Sick of Me

The book that isn't about self? Well, it is about having a right perspective of self.

The best one-word summary: sanctification.

Whitney Capps delves into one of the most prolific parts of the Christian walk, sanctification. What happens after you've said yes to God? Too often it becomes self-help book after self-help book. And heaven forbid you hit a worldly perspective of getting yourself together (most recently seen in Rachel Hollis' books). The Christian walk can easily get self-centered. Even in our attempts to look like the good Christian, we can be quite selfish. 

I thoroughly enjoyed this book primarily because it is more than a "me too" book and it's hey let's go beyond putting our crap on display and let's actually do something about it. Too often we get comfortable in showing everyone that we have flaws too, but when do we actually address those flaws? Not the cosmetic ones but the character ones. When do we go beyond transparency into transformation? Jesus invites you to come to Him as you are, but He's not content to leave you the way He finds you. No, He says follow me (requires action on our part). Take my yolk (requires action on our part). Abide in me (requires action on our part). Obey my commands (requires action on our part). After we choose Jesus and accept Him as our Savior. There's still work to be done. Salvation doesn't hinge on us. That is freely given but even in that gift, you have to ACCEPT the gift. But sanctification? That actually requires our input and willingness to obey. {Whitney's words in my own words.} 

This is a book I would recommend BUT only if you're ready to do something and participate in the sanctification process. After reading this book, you won't have the ability to say you didn't know or you don't understand, your obedience and abidance in Jesus are necessary to the call to follow Him. There's no way to say you belong to Him if you don't abide and obey.

{FYI: I did receive this book from the publisher in exchange for my HONEST opinion.}

Made for This

Jennie Allen! Love her books! They get to the nitty-gritty of surrender. And morphed into IF: Gathering (IF: Table, IF:Local), a ministry that seeks to gather people together into groups of all sizes and demographics to study God's Word together. 

This book is 40 days and it has released right in time for Lent (also a 40-day event). The goal is to do this book during Lent (what Jennie is currently promoting). The book itself is broken down into 4 parts (check below for photos of the Table of Contents). It is the embodiment of Anything (2015) and Restless (2014) morphed into one interactive book. It challenges and inspires. It requires you to engage. It prompts you to make life-altering changes. Changes that exhorts you to draw near to God so that He will draw near to you.

Part One is completely Anything. Praying the Anything Prayer. I will go anywhere you choose Lord.  I will do anything You ask of me, Lord. ANYTHING Lord, here I am. And this is a BOLD prayer to pray. This is a surrendering of one's self and entire life unto God. And you need to mean it and be willing to follow through when God responds. 

Part Two, answer the call. God calls. He beckons. He points, He moves. And it is up to us to hear and to respond. I'll be honest, the first step to hearing is to spending time with God.

Part Three: Working out the details, the threads. There's a process of walking out the surrender. It will not be easy and it will require obedience to whatever God sets forth. Those threads are important, no matter how big or small.

Part Four: The future. It's okay to dream for the future and plan. Even if God throws the monkey wrench later, it is okay. How do we take what we learn about ourselves and about God in this 40 days journey and let it apply to the rest of our lives? Because that is the real goal, right? For lasting impact, not just to feel good or feel challenged in the moment then, write off once the 40 days are up.

Highly recommend. And if you have not read Anything and Restless. Please get them and read them while going through this book. It will make a HUGE difference.

{FYI: I received this book from the publisher in exchange for my HONEST opinion.}

Chosen for Christ

So if you've been following along, then you know this is the second book I've reviewed by Heather Holleman. The first one was Seated with Christ. And I read this one second, it is actually third in this series of books by Holleman on life-changing verbs in Scripture. As of my knowledge, she has written three books and 1 bible study (of which I have 1 copy of each).

So one thing I've noticed about Holleman is that as an English professor who teaches college kids how to write. She writes in such a way that if you did not know she is a college professor, you would ask. The organization and transitions are all there as one would expect of an academic paper. The thesis statement is clear. We gain the framework for the rest of the book at the end of the first chapter (pg 19).

This entire book is about recognizing and living life as though you are chosen for Christ. The way Holleman explains it is when you believe that you are chosen for Christ the way you go about life changes. Not in a way to earn it but as a result of being chosen. The book is organized into three parts: Your present situation, seven invitations, and what if I say yes. Each one is meant to address a specific part of the process of going from living unchosen to living as chosen for Christ. When you read you will notice that chosen is repeated often, to reinforce the word for the reader and remind them during each invitation that they are chosen simply because they chose Jesus and received the gift of salvation.

So I did enjoy this book albeit not as much as I did Seated with Christ. I think Seated felt a bit more of a fluid read than Chosen does. Chosen feels like I'm reading more of an academic paper that is a bit more rigid in the writing style. It was also harder for me to finish Chosen because it did not hold my attention as well. I do recommend it though especially for people who are struggling with their identity in Christ. For those who are not really struggling with their identity in Christ, this book seems to over-reinforce the idea in a way that Seated with Christ did not overuse the word seated.

{FYI: I received this book from the publisher (Moody Publishers) in exchange for my honest opinion.}

66 ways God loves YOU

There are 66 books in the bible and they all fit together to tell an amazing story of God's redeeming love. 

Jennifer Rothschild takes each book of the Bible and relates God's redeeming love for us to readily see and understand. It's almost like being able to be read 66 love letters. Love letters from God's word, from each book of the bible. 

There are many times in which we need a very real and very clear reminder of God's love for us and this book provides 66 of them.  I say read them for yourself. Read them to your children, read them to a friend who may be struggling. 

This is from the book of Exodus (I enlarged it so that the words can actually be read)

{FYI: I received this book from the publisher through the BookLook Blogger program in exchange for my HONEST opinion.}

Redeemed

So this is literally a bible study and that is its full intended purpose. The tag line is "Grace to live every day better than before." The study is meant to be completed over a course of six weeks. There are also corresponding video sessions to go with each week (I do not have access to those to view). 

Week 1: When Love makes a promise. 

Week 2: When Love never fails. 

Week 3: When Love makes a way.

Week 4: When Love changes you.

Week 5: When Love breaks your chains.

Week 6: When Love leads you home.

Even though the word love is used, I can comfortable interject God in place of the it. 

The weeks are 7 days long, I point this out because many studies usually do a 5 day a week schedule. It is quite funny that Angela tries to immediately attack any reason why we would say we cannot do the study. And combat that with the reason we need to do the study.

This is the first page of week 1, of the study. 

 I haven't gotten through the entire study yet. However I think it is worth taking a look at and going through especially if you are even almost near an identity crisis. And to be honest, I have been in that place. Sometimes I revisit that place. And this is the reminder to walk away from that place that I am redeemed. That it only matters what GOD says about me and who GOD says I am.

{FYI: I got this book from B&H Publishers in exchange for my HONEST review.}