About a month ago I was lucky enough to win a copy of Mark Scandrette's new book Jesus Dojo care of the great guys at Homebrewed Christianity. Jesus Dojo is one of those rare magical books where once you've read it you give it to your spouse demanding she read it too. It was a radical yet gentle challenge to change my life and follow Jesus in a far more practical (rather than esoteric) way than i have for a long time. The kind of meaningful changes that you have to bring your spouse along with you on.
The book is part a guide on how to do church differently and part personal story as Mark and his church try to live it out a new way of being Xn. The book is based around the idea of a dojo. A karate dojo (where you've most likely to have heard the term) is just the place where you learn the way of karate and obviously it's very hands on. So there won't be lots of singing about karate followed by a long talk about karate. The Jesus Dojo is based around a series of experiments that participants do that come out of reading the gospels. So when John the Baptist challenges his followers to give up half of what they own that's what the participants do. Importantly the experiments are experiments they are not permanent changes or a set of guidelines, but they may lead to these. Sometimes experiments work wonderfully other times they don't. Either way there is plenty to be learnt.
So if you find yourself sitting in church thinking "Is this it?", "Has choosing to follow an incendiary revolutionary come down to badly singing some songs listening to some guy talk and then eat tea and biscuits?" Then this book is for you.
In short this book is friggin' awesome not just for what's in it but for what it will propel you to do in the future. The only downside is you'll have to convince some friends to join you on the journey.
The book is part a guide on how to do church differently and part personal story as Mark and his church try to live it out a new way of being Xn. The book is based around the idea of a dojo. A karate dojo (where you've most likely to have heard the term) is just the place where you learn the way of karate and obviously it's very hands on. So there won't be lots of singing about karate followed by a long talk about karate. The Jesus Dojo is based around a series of experiments that participants do that come out of reading the gospels. So when John the Baptist challenges his followers to give up half of what they own that's what the participants do. Importantly the experiments are experiments they are not permanent changes or a set of guidelines, but they may lead to these. Sometimes experiments work wonderfully other times they don't. Either way there is plenty to be learnt.
So if you find yourself sitting in church thinking "Is this it?", "Has choosing to follow an incendiary revolutionary come down to badly singing some songs listening to some guy talk and then eat tea and biscuits?" Then this book is for you.
In short this book is friggin' awesome not just for what's in it but for what it will propel you to do in the future. The only downside is you'll have to convince some friends to join you on the journey.
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