Bishop Claude Alexander (DMin ’04), alumnus and Chair of the Gordon-Conwell Board of Trustees, recently published Necessary Christianity: What Jesus Shows We Must Be and Do. Analyzing Jesus’ statements throughout the gospels, Bishop Alexander helps modern Christians understand the essential parts of our faith that help us live more closely in line with God’s plan. He writes, “Necessary Christianity realizes there is a purpose for which we’ve been created. There is an aim and a goal we’ve been called to pursue. It is that purpose toward which our lives must be aimed . . . When we are about the Father’s business, we are found where the Father is. We are found where the Father assigns us and where the Father has called us. There are some places where we must be found when we’re about the Father’s business. We must be found in the Father’s house worshiping him and giving him glory. We must be found in the Father’s house learning about him. We must be found in the midst of the fellowship of the saints of God. We must be found in the field being a witness for the Lord. We must be found on our knees praying to God. We must be found with our delight in the law of the Lord and on his law meditating day and night. When we live a necessary life, people should know where they can find us. They should know that they can find us pursuing the call of God.”

In his review, Mac Pier, who co-wrote Required: God’s Call to Justice, Mercy, and Humility to Overcome Racial Division with Bishop Alexander, commented, “By helping serious people of faith discover the ‘musts’ of our followership of Jesus, we realize his musts on our lives are indeed the ‘pearl of great price’ to live consequentially. Every major decision needs to be evaluated through the lens of Jesus’ musts on each of us.”

Read the first chapter of Necessary Christianity today, and order your full copy!