5.0 out of 5 stars
Worth Doing and Repeating.
Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on June 14, 2017
Here's a short list of why I've worked with this book multiple times, and will do so again:
- It is not a bible study, yet each section contains a gospel passage which shows how the "stream" of the Church we are looking at that week (be it Contemplative, Holiness, Charismatic, Evangelical, Compassionate, Incarnational) is grounded in the teaching and example of Christ. In this way, each week's lesson, discussion and practices are centered in Christ and grounded in the wisdom of the saints that have gone before us.
- It is participatory. It is easy and recommended to have a different person in the group lead week to week, but the readings and discussion always incorporate everyone in the group regardless of who leads. But most importantly, by ending each meeting with a time to review the suggested practices, with each person choosing a practice to try until the next meeting, this book is designed not just to convey information, but to alter one's way of life, and to get exposure to and experience with the many ways that God interacts and through people. Having a time close to the beginning of each meeting to discuss what we've learned from the exercises through the week changes the culture of the group as well as the thinking and habits of the participants--not just during the meeting, but in their actual lives.
- It is balanced. By focusing each lesson on a different "stream" of the historic Church, working through this book is, often, like the Spirit, both a comfort and a challenge. The book does a great job of showing how Jesus himself was deeply contemplative, holy, charismatic, compassionate, evangelical, and incarnational, and, therefore, the Church has always noticed and followed, even if we don't all follow or emphasize each of these aspects of Christ's life and work. By going beyond just reading about these different "streams" or areas of emphasis, we get to know Christ better, get to appreciate the strengths of familiar and unfamiliar parts of the Church, and are challenged to be go further with and in Christ, with wisdom of the historic Church, beyond the often unspoken and unjustified limits of our past experience.
- It is irenic to the Church and profoundly faithful to Christ. Because this workbook ends up having the effect of leading participants to love Christ more, and often with parts of themselves that have not been previously consciously part of that effort, as well as helping participants to become more gracious and humble toward disparate branches of the Church, it encourages real growth in obedience to the commands that Jesus said were the greatest of all: To love God, with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength, and to love our neighbors as ourselves.
In our church, and in conjunction with another church not of the same denomination, we now go through this book once a year, and use pieces of it throughout the year. We encourage non-Christians, brand new Christians, and long-time Christians to participate. We've seen good results across the board and look forward to more.
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