Friday, July 30, 2021

New Book: Church Transfusion

You were so right! So were all the reviews on Amazon. This book rocks. It's the perfect read on a day when you're giving the old legs a rest. 

One of the authors is a former student of mine at Biola. No, I am NOT claiming credit for his genius.

Here are some quotes from this fascinating look at "church":

  • Every New Testament picture of the church points to a living connection with Jesus as the most essential component of its being.
  • We must begin by replacing our vision of the church as a business with one of the church as a living entity indwelt and empowered by Almighty God and every believer as the "workmanship of God, created in Christ Jesus for good works which He prepared beforehand for us to do" (Eph. 2:10). 
  • The DNA of the church consists of divine truth, nurturing relationships, and apostolic mission. 
  • ... let the presence of God among us be the only glue that binds us together as a movement.
  • ... positive change is likely to start small and take some time to permeate the church.
  • The responsibility of leadership is to encourage life and health in the body and help its members become fully functioning disciples of Jesus who have each been called for a particular purpose.
  • We can never expect our church to mature into the image of Christ if we allow them to remain babies who are still sucking milk from their pastor week after week. 

As one reviewer put it, this book "paints a picture of stark contrasts between church-as-it-is and church-as-it-could-be." Yea verily. 

What's next for me today you ask? Earlier I mowed. 

Now it's time to spiffy up the guest house. Leadership teams have begun to reserve the place again. It's good to see Becky's vision living on.