Eyes Wide Open

eyeswideopen

I just finished reading the latest book by Jud Wilhite. Eyes Wide Open is a great book about grace.  Let me share a question that Jud asks in the book, “Is it possible to be a Christian and be a miserable, life-draining, and negative person?”  As you have heard me say before, the church has become so well known for what we are against, that most people don’t even know the Christ we follow.   Where have the grace and love gone?

This book seemed like a continuation of Francis Chan’s Crazy Love.   We need to be reminded that God does indeed love and care for us, and our love for Him flows out of this realization.   We don’t follow Christ because of an obligation or because we are trying to be perfect, we follow Christ because we are seeking Him with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength.  I have to be honest, I was afraid this was going to be another book all about feeling good about ourselves, but after reading it, my fears were unfounded.  While the main focus of the book is grace, obedience and repentance are not left out.

Wilhite really challenges us that we don’t have to hide and pretend that we have everything together.  I love his description of Spiritual Growth on page 107,  Grace + Truth + Time = Growth!  All of these things must be working together.     If you are struggling with your identity in Christ, then this is a great book to read.  Here is some info about the book from the publisher.

I had it all backwards. The main thing was not my love for God, but his love for me. And from that love I respond to God as one deeply flawed, yet loved. I’m not looking to prove my worth. I’m not searching for acceptance. I’m living out of the worth God already declares I have. I’m embracing his view of me and in the process discovering the person he created me to be. Eyes Wide Open, Jud Wilhite invites you to discover the real you. Not the you who pretends to be perfect to satisfy everyone’s expectations. Not the you who always feels guilty before God. Not the you who secretly feels God forgives everyone else but only tolerates you. Not the you who looks in the mirror and sees a failure. The real you, loved and forgiven by God, living out of your identity in Christ.

A travel guide through real spirituality from one incomplete person to another, Eyes Wide Open is a book of stories about following God in the messes of life, about broken pasts and our lifelong need for grace. It is a book about seeing ourselves and God with new eyes–eyes wide open to a God of love.

Mike

I am a former design engineer who now pastors Cornerstone Community Church in Galax, Virginia. I'm passionate about following Jesus and I love technology. I've been married to Jennifer for 28 years, and we have three adult children.

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