I absolutely loved! reading this book.
It was a call to action.
It was a gentle admonition from your favorite uncle
But it was also the voice of gentle condemnation? from your boot camp instructor who's calling you out for still eating McDonald's double cheeseburger after taking his exercise class because #youCANNOToutexerciseaBADDIET
John Koessler took no prisoners with this book.
He was firing shots left and right I had to literary and figuratively duck, pause, sigh, laugh, cry and repent from all the things he mentioned of which I WAS GUILTY of perpetuating in my own faith walk.
There is so much to be said about this book, the best thing I can say is, Go read it for yourself. There is an introduction and 9 chapters where he addresses different aspects of rest. Each Chapter ends with a series of discussion questions that make this book a wonderful read for a book club. Here are some of my favorite quotes from each chapter.
Introduction
" Work is the Servant not the Master".
Ch.1 Restless Faith
"Work is more than a distraction. It is more than an addiction. It has become a religion".
Ch.2 The God Who Rest
" We look up to those pastors of old who were so devoted to ministry that they ruined their health and died at a young age".
Ch.3 Beyond the Day of Rest
"To seek first the Father's kingdom and his righteousness means that we will make the Kingdom and righteousness our priority. But it also means that we will rest, because to seek is to trust"
Ch.4 False Rest
"Sloth is rest's dysfunctional relative"
Ch.5 Rest and Ambition *Fave Alert*
"Pride is happiest when it provokes envy in other"
Ch.6 Worship and Rest
"In worship, the Church acknowledges that God is already present and active.The Church does not create that presence."
Ch.7 Rest and the Digital Age
"Rest is harder to find in the digital culture because technology has dissolved the two fundamental boundaries that are essential to rest: Solitude and silence"
Ch.8 Rest and the Future
"The future is not a blank page on which we may write anything we please.It is often the point where the past catches up with the present".
Ch.9 Final Rest
Reading this final chapter was tough as it brought back memories of my dad's death which is still fresh on my mind.
"As common as death is to the human experience, we are rarely in it's presence"
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I learned so much about how I need to be better with my practice of rest. I liked that not only did he state the obvious problems and loop holes in our christian lifestyles, he provides biblical based solutions to these short comings. My biggest pet peeve are people who want to point out problems but don't attempt to provide reasonable and wise solutions. I am convinced anyone who reads this book will walk away with a new level of truth they had not previously considered, big or small.
What book are you currently reading?
what motivated you to pick it up?
