Read the newest essays · Browse themes
Essays on Christ as our life, the ekklesia as His living body, and the religious substitutes that have displaced Him.
Much of what we call Christianity has become a religious substitute for the life of God. These essays expose the buildings, intellectual authorities, gifted personalities, and inherited forms that have displaced Christ as the source of our living. They call us to abandon the substitute and come to Christ Himself.
Begin with These Three Essays
These three readings move from God’s purpose, through the substitutes that occupy His place, to the life of the ekklesia.
1. The Life God Intended to Give
Begin with God’s purpose to give Himself to humanity—His life becoming our living.
2. The Evil of Christian Culture
Consider how the things of Christ can replace Christ, until familiarity with Christian things is mistaken for living by Him.
3. They Had Christ Before They Had Christianity
Turn to the ekklesia as the expression of His life, and the surrender of the forms and gifted control that displace Him.
Then, Cross the River
Cross the River. Leave Babylon. Return to Jerusalem. brings these three readings to a personal invitation: leave what has replaced Christ, give up dependence upon gifted people, and allow His life to find expression among us.
For a quieter companion to the call to cross the river, read What We May Never See—on loving what God desires without assuming its completion is our assignment.
Published Essays
Read the published essays below, beginning with the newest.
The One Thing
An essay tracing five New Testament concerns—Christ’s saving work, faith, abiding, shared life, and resurrection hope—back to the one living relationship.
When Evangelism Takes the Place of Christ
The kingdom is proclaimed through the shared life of Christ’s Ekklesia. Gospel witness must flow from Zoe, with every member abiding in Him.
If God Has Chosen, Zoe Must Flow
If salvation begins in God, our priorities must agree with that source. Christ must be our life, and Zoe must flow through His members.
An Open Letter to the Recovery: Gratitude, Grief, and What Must Change
A personal appeal about ministry, authority, and the burdens placed upon the saints—written with gratitude for what was received and grief over what must change.
Cross the River. Leave Babylon. Return to Jerusalem.
An invitation to cross the river, leave religious dependence behind, and return to Christ without building another movement.
The Evil of Christian Religion
An examination of how Christian institutions, religious authority, and ministry can displace Christ as the believer’s life.
The Fellowship We Have Forsaken
A full essay on the apostles’ fellowship as the shared life of Christ—not an institution, ministry, or method. Companion to the personal Dear Ray letter.
Those Who Have Chosen His Life Above All
There will be a people who follow the Lamb wherever He goes. A call to give Christ first place and let Zoe, His indwelling life, triumph in us.
Our Past Must Not Have the Rest of Our Lives
Our failures and achievements cannot measure what Christ can do in us today. A personal testimony on leaving the past behind and giving Him the days that remain.
The Shadow Is Not the Reality
We can believe Christ is our life while looking elsewhere for security. An invitation to leave the shadows and live from our union with Him.
Themes
Choose a theme to open a related essay or Dear Ray letter.
- The Source before Christian behavior
- System, ministry, and spiritual decline
- The Lord’s table and predictable religious culture
- Elders, authority, and maturity of life
- Evangelism and the meaning of fruit
- The church as a living expression of Christ
- The old creation’s death in Christ
- Time, eternity, and the finished work of God
Read related letters
These published Dear Ray letters touch several of the themes above:
- The Vision That Never Cooks — on the difference between a living vision and religious activity.
- What I Remember from Santa Barbara — a recollection of fellowship and the life of the church.
- The Difficulty of Beginning Again — on renewed attention to Christ, whose life remains ours through years of interruption.
Keep reading with me
Receive selected Dear Ray letters and essays by email. Other new writings remain available here on the website. Subscribe free; unsubscribe whenever you wish.
After subscribing, check your inbox for the confirmation email and click Confirm. Check your spam folder if it does not arrive. Your email subscription begins when you confirm.
