“The early church would have had no place for mere church adherence. If you were a Christian, you would have been a full-on member of the church by utter necessity. Christian faith was a life and death, a sink-or-swim affair back then. And it still is today, we’ve just more fat, more cushion, more insulation from the reality that anything less than a full commitment to Christ and his church is the path of death. We long to journey together, we love you, after all we are going to spend eternity together, so let’s partner together in praise of God almighty, call each other to greater trust and sacrifice, and live so closely that our edges are made smooth as Christ sanctifies his bride…”