why i love the church

 right now i am reading why we love the church: in praise of institutions and organized religions and i would commend it highly to you.  the book is super readable and engaging, but also very informative and challenging.  i have been humbled and encouraged by everything i have read.

i hope to blog more about some of the things i have learned from this book, but today i just want to share a few quotes that hit me.

both of these quotes come from an interview the authors did with chuck colson.  colson was a key person in the watergate scandal years ago, and went to prison for it.  in prison he met jesus christ, and his life totally changed.  for the past 3 decades he has been leading ministry to prison inmates.

"we live in a therapeutic age where everything is measured by how much i get out to it.  the church ought to be measured by what we put into it for God and others."

[after the interviewer asked him where he goes to church]

"i've always resented the phrase 'where do you go to church?'  i dont go to a church, i'm a member of a church.  you don't ask where somebody 'goes to a country club.  i'm not talking about where you are going, i'm talking about where you plant your flag and say, 'this is where i'm a christian'"