will be works but it is all in how the good works get produced – by the Spirit or in the flesh.
I have a vision and a hope of the restoration of God’s house in the Earth, of the nature and kind of the first-century Church. That does not mean that we ought to go around in togas and sandled feet. The nature of the ecclesia of century one was so compatible with the nature of the Lord Himself and that is what must be recovered. The Spirit produces this atmosphere as we touch Jesus Christ together, free of agendas and topics. It is a Way that coincides with our original humanity and that can easily be integrated in every generation and in any culture. I have an unwavering desire to help change the very course of church history. In order to even begin to realize this nearly impossible and improbable dream is to first get a group of people to see that The Church is something outside of culture - it is a true counter-culture, a new and all together different society. Next we must completely abandon all institutional church practices and have a mentality to start over in our understanding of church life. We must begin at ground zero. We then must adopt Jesus Christ alone as our sole purpose, center, and pursuit together. Nothing else can be in view. As we do this in simplicity, the Spirit will knit us together in love with our Head. We will be functioning, expressing Him, and living in Him by our new birth instincts. We will witness Jesus Christ being reassembled in our midst. From time to time we will need help (practical & spiritual) from the outside by brothers and sisters who have wisdom and experience in this kind of life and who know the Lord deeply. We will be a people who know the cross. We will know true community and family. We will be accessible and visible to the world but we will not be of it – we will stand out and be different by nature. We will resist distraction and religious bondage. We will pass through crisis and testing and we will know true forgiveness and love. We will hold fast to our life Source. We will grow up into Him. We will realize full stature as His Body. Our gifts, prayers, and testimony will be impactful. We will see the builder and the architect at work among us. We will see His grand house being constructed all around us. It will be modest and earthly on the outside but inside it will be magnificent, lavishly furnished with true riches that abound. We will see the eternal purpose of our God come into view like never before. We will see an unprecedented release of His presence and the healing of the nations. We will see the glory of the Lord filling the Earth. We will see God filling all things with His Son. The Lord Jesus Christ will manifest His rightful place as All in All. This is what awaits us sisters and brothers if we will but be courageous and step out of the trappings of man-made religion. We will discover a whole new world that has really been here all along, just hidden for us. It can be realized! After all, the God of the universe said it would. The question is, when?
I hope, dear reader, that you are one of those rare folks who are completely fed up with the miserable status quo found out there in the Christian landscape of today. I hope you are daring enough to run to a place where you have a chance to actually see the things outlined at length in this book. It will not be easy for you. It will be hard. But anything worthwhile should be, don’t you think? That’s part of how you know it is real, that it is true. My question to those who are still propping up the systems of organized religion: Why are we not at least willing to try something radically different? Why this insane adherence to forms and rituals that really do not satisfy our longings for the things of God? Are you really seeing all that you once envisioned in the Lord? Do you think it could have something to do with the way we practice our faith? Our boring, tired, old institutions of leadership and worship? Our constant chasing after movements and fads? I dare someone out there to at least try what has been prescribed in this book. Try it for six months to a year. You might be surprised and shocked to find out that it works and that it’s wonderful. Wouldn’t it be worth the try? You only have everything to lose and all of Him to gain.
Is there anybody out there? I believe there are scores of closet radical Christians throughout the lands. We need the scattered living stones who are exiled in Babylon to return home. We need you to come to a local building site to be built together with other living stones. The house of God must be constructed and furnished. You are part of the plans. He needs a place to rest His head. He wants to settle down. Won’t you come and stay?
(an unedited excerpt from the Bonus Chapters section of the upcoming book "Contending For The Church: Desiring The Way of Christ in How Christians Gather Today", due out this Fall 2009)
