BEST BOOK i've read in a LONG time!

Dominic Smart's book, "When We Get It Wrong: Peter, Christ, and our path through failure" is one of the BEST BOOKS i've ever read!  it is FANTASTIC!

upon first glance of the cover:

from

i wasn't too sure if i'd actually like it. (NO OFFENSE to the dearest graphic designer who probably worked *so hard* on it). :(  the title/cover combination just struck me that this book was going to be one of those about our sin, crap, yuckiness, and how Jesus is good: the end. not really bridging the gap enough between our sin and the goodness of Jesus to let in the TRUTH and LIGHT that through Him, we can actually CHANGE.  some books/talks/sermons/etc. i've experienced throughout my life sometimes, i think don't mean to... but DO... leave out this important detail that **by no means** sugar-coats our own sin and need for a Savior......  but just kind of have left me, as a reader/listener, feeling like i want to hide from this very good, very holy, very perfect Lord (because i'm a failure).  

i was a little nervous this book was going to be like that, too.

i. was. so. WRONG!

dominic smart brings the TRUTH and GRACE of Jesus right to the heart of readers by looking at significant scenes from the life of Peter: Jesus' disciple/friend/apostle.

i will write more about this later (i really need to go work on stuff!!!!) BUT i will leave you with this tasty nugget that will HOPEFULLY make you HUNGRY to go out and get your own copy (YOU WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED!!!!!!!!!!) :)

"There has grown up a subject area called discipleship - it has seeded our bookshelves with a host of 'how to' manuals which tell us what we must do and how to do it best. It promises a harvest of effective and enjoyable Christianity. Now there is nothing about the Scriptural context for understanding what it is to be a Christian which suggests that practice is unnecessary, nor that good practice is somehow not to be aimed at, nor that misery is virtuous; but the great danger of putting what I do before what I am - of approaching the practicalities of Christian living apart from the context of Christian being - is that I succumb to the essentially legalistic pressure of the flesh."

wahhhhhh i could go on and on!!  i just LOVE those last three lines (that start with "the great danger...").  SO. RICH!!!!!  seriously this book is like Thanksgiving dinner and turtle-triple chocolate cheesecake and Tuscan lasagna and everything DELICIOUS and FILLING about life........ it is so. rich.  it will fill your heart to overflowing--- (but not make you sick, like if you ate huge portions of everything i just talked about, haha)----- but instead will turn your eyes upon Jesus---- you'll look full in His wonderful face!!  and you'll worship!! :)  GO GET IT! :)

The Jesus Storybook Bible

newlyweds tend to not own a lot of things... cause let's face it, life is expensive, and it's hard when you're just starting out.  but one thing we DO own a LOT of is books.  we have a huuuuge bookshelf in our office, a medium-sized one in the living room, and we STILL have books in boxes that don't have a home yet.

with a ton of choices, it's kind of a big deal when i highlight one out of the masses.

and buckle up, cause that's just what i'm going to do!

The Jesus Storybook Bible, written by Sally Lloyd-Jones, and illustrated by Jago, is one of my favorite. books. of. all. time.


i highly recommend anyone and everyone ----young, old, believers in Jesus, people who don't believe---- to read this storybook.  sally lloyd-jones learned from a yoda-smart pastor (a hem... tim keller)... so you know her theology is impeccable... AND she does an in-cred-i-ble job of telling the story of JESUS from the perspective of all people throughout the Bible--- before He was alive (old testament) and during His life and after (new testament)!!  she sums this concept up *so well* in her subtitle of the book: "every story whispers His name."  PRECIOUS!! :)


the BEST part about this sweet little book (whom EVERYONE can enjoy and learn from!) is the price: sooo cheap!  buy it at Amazon for less than 10 bucks!  summer is also the *perfect* time to walk to your neighborhood library (i just did today!), so you can even go borrow it if you don't wanna spend the money.

one way or another--- check it out!  and i pray it helps you hear how the whole Bible whispers the glorious name of JESUS :)