Look somewhere to the right of this post and down a little bit and you’ll find a list entitled ”Friend & Fellow Bloggers.” At the top of that list is a guy named Alan Knox.  I don’t know Alan personally, but we’ve corresponded some over the past year via email, Facebook, and our mutual blog sites, and I can say that Alan is one of the most generous authors I’ve yet to encounter in the blogosphere. The Assembling of the Church is the name of his site, and there you will find a steady stream of articles, videos, and other resources centered primarily around the theme of exploring the purpose of the church gathering. 

Given my recent reminiscence about the gathering I was part of for the past three years, I found it interesting when I came across Alan’s post from yesterday calling for real life examples of people living in organic church life. Alan cites the growing restlessness among people who read the works of various “organic church” authors today-both real and suspect-and find themselves weary of hearing about it while rarely seeing it in action. Perhaps you can relate.

The question is, what is “it?” People from all walks of life and religion talk about an “it,” and to different people “it” always stands for something different. Is that the case with “organic church,” too? Just another “it?” Judging by his post I think Alan might answer both yes and no. What do you think? Take a moment to check out Alan’s site and see what he has to say. I think many of you will find what he has to say interesting, not only on this subject but on others as well.

For this week’s blogger review I want to highlight a brother down in Gainesville, Florida by the name of Michael Young. I’ve never met Michael in person, only online, but his writings betray a genuine passion for the Lord Jesus Christ. He also just seems like a really cool guy (and no, he did not pay me to say that ).

The title of Michael’s blog is All Things in Christ. Follow this link to read his introduction to a series of posts in which he and some other saints in Gainesville will be blogging about the things they’ve learned together thus far in their experience of “organic” church life. The first installment has already hit the presses, actually, which you can check out here. 

I have to admit that I’m a bit jealous of Michael. If you’ve been following my recent posts you know the church I was part of for the last three years is no longer gathering. So, like Michael, I’ve taken to blogging about some of the lessons I learned during that time. The only difference is that for Michael, the experience is still current! Hence the reason for my jealousy.

Anyway, while you’re over at Michael’s site be sure to check out the video of his testimony. And sign up to follow his future posts. Like I said, I sense a lot of sincerity in Michael’s writings and I hope to meet him face to face one day. Until then, I’ll make due by reading his blog, and I encourage you to do the same.

Dear reader, today I come to you announcing good news. Great news, in fact. My friend Andrew Wehrheim has finally begun blogging! Check him out at his new site, Seeking Community. Be sure to drop a comment and tell him I sent you.

A little about Andy: We went to school together at Mt. Zion (now Summit International) School of Ministry in Grantville, Pennsylvania. A year before we ever met in person we corresponded as “Covered” and “Doulos” on the Left Behind message board spawned by the best-selling series by Tim Lahaye and Jerry Jenkins.

(In case you’re wondering, yes, I did hesitate to share that information. Let’s just say it was a long time ago.)

Anyway, Andy and I became friends at Bible college, where we were both on our way to becoming well-known superstar pastors, I am sure. But as fate would have it both of our paths would change, and eventually we found ourselves churching together outside the camp of traditional Christianity. He and his wife moved to my little town just about four years ago from their home in Wisconsin, at which point we began to pursue the Lord together. What followed were the hardest but most fruitful three and a half years of my life, as together we sought to put into practice some of the things the Lord had begun showing us while we were at school and in the years following.

Andy is first-class, in my opinion. One of the most loving and compassionate guys I’ve ever met. His experience and insight into the Lord Jesus is unparalleled by most other people I know in life. Knowing him as long and as closely as I have, I can say with all honesty that I’ve never seen such a transformation in a person’s life as I have in Andy’s. He is, like David of old, a man after God’s heart. He is real, unpretentious, and down-to-earth in just about every way. He talks a lot about socialism but it’s not the kind of socialism you might think of when you hear the word. It’s the kind that is found in loving your neighbor as yourself, and not only praying but living your life unto the coming of God’s kingdom, “on earth as it is in heaven.”

Andy has a wonderful wife (Katie) and son (Andrew Peter-aka “Buzz) who are a joy to be around. I was enriched to be part of their lives for the time that I was, and sad to see them move recently to another town about two hours north of us. So I urged him to start blogging if for no one else’s benefit but my own. I hope and trust this will not be the case, though, and that Andy’s writings will find an audience far and wide, and be a blessing to all who are seeking Him who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. So again, pop over to Andy’s site, give him a shout out, and be sure to subscribe to receive his future posts. You won’t be disappointed.

Meet Jon Zens and his wife Dotty. My blogger highlight this week is found on Jon’s website, www.seachingtogether.org. Jon is an author, speaker, and theologian whose ministry  is having an increasingly positive influence these days on believers outside the institutional church. I don’t know this brother personally, but he did stay at the home of one of my friends once. I suppose that counts a little bit in the way of acquaintance. :)

Even still, Jon has some excellent writings you should check out when you get the chance. In particular, he wrote a post this week entitled Should the tail wag the dog? which I highly recommend you take a look at. In the article Jon explores the purpose and vocation of the church, with a particular challenge given to the prevalent notion that our purpose is all wrapped up in the “Great Commission” which Jesus gave to the eleven apostles at the end of Matthew 28.

Jon makes use of history to show that a great bulk of the present-day emphasis on “evangelism,” “soul-winning,” and “discipleship,” (as these concepts are commonly held) is relatively new to the game, so to speak, and that even scripture itself speaks little of these practices in the way they are preached from most pulpits today. What is Jon’s main concern?

 What I sense is that we have allowed evangelism-discipleship to become our obsession, and in the process Jesus Christ is pushed to the periphery.

With refreshing vitality, Jon proceeds to direct his readers’ focus back to Christ. Knowing Christ, pursuing Christ, and becoming intimate with Christ is the name of the game, he says. In keeping with the words of Jesus he unapologetically declares that ”only one thing is necessary,” and that everything in our lives must flow from this source. Otherwise, should we choose to pursue these “things” to the neglect of Christ, we will find that they become our distractions away from Him and a source of bondage to our spiritual life.

What do you say to something like that? Whether you agree or disagree, such a claim deserves some kind of response. I found my own spirit stirred by Jon’s message in this post. Head on over to his site and see what kind of reaction it registers in yours.