Worth reading

Pastor Kevin DeYoung and an old friend, Ted Kluck, have written another book I'm hoping to read. It's called Why We love the Church: In Praise of Institutions and Organized Religion. Their previous collaboration, Why We're Not Emergent (By Two Guys Who Should Be) was a 2009 Christianity Today Book Award winner and is one of my favorite books dealing with the Emergent/emerging church movement. I'm hoping that this new book is a good as the previous one. All the signs are pointing toward "Yes!"

Recently, they were featured in an article for the Washington Post called "Church: Love It, Don't Leave It." Here's an excerpt from the article:

Here's what Bono, Oprah, and the guru speakers on PBS won't tell you: Jesus believed in organized religion and he founded an institution. Of course, Jesus had no patience for religious hacks and self-righteous wannabes, but he was still Jewish. And as Jew, he read the Holy Book, worshiped in the synagogue, and kept Torah. He did not start a movement of latte-drinking disciples who excelled in spiritual conversations. He founded the church (Matt. 16:18) and commissioned the apostles to proclaim the good news that Israel's Messiah had come and the sins of the world could be forgiven through his death on the cross (Matt. 28:18-20; Acts 2:14-36).

For almost two millennia, it was axiomatic that Christians, like, actually went to church (or at least told other Christians they did). From Cyprian to Calvin it was believed that for those to whom God "is Father the church may also be Mother." But increasingly Christians are trying to get more spiritual by getting less church.

Read the whole thing. It will be worth your time.