The Great Awakening: How I left the church of Christ and found Christ in his Church

This is a book about a new beginning. After 20 years of teaching and preaching with the churches of Christ in West Virginia Andrew Burns left the tradition and found a new home in the Orthodox Church. In these pages you will read about the issues with which he struggled the solutions he found and the reasoning he went through that eventually led him away from the churches of Christ. This is neither is a condemnation of the churches of Christ nor an apology for Orthodox Christianity. Instead it is Burns offering to those struggling with their faith that and they who suspect there may be more to Christian faith than they previously thought.Andrew Burns shares his journey from the Church of Christ to the discovery of Christ himself. Actually you can find in any church no matter what their designation those who are more aligned with their party than with Christ. Many are born into their religion like Rachel who stole her fathers gods (Genesis 31:19). Religion then replaces a relationship with Christ. This is Andrews story. Andrews context is the most conservative wing of the Churches of Christ. Usually these groups heavily emphasize conformity to a set ritual and find security in not being like the denominations. He likens his experience to floating in a current that can carry one to being either closer to God or further from the truth. (p. 14) Some settle in to float ignoring the reality of where they are going. Andrew did not ignore that reality - in recognizing it he paid a price but also found a treasure! As he writes early on (p. 15) there is no solution but Jesus no decision but to follow him and no hope but the resurrection.I am also a member of the Church of Christ - just not the more conservative wing - which Andrew describes as anti. I am also a member of the church of Christ that is the universal church. In the Churches of Christ there are some 60 divisions. Most if not all of these fractures are a result of an insistence on conforming to external ritual. I have my own history of the personal struggle of moving from ritual to reality. This is why I can highly recommend this book to you. Andrews testimony in this book exalts Christ and exposes the idols of the human heart. Something of value can be found in every chapter.Jim Woodell Executive DirectorJohn 3:17 Ministry for Women with AddictionsNewport AR 72112