Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me — watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly. — Jesus (Matthew 11:29-30, The Message)

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.