ATLANTA, GA--(Marketwire - Jul 11, 2012) - In his new book, "Revitalizing Christianity," (www.NewCenturyMinistries.com) and companion "Revitalizing Christianity Study Guide," biblical scholar and former minister Charlie Webster peels away the layers of politics and dogma to share a distilled version of the Bible's message.

"There are literally hundreds of different Christian organizations that all claim to have God's true plan of salvation," he says. "But we don't have to gamble our Christian values by picking one. The truth is in the Bible.

"Christianity is not about boring sermons, fund-drives to build bigger buildings or how many rituals you perform in a week. True Christianity is about the caring love that can turn life into a paradise that's exciting."

"Revitalizing Christianity" guides readers through 10 areas that Christians too often misunderstand. The Study Guide allows individuals or groups to pursue a deeper understanding.

The two books address misconstrued notions about love, the nature of sin, saving faith, God's plan, and the roles of suffering, prayer and forgiveness. It explores the roles of churches and repeatedly takes readers back to the Bible to show that Christianity was always meant to be exciting.

"If you explore the Bible without the filters that have been applied by churches and religions, you see the message is motivational -- not punitive," he says. "God truly is a good God, and his instructions to us are clear."

Among the myths that have evolved is an erroneous view of heaven, he says.

"The popular idea of heaven is a place where you'll have nothing to do but tell a jealous God how good he is over and over for all eternity -- and that wouldn't be much better than hell," he says. "The heaven Jesus talked about is one with exciting challenges against a background of caring love from everyone and to everyone."

In other words, heaven is as much a verb as a noun, he says. What the Bible instructs us to practice on Earth -- unselfish caring love -- continues in heaven.

"Even in places of worship, most folks are asking, 'What can God do for me?' instead of 'What could I do to make this world the caring place God wants it to be?'"

About Charlie Webster
A former minister with bachelor's and master's degrees in biblical studies, Charlie Webster has taught the New Testament at the college level. He is currently an engineer for NASA.