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Thursday, October 6, 2016

Open Review

OpenOpen by David Gregory

Description from publisher:
 
 It wasn’t the end of the world. It was just the end of Emma Jameson’s world. Fresh off the heels of a devastating breakup and floundering in her career, Emma is struggling to come to grips with why God allows so much pain in our lives, why He seems so absent when she needs Him most, and why the Gospel accounts—our supposed guide for how to lead a contented Christian life—feel so completely irrelevant.

Then one day, a mysterious envelope arrives in Emma’s mailbox with the word Open written on the outside. Inside the envelope is a card bearing the following message: “For a real adventure with Jesus, go through the nearest open door.”

Skeptical, but having absolutely nothing to lose, Emma steps through the pantry door, only to find herself instantly transported back to the first century, where she is taken on a personal tour of various Gospel accounts by none other than Jesus himself—an experience that radically challenges Emma’s perception of the Gospels and what it really means to be a Christian.

My Review:

Another simple and yet very meaningful story from Gregory.  Once again he manages to share a side of Jesus with us in a way that enables us to connect and really get it in about 150 pages, making this a book that can easily be read in a day.  The language is easy to understand.  Gregory helps us to see the stories of Jesus life in a way that we can apply to our own life.

Emma is the girl that struggles with her faith.  She knows that Jesus is supposed to satisfy her, who goes to church, participates in groups, listens to Christian music, and does all the "right" things.  And yet, she doesn't feel like she is "getting anything at all from the Bible....none (of the stories) has anything to do with what I'm dealing with right now....reading stories...that (she'd) read a thousand times didn't provide the answers (she) needed.  Jesus wasn't enough."  She had begun to doubt her faith and then a mysterious letter arrived that would help her to connect with Jesus in a whole new way.

Together Emma and Jesus walk through several key events to help Emma see that faith isn't about religion, but about a person...and when we surrender completely to Him, our whole life changes.

I loved this book so much that I passed it on to a friend who was struggling with similar faith issues.  Like Gregory's other books, this is a great way to open a door for discussion and dialogue on topics that we tend to hide from our brothers in sister in Christ so that we can appear to be good Christians. 

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