The Washington Post’s Michelle Boorstein recently wrote an article about Church of the Savior, Activist D.C. Church Embraces Transition in Name of Its Mission. To quote one of my friends in the city, “No other group of people has done more to bring social justice to the city.” They were emerging decades before anyone had any concept of what that meant. I have many friends in their community and I admire their work more than I can articulate. ]]> http://www.atthemargins.com/2009/01/25/activist-dc-church-embraces-transition-in-name-of-its-mission/feed/ 0 http://www.atthemargins.com/2009/01/07/another-problem-with-preaching/ http://www.atthemargins.com/2009/01/07/another-problem-with-preaching/#comments Wed, 07 Jan 2009 15:56:03 +0000 Matt http://www.atthemargins.com/?p=188 Ok, so in my last post I talked about the problem with preaching being that it often elevates the gifts of one over the gifts of others and it’s important that we have everyone’s gifts for the Word to be more fully expressed. (If you’ve not read it already, you should read it first as the following comes from within it’s context.)

Another problem with the way churches typically go about preaching is that it often comes at the cost of the preacher’s other gifts.

For example, my head of staff J. is an incredibly gifted preacher. (I’m not just saying that, person after person, friend after friend, repeatedly tells me how much they connect with her preaching.) In addition to gifts in preaching, she is an incredibly gifted theologian, pastor, teacher, church visionary, mother, wife, writer, disciple-maker, and the list goes on…

Sermons take a huge amount of time to prepare and are best prodded by the Holy Spirit instead of a weekly rhythm (IMHO). When our expectation is that J. preaches every week, we must realize that that comes at the cost of her using and developing some of her other gifts.

The problem is that, generally, communities assume that someone must preach each week.

My point is that churches need to examine whether that is truly the best use of the preacher’s time. Are there other gifts we want them to explore themselves and impart to our community?

However, my problem isn’t with preaching at all, it’s only that churches often recognize preaching to the detriment of other spiritual gifts. Assuming that preaching is the best way to share things week-in and week-out is a mistake (pedagogically and theologically). (It’s similar to my problem with relegating worship to only music.) It’s one of many ways to proclaim the Word. As such, it’s as problematic to never have preaching as it is to always have preaching.

The issue is that in many churches today we have legitimate avenues for bringing the Word (most notably preaching and musical worship) and illegitimate ones. Though we may use a medium poorly, there are NO inappropriate mediums for bringing the Word. We can bring the Word of God when we preach, when we care for the least of these, when we are alone praying, when we impart joy to others. We can proclaim the Word through fine art and music, through caring for our neighbors, through loving our enemies, through blogging, and through living the eucharist. The Word can appear in our discussions, in our cooking, and especially in our silence. We need space for all mediums.

If your gift is preaching, preach. If your gift is painting, paint. If your gift is cooking, cook. To bring the Word in greater fullness, we need everyones’ gifts.

I’m blessed to be a part of a community where people have not only learned and accepted the responsibility to feed themselves (Note: not talking individualism here, it’s God who does the feeding), but have also learned and accepted the responsibility to feed others. It’s not up to me to feed everyone, rather it is a communal responsibility to find and share spiritual (and actual) food. We teach, bless, and encourage one another (as our gifts allow) in our pursuit of God.

It’s sort of a spiritual potluck. 

We each bring a dish.

Some people bring old favorites, others bring new recipes that they’ve discovered along the way. Sometimes people can’t bring a dish because they are too tired or overwhelmed. Sometimes people bring a few dishes or one giant dish. 

Some people eat a little bit from what every person has brought, others just get a massive helping of a handful of dishes. 

There is plenty for everyone to eat and certainly something that will fill the hunger each brings.

We don’t just leave with our hunger satiated, but, as with any good potluck, we share the recipes so that we can make them later for others.

The cool thing is that it’s not incumbent on me (or anyone else) to make sure that everyone is fed. It’s a responsibility we share. I don’t arrive too tired to eat from preparing a massive meal for everyone; I get to partake in the spiritual feast as well.

And we each depart with more than we brought.

Times of transition provide excellent opportunities to refocus.  Over the coming weeks we will be focusing on the vision that God has put on our hearts as a community and how to best structure ourselves moving forward.  This will help us better transition new people into Culpeper House as we move forward.

If you or someone you know is interested in exploring the possibility of being a part of Culpeper House, please e-mail us at info@culpeperhouse.org.

It’s an exciting time, but also a sad time as we will very much miss those who are leaving.

It’s funny to me that most churches today decide if you are a disciple by a “conversion” moment, baptism, a profession of faith, or agreement with a belief statement.

Being a disciple of Christ has NOTHING to do with a mental assent and everything to do with having Him as the decisionmaker in each of our lives.  The gage Christ has given us is love not law.

Too bad gaging love requires relationship instead of a few words on a form.  God forbid we waste church resources on truly getting to know people instead of building better and bigger programs and expanding our rolls.  The way of the Kingdom is always ineffecient and ineffective in the eyes of the world.

Here’s how I tried to concisely describe what I am trying to say:

During college I experienced a lot of growth in my faith–I was surrounded by people seeking to give their whole lives to Christ, who challenged one another, lived simply, sought to love one another unconditionally, prayed and worshipped together throughout the week, met up throughout the day, shared possessions, and so fourth. When I got out of college, I discovered that, though I did all the churchy things like going to worship, being in a small group, leading the missions team, working with the homeless, and even practicing hospitality, I became more and more like the world and less and less like Christ. I was an A+ citizen of a church, but I was becoming less and less of a follower of Christ while I became more and more “American.” I continued to discover more and more how selective and myopic churches are as to scripture and the gospel. Because I wanted to be a follower of Christ (even though the cost was much more than churches let on), I sought a community of people dedicated to doing life together (much like I’d experienced in college).

I think that the Church is very specifically defined as people and, while theologically and rhetorically pretty much everyone would agree, churches structurally tell people that church is an event, a building, a club, or an institution. (Check out what I wrote about “my church” a few months ago: http://www.atthemargins.com/2007/05/04/where-do-you-go-to-church/ ).

I want to be a part of the Church that sets people free from those things that afflict them, that is powerful, that is known by it’s unconditional love for others, that radically follows Christ, that is willing to die to itself, and that, as a result of all this, sees people transformed day after day.

My friends and I are slowly, but surely learning to be that Church.

Part 4: And who, now, will lead them?

Part 2: A call to serve, and to lead

Part 3: A crisis year, a Christmas comeback

My friends at Ma Siss’s Place and Quincy Street Missional Church were featured on the front page of the Boston Globe this morning.

This first in four part series will continue the next three days (I will post a link each day) and features many pictures and some other multimedia.

“From a Dorchester Chop Shop, to a Place to Pray”

As everyone who knows me responds, “you’re going to work for a church?!?!?!” In fact, the only reason I started blogging about the Church and my faith was that I thought I’d never work for a church.  God has a funny way of busting out our visions of the future for His.

My thinking on church has not really changed. The Senior Pastor is a good friend and neighbor. She has been working hard to steer those in her care towards being the Church and I will be part of that change. I’ve been invited because of relationships and my giftings and not my institutional church qualifications. As anyone who spends any time with me quickly discovers, I am both passionate about helping people become disciples of Christ–seeking after him with reckless abandon and obeying the Holy Spirit–and building authentic Christian community (a.k.a. the Church).

God will continue to be providing my income, just through a church now and not the Rural Trust, and as such, I will continue to be ultimately responsible to Him.

I’m certainly more than a bit trepidatious, but at the same time, so excited!

At the end, she and I talked about how hard it is for her to pray out loud (something I’ve heard from many people before).  She added that I pray so well.  I told her that one of my friends has often challenged me, “do you talk to anyone in the manner that you pray out loud.”  The truth is I don’t.  I use stilted flourishes, not to mention a different voice.

For a little while in high school I sang in the church choir.  We would pray at the beginning of each rehearsal and I remember always looking forward to hearing Ms. C pray.  Unlike anyone I’d known to that point, she truly prayed to “Daddy.”  Her prayers were simple, intimate, and loving, but at the same time, there was no confusing the awe and revere she had for her Father.

When I pray religious prayers, I enforce the lie that God desires prayers that are formal and articulate rather than personal and sincere.  My actions tell people that they are unable to pray.  For shame!  When I pray formally it is certainly not for God, rather for show and the institution. I need to pray simply, intimately, lovingly, personally, and sincerely—he’s my Dad after all—so that others may know that they are able to talk with Him as well.

“Someone somewhere along the line got the idea of putting on a ‘play’ for people and calling it church.”

Take a moment to read “What I think of Church”

Sharing our stories is so important. 

I’ve found it the best foundation to lay for any group whether a missions team, intentional Christian community, or sunday gathering.

It enables us to love one another so much better.  Suddenly I have a glimpse into why Susan does all those things that drive me nuts and it’s not so bad any more. I’m able to sit in silence less awkwardly becaue I now know why John never speaks. Knowing how Jim grew up affords me more grace when he snaps at me.

A practical suggestion, having done this quite a few times by this point, is to have someone who is willing to be particularly vulnerable go first and set the tone.  It’s also good to encourage everyone to have a turn, sharing only what (and if) they are comfortable, taking particular care to value however much or little is shared.  It can take people a really long time to share their story, so I’ve found, if it’s a small group, taking a weekend retreat with the primary purpose of hearing everyone’s story makes it actually less arduous and forms a great foundation for authentic Christian community.

The last several weeks though, I have come into the realization that I am completely and utterly conflict adverse if the conflict has to do with interpersonal relationships or who I am.  It’s why I don’t speed when I drive.  Avoid breaking rules.  Hate getting into trouble no matter how minor it is.  And choose to ignore conflict instead of resolving it.  Real conflict exhausts me.  I don’t want to hurt or be hurt, so I pretend it doesn’t exist. 

I’m happy to change what I think–in fact I love for people to show me where I am academically wrong as it means I can be correct tomorrow.  However, I am not excited about changing who I am. I avoid conflict when it means that I might actually have to change what I do–become less selfish, love on another person’s terms, do something I find boring or banal.  Changing one’s position theologically takes mere moments and comes at little cost.  Changing how one lives takes time, long, arduous time.  It’s costly and it hurts–the Refiner’s fire is always uncomfortable.  Conflict requires me to contemplate the fact that I am not who I desire to be, that I am broken, sinful, and imperfect.  However, it is the only route to growth and holiness.

We live in community so that we can grow and become more like Christ.  Growth often, if not always, requires conflict. It’s why we have a committment to not only resolve conflict, but to acknowledge it when it exists.  It’s the thing I find hardest in community.  I love being surrounded by people 24-7–serving them and sharing the gospel.  I am easy-going and love sharing hospitality and bearing joy.  I enjoy listening to other’s problems and binding up their wounds.  I am made for community and so much of it comes completely and utterly naturally for me–it seldom if ever feels like a sacrifice.  And what a blessing that is!  The thing is, it means that I can so often ignore the fact that I am broken, selfish, and sinful; that I need to grow, need to learn, need to sacrifice, and need to change.  That I, too, am in need of the Spirit’s transformation.

It’s the story that is often used to instruct people to slow down and sit at the feet of God.

Rob chose a different exposition, encouraging a balance between prayer and simply time with God and with service.  Certainly a true and good teaching from the verses!

While he was speaking, I kept asking God to speak to me about the verses.

The imagery he put in my heart was about the homeless in DC.  On any given evening, you can sit in one of the parks and see church van after church van, coming by to drop off food.  Those churches are doing a wonderful thing and Jesus spoke a lot about feeding the hungry.  The problem is that there are very few Marys willing to sit at the feet of the homeless men and women and just listen.

So often I want to see the results of my work, to know that my labor is effective.  The problem is that Christ often asks us to do things which we will never see the results of.  Sometimes we are so focused on doing things that we forget to slow down to listen and love.  Love takes time.  Love takes sacrifice.  And scariest of all, loving someone else means that we will often get hurt.  Love is intangible–I can say I gave out 100 meals or built a home for a family, but it’s impossible to quantify love.  Besides telling people that you sit on a bench and talked to a homeless person all evening is a lot less glamorous than saying you fed dozens of people.  Even worse, people might think you are lazy.

For the past couple of years Grace Community Church has been sending teams to visit the Quaresma family–a brazilian couple that, after having 3 biological kids, began adopting.  Today their family is over 30 and by the grace of God they are the most functional family I have ever known.  The first year we went, we wanted to help them build their new house, instead we cleared a field and spent a lot of time with the family.  The next year, we painted their new house.  The thing is though, what the Quaresmas cared about was not the painting or the hoeing–the cost of our plane tickets alone would have paid for our labor many times over.  What they cared about was getting to know us and us them.  They would have been just as happy for us to just show up and hang out.

Our desire was to build something we could see and touch, God’s desire was to build love in our hearts.

In it, Meghan Gouldin asks us to finish the sentence: “Authentic Christian community____________________.”

It’s what each of us living in community grapples with daily.  At least I hope we do.

Read her post and respond at

http://commongroundsonline.typepad.com/common_grounds_online/2007/07/meghan-gouldin-.html

Download | Link

Artist: Speaking of Faith

Duration: Appx 58 min

Created: Thu, 10 May 2007

Category: Speech

Subject: Shane Claiborne

Interviewer: Krista Tippett

NPR’s show Speaking of Faith this week explores New Monasticism in an interview with Shane Claiborne.

So You Don’t Want to Go to Church Anymore

Rating: 4 out of 5

Author: Jake Colsen

Year: 2006

Publisher: Bodylife Publications

ISBN: 0964729229

The writing in this book is frankly quite bad, however the content is amazing and inspired. It offers a strong challenge to the institutional church and paints a radical transforming picture of the Church.  Even better, you don’t have to by it.  It’s available for free download.

I mean, Church is not a destination or a club, it’s not something that is even geographical. It is much more organic than that. I believe that I am not only called to be a follower of Christ all the time, but to be the Church all the time. This simply is impossible if I define Church by an organization or building. Not to mention unhealthy. Christ spent much of His time in the world. We have created churches that are clubs, places that shelter us from the world rather than equipping us to love those of the world.

For me, Church is and happens whenever 2 or more followers of Christ gather for the purpose of seeking after Him (the above diagram is far from exhaustive). Sure, it’s something that happens on Sunday mornings, but it’s also something that happens many times a day in my community. We can be the Church when we are having dinner with friends, during late night conversations, during Bible Studies. I’m having Church when I spend time with the homeless downtown. I’m having Church when I spend time with His Gathering in Ft. Myers, Florida and when I’m eating breakfast with Stu. In fact, I’m having Church when I’m praying alone, as the Holy Spirit dwells in me.

I recently read a great book about being the Church, So You Don’t Want to Go to Church Anymore by Jake Colsen. It’s available in print, but you can also download it online at http://www.jakecolsen.com/JakeStory.pdf. It’s not Shakespeare, but it was really interesting to me—it’s not social justice at all, but presents a view of the Church that is incredibly different and to which I’ve only recently begun to be exposed. It’s a very worthwhile read and, if you read it, I would love to hear what you think.

Link

Created: Wed, 01 Nov 2006

My friend Colin just sent me a link to a set of Christian parodies of the Mac/PC commericals. It’s a great concept, but I’m afraid they fall short.

Essentially it’s an issue of good concept, poor articulation. These are anti-Christendom, but leave one thinking that being a Follower of Jesus is even more meaningless. They spent a lot of time dismantling Christendom but failed to equally develop what it means to Follow Jesus.

My friend and housemate Ryan provided a very good critique:

Good application of the Mac/PC ads. But, as Colin says, poor and lukewarm generalization of Christian and ‘Christ-Follower’ (Shouldn’t they be the same? Let’s not draw even more lines to define who we are by differentiating ourselves
from others.) Another attempt to market Christ on a platform of feel-good Christianity? Probably. “Hey, I smoke, have a tongue-piercing, don’t take showers, AND I love Jesus; so that makes my relationship with Christ more authentic and me more ‘real’, man.” Would have been better if the ads de-emphasized the very things it brought to light.

At any rate I think they are interesting and worth discussing.

Most of you know that I don’t like “specialized” services (i.e. worship for 20-somethings), but what happens when the Church completely rejects a people?

[Note: I am completely avoiding the issue of homosexuality and the church for now.]

He lost the election when we chose to proclaim the Gospel with our votes as a substitute for our lives…When we decided it more expedient to manifest the kingdom in our laws, in our congress, and in our courtrooms than in our neighborhoods, in our families, and in our hearts…

I pray that we may repent and leave our comfort, our security, our control, our success, and the ways of this world so that the Kingdom of God may break forth more boldy among us!

Relativism WITHIN the Church…

Category: Personal article (non-blog)

Author: Peter Walker

I’ve arrived upon incarnational. I believe that we are to seek to incarnate the model of Christ’s obedience to the Father and that, in the model of Christ, we are to seek to love others with complete self-sacrifice, even to death. Of course it could be misinterpreted as simply another way of saying we should emulate the specific life of Christ (see my post “What Would Jesus Do? Really???” What I mean by it is that we are the body of Christ acting in the world and that Christ is incarnate in us through His Holy Spirit which dwells in us.

I’m not sure if incarnational is the best description (probably not), but it’s the best I’ve come up with so far. Any other ideas?

I understand why these are so popular in churches, it’s what people want and thus attracts more people.

However, it buys into the Christian subculture which implies that singles are incomplete until married. Ack!!!! This is simply untrue and hurtful to those who have been called to singleness (even if for the time being).

“…others have renounced marriage because of the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 19:12

After all there are many singles who have dedicated their life to the Kingdom, Paul, John the Baptist, even Jesus for that matter. For some reason modern American protestants (want to?) forget this fact.

It is clear that singles have an important role in the Kingdom of God and we as the Church should seek to help them serve out of this calling.

Instead of singles ministries seeking to remedy the problem of singleness (which as I’ve pointed out is in fact not a problem at all), singles ministry should provide opportunities for singles to live out the particular service they are called to and equipped most for. Here are a couple of examples:

1. Singles are much better placed to assist in last minute situations or emergencies than their married counterparts and thus this is a key function in the service of singles to the Church and to the world. If I receive a call from a friend who needs immediate assistance, I am able to know what I am doing and make a quick judgement of whether or not I can assist. If I was married, I would need to check with my wife first, and if I had kids, I would have to deal with taking care of them first also (I realize this applies less to singles with children).
2. Serving at an overnight shelter is another excellent example of an opportunity to serve in which singles are better equipped than marrieds (for many of the same reasons listed in 1).

I realize that my examples are weak, so I would love to hear more examples from you! Please post them to a comment.

You may say, wait, but shouldn’t there be social opportunities for singles within the church. I would say no. However, I would agree that there should be opportunities for real Christian community encouraged by the Church. Of course, then it doesn’t make sense for it to just be singles anyway, because rich and deep Christian community should be diverse–we have much to learn from people who are different from ourselves.

Now I am not saying that we should seek to keep singles single, not at all. Let’s face it, it is quite probable that singles living in community and serving together will often develop romantic relationships and marry. This is a wonderful thing.

However, marriage should never be the goal of singles ministries, worship and service to God should. Singles have a great service in the work of the kingdom which should be lauded and encouraged to live it out now. We should particularly embrace those who have chosen to remain single for the Kingdom.

Thoughts? Comments? I’d love to hear what you think!

It occurred to me during this conversation, just how much I want to start a movement–to see the Church transformed to that which Christ intended. How arrogant of me to 1) think I could do such a thing and 2) think that I’m somehow better than all those who have tried before, that our generation gets it and will somehow succeed where every generation before us has fallen short. It seems that real movements in the church (I’m no Church historian, so chime in with more information) don’t start off as movements at all, but rather are born from people seeking to be faithful to scripture and the Holy Spirit. We worship a God who time and time again uses the micro to change the macro (I just can’t get away from econ, can I?); who uses the small, the weaker, often the unwilling, to transform the greater, the stronger.

Seeking large scale Church reform, though tempting, is seeking one’s own glory–is idolatrous. If we as a people, as a generation of believers, would seek to be about the Father’s business in our lives, loving the unlovable, seeking to hear and obey, than our communities would be transformed–certainly not easily and not without much suffering, but in amazing ways. I don’t have to start a movement (nor should I). It is readily apparent as I travel and meet people that God started the movement long before I did (and will continue it long after I am gone). That there is a calling on our generation (not sure if it is unique to our generation) and that there are groups and individuals all around this country and world seeking to inhabit this calling. Christ is moving in His bride with boldness! We are a movement that cannot and should not be contained by a vision statement, not connected by x statements of belief, not beholden to a five-year plan, but rather a movement convened and ordained by the Holy Spirit Himself. We are the Church. We must encourage, even demand, from one another that we seek after God with reckless abandon, for it is when we seek after Him that we see His Kingdom break forth on earth, that we see His bride in greater glory.

But here’s the thing, we’re going to get it wrong, like the generations before us we are going to fail to fully manifest the vision God has placed on our hearts. We must have the courage to grow and mature, to look back and see where we have been wrong and to move forward with new zeal in the face of knowing we will once again fall short of perfection.

And as our kids mature we must not only tell them, but show them the story of the God of Abraham working today to help them to, not simply rest on the word we have received, but to listen and obey His voice themselves. We must have the courage to not only allow, but encourage them to tear down the asherah poles and high places built by us, as we did for our fathers.

What exciting times we live in. The Kingdom is alive and among us! Praise be to God!

Relational Tithe seeks to relationally distribute tithes in accordance with scripture. Much of their work is fueled by an essay by a megachurch teaching pastor entitled, “Embezzlement: The Corporate Sin of Contemporary Christianity?” In it Ray Mayhew, quite against his own best interests, seeks to examine the purpose of tithes using scripture and documents of the early church. It is an amazing, hard teaching and a very worthwhile read.

I increasing realize the need for a complete examination of church practice and that many of the problems of the church are directly related to an incorrect view of evangelism. I am working on a paper examining evangelism and plan to post it in the next few weeks. My hope is that it will serve to begin a series on a vision for the 21st century Church.

Category: News article

Author: Nathan Colquhoun

I read this reflection by a church planter just now and thought it was worth sharing. Nathan Calhoun reflects on the difficulty of escaping the false Sunday focus of being a Christian.

While I was there, I got to hear yet again how God is speaking to so many people in our generation. He may call us to different specific things, but it is apparent that God is uniting a generation of believers to seek after Him and inhabit His promises and commands with wreckless abandon. It’s amazing!

Unlike our parents, the people of my generation much more typically are either hot or cold with their faith. Either we desire to give up everything and follow Him or we don’t and realize that it’s not worth going through the motions. That’s an exciting thing for a generation who, more oft than not, grew up in a luke warm American gospel of cheap grace–a faith in which we could have both Christ and all our personal preferences–a gospel without sacrifice and a gospel without love.

We have inhabited a church so long that forgets that Christianity is more about having a relationship with our loving Father and Creator today than about salvation (route by phrase) tomorrow, that Christ calls us to daily take up the cross and follow him, and that our God is worth dying for (and thus worth obeying and worshiping).

It is a time of rebirth in the Church, when the poor, the fatherless, and the stranger will be welcomed into our homes (and more importantly our lives), when we will love the unlovable and heal the broken, when God’s revelation will flow in abundance and we will see Him with new and glorious clarity, when we will be persecuted for living a life in accordance with Him, when we will give up comfort, control, safety, and success to boldly follow after our Father, our Savior, our Creator, our Lover, and our King, and when we will see glimpses of Heaven breaking forth among us!

It is a wonderful and amazing time! Praise the Living God!

Rating: 5 out of 5

Author: Rob Bell

Year: 2005

Publisher: Zondervan

ISBN: 031026345X

I just finished “Velvet Elvis” by Rob Bell on audiobook. It was great! The author has a keen understanding of where God is calling the Church.

Rob Bell is the senior pastor at Mars Hill, a megachurch attended by thousands. Now, I know what many of you are thinking, Matt Pritchard is singing the praises of a megachurch pastor, what’s going on? Well, I’m still firmly in the camp of the importance of reflecting the intimacy of Christ in our fellowships.

That said, it was fun to hear Bell use the exact same language I have been using of late–maybe it’s a Holy Spirit thing. Though Bell is a little too institutional for my taste, he thoroughly comprehends the need for the church to embrace reality instead of religion, love instead of legalism, and a powerful Christ worth living and dying for instead of a palatable, easy god worth only saying a phrase of allegiance to.

The Irresistible Revolution: Living as an Ordinary Radical

Rating: 5 out of 5

Author: Shane Claiborne

Year: 2006

Publisher: Zondervan

ISBN: 0310266300

As I have traveled the country talking with fellow 20-somethings, it has been clear that God is speaking to us in a united voice, however it has been difficult to find the words that correspond with this calling. Shane Claiborne artfully articulates what so many in our generation are hearing. A theologian who truly lives out the Call, he challenges the Church with exceptional love and truth.

The only negative is that in chapter 11, I felt he crossed the line from solidarity with the poor and oppressed to political action. At any rate, it’s a difficult path to navigate and Claiborne does it exceptionally (both in his writing and life)!

I have given away over 150 copies. A must read!

Discipleship (Dietrich Bonhoeffer Works, Vol. 4)

Rating: 5 out of 5

Author: Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Year: 2003

Publisher: Augsburg Fortress Publishers

ISBN: 0800683242

My favorite book. In this incredible work, Dietrich Bonhoeffer dispels the myth of cheap grace and calls us to extreme devotion.