“What are the practices – ancient and new – that form us into Christlikeness for the sake of the world?”

The Kingdom of God is like a river – an eternal current running through history, according to Aaron Niequist. Through his search for a relationship with God that was relevant to life today, Aaron studied history and found ways to bring the focus of church back to God instead of on worship or a sermon. Aaron explores this idea of a practice-focused church in The Eternal Current.

Aaron Niequist is married to Shauna Niequist, who has written several books. I’ve enjoyed Bread and Wine, Cold Tangerines, Present Over Perfect and Savor. When I saw her husband was writing a book, I applied to be on the launch team. I received a copy of the book before it was published in exchange for a fair review. The book was just released Aug. 7, 2018.

I really enjoyed reading Aaron’s view on The Church and how it would be more helpful if Christians focused on all being part of the Kingdom of God rather than being part of a certain denomination. Being a convert to Catholicism from Protestantism, I saw a lot of points in his book that I studied on my own more than a decade ago. One point he made was that the church didn’t put the sermon as the focus of its services until recent history – it was all focused on the Eucharist/communion. Also, he talks about how a church service should be a place where believers gather to learn and focus and then go out into their main mission – the rest of the week. This is rather than using church as a place to attract non-believers.

I wish Aaron had put more of the facts and history of what he learned in the book instead of just referencing the books he read. He also takes a chapter to focus on diversity, rather than focus on seeing each person as a person with unique experiences who adds value to the discussion. I would still highly recommend this book to any Christian who is looking to find a good practical way of engaging the world, but finding a solid way to join other believers in coming together as part of one kingdom. Resources for the book can be found at Aaron Niequist’s Web site.

What is the best faith-based book you’ve read? Share on the blog!

Buy the book here (affiliate link).

This post was shared on #AnOpenBook with Carolyn Astfalk’s My Scribbler’s Heart Blog!