Thanks for the link, Todd, and the kind words! I appreciate it.

I can’t wait to read the rest of the book!  There was a time when I knew people who had given up on church because of the pain and my husband and I would think, “How could they?” We were raised in church and loved church.

Fast forward to a very painful church split over pastoral issues (my husband was the head of the search committee) not to mention going thru the worship wars (WWI, WWII, and WWIII) and being involved from the ground up in founding a new church, and we were ripe for burnout.  And yet, God calls us to the “one anotherness” of life in the Body.  It would be easy to get bitter, but we have chosen the higher road, and I am so grateful He has met us where we are at each turn, hill and valley.

Thank you for your candidness, Anne (hoping you’ll be checking back on the comments :0).  You are right--we can much more withstand the assault from outside the ranks than from inside, but a wise senior saint once told me that Satan has done some of his “finest” work within the walls of the church and I think that is what happens many times in these hurtful situations....our enemy is not flesh and blood, but powers and principalities working thru the weakness of the flesh to dishearten the church, hurt our brothers and sisters and steal our joy.  Glad you haven’t let it steal yours!

Looking forward to reading the rest!

I believe this book will be a lifeline to many who naively enter into churches with a burning desire to live out the “one another” verses only to find that sometimes within the church, this somehow escapes those in charge! This will be a healing and helpful book to many. I have pre-ordered it from cbd. These situations are not exactly taught from the pulpit and therefore it is very hard to know how to handle them when they arise. I am looking forward to reading the rest of this book. Thank you Anne, ld