Committing yourself to a local Church… now there’s a novel idea!

Yes, you may be the church believer in Christ, but remember, it’s not about you!

Here is a video from Josh-ua ‘I’m glad I kissed Dating Goodbye’ Harris, who is throwing down a shout out for why you should commit yourself to a local church!

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To help you think through the significance of this call, check out a couple or three books.

Josh Harris’s, Stop Dating the Church, which you can buy from Grace Books, with FREE SHIPPING in New Zealand, HERE!

Here is a description of the book on Amazon…

Putting in their hour or two on the weekend, many Christians take the rest of the week off, neglecting the church and her needs. It’s not a serious relationship. Some shop around, looking for a church that suits their lifestyle. It’s dating, with no assurances, no obligations. Bestselling author Joshua Harris calls Christians to stop playing the field and commit, just as Christ is committed to us, His bride. In his new book, Harris explores the ramifications of Ephesians 5:25–32, which proclaims the intensity and the breadth of Jesus Christ’s love for His church. God has designed us to build our lives around a local church; we cannot be indifferent or uninvolved. Rather, we must be in love with and committed to God’s plan and purpose through the church. Are you dating the church, or are you committed?

Are You Dating the Church?

We are a generation of consumers, independent and critical. We attend church, but we don’t want to settle down and truly invest ourselves. We’re not into commitment — we only want to date the church.

Is this what God wants for us?

Stop Dating the Church reminds us that faith was never meant to be a solo pursuit. The church is the place God grows us, encourages us, and uses us best. Loving Jesus Christ involves a passionate commitment to His church — around the world and down the street.

We can’t be apathetic. It’s time to fall in love with the family of God.

Here is a blurb from John MacArthur on this book…

Instead of asking what they can give or how they can serve, too many churchgoers are only interested in what they can get. The church deserves far more than the halfhearted commitment or apathetic neglect it so often receives. In fact, as Harris astutely observes, the Christian life can never be lived to its fullest apart from a genuine passion for the church. It’s time for believers to take the church seriously, which is why the message of this book is so essential. — John MacArthur, Pastor-Teacher, Grace Community Church.

A second title is by Thabiti M. Anyabwile, titled, What is a Healthy Church Member?

Here is a description and some blurbs for this title, from Crossway…

Biblically and practically instructs church members in ways they can labor for the health of their church.

What Is a Healthy Church Member? takes its cue from Mark Dever’s book What Is a Healthy Church?, which offered one definition of what a healthy church looks like biblically and historically. In this new work, pastor Thabiti Anyabwile attempts to answer the natural next question: “What does a healthy church member look like in the light of Scripture?”

God intends for us to play an active and vital part in the body of Christ, the local church. He wants us to experience the local church as a home more profoundly wonderful and meaningful than any other place on earth. He intends for his churches to be healthy places and for the members of those churches to be healthy as well. This book explains how membership in the local church can produce spiritual growth in its members and how each member can contribute to the growth and health of the whole.

“In an era when Christians seem confused about what kind of community the church ought to be, here’s a helpful handbook outlining the church’s true biblical priorities, especially as they apply to individual church members.”  John MacArthur, President, Grace to You

“Given the state of so many of our churches today, this book arrives not a moment too soon.”  R. Albert Mohler Jr., President, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary

“This book provides an excellent and much-needed focus on the individual church member.”  R. C. Sproul, Chairman and President, Ligonier Ministries; Senior Minister of Preaching and Teaching, Saint Andrews Chapel, Sanford, Florida

You can also buy this book from Grace Books in New Zealand, HERE, with FREE SHIPPING for all locals!

Finally, one more title, and this is one that the Man of Spin is presently reading and enjoying, which, in other words means, you should really check it out, as this book is a needed antidote to the ‘church sux’ mentally that is becoming more a reality!

This title is by Kevin Deyoung… Why We Love the Church: In Praise of Institutions and Organized Religion.

Here is a review about this title from Amazon…

Why We Love the Church presents the case for loving the local church.  It paints a picture of the local church in all its biblical and real life guts, gaffes, and glory in an effort to edify local congregations and entice the disaffected back to the fold.  It also provides a solid biblical mandate to love and be part of the body of Christ and counteract the “leave church” books that trumpet rebellion and individual felt needs.

Why We Love the Church is written for four kinds of people – the Committed, the Disgruntled, the Waffling & the Disconnected.

Yay for Christ’s Church.  Go be a Cheer Leader today, or maybe one should say a Pew Leader… I know, bad joke… A bit like a Preacher’s Joke!

Ephesians 3:7-13

For the Fame of His Name

Man of Spin