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REVIEWS: 3 books to change your church

The Transforming Community: The Practice of the Gospel in Church Discipline
Mark Lauterbach (Christian Focus, 2003)

Mention church discipline, and people either duck under the pews or leave the church. But Mark Lauterbach aims to resurrect this forgotten element of Christian community.

Lauterbach's purpose "is not that we create perfect churches, but that we have in place the right metrics for assessing where problems are and the right principles for addressing them."

If the church is to be the redemptive body God intended her to be, then discipline must be present.

"In every case [of church discipline], Paul applies the Gospel to the life of the church. He does not speak of morality only. … He works out the meaning of the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ as it speaks to every issue. We must keep the Gospel in the center. If we lose the Gospel, we lose everything."

In a world of high divorce rates, murder, suicide, drug abuse, domestic violence, premarital sex, etc., the church must ...

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