I have been given the opportunity to do some reviews on some books from a few different publishers. Some of them do not quite fit into the focus I have for Living Infuzion, but obviously have some good information. Here are some of my perspectives on some pretty good books! Enjoy!

Thursday, March 29, 2012

Jonah: Still full of Impact!

Glorious Mess By Mike Howerton
(Encountering God’s relentless grace for imperfect people)
 
This was such a good book! I really enjoyed it, and I will be going back through it to glean some teaching elements. I found out there are some teaching aids online to help with this kind of thing. You can find them HERE:
 
 
This book is basically a study of the book of Jonah, the prophet of God that is now famous for his little trip inside (probably) a whale. Mike Howerton uses this backdrop to compare Jonah to us here in this point in history. Turns out we still get caught in the same traps that Jonah did. All things from hearing God’s voice, and understanding his call to being discouraged when things don’t go the way we expect.
 
The book is broken into 5 Acts, and then into 20 chapters divided among the acts. Act 1 is “Listening to God’s Voice”. Act 2 is “Running from God”. Act 3 is “Getting out of your Glorious Mess”. Act 4 is “Seeing God Work”. Act 5 is “Embracing God’s Amazing Grace”. You can get an idea of where the book goes.
 
I think I most identified with the “Running from God” section. God speaks to us and sometimes it hurts. Usually it leads us into a different direction than we want to be going. To follow God’s voice may not feel good at first, but when we choose to walk in his ways, we will be fulfilled. It was a long trip with Jonah, just as I expect it to be a long trip for me.
 
I loved the tone of this book. There were lots of pop-culture references, and humour that kept the pace moving. It must be because Mike Howerton is a kid of the 80’s… just like me!
Here are some words from Pastor Howerton:


Book has been provided courtesy of Baker Publishing Group and Graf-Martin Communications, Inc.
Available at your favourite bookseller from Baker Books, a division of Baker Publishing Group.

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