Grace (Eventually) Thoughts on Faith

Author: Ann Lamott
Classification: Non-Fiction
Submitted by: Susan Lubinski

There are some books that are so good I pass them on to friends. Then there are those that I keep for myself to read over and over and write notes in. “Grace (Eventually) Thoughts on Faith” is one of them. In it Anne Lamott shares stories of her life, her faith, her struggles with drugs and alcohol and raising a son as a single mother. She is brutally honest, raw, funny, quirky, very political and loves Jesus.

She has a tremendous ability to draw you into her story as if you are there. I think part of the reason is we’ve all experienced a lot of the stuff she writes about. She made me laugh out loud and she brought me to tears. There were times I wished I were more like her and times I was more like her than I wanted to admit.

At times her theological views are a bit different and you can find an occasional “f” word throughout the book, but one thing’s for sure – she never stops pursuing what it means to follow Jesus. She stands up for those who can’t stand for themselves, she tries to feed the poor and take care of the sick. At times she’s fearful, neurotic and insecure but she draws her strength from Jesus knowing “He is always with me, here, now”.

Couple of favorite lines in the book: “Sometimes grace works like water wings when you feel you are sinking” and “Prayer is not asking for what you think you want, but asking to be changed in ways you can’t imagine”.

The Emotionally Healthy Church

Author: Peter Scazzero
Classification: Religion, Non-fiction
Submitted by: Mary Lee



When you become a member of Hope Community Church, you are given a wonderful book entitled, "The Emotionally Healthy Church" by pastor Peter Scazzero. I became a member of Hope in February 2006. With my busyness, I set the book aside until a few months ago, which is very sad on my part. Hopefully, future new members will profit from my procrastination and read this book sooner than later.

Pastor Scazzero is very sincere as he is brutally truthful about his own life and the lives of the members of his church. He wants to see the body of Christ become emotionally and spiritually mature. He contends that emotional health and spiritual health are inseparable. I was so touched by this book that I smiled in agreement with it and I wept in agreement with it. From cover to cover, I believe you will be blessed. Please don't skip reading the front and back insides of the book jacket, the Forward, the Acknowledgement and the Introduction or you will do yourself a disservice.

This brother/pastor's book is borne out of his own pain - it's so-o-o real. He says: "In fact, a church committed to emotional health is a messy place. 'Skeletons' come out of the closet, and we face problems and tensions honestly and directly rather than ignoring them, hoping or pretending they will somehow go away."

If you choose to read this precious book, I pray that the Lord will open your spiritual eye of understanding to what the author says about becoming emotionally and spiritually mature.

Your sister in Christ Jesus,

Mary Lee

"The Shack"

Author: William P. Young
Classification: Fiction

Submitted by: Audrey Brennan

It is hard to put into words the impact of this book. It's not a long book, not a hard read -- other than trying to read through the tears -- but draws deeply powerful images of who our God is and how much He loves us. It has caused me to talk to my God differently, understand in a different way who the Holy Spirit is and although I'm still crying about it (even as I type this) they are not tears of sadness. They are tears of a fresh understanding of how our relationship with God and each other were originally created to be and how I (we) can experience more of that today.

This book, although it challenges our thoughts and paradigms of God and life, it really is a book that speaks more passionately to the heart. I've read a lot of books (almost exclusively nonfiction) and very few have had this kind of impact on me. I think I will be processing what this has done in my heart for a long time. I don't want to overanalyze it, I just want to let it take me closer to my God and the people He cares so much about. I will read this again after I recover from the first read!