.Fundamorphosis - A Review.

I am a Baptist Pastor's wife.

And I just finished reading the book Fundamorphosis: How I Left Fundamentalism But Didn't Lose My Faith by Robb Ryerse.

I have been intrigued and anxious to read Robb's journey for some time, and for a number of reasons. One being that I thought it would be exciting to read a book written by someone that I actually know. Robb and I grew up in the same church (The very fundamentalist church he writes some of his childhood memories from, and the very same church in which my husband is now a pastor at - yes, you read that correctly). We went to the same small Christian school. We attended the same Bible camp (the Bible camp that my husband and I would go on to work at for the first 6 years of our marriage), and we even attended the same Bible college, although Robb is yeeeears older than me {hahahaha}. I understand his background. I understand his fundie roots. I understand his struggle.

Because it is mine.

We all have a story to tell, and I believe in some way it is part of the Ultimate story. Many times our stories collide and weave with each other's. Robb's collided with mine. I have always been interested in people's stories, and this book did not disappoint me. It is Robb's story. It is personal and intimate. It is candid and honest. It is brave. I was so impressed with the gracious tone in which Robb wrote his book. He could have come at it with a completely different angle. An angle of bitterness or superiority, or an air of know-it-all-ness and judgement, but he didn't. He was gracious with his roots. He was gracious with the fundamentalist churches he grew up in, and yet he was authentic and transparent in telling why he had to move away from what he had known. I also really appreciated the way in which Robb shared his journey, because it truly was just a telling of his story. I never felt pressured to come to the same conclusions that he has come to. I never felt like he was trying to sway all fundamentalists to leave their churches and join his kind of church or that he was slamming fundamentalists. The book was written in a mature, loving, respectful and gracious way.

Having said all of that, Fundamorphosis was also written in a way that did make me think and reevaluate things that I have grown up being taught. Robb's story made me wrestle even more with my story. Ever since returning home from Africa two years ago, I have begun to understand that there is something missing in many of our churches and in our lives as Jesus followers. I have grown weary of the judgmentalism, the legalism, and the lack of love and grace. I have been frustrated with titles and boxes. I look at the Jesus of the Bible, realizing we are supposed to mimic him, and feel as if we are sorely missing the mark in so many areas - including in our churches. In our fundamentalist churches we continue to be so concerned about the exterior and the masks and and our consumeristic way of "doing" church, that I feel we are missing out on what we could be in Jesus. I feel as if we are sitting in our cushy pews waiting for people to flock to us, when Jesus was the first to engage His culture and flock to them and love on them. Sadly I see much the opposite of this.

I don't want to play church anymore. I am tired of it.

So I went into this book with a lot of this on my heart already.

From reading the book, I got the impression that Robb had also felt many of those things. It would have been easy for him to have become jaded and dismiss church altogether, but I so appreciated the emphasis that Robb does place on church and community. It was very encouraging and hope-filled to read how a church could really be a loving, non-judgmental, authentic community. It was refreshing to know that a church - that Jesus followers- can function from a heart of love not a spirit of fear. Fundamorphosis is motivating. It makes me want to do, to actually get out there in my community and culture and live a transparent life - not a perfect life - but hopefully a life that does point to Jesus. I want to be crazy enough to actually do the things that Jesus talks about in the Bible. I really enjoyed reading Robb's views on moving from just orthodoxy to the importance of orthopraxy. It is something that I have felt for a long time.

I do not want to give a verbatim review of this book, but would rather you get a hold of a copy and read it. It is a detailed account of Robb's journey to better understand and make personal his faith. While I may or may not have come to all of the same conclusions that Robb has come to, his story has left me pondering my own story. It is a captivating and compelling book. If you are struggling to own your beliefs, if you are tired of Christian mediocrity, are wrestling with the organized church, or are just curious about Robb's journey, I invite you to read this book.

Whether one is for or against the Emergent movement, I think any follower of Jesus should be on a journey of morphing to be more and more like Jesus - our faith should not be static and stagnant - and after reading this book, I believe that is exactly what Robb is suggesting.

I invite you to purchase a copy here.

{I was not in any way compensated for this review. This review entirely reflects my own thoughts and opinions.}

.Adoption {A Guest Post}.

Today I am thrilled to have a guest post by author, Robb Ryerse. Robb and I grew up together in the same small church and Christian school. I am fascinated by his bravery in the journey God is leading he and his family on. His brand new book recounting some of this journey, Fundamorphosis: How I Left Fundamentalism But Didn’t Lose My Faith, can be purchased now on Amazon. Robb is a deep thinker and a passionate story teller. I was excited that he agreed to share his adoption story here with us as we focus in on adoption/orphan care this month. Thank you, Robb.

I started dreaming about adopting when I was a teenager.


I grew up in fundamental Baptist churches where political issues were painted with the same broad and often simplistic brush as everything else. The only political issue that really mattered was abortion. I was taught that all true Christians were pro-life, and all pro-lifers should do everything possible to end abortion. And so I wore my “God is pro-life” t-shirt. I attended rallies and marches in Washington DC. I read books by Randall Terry. And I dreamed of one day adopting a baby who could have been a victim of abortion.

Fifteen years later, my dream came true. And along the way, I learned that the simplistic understanding of just about everything that I had inherited growing up was woefully inadequate for the real world.

For instance, I grew up with a more than healthy suspicion of the government and government programs. I was taught to believe that - at once - the government wanted both as many as abortions to take place as possible while also restricting as many Christians from adopting as possible. This simplistic view of things began to crumble when I met Donna. One evening, Donna brought her kids to an event we were doing at our church. As we chatted, she told me that she was a foster care recruiter. This intrigued me. Out of my ingrained, simplistic suspicion, I began to pepper Donna with questions:

* I’ve always heard that the foster care system won’t place a minority child with white parents. Is that true?

* I’ve always heard that the foster care system will discriminate against me because I’m a conservative Republican. Is that true?

* I’ve always heard that the foster care system won’t place a child with devout Christians. Is that true?

* I’ve always heard that the foster care system is full of bureaucratic red-tape, making it nearly impossible to actually get a child place with you. Is that true?

* I’ve always heard that the foster care system makes it really expensive and difficult to get a child. Is that true?

* I’ve always heard that the foster care system is the worst route to go for a family that wants to ultimately adopt. Is that true?

Donna patiently listened and answered my questions. Over and over again she replied, “No.” As it turned out, I wouldn’t be discriminated against or moved to the back of the line because of my faith or spend years of my life and thousands of dollars fighting a bloated bureaucracy. Everything I had always been led to believe wasn’t true. The bottom line truth was that there were a lot of kids in the system who just needed to be loved.

We could do that.

And so, we jumped into the system, got trained, got licensed, and waited for the phone to ring. It did on a Wednesday morning. I was at the office when my wife Vanessa called. She said, “So ... do you want to have a baby?” I wasn’t quite sure about what she was asking me. I think I attempted a joke, “I can be home in ten minutes?” I’m sure she rolled her eyes and then told me that there was a three and a half month baby girl who was ready to be placed with us. We needed to decide within an hour.

We picked her up that afternoon and promptly drove to the store to get everything from diapers and formula to clothes and a car seat.

And we determined on that day that we would love her for as long as we had her.

Charleigh’s now been a part of our family for more than eight years. She has brought more happiness, laughter, and joy to our lives than I could have ever imagined. She is a force of nature. And we love her so.

Over the years, more of my simplistic misunderstandings about adoption have been shattered. I used to think that adopted kids, especially babies who were adopted, would just be so happy to have a home that they would be content. Our experience with Charleigh has taught me a much different reality. Our daughter has an ache, a hole, that Vanessa and I will never be able to fill, no matter how much we love her and she loves us. At a very young and vulnerable age, she absorbed a loss that to this day shapes her personality, her fears, and her dreams. We can’t pretend that this doesn’t exist. We can just love her for as long as we have her and by so doing reinforce to her that she has no reason to fear that she is not valuable, wanted, and worthy of love.

My experience as Charleigh’s dad has changed how I think of all other at risk birth mothers and babies. I no longer think that Christians adopting kids is the quick and easy fix to a societal ill. I don’t see well-meaning pro-life Christians, like myself, as saviors on white horses. Instead, I see a very complex problem with no ideal solutions. And I don’t think that I am helping at all when I protest with a clever sign or spout bumper sticker slogans or pontificate about people I don’t know. The world doesn’t need my simplistic misunderstandings. The world needs my love.

And right now, my world is Charleigh. And her mom and brother and sister. And that’s a dream come true.

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Robb Ryerse is the author of Fundamorphosis: How I Left Fundamentalism But Didn’t Lose My Faith. He pastors Vintage Fellowship in Fayetteville AR. Robb blogs at www.thegrenzian.com.