"A story of a people who followed their passion where they least expected it to take them"
Bob from over at Family Room Media sent this book to me a week or so ago, thank you Bob for thinking of me. I was reading it at the same time that I was reading Outflow. Reading two books at once is unusual for me, but when I received the book I just couldn't help but dive into it. I also cannot stand not finishing a book, which is why even though it was horrible I could not stop reading Annacondia's book Listen To Me, Satan! Reading is just one of my favorite things to do. I have the latest Newsweek sitting on my desk and it is all I can do to not stop typing this and read through it.
David Fredrickson in his book, When the Church Leaves the Building, takes us through the process by which his congregation stopped meeting together on Sunday morning. Now let me be fair and say that the book is about much more then that journey, but that is the context.
I have listened to David on his podcast and heard him interviewed over at The God Journey Podcast so I was not surprised by the contents of this book. If I would have read it 2 or 5 years ago I would have been stunned.
Chapter 1 is aptly named, Stop the Revival and Give Me the Real Thing. That statement sums up the book very well. The cry heard in this book is; We do not need more religion! We need more God! He writes about how the church institution very often gets in the way of a real relationship with God.
There is a particular place that I really related to. David writes about how he had made plans to move to the outback to get away from people. He just wanted to be alone. This got messed up when he got married and God began to put all kinds of people into his life, and all kinds of people in large numbers. I was the same way. One time in my life I seriously considered abandoning society to live in the wilderness, but then God gave me a wife. Not just any wife, but one who loves the company of people. Now we are surrounded by large numbers of folks, and I would have it no other way.
I do wish that David would have discussed more details about what happened when his congregation ceased to function like other congregations. I would like to have explored the affect on the people more, both good and bad. Perhaps he will write a sequel?
If you are having problems with your "church" or feel that there is simply more then a Sunday Christianity, then this book is for you.