I've been waiting on a book like this for quite sometime.
Over the last few years a common topic has come up among my friends and those I disciple: When will there be a simple and practical, yet thorough, book on how the Gospel changes us day in and out? As a pastor, I have been and am constantly trying to disciple and help others come to Gospel transformation in a way that is understandable and practical. There are resources out there that are informational and transformational, but not always understandable and practical to the everyday person.
There have been many great books on this over the years; you can go back and read on Luther, Calvin and Edwards (if you can understand them - the key is read very slow!). Today there are many great preachers and writers like Keller and Piper who write about this; also, authors like Bridges (Transforming Grace) and Tripp (How People Change) have tackled this subject extensively. There are even phenomenal workbooks from World Harvest Mission that, if you spend the time (9 weeks to 1 year), you will be utterly wrecked, enlightened and transformed. Personally, Paul Miller's Love Walked Among Us has been a staple in my yearly reading to help warm my heart to the Gospel. But the impression I kept walking away from in reading all of the above mentioned authors was that the Gospel could change us and not so much how the Gospel changes us day in and out, in a practical and somewhat short explanation. I think I recently came across it.
Tim Chester's You Can Change was recently released in the U.S. (released previously in the U.K.) and is a book that does not talk in high theology or theory of how the Gospel changes us, but in vulnerable, bleeding language that relates to every person. I can't recommend this book enough and am taking my time with it. Most books I breeze right through, taking occasional thoughts along the way, but this book is speaking to me in ways I have been waiting on for quite sometime. It's not perfect and like any book you'll disagree with different theological beginnings or practical out-workings (and should), but the overarching substance of this book is incredible and extremely practical. I'll stop here and share a few lines along the way that are really speaking to me.
Think big with this book—not just in personal application but in group discipleships and community building ways. Take your time and enjoy this treasure the Church has been waiting on for quite sometime.
"[C]hange takes place in our lives as we turn to see the glory of God in Jesus. We 'see' the glory of Christ as we 'hear' the Gospel of Christ."
"Holiness is new affections, new desires, and new motives that then lead to new behavior. If you don’t see your sin as completely pardoned, then your affections, desires, and motives will be wrong. You will aim to prove yourself. Your focus will be the consequences of your sin rather than hating the sin itself and desiring God in its place."
"All too often we think of holiness as giving up the pleasures of sin for some worthy but drab life. But holiness means recognizing that the pleasures of sin are empty and temporary, while God is inviting us to magnificent, true, full, and rich pleasures that last forever."
"We become Christians by faith in Jesus, we stay Christians by faith in Jesus, and we grow as Christians by faith in Jesus."
"God uses hardship to weaken our allegiance to this world and set our hope to the world to come, to weaken our dependence on worldly things and strengthen our faith in Him."
"Justification is a change of my status in God’s sight; sanctification is a change of my heart and character."
Read more from Robbyn Abedi, Young Adults Minister and Christ College faculty member, at abedis.posterous.com/.
Robbyn Abedi