Jesus: Pure & Simple
3.8
5
13
13
Disappointing
When I received âÂÂJesus Pure & Simpleâ I was really excited to read it! The back of the book asks, âÂÂDo you ever feel like youâÂÂre being pulled in a million directions?â Why yes, many times I do! IâÂÂm sure many people feel that same way these days! There are so many good things to be a part of now that it is hard to know when to say no. I am learning that there are many projects and ministries that are good, but just arenâÂÂt for me right now. And that is ok!
Back to the bookâ¦I started reading it, and was frustrated within a few pages. The author has many good stories and illustrations, but he jumps back and forth constantly. I kept reading hoping maybe it was just the first chapter, but it wasnâÂÂt. It just didnâÂÂt flow easily from subject to subject. The stories were great and encouraging, but I like books to flow. I was a bit disappointed that I didnâÂÂt love this book since I had such high hopes. If you like to read short encouraging stories, you might enjoy this book; otherwise, you might want to keep looking for a different âÂÂsimpleâ book.
February 21, 2013
Pure and Simple
Everyone goes through difficult times in life. You may be experiencing a situation that has left you feeling lost and hopeless. WhatâÂÂs the answer? Return to Jesus â pure and simple. On the other hand, you may be involved in ministry, being pulled into several different directions at once as you try to balance family, friends, job, studies and faith. These are all good things, but they can leave you feeling overwhelmed. WhatâÂÂs the answer? Return to Jesus - pure and simple.
Wayne Cordeiro reminds us of the simplicity of faith and following Jesus. He points out how we often lose sight of our true priorities as we try to accomplish our own goals. We become overwhelmed, or stray for the path, and the only thing that can truly be at peace (no matter what our circumstances may be) is to return to Jesus. Jesus is our example, and spending time with Him will make us more like Him.
In the final chapter, Cordeiro discusses three choices we must all make.
1) Choose this day whom you will serve.
2) Choose the posture you will take.
3) How will you respond when tested?
All of these are extremely important, but in todayâÂÂs world I think we really need to focus on the second. The posture you take is the âÂÂattitude or disposition that you have as a believer.â Cordeiro shares these points:
â¢Be steadfast without being belligerent.
â¢Be teachable without being gullible.
â¢Be courageous without being arrogant.
â¢Be righteous without being self-righteous.
Overall, this book is a reminder to every believer. We may stray. We may fail. We may move so far away from the Father that we feel like we can never return. But we can. If we only look for Jesus, weâÂÂll find Him. HeâÂÂll be waiting there with open arms⦠pure and simple.
I received a complimentary copy of this book for review purposes from Bethany House.
January 6, 2013
Learned Alot
I found this book to teach more more about my faith with each page i was reading and know when i read it again and again i will learn more.
December 15, 2012
Not so simple?
As soon as the book arrived, I dove right in.
The introduction alone, or rather the first sentence of the introduction immediately convicted me. It convicted me that "It's time to get back to Jesus."
It's time to get back to Jesus. That seemed to be the theme for the first several chapters, and as I read, I whispered a lot of "Amens" and did a lot of head nodding. In these chapters, the author discusses what distracts us from Jesus and draws us away from Him, how we can so many times fall just short of Jesus, how we constantly need to correct back to Jesus (and also not overshoot Him), how we need to remember who we are and what we are here for, how to live in this world without becoming of this world, and how to continually shift our focus onto Him. These were all things I needed to hear and I found these chapters very refreshing for me.
As I continued to read, the focus of the book seemed to change to how we should bring others to Christ. The book didn't seem to flow as well as in the beginning; it became a bit confusing, and in my opinion, not so simple. The author goes on to discuss what we should and shouldn't be doing in order to have a pure and simple devotion to Christ and to bring others to Him (which is ironic, because on the inside flap of the book is says, "And the good news is that it's not about doing more or doing less"). The author devotes a whole chapter about performing acts of hidden service, but I feel the whole book was laced with way too many "success" and "service" stories of the author's; there was way too much Wayne in this book, and not enough Jesus, in my opinion. The author did refer to many different scriptures and bible stories throughout the book; I just don't feel that many of them were relevant to the topic at hand or the point he was trying to get across.
As I finished up the book, I felt that the author redirected the book back to the original message of getting back to Jesus and how we are the ones that need to make changes because Jesus never changes.
Overall, I feel the author could have gotten his message (or at least the message I thought the book was about according to its description) across using half the number of pages than he did (the book is 200 pages). The book was definitely a good reminder of where our focus needs to be, with an unfortunate lull in the middle of the book.
Next time I feel that "It's time to get back to Jesus," I will pick up my Bible - pure & simple.
* I received a free copy of this book from Bethany House in return for my honest review. All opinions are my own.
December 1, 2012
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