Book Review:
JESUS HAS LEFT THE BUILDING
- by Paul Vieira
Book Review of ‘JESUS HAS LEFT THE BUILDING’
By Paul Vieira
- by Grace Wiebe, Jan. 2007
Quote from the book: “Christ-Followers everywhere are leaving the church…Where
is Jesus taking them?”
When I first read the title of Paul’s book – ‘Jesus Has Left
the Building’, I confess that I wondered whether this might be a book
written by someone who was going to be venting their frustrations about the
church, and, if so, I was not really interested in reading it.
It kept coming to my attention, however, and eventually I felt that perhaps
I was to read it, after all, and I am very glad that I did!
I believe that Paul’s challenging book is a very needed and timely book
for not only the Church at large, but for Jesus-followers all over that are
interested or involved in house/simple churches (for lack of a better term,
since what God is doing is much bigger than this!! The terms can become confusing
and too restrictive, but at this point it gives many some frame of reference
as to what we’re talking about). I believe God will use this book to
greatly encourage and bless His Church as He uses Paul to exhort us to change/transition
into the things God is moving us into.
Before reading Paul’s very good and important book, I had just finished
reading Wolfgang Simpson’s excellent new book, “Prophetic Intelligence
for Apostolic Architecture”, as well. I believe the two of them compliment
each other very well and that both are very timely and helpful in providing
further direction to the Body of Christ in this critical season of transition
that God has His Church in at this juncture as I believe He is preparing us
to ‘enter the Promised Land’ – Joshua 1.
I would highly recommend both books. It has increasingly seemed to me that
those of us involved in house/simple churches for some time (and many others
in the Body of Christ), have been sensing that we’re about to transition
into a ‘deeper level’ in our journey as the Church as Jesus is bringing
us into deeper maturity in Him, and we have been watching and waiting for
that, yet not really very clear on what that may look like.
I believe that both Paul’s and Wolfgang’s books will help to give
some further glimpses into that, and that as we move forward step by step
as the Holy Spirit leads us, He will give further clarity to us for the next
step and the next step, just as He did for the Israelites as they began to
enter into the Promised Land.
There are many things about Paul’s book which I deeply appreciate and
I will touch on a few of them. The thing I appreciate most about his book,
however, is His focus on Jesus and the Church Jesus birthed/started, instead
of focusing on house/simple churches, which are merely a means/part of the
journey to the much greater end and just part of the much greater picture/reality
of the Kingdom of God; I also deeply appreciate his emphasis on the greater
focus of whole-heartedly loving God and others. If we focus on house/simple
churches or anything else instead of on the things GOD wants us to focus on
– ie. loving Him with all our hearts, souls, minds, and strength and
loving our neighbours as ourselves, Christ being formed in us, seeking first
his Kingdom and His righteousness, etc., we will be distracted from His ultimate
purposes/desires and miss out on not only being able to increasingly participate
in all that God desires to do in and through His Body in the months/years
to come, but, and more importantly, fall short of the depth of intimacy that
He longs to have with us as we keep our focus on HIM instead of all the myriads
of things that seek to keep our eyes and hearts occupied, as vital as they
are.
Another aspect of Paul’s book which I found very helpful was his description/picture
of believers as ‘amphibions’ – created to function both among
believers and non-believers – ie. the Church without walls, etc.
I also deeply appreciated his attention to such very important aspects of
Body life and our relationships with God, such as: counting the cost, the
Church’s call to the poor/oppressed, etc., and with that a clearer understanding
of what the sin of Sodom really was.
His inclusion of subjects like the ‘house of prayer for all nations’,
suffering, the Tabernacle of David, getting out into the world, love, listening
to/waiting on God and doing what He says, etc. is also very valuable and helpful.
As well, I deeply appreciated his sharing of his own journey, which I believe
will have some similarities to parts of the journeys God has taken many of
you on, as well. It will help you to realize you are not alone in your journey!
Paul also addresses an issue that many, including me, have been struggling
with and praying about for years – that of re-thinking how the Church
is to reach out to the lost in this unique generation .
Personally, I have taken many ‘evangelism’ training courses over
the years, but I honestly have not found them to be effective for me and have
in fact felt very frustrated when trying to follow any of these methods. The
best experiences in sharing Christ with others have been when depending on
the Holy Spirit to lead me step by step. And so, for years, I have been on
a learning curve with God about His approach to ‘discipling’ those
He connects me with, especially in the time in which we live and the types
of people/ideologies/religious pluralism, etc. among which we live.
I believe that if we really want to see God’s Kingdom come and His will
being done on earth as it is in heaven, a part of that is our need to experience
God’s shifting of our paradigms about how to reach the lost of this generation,
and Paul’s book is a wonderful glimpse into what God seems to be leading
His people into in increasing measure in these days.
Paul also includes some interesting thoughts about ‘exiles’ in Scripture
and how that relates to us…I had not thought about this in these terms
before and he has whetted my appetite to search the Scriptures more about
this.
There is much more that I could mention, as I have totally messed up my copy
of the book by underlining much of the book and turning down the corners of
most pages! However, I don’t want to give it all away and want to greatly
encourage you to read the book yourselves, so will leave it at this!
Paul’s book is one of those books that you will likely want to share
with many of your friends! I highly recommend it!
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Who is Paul?
Paul is a Canadian “…author and lecturer, seeking to inspire believers
to reflect Jesus out in the real world. Paul has much to share about knowing
the times that we live in by looking back into biblical history. This is not
the first time that God has left the building.
As a teenager, Paul was used by God to sprout a youth ministry
that touched hundreds of young people and was critical in setting the direction
for Paul’s life. Shortly after becoming a lead pastor in his early twenties,
Paul began to ask the question, “What church did Jesus go to?” His
longing to experience a genuine expression of the original church of Acts
compelled Paul to leave institutional forms of church. He now shares life
with other lovers of God who often meet around the table, in homes, restaurants,
coffee shops or wherever two or three can gather.
Paul is also the director of a discipleship school called the Joppa Experience,
located near his home in Canada. He has also made the entire course, which
is focused on knowing God and finding Christ throughout all of Scripture,
available online at: www.joppaonline.com.
Paul’s ultimate aspiration is to know and love god. Paul also loves to
spend time pursuing another passion, writing and performing music (some of
which is available online – note by Grace). His joy is his wife and four
children.”
About Paul Vieira
Chapters
Chapter 1
Listen to: The Church Jesus Started
– see lower right side of page
A couple of Paul’s articles:
A Quest for
Fathers
What Lies
Beneath
Extreme
Makeover – Church Edition
Joppa Online Discipleship School
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Great Commission Worship & Arts Center