A Purpose-Driven Life
by Libby
I've long read and benefited from your posts at ChannelC.org and the HomeChristians.net website. I belong to a small group (all women) which started as a 'retreat', where we were introduced to the book and journal, The Purpose-Driven Life, by Rick Warren. It's a 40 day spiritual commitment and takes you through an in-depth inner search of your relationship with our heavenly Father through Christ Jesus. Though the author is of course fairly mainstream Christianity, doctrines are not the focus. It's the individual's life's purpose before God which captivates and guides the participants.
We spent a long week-end together at a ranch near where I live, got to know one another, had meals together, prayed together, and then over a 40 day period we met each afternoon in each other's homes to share a chapter together. When that was completed, we decided to continue meeting once a month for fellowship and prayer, using discussion topics from the appendix of the book.
Only one of the groups is involved in a 'regular church', and though the book points to a Christian's involvement in a church in the traditional sense, the rest of us seem to be content with our daily walk with God, family and community commitments, our weekly meeting, and sharing God's word together.
Something very beneficial from the book is the chapter on being 'born again'. There are two of us who were previously Jehovah's Witnesses, so this chapter has held our interest and deepened our understanding of God's purpose for us.
Hope this will be of help to others.