"Practice Resurrection" is the last book of a five book series of conversations in spirituality and theology by Peterson. It is an exceptional ending to an excellent series of books. Peterson looks at various aspects of our faith journey throughout the series in a thoughtful and thought provoking way that speaks to followers of the Way whether they are evangelical or mainline in their traditions and backgrounds. This last book offers a wonderful insight into what it truly means to be church. Focusing on the letter of Ephesians and the church at Ephesus, Peterson explores Paul's writing to help the reader understand more deeply that the way of imitating Jesus is both about holiness AND about being in community - not only with God, but with one another. In one of the earlier books ("The Jesus Way"), he concludes that we cannot have the Jesus truth and live the Jesus life with following the Jesus way ("I am the way, the truth, and the life). In Paul's letter, Peterson helps us to see in the Ephesian church how that way of Jesus manifests itself, not just in personal holiness, but in being a commited part of the body of Christ. I found the book to be very readable and well written with areas for deep reflection. It is biblically based and focused and does an excellent job of exploring the various meanings of Ephesians for a modern context. In fact, I found it so well done, that I am preparing to use it to lead a Bible study based on Ephesians that explores what it means to be a resurrection people leading a resurreciton life. ( )

Practice Resurrection is Peterson's meditations on what the church is, according to Ephesians. As you would expect from him, the church is not some nebulous concept but a very practical household—among other metaphors.

If you're stuck with the idea of church as a mere building, or something exclusive between you and Jesus, Peterson's book will challenge you to think more biblically about Christ's bride. Every page has quotable zingers that cut to the quick of North American spirituality. Even if you don't agree, you'll be challenged.

Practice Resurrection is the final volume in Peterson's "conversations" series. He started the series strong with Christ Plays and Eat This Book. The Jesus Way was mediocre, and Tell it Slant was almost disappointing—I wondered if Peterson had wrote himself out of ideas. Thankfully, Practice Resurrection wraps up this series with both style and substance. ( )