I got my first book to read and review. It's called Free Book* by Brian Tome.
This is an EXCELLENT book on living true freedom in Christ. The book is not stuffy nor the normal Christian book that I've read. It's really quite frank and I felt like Brian would fit very well in the church I go to. Tell it like it is.
The book can be mainly summed up in a short paragraph. Our fears hold us back from truly living our God-given destiny. He cites numerous examples how people live in bondage to those fears. Even as a Christian, you can live in extreme bondage and though Christ came to set the captives free, people often don't know what it really means to live in freedom.
One of the chapters that I found really good and what I'm experiencing in my own life is found in Chapter 10 "Blahs, Break, Blues, and Blessing". Freedom costs period. Most people are content to live in the "blahs" because there is a perceived safety. However, there is no true freedom living in that type of safety. Tome goes to describes the main steps to getting freedom in our lives, and that usually it isn't an easy path. However, if you're willing to stick it, you can experience freedom and it's totally worth it.
A part of having freedom is understanding who you really are as a Christian. Many people do not know who they are, so they continue to do things and think in ways that really bring about bondage, death. When we begin to live out our identities in Christ, it is freeing.
Forgiveness is another huge element in having freedom. What spoke to me was an incident with my former spouse and this chapter was so apropro. When we have truly forgiven someone, released them to God, when something bad happens to them, we don't gloat about it, rather we have compassion on them, desiring for them to also have freedom in Christ. This chapter spoke volumes to me.
There are 15 chapters in this book. He covers this from
- not living in fear
- abolishing religious thinking
- a new identity in Christ, forgiveness
- getting rid of strongholds
- living in the supernatural while we are in this natural world
- taking our authority in Jesus Christ and evicting spirits, thought processes, beliefs that do not serve our identity in Christ
- interacting with the Holy Spirit
- the process of getting freedom
- living with passion towards the right things
- what it means to live out freedom in all areas of our lives (talks about relationships, jobs, aspirations)
- freedom in community (an interdependence, not independence) & submission to authority, listening to others as they may see from a perspective we would not see ourselves that would help us in our walks with Christ
- living in unique grace & truth - not being totally one way or another, but using these as appropriate in each situation
- not being fearful of the "what if's", and if that which is fearful should happen, that God will help us through the whole process
I give this book 5 stars out of 5. It really resonates with where I am in life and going through. I've experienced freedom and the way Brian writes about it, it's so true. I'm looking forward to pushing through for the other areas of my life that aren't free yet.
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com
