Quit Going to Church by Bob Hostetler

Quit Going to Church by Bob Hostetler
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Very readable book regarding how we often go through the motions of Christianity instead of actually following Jesus. With a bold title to get your attention - "Quit Going to Church" - the chapter titles take you aback a bit as well - 'Quit Saying Your Prayers', 'Quit Fellowshipping', etc.

The author is not actually saying to stop going to church per se, but rather to not just go to church out of habit or obligation. Same with praying, reading the Bible, etc. Not just doing it as an obligation, part of the Christian life that we signed up for. We need to be engaging with God and other people with authenticity. Not just putting on an act of being nice.

My favorite chapter was probably the 'Quit Enjoying Worship'. Too often we make our worship about us - what makes me feel good or what kind of music I like or can best worship with. Worship is not about us!
"True worship is worship that focuses on God. On his enjoyment, not ours. That is why I say: quit enjoying worship. Because your worship - if it is truly worship - should be focused not on what you 'get out of it' but on what God gets out of it.
"We tend to approach worship as consumers, in which the focus is on our experience. Sometimes, even as we claim to be singing for the glory of the risen King, we're actually singing for our own enjoyment and fulfillment."

The Complete Book of Discipleship by Bill Hull

The Complete Book of Discipleship: On Being and Making Followers of Christ by Bill Hull
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Discipleship - what is it? What does it mean? To be a disciple of Jesus is part of being a Christian but many Christians do not seem to grasp the meaning. This book is an in-depth study of what it means to be a disciple.

Being a disciple is not just being a follower of Jesus, but also a learner. We are to learn from Him and imitate Him. How this is done is through community. The stages of discipleship are examined as well as a look at the role spiritual disciplines play in being a disciple. The last few chapters deal with how this plays out in practical terms through the church, in small groups, through leadership as discipleship is not an individual matter.

The problem we run up against in American Christianity is that we have become a church of consumers rather than disciples. We have taken on the American dream and made that part of our gospel. Yet the Bible clearly teaches the loss of self in the choice to follow God. We cannot have it all. To be a disciple of Jesus means giving up one's own self and dreams and learning God's way of doing things. We are far too self-absorbed in our cultural American Christianity and have lost sight of true discipleship.

This book is a good resource.

Genres Bible Reading Plan

I'm nearing the end of my journey through the Bible using the Genres Reading Plan. (For details on this plan, go here - http://70030.netministry.com/images/WeeklyGenresChart.pdf)

This has been the best reading plan that I've done so far, at least as far as keeping me consistent with my Bible reading. By mixing up a different genre each day, I'm able to get through some of the harder parts of the Bible to read and make progress. I started this plan last summer 2011 using the NIV Bible (the Living Insights version from Chuck Swindoll). I'm still a few weeks away from finishing but should be done before the end of July.

I'm debating what plan to use next, whether to do something light for the rest of the year, or start a yearly plan in the summer rather than wait until January. My hubby recently got me this:

and I'm excited about reading it. But I might want to wait until January to start it. Another option is I do have the Bible in 90 Days Bible and I'm trying to decide if I should give that an attempt. I'm not sure if I'll be able to keep up with it, but I would like to read large chunks of the Bible at a time so I may try that. I also have The Action Bible

which might be interesting to go through for the last half of the year. It wouldn't really be Bible reading but I am curious how this comic book version of the Bible ends up being.

So many choices, where to start? :-)