THE CHURCH: WHY BOTHER?
Tim Stafford has an outstanding gnostic-bashing article on the church in the January Christianity Today. However, it is not yet online. So to whet your appetite here are a few quotes:

+ "There is no healthy relationship with Jesus without a relationship to the church."

+ "...We have always had people who kept their distance from the church, even though they professed faith. We have never, however, had them in such astonishing numbers. They represent a significant trend, one that almost defines US religion. I would call it Gnostic faith. For them the spirit is completely separated from the body. They think your spirit can be with Jesus Christ while your body goes its own way."

+ "I admire the evangelistic spirit behind this (para-church movements & the seeker-sensitive churches). It has attracted many people into a church building who would probably not otherwise attend. But I think it has exaggerated a sense that the church must adapt to the general public, not the other way around. And thus many unchurched people feel justified in believing that they are fine, that it is the churches that have failed."

There's a lot more to it. No one escapes. Stafford even calls Bono on the carpet for his anti-church bias (rightly so!).

If you can't wait until CT puts it online (sometime next month), I bet you'll be able to find a print copy at a bookstore or library. If you're in my face-to-face world ask me for a photo-copy.