BOOK REVIEW: CHRIST IN Y'ALL by Neil Carter

If we could step back in time and experience a New Testament fellowship of believers, I am persuade that what went on there would look VERY MUCH like what Neil describes in "Christ In Y'all."


Jesus never prayed that we would be known by our doctrine, or what denomination we belonged to, or how many sermons we listened to. There is so much hair-splitting over fine-points of doctrine that the Protestants are divided up into thousands of splinter groups.

As believers, we tend to have a very individualistic, self-centered, mindset. We come to Christ and accept HIM as our "personal" Savior and we typically do this in a very private fashion, "With all heads bowed and eyes closed." We read scripture with the same "personal" frame of mind in looking in it for "What's in it for me." But, all of the epistles that are written to the churches have a radically differnt frame of referance in that they are written to a body of believers who are not individual "Christians" but "members one of another." These believers fellowshiped together around an indwelling LORD who was enthroned in their hearts and in their meetings together.

Darell L. Bock writes in "A Biblical Theology of the New Testament" writes:

"...a major focus of this letter (Ephesians) and of the Prison Epistles in general is the corporate nature of those who are in the body of Christ. Believers do not have a private faith; they have a corporate relationship and responsibility to each other. God has taken the initiative to form a new people through Jesus..."

Neil describes, from the inside out, what form such a community of believers can experience as they lay down their religious baggage and settle down with one another in Christ-centered fellowships that are not pew to pulpit focused but are in fact face-to-face fellwships that are seeking intimacy with the LORD as a corporate pursuit.

Our GOD is truly doing a new thing in the earth today. Believers are discovering authentic fellowship and encounter with their indwelling LORD and they are discovering this together in community. "Christ in Y'all" is highly recommended as an invitation to this life in Christ that is much bigger and greater than three songs and a sermon each Sunday.

"By the Father y'all were called into companionship and participation with HIS Son, Jesus Christ our LORD." I Cor. 1:9

Read Neil's book and then read

Finding Organic Church: A Comprehensive Guide to Starting and Sustaining Authentic Christian Communities by Frank Viola (Paperback - Sep 1, 2009)

and

The Temple Within: Fellowship with an Indwelling Christ by Milt Rodriguez (Paperback - Sep 22, 2004)