Some Assembly Required Christian Book Downloads

This reading option is for those of you who don't want to read the book chopped up in blog-sized bites, or who want to save a copy and read it in another format (like, *gasp,* paper).  However, I do ask that you do consider giving me specific feedback, either through the blog or through email, so that I can make the book as true and as clear as possible.  Don't let my imperfections pass!  To open each chapter in PDF format, click on the chapter link below.  You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to be able to open these files, available as a free download (just make sure you get the right version for your operating system).

These chapters are in an unedited form, so you will see my highlighting and revision notes here and there.  No need to bring those to my attention. 

• Chapter 1: Introduces the book by defining the problem--our church institutions and principles are often created and maintained through fleshly principles instead of spiritual ones.  This institutional backsliding happens partly because doing church in the Spirit is humbling and difficult.  Manipulating people in the flesh is easier.  The generation to whom this book is written is stirring with potential revolution, but rejecting current institutions won't help unless something more spiritual and solid is offered in its place.  And that's the purpose of this book.

• Chapter 2: Jesus should be the head of the Church.  That's a simple and easily shared sentiment among Christians, but the way our actual services are organized and administered tend to shut Jesus out.  This chapter investigates the Lordship of Jesus in the church--what it might look like and how we might welcome it (and Him). 

• Chapter 3:  For the church to grow and thrive, it is essential that every Christian be allowed and encouraged to be a minister, if possible, in every meeting of the saints, serving according to the gifts God gives them.  This "one another" ministry is part of the theological bedrock of the New Testament, but it is generally ignored or squeezed out by the way we normally administer our church services.  

• Chapter 4:  God has given us a process by which each local church moves forward in grace and truth, and that process involves judging every teaching and prophecy by two or three witnesses.  Understanding and perfecting this process with the local body is necessary to encourage both the love and the purity of the church. 

• Chapter 5:  If everybody ministers in the service, what do the elders do?  They lead by example in how to defer to the Spirit’s movement, in how to encourage the ministry of others, in how to gently correct with teaching, in how to judge in love, in how to follow up on issues brought to the fore in the service.  The elders serve as an “example church” within the church, a diverse group worthy of imitation by all. 

• Chapter 6: “Mission Impossible” Meets “License to Love”
  God’s structure for the church completely flies in the face of how social groups work in the flesh, but that’s how it’s supposed to be.  The church is supposed to be diverse:  different genders, races, socio-economic strata, cultures, gifts, ages, levels of maturity, and convictions on non-essentials, and the people of the church are supposed to, at the same time, be radically committed to each other.  The only way this can happen is through the supernatural love among the members, asked for and reiterated at every turn, reaffirmed constantly through the unifying experience of the Lord’s supper. 
  

• Chapter 7: Outbreeding is Better than Inbreeding
  If the church does not grow and multiply, then the newly forming leaders will miss the essential training of reaching down and out to the lost and the baby Christians.  Groups of mature Christians forming new church circles allows those who have learned to step up to now step back and encourage others forward, and the Kingdom grows as a result. 

• Chapter 8:  Practice Makes Perfecting
  Since biblical church structure needs God’s active participation AND our active participation for it to work, the human factor will introduce a lot of stumbling, so practice and stick-to-itiveness is necessary.  Therefore, this interactive service must be intentional, frequent, and central to the identity and life of the church, not just an add-on.