Messy Spirituality: God's Annoying Love for Imperfect People [Hardcover]

Yaconelli has an annoying habit of speaking the truth. As an author, he changed the face of youth ministry over the past three decades with his honest approach to the challenges of today's youth. As former editor of The Wittenberg Door (now simply The Door), he and his staff humorously challenged what they saw as the church's many hypocrisies and inconsistencies. Here, Yaconelli explores the perfectionism that plagues so many in the church, an examination that is both challenging and deeply personal. He does an excellent job of naming some of the unspoken assumptions in today's church context, arguing, for example, that the church "has communicated that competence is one of the fruits of the Spirit." But even more effective are his vivid stories, where he gives blood and flesh to the idea of grace lost and found again in the church. The power of these stories makes the book reminiscent of Philip Yancey's What's So Amazing About Grace?, but Yaconelli's stories are more personal, many coming from his own congregation. His honest reflections on his own frustrations and deep feelings of inadequacy are unusual for a book about Christian spirituality. While he seeks to connect with and help Christians who feel secretly ashamed about their lack of discipleship, he may lose some readers who feel uncomfortable with such levels of honesty. Those who persevere will discover a wonderful treasure.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

What!?You're not perfect?That's all right, God loves you anyway.He even loves the author of this book, and he's really a mess.There is a spirituality for people who often don't feel very spiritual and it will bring you closer to God.Find it in this book.

Many Christians believe that the true walk with Christ is full of specific guidelines to follow, maps to mark our way, and secrets we'll uncover that will lead us to a clean and tidy spirituality. Yet we often find our spiritual walk to be messy, which leads to discouragement and defeat. This book begins with the assumption that accepting the reality of our broken, flawed lives is the beginning of true spirituality. It will show us how letting go of our man-centered efforts to become more spiritual and allowing God to untangle our lives actually leads to a more authentic relationship with him. The result may not be perfect people, but people perfectly aware of the grace God offers to us every day of our lives.

The late Mike Yaconelli was in the ministry for forty-two years, both as a pastor and a minister to students. He was owner and cofounder of Youth Specialties, and the author of Messy Spirituality and Dangerous Wonder. Mike was something of a wild man-passionate about life and grace and Jesus.