“Since they were no longer welcome at their church, they decided to start a new one together. The first gathering brought more than 80 people crammed into a small house. The atmosphere was electric. They decided to get organized, rent a building and hire a pastor.†Then for the first time I saw it so clearly. “And it slowly died.†I muttered, astonished at the realization.
To which John replied: “They were so distracted by all the work that they soon lost that joy of simply loving Jesus. Strange isn’t it, that forming something into what they thought was a church could do what persecution couldn’t?†(p. 20).
The modern church has replaced the Old Testament laws (for example circumcision) with modern man made rules, such as cooperating with the church program, subtly using guilt, conformity and manipulation to control its attendees. As John rightly states:“Anything will lead people away from God’s life, as long as it preoccupies them enough to serve as an adequate substitute for the real thing. It’s easier to see the problem when the standard is circumcision in Ephesus than when it is Sunday morning attendance in Kingston†(p. 21).
What would you do if you met someone you thought just might be one of Jesus’ original disciples still living in the 21st Century? That’s Jake’s dilemma as he meets a man who talks of Jesus as if he had known him, and whose way of living challenges everything Jake had previously known.
So You Don’t Want to Go To Church Anymore is Jake’s compelling journal that chronicles thirteen conversations with his newfound friend over a four-year period and how those exchanges turn Jake’s world upside-down. With his help, Jake faces his darkest fears, struggles through brutal circumstances and comes out on the other side in the joy and freedom he always dreamed was possible.
If you’re tired of just going through the motions of Christianity and want to mine the depths of what it really means to live deeply in Christ, you’ll find Jake’s story will give you hope for your own. This book probes the difficult questions and offers some far-reaching answers. It just might turn your world upside-down as well!
Read it for free online now HERE.
