Messy Spirituality

Rating:
Summary: Finally, The Honest Truth of Spiritual Living-
Review: "Messy Spirituality" is a book every Christian should read because it will change the way you view yourself and your relationships with God and other people. So often, Christians live and act as if they have everything figured out; as if saying no to sin is an easy thing when you are Christian. Mike Yaconelli knows, as we all do, that that's a lie. The Bible says that "all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God". Yaconelli has writen this great little book as a way of reminding us that we all struggle and fall away from God. His point is not to embrace the sins we cannot help but commit, but to challenge the way we aproach evangelism and outreach as "messy" sinfull people who are thankful for God's unceasing grace. The book is writen with one illustration after another. These examples challenged my views and gave me profound insight into Christian living. It makes me angry to think of Christian people who come down on new Christians and unbelievers for not understanding proper Christian virtue. I also realized from reading that I have often done the same thing, when I know I am rarely %100 right with God in my own life. If you are involved with Youth or other Church programs, this book has many quotables that could be read outloud to make a great lesson and start discussion. This is a book that will challenge and inspire you, and it would be a shame not to read it!

Rating:
Summary: Finally, The Honest Truth of Spiritual Living-
Review: "Messy Spirituality" is a book every Christian should read because it will change the way you view yourself and your relationships with God and other people. So often, Christians live and act as if they have everything figured out; as if saying no to sin is an easy thing when you are Christian. Mike Yaconelli knows, as we all do, that that's a lie. The Bible says that "all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God". Yaconelli has writen this great little book as a way of reminding us that we all struggle and fall away from God. His point is not to embrace the sins we cannot help but commit, but to challenge the way we aproach evangelism and outreach as "messy" sinfull people who are thankful for God's unceasing grace. The book is writen with one illustration after another. These examples challenged my views and gave me profound insight into Christian living. It makes me angry to think of Christian people who come down on new Christians and unbelievers for not understanding proper Christian virtue. I also realized from reading that I have often done the same thing, when I know I am rarely %100 right with God in my own life. If you are involved with Youth or other Church programs, this book has many quotables that could be read outloud to make a great lesson and start discussion. This is a book that will challenge and inspire you, and it would be a shame not to read it!

Rating:
Summary: Gotta go with the crowd on this one....
Review: Amazing book. Yaconelli writes some of the best stuff, I would reccommend reading "Yak Yak Yak- Mike Yaconelli's Guide to Jerk-Free Christianity", if you can get your hands on this out of print gem. This book always brings me back to what the Bible really teaches- that God loves me no matter what. I attend a Christian College, and see some people who, in the name of acting "Christian", are missing the whole point of our vital, living faith. I wish I could buy copies of this book for all!

Rating:
Summary: Messy Business
Review: Anyone who has been a believer for more than a few years has felt pressure to conform to false ideals of spirituality from time to time. This book speaks to those of us who've tried and failed to be what we thought was spiritual only to discover that our dysfunctions were simply agreeing with others people's dysfunctions. I borrowed "Messy Spirituality" from a coworker a month ago after hearing "interesting" things about Yac. As I read the first chapter I smiled, laughed and shed some tears.

I had to chuckle as one reviewer opined that this book could be "dangerous" in the wrong hands. Wasn't that the charge made against the apostle Paul? "He's telling them to go sin because God's grace makes everything okay!" Paul spent a lot of energy trying to debunk that mischaracterization with little success. It's a tough pill to swallow. I am free in Christ, even to be bad. But if I am compelled by love, why would I do wrong? That's the million-dollar question, and explains why an authentic walk with God is a truly messy affair. We wander, get lost, then find that he's right there in the middle of the remotest trail getting in our way again. Amazing grace.

Read "dangerous" Messy Spirituality for yourself. :) Hopefully you'll feel more liberated to be yourself on your journey instead of trying to follow someone else's ideal.

Rating:
Summary: This book set me free
Review: Does God really love us unconditionally? Can it be that He sees all of my faults, my sins, and my lousy attempts to be Christlike and still He loves me? More than just love me from afar, God puruses me, calls to me, tells me, "You can make it!" and picks me up when I fall. As Michael Yaconelli puts it, this is "God's Annoying Love for Imperfect People." In his book Yaconelli tells us stories that sear your heart and awaken you to true spirituallity. Spirituality is messy, at least mine is. I don't know very many Christians who have it all together, though some of us may look like we have it all together. Yaconelli's book challenges me to give up false spirituallity for true messy Christianity. A messy church will be more like a barnyard than a cathedral. It will be a menagerie of rescued souls at all levels of spiritual life. We need to rescue those who don't know how to "behave" in church. To reach out to those who have not cleaned up their act yet, and may take a while to so. This is what Jesus did. He was a "winebibber" (whatever that is) and a "friend of sinners". O' Lord, let me be accused of the same!

Rating:
Summary: Let's embrace God's annoying love.
Review: Does God really love us unconditionally? Can it be that He sees all of my faults, my sins, and my lousy attempts to be Christlike and still He loves me? More than just love me from afar, God puruses me, calls to me, tells me, "You can make it!" and picks me up when I fall. As Michael Yaconelli puts it, this is "God's Annoying Love for Imperfect People." In his book Yaconelli tells us stories that sear your heart and awaken you to true spirituallity. Spirituality is messy, at least mine is. I don't know very many Christians who have it all together, though some of us may look like we have it all together. Yaconelli's book challenges me to give up false spirituallity for true messy Christianity. A messy church will be more like a barnyard than a cathedral. It will be a menagerie of rescued souls at all levels of spiritual life. We need to rescue those who don't know how to "behave" in church. To reach out to those who have not cleaned up their act yet, and may take a while to so. This is what Jesus did. He was a "winebibber" (whatever that is) and a "friend of sinners". O' Lord, let me be accused of the same!

Rating:
Summary: A Messy, Grace-filled Life
Review: I give thanks to God for this book.

Mike Yaconelli has written a wonderful exploration into the practicalities of grace. It is an easy read, filled with vivid stories and written for the laity. There are so many books on spiritual formation including a plethora written in the last couple of decades. Sadly, the most popular ones pay lip service to God's grace while subtly seducing the reader into a righteousness based upon works. Our calling in life, these books suggest, is to make God happy. Yaconelli reminds us that God's happiness is thankfully not dependent on my pathetic works.

Is this book dangerous? Absolutely. The book is dangerous only in that it witnesses to the good news of Jesus Christ. That good news turns the world upset down offering God's undeserved love. The weirdoes, the losers, and the undesirables have a place in the kingdom of God. The self-righteous should beware.

As a pastor, I would recommend this book to all of my parishioners. As we struggle with the faith, Yaconelli words will provide comfort and challenge. To those interested in spirituality, it is the proper beginning point on your journey.

Rating:
Summary: some good, some bad
Review: I have mixed feelings about this book.

On the one hand, there's a bunch of really good stuff in this book. Some of the writing brought me to the brink of tears. I am a very messy Christian myself, and I know I am far from perfect. Reading about how God loves us despite our messiness is reassuring. Reading stories about how other messy Christians can still be used by God to impact other people's lives can be very powerful & moving.

On the other hand, there's a bunch of stuff in this book that I really disliked. Some of it was just a bit too radical IMO. And there were some parts of the book which I felt were just wrong. For example, Yaconelli wrote:

"Freedom in Christ. What a nice concept. Sadly, most Christians are frightened of freedom. Ever since Jesus announced, "You shall know the truth and the truth will set you free," many in the church have tried to explain away his remark: "What Jesus meant is that we are free not to sin." Which is true. We are free not to sin. And we are also free to sin." page 91

The verse being referred to is John 8:32. Now I'm not a Bible scholar by any stretch of the imagination, but I really think that Yaconelli is taking this verse out of context and changing the original author's intent.

This book can be dangerous, because for those who don't know the Bible well, it has the potential to distort the meaning of some Bible passages. But overall, "Messy Spirituality" is a good book to help people overcome the misconceptions of Christianity that many churches tend to propagate.

Cautiously recommended.

Rating:
Summary: Thank God for this mess.
Review: If you are looking for a how to book, you won't find it here. If you are looking for a deep analysis of the spiritual life, look else where. If you are looking for encouragement for your journey that doesn't give simplistic christianeze answers but paints a picture of what a compelling Christisn life really looks like, well you found it.

Rating:
Summary: Everyone should read this book !
Review: If you have one religious bone in your body, it will be exposed in this book. Mike truly expresses the very heart of our Savior towards His children and even those who are not His children yet! It's like hearing the heart of the Gospel (which is Good News by the way) in modern day times. An excellent read full of power to set you free!