Perhaps the most practical letter in all the New Testament is the letter of James. In it, James gives God’s people this somber exhortation:

“But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.” James 1:22, NKJV.

      My passion is to see the simplicity, the beauty, and the freedom of the church of Jesus Christ expressed again throughout this land. If my mail is any indicator, God’s people are hungering for this all over the world.

      It’s precisely for this reason that thousands of Christians are leaving the traditional church. The governing motive? Whether they realize it or not, they are seeking the church after God’s own heart.

      My intention in this book has been to demonstrate that Body life, as the early Christians knew it, is not some pious ideal. It can be known and experienced today. The last twenty years of my life is living proof of this.

      If you are gathering with a non-traditional church, I believe the lessons contained in this volume will help move your church further in the journey toward becoming the church after God’s own heart. But that will happen only if your church is willing to apply those lessons.

      It’s unfortunate that so many contemporary Christians will put little to no weight into something preached or written unless it is prefaced with the words, “God showed me . . .” or “God told me . . . “ or “the Lord revealed to me . . . “

      There are a number of places in this book where I could have prefaced my statements with one of those phrases. But I refuse to pick up that tool.

      If you are in touch with your spiritual instincts and you have an open heart to “hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches,” you will recognize if God is speaking or not. One doesn’t need to have it highlighted with a “God-told-me” banner.

by Frank Viola, author