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Messy Spirituality: God's Annoying Love for Imperfect People

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Just because someone is a follower of Jesus Christ doesn't mean that they won't have problems.

Unfortunately, some people actually do believe that belief in Christ equals no problems--and if you actually have problems, then something is wrong with you.

"Messy Spirituality" explains belief as it is: you believe, but you sometimes make mistakes, do dumb things, and have problems.
This book gives you Christianity in its reality, and well worth the money.

Nothing can happen in a Christian's spiritual walk until he or she submits, surrenders to Christ. This book set me free -- just as Jesus said, "The truth will set you free." It spoke to my heart, my core....by the end of the first chapter, I knew it was a winner, because I was crying, and few books have the power to do that. This book is all about grace and forgiveness...accepting God's forgiveness, and forgiving ourselves for not being as "spiritual" and "pious" and (God forbid, tho we tend to seek it anyway) "legalistic" as we think we should be. Only when we step aside can God take the reigns in our lives, and only when we admit we are a mess can God do His wondrous works. This book is about humility and the huge spiritual gains we can achieve by simply letting go...and letting God. Thank you, Mike. You've blessed me greatly.

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!

This book can show you the true meaning of being a christian.

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.

So frequently Christian books tell you what to do and how to be a better Christian. Not so with Messy Spirituality! This book tells it how it is, how Christians suffer and have stress and pain and life happens to us just like everyone else. However, Mike Yaconelli pulls it around to a place of awe and wonder by making it all worthwhile and meaningful in God's context. The language and stories he used filled me with wonder in our awesome, amazing, beyond understanding God.

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!

"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!

This is, without exception, one of the best books I have read in years! I jokingly refer to it as "Promise Keepers for guys who have trouble keeping their promise"!!! This book should be required reading for all Christians. It made me understand God's amazing love for me in a way no other book or sermon had ever done. I have given this book to both Believers and non-Believers. You might as well order several.....you'll want to hand them out to anyone you count a friend. It is a life changing book.

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!