Quit "Going" to Church...

QUIT "GOING" TO CHURCH...And other Musings of a Former Institutional Man by Steven L. Rogers Here is another voice in the growing ranks of those who are rethinking what it means to be a follower of Jesus Christ in the 21st Century. Author Steve Rogers calls for Christ-followers to abandon excluding traditions and attitudes that have created a destructive us vs. them dichotomy that causes many Christians to huddle in enclaves of institutional Christianity and cultural irrelevance. He invites us, rather, to enter through the "narrow gate" into the kingdom of God that is living one's life to feed the hungry, help the poor, clothe the naked, liberate the oppressed, love neighbors, and be peacemakers. Readers are challenged to stop merely "going" to church and hoping they go to heaven when they die and concentrate, rather, on being the Church in day to day life by simply loving God and others-no more and no less. Steven L. Rogers, was "raised in a church pew," a preacher's kid in a conservative, Pentecostal denomination. After a life changing experience with people involved in the Jesus Movement in 1970, Steve left the drug using counter culture he had embraced while a freshman at a state university and transferred to a denominationally sponsored Bible College earning a B.A. in Pastoral Theology. Steve, along with his wife Sally, served in that denomination as pastors, missionaries, church planters and denominational position holders for 34 years. In 2005, Steve took a sabbatical from his pastorate to re-examine what it means to be a follower of Jesus Christ. This soul searching led him to resign his denominational affiliation. He is now post-denominationally devoted to reshaping the current theological, ecclesiastical, spiritual and social landscape through writing and speaking. Steve and Sally have a son and daughter and three grandchildren. Steve's web blog is http: //sosaysstevo.blogspot.com/.