I’m reading a book right now called “Quitting Church – Why The Faithful Are Fleeing And What To Do About It” by Julia Duin. It’s fascinating.
Based on extremely well-thought-out research, survey questionnaires and very candid personal interviews, Julia sets out on a journey to explain, chapter-by-chapter, why good Christian men and women are leaving traditional institutionalized churches. The findings are incredibly informative to me as it helps me understand what many of my fellow believers are currently facing in their faith journeys.
Basically, the premise of the book is this: the church doesn’t look like Christ, so people are leaving.
Which gets me thinking…
What’s it really going to take to set revival ablaze in each of our hearts so that the church really does look like Christ? And every time my mind floats into this questioning lagoon, the Spirit tugs at my heart with this answer:
A spark of revival begins in your own heart when you honestly desire to go deeper in your faith. The church will look like Christ when each individual sees themself as The Church and seeks for that spark to ignite.
When you determine that nothing is going to get in your way of knowing more of Him, when you base prayer, worship, meditation and trust on habit and discipline rather than feelings and emotions, you will start forming a foundation of strength and composure in a way you never thought possible. But your heart has to desperately want Him and your life has to be willing to change in order to accommodate more of Him and less of the world.
Thus, as a challenge to myself, and because this book is greatly challenging me, I’ve decided to read through the Gospels so I can know the very words of Jesus and observe how He lived His life on earth. Why?
Because I want to go deeper in my faith this year, do you?
”But if from there you seek the Lord your God, you will find him if you seek him with all your heart and with all your soul.” –Deuteronomy 4:29
