Book review by Denise DiGiglia
As an independent 18 year old, living away from my comfortable farm life, I was fortunate to have a great spiritual mentor. Instead of just feeding me information he asked questions. One of the things I appreciated most about Gardner’s book is the questions he asks throughout. Referencing the subtitle, are we truly Living in Simplicity and Purity to Christ as God’s Family? The question caused me to reflect and ask myself if I’m actually doing this in my complex and tumultuous world. Sometimes we get too busy or distracted to embrace simplicity, much less purity. I’ve been there recently and I confess that this book has helped me repeatedly turn my head and heart back to Jesus, back to reflecting on His teachings.
This book also does a very good job talking about the organic nature of gathering together.
The body of Christ is an organism and grows in an organic way…the main thing is to realize that Christ is the Guest of honor and will direct the meeting through the Holy Spirit.
An organization is built by men who have the natural talents to do so, however an organism’s growth is expressed by Paul;
…the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.
Ephesians 4:16
One of my favorite chapters is New Wineskins for New Wine. Garner writes about the revivals in the 70s when young people were supernaturally transformed by the Holy Spirit. New wineskins were formed but in most cases this new life was corralled by old wineskins. Ultimately the revival was stifled and faded into history. Many can look back in sadness and regret but the author creates a great expectation for what the future holds and points out that we are already seeing the first fruits. Here is an excerpt from that chapter.
The church must find a way to allow for the passion of the young and the wisdom of the old to both take place in our gatherings and communication with one another. We have allowed the world’s way of separating young from old to invade our churches. As an older person, I need the passion the young people around me exhibit and I must say also that they need the wisdom that I and other older people have to share. The old tend to judge the lack of experience of the young and look down on their new ways of expression and the young tend to discredit the wisdom we older ones have gained by the experiences of life. We need both. The older ones have lived their lives and have gained experience but find it hard sometimes to pass it on to the young without sounding condescending. The young believers sometimes dismiss the older ones because they value their new experiences as much more “cool” than those of the old. This must change because we need the passion of the young coupled with the wisdom of the old to bring a godly balance. We need to learn from one another in genuine fellowship where the young are recognized and the old are respected. Families function this way and we are the family of God (1 Tim 3:15).
The book concludes with a reminder of the times and how a reset is needed to provide a way for us to find hope and courage for the future. The church must transition from a program-orientated organization to a family-loving organism all on a journey to become His bride. I finished this book extremely encouraged. Just reading the chapter titles will surely make you want to put this book on your reading list. This final excerpt is from Chapter 13: It’s Time To Be Believers.
I have noticed something that I call “the empty stare of unbelief.” I see it in the eyes of Christians who for some reason cannot believe in things that are clearly revealed as the will of God in His word. When I tell a story of someone who was healed or speak about God speaking to us through revelation, or some other wonderful blessing, I often see this stare in the eyes of my listeners. As you read one of the Gospels, imagine how different the account would be without the faith that many people possessed. Imagine the woman with the blood hemorrhage not believing and missing the words of Jesus, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace.” (Luke 8:48). Imagine the blind beggar whose sight was restored and was able to hear Jesus say to him, “Receive your sight; your faith has made you well” (Luke 18:42). They believed and received these blessings and there are many other accounts in God’s word with the same happy ending. How much we miss in unbelieving America because we bow down to secularism and its comrades. We are like Nazareth where it is said “He could do no miracle there except that He laid His hands on a few sick people and healed them. And He wondered at their unbelief” ( Mark 6:5, 6). They could not believe and so missed out on the blessings that could have come from the ministry of the Lord of the universe. Their unbelief blocked the Lord from moving in power in that city. What a shame! The theme of this book concerning church life issuing from simplicity and purity cannot be realized by mere human cleverness. It must come from a living faith in God who inspired His word from which faith flows.
