So
You Don't Want To Go To Church Anymore
An Unexpected Journey into the
Reality of the Fathers Family
By Jake Colsen (aka Wayne Jacobsen and Dave Coleman)
Life Stream Press
ISBN: 978-0-9647292-2-3
Review
by R. Cody Smith
Warning,
proceed at your own risk!
The
material in this book could ruin you for “church” as you now know
it.
If, however you find
yourself in a religious routine that is not contributing substantially
to your desire to know God better, then by all means, read on.
The author’s name, Jake Colsen, is actually a pseudonym for two long
time friends, Wayne Jacobsen and Dave Coleman who collaborated to write
this book based on their combined and common experiences.
A work of fiction, this novel presents two key characters; our
hero Jake a successful but highly frustrated pastor of a large
congregation, and the mysterious John who spontaneously shows up in
Jake’s life, in this, his time of greatest need.
John immediately gets Jake’s attention by asking him some really tough
questions that begin expose his church’s well-intended but misdirected
agenda, which as it turns out, does not actually set people free, but
instead attempts to make them captives to a religious system. Jake knows
things are not what they should be, but he has been part of the system
for so long that he has lost perspective.
“No prison is
as strong as religious obligation.
It takes us captive even while
we’re patting ourselves on the back.”
John’s mentoring style evokes that of another well known saint of the
same name, he never really tells Jake what to do, but by authority of
his own personal authenticity he becomes a sounding board and mentor to
Jake in his pursuit of a new kind of Christian walk. By making courageous
decisions through trials and tribulations, and at great personal cost,
Jake perseveres and discovers a newfound freedom in Christ, and a life
that he had only been able to imagine before.
“When we only
ascribe the term ‘church’ to week-end gatherings
or institutions
that have organized themselves as ‘churches’
we miss out on what it
means to live as Christ’s body.”
One
of the most significant ideas that I have personally taken away from
this read still continues to reform my thinking.
The key is not
found in how much I love him,
but how much he loves me…
It is my
security in that love that will change me
(and I need changing)
not my
struggle to try and earn it.
"Best
Read of 2006"
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So you Don't Want To Go To Church Anymore, NOW!
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