Getting Over Yourself by Dean Inserra

 This is a very relevant book about the problem of the promotion of self-help and prosperity in the evangelical church. While this is nothing new in the church, this new form of the prosperity gospel promotes choosing one’s dreams, fulfilling one’s potential and being the best one can be. Unfortunately in all of this, this false theology has lost it’s connection to Christ and the real gospel message. This real gospel message is to take the focus off oneself and realize that as a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, the greatest gift is Christ himself.  One of the results of this is that there is a lack of discipleship which does not equip people to understand a theology that includes hardship, death, failure, and a lack of glory here on earth. Without humility and dependence on Christ, believers are distracted from living as servants of Christ to living as servants of their own desires.

The author does share how believers can embrace the abundant life in Christ including:  Ask God to help you be gospel-centered; By grace, through Scripture, seek to increase your knowledge of God; Pursue the ordinary life; Find godly community and Pray for willingness to be marginalized.

I highly recommend this thought provoking book. I received this book from Moody Publishers in exchange for this honest review.

Overflow by Michael Reeves

 

This book is focused on how the joy of the Trinity inspires our mission. The book contains the following chapters: 

Introduction: Knowing the Triune God

God’s Love: The Fountain of All Goodness

God’s Glory: The Radiance of the World

God’s Abundance:  The Barren Land of No Trinity

God’s Light: Shining in the Darkness

Each chapter has questions for reflection which makes it appropriate for a group study. One of the quotes I found informative in the book is, “Mission is the overflow of love from the enjoyment of diving fellowship. As we partake in the Father’s pleasure in His Son, and the Son’s pleasure in His Father, and the Spirit’s enlivening of their mutual love, it causes us to share their love for the world, thus we become like what we worship.” Before we as Christians can engage in missions, we need to understand and respond to the love God has in first coming to us in the form of the Trinity.

I highly recommend this thought provoking and challenging book. I received this book from Moody Publishers in exchange for this honest review.