We facilitated our first book reading tonight at Eagle Harbor Books, our favorite local bookstore. After reading a few excerpts from our book, some diverse views and great questions emerged from the group…

I’m seeking to learn about Jesus. The Bible seems so complicated. How do I learn about the true Jesus? Where do I look?

I was raised to follow what I believed to be right and not just what someone says. Do you need to read a book to follow the Way of Jesus? Shouldn’t it be simple?

What are your thoughts on other spiritualities… such as Hinduism and Buddhism? Why is Jesus so special?

Is the Way of Jesus walked individually or in community?

How do you stay centered? Can you center individually or do you need community?

Some of my family are pressuring me back to the tradition I was raised in… How have friends and family responded to you and your journey?

I identify with Jesus more than with any particular religion. But when people ask me what I believe I say I’m a Christian but I don’t know why I say this. What do you think?

You say you follow Jesus…would you die on the cross like he did?

Our questions reveal our longings and our longings reflect both the desires and the wounds of the heart…

Our book comes out today. A friend asked us if we felt a bit vulnerable with making our journey public. We never thought about it in those terms until books where being shipped from Amazon!

This venture of writing was not initiated on our own. As we journeyed we met many who encouraged us to share our stories and insights along the way. There were many times when the stories of others deeply encouraged us.

But the process of writing was such an unusual time in our lives. Grueling really and at times a painful process. We offer our book in humility knowing that all glory goes to God for any good this may offer readers.

We wrote the book as a sort of navigational guide to help you chart a course for experiencing a deep and fulfilling spirituality in the life and Way of Jesus. We hope you will be encouraged on your spiritual pilgrimage to:

Experience the love and reality of Jesus

Gain courage to journey and not to settle for anything less than fullness in Jesus

Be on guard against pitfalls that will hinder your freedom in Jesus

Experience the love, power, and truth of Jesus in community

Join with others to experience and embody the Way of Jesus in and across cultures

My hand is weary from writing,
my sharp quill is not steady,
as its tender tip spits its dark, blue stream,
the words which are formed on the page are jagged and uncertain.

Let me never write words that are callous or profane,
let your priceless jewels shine upon these pages.

– An Ancient Celtic Prayer (Source: Celtic Fire by Van de Weyer)

This is not the book we began to write.

It all began with asking questions about religion and seeing the widening gap between the life of Jesus and today’s church. There had to be more. We became tired of doing religion while talking about spirituality. Like the apostle Paul simply said, ‘The Kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power.’

We’ve been amazed at the number of those we have met around the world who are breaking out of the complexities of religion to get back to the powerful simplicity of life in Jesus. They likewise have seen the widening gap between talking about Jesus and walking with Jesus. It’s not that they are against church; they are just making more room in their lives to experience the living reality of Jesus in community with their family and friends.

Several years ago we left the comforts of the organized church to rediscover what it means to follow Jesus. It has been a process of putting off and putting on–making room for God to birth a new thing in our lives. What looked like a pile of rubble at times was actually just the beginning of something ultimately constructive.

So the book has become a travelogue of what we have discovered living outside the “system” of organized religion. We wanted to offer hope for those who where searching for a deep and meaningful spirituality; who had become disenfranchised with what religion offered them but couldn’t and didn’t want to quiet the voice within them that longed for a deeper relationship with God.