3.5 stars -- I didn't like this book as much as I thought I would, but there are still many good nuggets here.

The book is divided into only 5 chapters and is quite short. Despite this, it took me a while to get through it because there were so many parts I needed to stop and really think about. (Also, the older-English writing with thee's and thou's tossed in made it a bit wordy.) I did feel that the writing sometimes seemed a bit repetitive and could have been edited more.

I really liked chapters 1, 4, and 5 ("Community," "Ministry," and "Confession and Communion," respectively). I wrote down a lot of quotes from these chapters that I didn't want to forget!

One of my favorite quotes pertaining to Christian fellowship is found on page 27: "He who loves his dream of a community more than the Christian community itself becomes a destroyer of the latter, even though his personal intentions may be ever so honest and earnest and sacrificial." -- I see a lot of this "loving the dream more than the community" within the hipster movement, so it really stuck out to me.

Chapters 2 and 3 ("The Day with Others" and "The Day Alone," respectively) missed the mark a bit for me. I'm not quite sure which denomination Bonhoeffer is associated with, but I disagreed with many of his views on prayer (for example, he advocates very rigid, scheduled prayer times for various topics) as well as certain interactions between Christians. (He seems to believe that being a Christian means letting other believers walk all over you without holding them accountable, but not even Christ did that - He extends forgiveness, but we have to repent. Enabling others to sin is never the right course of action! I guess Bonhoeffer never read [b:Boundaries|944267|Boundaries When to Say Yes, How to Say No to Take Control of Your Life|Henry Cloud|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1348423991s/944267.jpg|1450035]. ;) ) ( )

I have wanted to read this book for some time, but was left a bit disappointed. There were definitely things of good, which cannot be discounted. But all in all, the book wasn’t quite what I was expecting on the topic.

First, the good:

1. I appreciated the balance and excellent of the sections on solitude and silence when so many warn us to avoid silence:

“There is an indifferent, or even negative, attitude toward silence which sees in it a disparagement of God's revelation in the Word. This is the view which misinterprets silence is a ceremonial gesture, as a mystical desire to get beyond the Word. This is to miss the essential relationship of silence to the Word. Silence is the simple stillness of the individual under the Word of God. We are silent before hearing the Word because our thoughts are already directed to the Word, as a child is quiet when he enters his father's room. We are silent after hearing the Word because the Word is still speaking and dwelling within us.”

2. “It will happen again and again that the person who is charged with offering the prayer for the fellowship will not feel at all in the spiritual mood to do so, and will much prefer to turn over his task to another for this day. Such a shift is not advisable, however. Otherwise, the prayer of the fellowship will too easily be governed by moods which have nothing to do with spiritual life. It is precisely when a person, who is borne down by inner emptiness and weariness or a sense of personal unworthiness, feels that he would like to withdraw from his task, that he should learn what it means to have a duty to perform in the fellowship, and the brethren should support him in his weakness, in his inability to pray.”

3. This quote on personal intercession for another:

“I can no longer condemn or hate a brother for whom I pray, no matter how much trouble he causes me. . . There is no dislike, no personal tension, no estrangement that cannot be overcome by intercession as far as our side of it is concerned.”

4. The mention that psalms we ourselves cannot pray, “hint to us that here Someone else is praying, not we. . . none other than Jesus Christ Himself.”

The not so good: The writing is rather dry a lot of the time and not much citing of Scripture is given for his ideas.

It was concerning that he did not mention the importance of knowing the proper context of a Scripture passage when meditating on the Word, instead encouraging the individual to ponder what it personally says to us and for our own life. This isn’t inherently bad, but we need to be careful not to misinterpret a Scripture in wrong or harmful ways because we do not know its context. For example, it could lead someone to read into God calling Abraham to another location as God telling us to move if someone did not know the full narrative of the Bible as a whole.

Secondly, I cannot agree where he says there should only be unison/melody only singing in worship.

As a minister of music and someone who has studied music history, it’s important to remember how Bach and Handel composed their choral works intentionally to the glory of God, such as Handel’s Messiah complete with full harmonies telling of Christ. Music in worship can be through a musical presentation of truth such as they and others of their era composed.

Furthermore, unity of fellowship does not require us to completely set aside harmony voices in our musical worship to God. Some singers will not be able to sing every song (whether hymn or composed recently) in the range it is in, even as we seek to choose a singable key for most. This would hinder from singing those who might otherwise be able to sing by adding harmony.

This also well illustrates how God gives differing gifts and ministries but of His same Spirit to those in the Body of Christ.

Of course, I agree that singers seeking to promote themselves or show off their abilities are a hindrance to unity; however, harmonies can work together in a way that adds to the unity of the church in musical worship and helps support those without musical training as the Body sings praises to God in one voice when musicians have a heart to honor the Lord. Likewise, “one voice” does not mean only melody as referring to singing, but of being like-hearted and having one mind as Paul wrote in Philippians 2.

By the end, however, I was thankful I didn’t stop short in reading this book. Despite the writing style and things mentioned above, there were good points and helpful sections. ( )

Wide is the gap between the “wishful image of pious community” and the church constituted by the great author of faith. So says Dietrich Bonhoeffer in his treatise on Christian community. Because the church is a real thing, it exists within a real context. Spatially, the church exists “in the midst of enemies.” Whether it is the Roman Empire or the Nazi government of Bonhoeffer’s day, the church expects opposition.

Chronologically, the church exists in a unique period of redemptive history. Though it tastes the first fruits, it awaits the final gathering at Christ’s return.

It is at this junction that Christians “find their mission.” Christ designates His church the “bringers of the message of salvation.” The evangelistic duty to the world flows from the heart of Christian community. Christian fellowship exists because “Christians need other Christians who speak God’s Word to them.” As the appointed administrators of the Word, Christian community assumes a particular form and structure. It is a “divine reality.”

“Divine reality” characterizes “spiritual reality,” which emanates from the Holy Spirit, while “emotional reality” proceeds from the flesh. The difference between spiritual and emotional reality is twofold. The first distinction is in what binds the community together. Spiritual community attests to the adhesive quality of common faith. The community between two believers “consists solely in what Christ has done to both of [them.]” Two Christians may share many traits, but none compare to their union in Christ. In comparison, competition plagues emotional communities as each member projects his own ideals onto the community. “[T]he visionary ideal binds the people together,” not faith in Christ.

The activity of Christians living together reveals the second difference between spiritual and emotional reality. The manner in which Christians love one another is fundamental since it shapes all other enterprises. Because an emotional community exists only out of the “desire for community” itself, its love is egocentric. Just as Wormwood knew his “ravenously affectionate” Uncle Screwtape, so too does an emotional community only know “the complete intimate fusion of I and You.” It is a consuming love that only asks how others are serving one’s own needs. Love in the spiritual community, however, “comes from Jesus Christ,” and “serves him alone.”

Selfless love extends into all facets of life within the spiritual community. Each activity, though distinct in habit, proceeds from the Word to serve the common good of believers. By praying the Psalms, the church discovers what prayer is and how “to pray as a community.” In prayer, believers unite in the body of Christ and learn true selflessness. Scripture reading draws Christians into a redemptive story. The community “participates” in the stories together and “receives salvation in Jesus Christ.” The stories of God’s redemptive love spur the Christian community into worship. Worship is the “victory song” of the church and reminds God’s people of all that He has done and is still doing for them. Though vocations are often considered in individual terms, they too serve the community. Work, in the hand of God, is an instrument “for purification of Christians from all self-absorption and selfishness.” Work outside the sphere of one’s direct Christian community prepares him for the work inside it. Service to others defines a life spent within Christian community. Believers are always looking for opportunities to serve others in the body through “listening,” “active helpfulness,” and “supporting one another.”

Interestingly, a life of service unveils the paradox of Christian freedom. Bearing the burdens of others within the community frees all that is “human nature, individuality, and talent” to flourish. Ironically, a life of selfless service, born from faith, liberates the believer to become most fully himself. In this way, life within the church follows the ex contrario pattern of God’s grace.

Every community enterprise culminates in the Lord’s Supper. Communion acknowledges spiritual reality and unifies the Christian community across time and space. At the table, the Christian community “has reached its goal” and is “complete.”

The divine reality of the church has real implications for the present moment. Too many in self-appointed positions of authority castigate the actual church against their idealized version of it. They “love their dream of a Christian community” and not the Christian community which exists among them, full of deplorables and others lacking in social and cultural power (10). And no poll or data suggest that is going to change anytime soon. The church in the immediate future projects to be a small remnant, despised and rejected for its audacity to challenge liberal dogmas of life, sexuality, and gender. We will not make it out without friends. The Christian community has been sown together exactly for this purpose. May we join in hope, faith, and love and strengthen the body now for the blows that come in the future. ( )

After his martyrdom at the hands of the Gestapo in 1945, Dietrich Bonhoeffer continued his witness in the hearts of Christians around the world. His Letters and Papers from Prison became a prized testimony to Christian faith and courage, read by thousands. Now in Life Together we have Pastor Bonheoffer's experience of Christian community. This story of a unique fellowship in an underground seminary during the Nazi years reads like one of Paul's letters. It gives practical advice on how life together in Christ can be sustained in families and groups. The role of personal prayer, worship in common, everyday work, and Christian service is treated in simple, almost biblical, words. Life Together is bread for all who are hungry for the real life of Christian fellowship. 'When I think of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, some words Gorky used of Tolstoy come into my mind---'Look what a wonderful man is living on the earth.''---MALCOM MUGGERIDGE, author of Jesus

This book will challenge your view of the church: what it is what it can be. Forget the show; this is shared life in a faith community. - Journey Coach

Bonhoeffer describes the beauty of living together in community with Christ. - Will Jones ( )

3.5 stars
There were some good points in here and some valuable discussions, but other things that I didn't agree with (especially when talking about corporate worship). ( )

Life Together, originally written by Dietrich Bonhoeffer as a reflection and rule of life during his time as leader of the illegal seminary of the Confessing Church in Finkenwalde (Eastern Prussia) in the 1930s, is one of the classic texts of twentieth-century spirituality. Since its first publication in German in 1939, it has influenced Christian individuals and communities in their thinking of what it means to live a life before God.
“The person who loves their dream of community” opined Bonhoeffer,” will destroy community, but the person who loves those around them will create ommunity”

see also 'An Adventure Shared' by Rowlands (19A) ( )

Another classic by Bonhoeffer. Although there is some cultural influence shown based on his life time, the book nonetheless puts so much to consider into so few pages overall. Wonderful. ( )

Very dense, high economy of words, plus the fact that it's translated make it a tough read. That being said, it is worth the effort; a lot of practical advice and recommendations, backed by scripture.

"(Silence of the Christian) is a listening silence, humble stillness, that may be interrupted at any time for the sake of humility." ( )

Bonhoeffer, interested in what defines a Christian community, created one within his seminary in Finkenwalde, a suburb near pre-WWII Berlin, Germany. Although the seminary was closed by a pro-Nazi bishop, the content of Life Together is applicable for any Christian community. The structure of this book includes Bonhoeffer's reflections on the Christian community and what sets it apart from other communities, the need for a Christ-centered daily experience, meditative prayer, service to others, and the healing power of confession. This book is ideal for group discussion and ends with a series of questions for self-reflection or group discussion. ( )

This is a six-star book. Heck, call it eleven stars. Absolutely classic.

Life Together was young Dietrich Bonhoeffer's manifesto about the Christian community, written as he was leading an underground seminary for the confessing church under Nazi German rule. The members of the seminary knew that they would be executed if they were found; Bonhoeffer was martyred in the process.

Still, the book deals with the everyday nature of conflict and falling short between one person and another; it drives us into deeper relationship and forgiveness and community.

I'll teach from this book in academic and lay coursework around spiritual formation in communities and networks. It's a bit Lutheran and liturgical in some spots for some readers, but it's overwhelmingly powerful throughout. ( )

A little book that should be read slowly. Not all that Bonhoeffer says could be universally applied to every form of Christian community. But he is thoughtful and certain things he says makes you aware that he has walked with Christ in community into deep waters. ( )

Here is my review:

http://carolhomeschool2.blogspot.com/2016/06/22-life-together-by-dietrich-bonhoe... ( )

In this book Bonhoeffer challenges the idea of true Christian community. He talks of how we should put others in the community above ourselves and we should learn to listen. He really challenged me with the portion about being a sinner and how in christian communities we try to act like there are no sinners among us when in reality we are all sinners and need to confess our sins to each other in the small group so we aren't fighting the battle alone. ( )

In this book Bonhoeffer challenges the idea of true Christian community. He talks of how we should put others in the community above ourselves and we should learn to listen. He really challenged me with the portion about being a sinner and how in christian communities we try to act like there are no sinners among us when in reality we are all sinners and need to confess our sins to each other in the small group so we aren't fighting the battle alone. ( )

Incredibly convicting book by a true hero of the faith. As I live in community I find this book a resource that should not be shelved prematurely. If you are thinking about living in community, or are in one I recommend this book highly. ( )

This was nothing more than the author's personal fantasy; chocked full of speculation and bold assertions. Any person who claims to know what god knows/thinks/wants, is either lying or delusional. Some of the ideas expressed in this book seem innocente enough but there were some very dangerous ideas in here and to follow them could get you killed (or worse). ( )

In the book “Life Together” Dietrich Bonhoeffer presented some good ideas of what Christian community should look like. He starts out by reminding us of how much of a privilege it is to be able to meet with other believers. The time we spend with Christians should be the most joyful part of our days and weeks. He goes on to write about the difference between spiritual love (love generated by God) and human love (love we conjure up on our own). I think that he made some good points here, in that, as long as community is something that we are trying to do on our own it won't work. We need to make Christ our focus, and as each member of the body focuses in more on the head, Christ, then we will all work together in unity. Bonhoeffer states, “Our community with one another consists solely in what Christ has done to both of us. This is true not merely at the beginning, as though in the course of time something else were to be added to our community; it remains so for all the future and to all eternity. I have community with others and I shall continue to have it only through Jesus Christ”
I think that one of the hardest things the church faces is to keep all of its members focused in on Christ, and that is what the rest of the book was about. He tried to give practical methods of keeping our focus true and on the mark. Unfortunately, at times I think that he got a little over zealous and eccentric in his ideas, such as when he stated that there is something more spiritual and more pleasing in singing in unison than singing with harmony, although he did have a point that we have to be careful that the singing time doesn't turn the attention away from God. Some of his ideas, such as the one just mentioned, seemed to come more out of his own mind than from the Bible, but at other times he was very good at documenting what verses he based his thought on.
He definitely was right on when he said, “If it is really true that it is hard for us, as adult Christians, to comprehend even a chapter of the Old Testament in sequence, then this can only fill us with profound shame; what kind of testimony is that to our knowledge of the Scriptures and all our previous reading of them? .... But, of course, we must admit that the Scriptures are still largely unknown to us. Can the realization of our fault, our ignorance of the Word of God, have any other consequence than that we should earnestly and faithfully retrieve what has been neglected?” Bonhoeffer suggests that there are three key components of time spent in fellowship with believers. He says that these three things are praying a psalm, reading at least a chapter from the Old Testament and a chapter from the New Testament, and singing a hymn. He then goes on to explain his thoughts on each. One thing that I greatly appreciated was his stand on reading Scripture. He feels that it is of utmost importance to read and study the Word of God, and that when admonishing others and when making decisions we must use the Word as our guideline, not logic or experience. This is something that was very prevalent in Rocky Ridge. Often times people would talk about how they've seen things work, or they would compare the church to a business and try to model it after one, but they would forget that we are supposed to be modeling ourselves after Christ and that the Bible is of the highest authority while we are here on earth. I also agree with him that there are too many Christians, myself included, out there today who just don't know there Bible very well, simply because we just don't take the time that we should to read it.
If he had finished the book at this point, after talking about love, service, meeting together, and personal devotions, it would have painted a nice picture but it wouldn't have been complete. If these things were modeled completely, it would create a good community, grounded in the Word, and loving Christ and one another, but as humans we sin, and Bonhoeffer doesn't forget that, so he also included a section on how to respond when there is one in the community who is not living as they should be or who has committed some sin. He reminds us first of all that we are all sinners, and that we have all been forgiven by God, and therefore we all must forgive eachother. Not only this, but it is important to confess to eachother. Confession to a brother causes the problem to not be our own anymore, we no longer bear it by ourselves, and in that we can finally leave the sin behind through the power of Christ.
I felt that Bonhoeffer had some really good things to say in this book. Some of his thoughts seemed a bit idealized, but he also was quick to remind us that we are sinners and we must remember that we are only who we are through Christ.

This is a challenging book on Christian living. Bonhofer builds a solid, scriptural argument that will test your faith and challenge the reader to new levels of sanctification.. ( )

"Reading Bonhoeffer is incredibly convicting." That was my friend's opinion when I mentioned this book, and he is absolutely right.

Bonhoeffer was the German pastor convicted, imprisoned, and executed for speaking out against Hitler and eventually scheming to assassinate him. As with his opposition to Fascism, Bonhoeffer lived out each one of his beliefs. That biographical tidbit makes every one of his books more amazing; his strong rhetoric is not simply hopeful. Bonhoeffer walked the talk.

In this book, Bonhoeffer explored the role of Christian community, which he imagines as a small, familial fellowship of believers. Christians, in Bonhoeffer's world, meet together morning and night, before and after their workdays. For that reason, Life Together includes strong opinions about how a community should do daily reading and prayer. Modern Christians may be put off by the depth of involvement Bonhoeffer expects from them, particularly in the chapter entitled "The Day with Others."

The other chapters are devoted to the nature of Christian community, the need for silence and solitude, the role of ministry in community, and the need for confession and communion. Bonhoeffer's praise of solitude echoes Blaise Pascal, when he writes:

"Many people seek fellowship because they are afraid to be alone. Because they cannot stand loneliness, they are driven to seek the company of other people. ... The person who comes into a fellowship because he is running away from himself is misusing it for the sake of diversion, no matter how spiritual this diversion may appear."

I commend this book to you, because it will challenge you to invest more time, energy, and prayer in your local Christian community. Bonhoeffer elevates Christ in all things, and he illustrates beautifully the role individual Christians play in proclaiming Christ. It will encourage you to pursue life together. ( )

This is a six-star book. Heck, call it eleven stars. Absolutely classic.

Life Together was young Dietrich Bonhoeffer's manifesto about the Christian community, written as he was leading an underground seminary for the confessing church under Nazi German rule. The members of the seminary knew that they would be executed if they were found; Bonhoeffer was martyred in the process.

Still, the book deals with the everyday nature of conflict and falling short between one person and another; it drives us into deeper relationship and forgiveness and community.

I'll teach from this book in academic and lay coursework around spiritual formation in communities and networks. It's a bit Lutheran and liturgical in some spots for some readers, but it's overwhelmingly powerful throughout. ( )

Modern social definitions of community focus on geographical and political union, and this focus has contributed somewhat to a recession and reduction of a sound doctrine of the church (Ecclesiology). For the church and the world, the carnal has largely replaced the spiritual. Life Together (New York: Harper and Row, 1954) may be a panacea for this ill that will also cultivate a desire for Christian fellowship in the greater context of the communion of the saints.

A man who was martyred for his faith, Dietrich Bonhoeffer's (1906-1945) conviction was forged in context of German dialectical theology and the fires of Nazi Germany. This context is essential to understanding Bonhoeffer’s emphases.

The Introduction, written by the book’s Translator, John W. Doberstein, succinctly provides a historical background. The biographical history specifically germane to the topic is the period starting from April 1935, when, by invitation of the anti-Nazi Confessing Church, Bonhoeffer assists in the establishment of a seminary by the Baltic Sea at Zingst, where Bonhoeffer lived “a common life in emergency-built houses with twenty-five vicars.” (p. 11). Life together was moved shortly after to Finkenwalde in Pomerania, and it was Bonhoeffer’s experience and mediations during this time that led to the publication of Gemeinsames Leben in 1938. Another well-known book, The Cost of Discipleship, was also written during this period.

Bonhoeffer’s understanding of life together under the Word (p. 17) is the subject of his relatively small treatise. He draws out his definition of community as being lived in the midst of one’s enemies and oppressors (Chapter I, Community); its commonality expressed in worship, the use of the Psalter, the reading of Scripture, prayer, and the fellowship we enjoy at meals (Chapter II, The Day with Others); its individuality in engaging in both solitude and silence as stillness before the Word (Chapter III, The Day Alone); mutual service and submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ (Chapter IV, Ministry); and, how sinners can and may exhibit the love of God in Christ to one another (Chapter V, Confession and Communion).

Postmodern and post-Christian paradigms emphasize an ethos of getting together to do meaningful things, but meaning is derived from the experience, not principles that drive the events, and especially not from principles revealed to us in Scripture. Perhaps Bonhoeffer himself over-emphasized experience, but what makes Bonhoeffer compelling in this book is that he speaks—albeit without much citation—biblical truths that have gone largely by the wayside in evangelical circles: an emphasis on listening to God’s Word; spiritual, Christ-centered and other-focused love; self-denial; seeing Christ in others; an emphasis on union—we are members of one Body—and community; and suffering.

Bonhoeffer’s writings, and seminally, his doctoral dissertation Sanctorum Communio (The Communion of Saints), are problematic for both what he does and does not say. For example, in his doctoral thesis he wrote that Christ is present only in the community of the church: “…Christ himself is the community…Christ is present only in the community.” (A Testament to Freedom, pp. 56-57). This is to this reviewer’s mind a con-fusion of Christ with the Body of Christ for which he gave himself: one could easily end up neglecting God’s transcendence by overemphasizing the Incarnation. In other words, as I read this book, I wondered if Bonhoeffer wasn’t having Humanity swallow Deity.

Nonetheless, while it may be true that Bonhoeffer’s novel, neo-orthodox existentialism and his ecumenism are objectionable issues; that he was a theologian who espoused experience over theology; or that (reputedly) in following Barth he laid the groundwork for Death of God Theology: in reading Life Together I was often reminded that miserable sinners need mercy—from God and from one another—and as we walk our own Via Dolorosa with Jesus it is good to have the company of those who think of themselves as sinners getting sanctified. Whatever Bonhoeffer’s failings, identifying this basic truth wasn’t one of them.

Some favorite quotations are:

“Christian community is like the Christian's sanctification. It is a gift which we cannot claim. Only God knows the real state of our fellowship, of our sanctification. What may appear weak and trifling to us may be great and glorious to God. Just as the Christian should not be constantly feeling his spiritual pulse, so, too, the Christian community has not been given to us by God for us to be constantly taking its temperature. The more thankfully we daily receive what is given to us, the more surely and steadily will fellowship increase and grow from day to day as God pleases” (p. 33).

“Because Christ has long since acted decisively for my brother, before I could begin to act, I must leave him his freedom to be Christ's; I must meet him only as the person that he already is in Christ's eyes” (p. 36).

A discerning reader will glean from this book with the blessing of the Spirit: I recommend it with the previously stated caveats and observations. ( )

A book written with the authority of a man who not only spent much time in thoughtful community, but also died a martyr to his beliefs at the hands of the Nazi regime. He begins this book with a description of what a community is not. It is not the wish dream of a visionary, but rather the functioning of a group that centers on the truth of God's Word in the realistic setting of a broken world. He maintains, "Just as surely as God desires to lead us to a knowledge of genuine Christian fellowship, so surely must we be overwhelmed by a great disillusionment with others, with Christians in general, and, if we are fortunate, with ourselves. By sheer grace, God will not permit us to live even for a brief period in a dream world." He proceeds to our need to give the other person in the community the freedom of being who he was by God created to be and not what we may construct as our ideal for him to be. Judgmentalism is immediately flagged as crucial. "There is no time to lose here, for from the first moment when a man meets another person he is looking for a strategic position he can assume and hold over against that person." Other points for life in a fellowship include the ministry of holding one's tongue, meekness, listening, helpfulness, bearing, proclaiming and authority. The book ends with a very important chapter on confession. Bonhoeffer explains, "He who is alone with his sin in utterly alone...Sin demands to have a man by himself. The more isolated a person is, the more destructive will be the power of sin over him and the more deeply he becomes involved in it, the more disatrous is his isolation. It shuns the light." A book of profound power brought from the life of a man dedicated to the truth even unto death. ( )

Written on the eve of WWII, by this Bonhoeffer, who was matyred by the Nazi's in 1945. A challenge to live in community ( )

As a person living in Christian community, I find Bonhoeffer's advice to keep God's view of community in mind rather than one's own "wish dream" to be very helpful. "The serious Christian, set down for the first time in a Christian community, is likely to bring with him a very definite idea of what Christian life together should be and to try to realize it. But God's grace speedily shatters such dreams. Just as surely as God desires to lead us to a knowledge of genuine Christian fellowship, so surely must we be overwhelmed by a great disillusionment with others, with Christians in general, and, if we are fortunate, with ourselves." pp. 26-27

Bonhoeffer goes on to give much helpful advice, particularly for servant leadership and healthy confession of sins one to another. ( )