which is His body” (vv. 22–23). Colossians 1 says practically the same thing, namely that Jesus “is the head of the body, the church” (v. 18). So when I use “Body of Christ” in this book, I mean the same thing that the Bible means, namely the Christian Church. The Church, of course, exists at many levels. It is the local fellowship of believers; it is the national denomination; it is the mission agency; and it is also the universal group of people from all countries of the world who acknowledge Christ