Jesus

In the intro to Jesus: Pure and Simple, Wayne Cordeiro states, “It’s time to get back to Jesus. It is time to hear His voice and simplify. It’s time we get back to Jesus, pure and simple. That’s what this book is all about.” I think, for the most part, the book stays true to that purpose. Our lives can be full of distractions, of noise and demands on our time, of the need to check-mark lists and follow the rules, we need stop, breathe, and remember who Jesus really is.

Cordeiro reminds us we need to read scripture daily, the Bible is the best way of “hearing” God speak, and he provides an easy to remember acronym to help us not only read, but relate what we read to our lives. He stresses the importance of being a servant and of being a hidden servant. He encourages us to live in a constant state of gratitude, being thankful for all of our blessings rather than grumbling about what we don’t have.

The passage that maybe struck me the most was about “standing near the door,” the door to God. It can be easy to insulate ourselves in our churches, with our Christian friends, but there are so many out there who haven’t found Christ, who need us to be near that door, so if they stumble by, searching, reaching, there is someone there to notice. Near enough to the door to give an encouraging comment to someone who needs it, showing a bit of appreciation to someone who doesn’t hear it often. Close enough to still see the people who are easily forgotten.

But I don’t think I can say you should go get this book. While it did have some good points and some concrete steps, which I like, it wasn’t new. I felt like I had read the same things before. Cordeiro relies a lot on stories to illustrate his points, but even some of those I had heard before. Also, I’m not sure about some of his theology, especially his points on Revelation. I could see where he was with his interpretation, I’m just not sure how legitimate it was. Of course, there are so many interpretations of Revelation out there, it’s hard to say.

Overall, it had some good nuggets, but for a relatively short book, I felt it rambled a bit much and, I don’t know, it just didn’t inspire me like I wanted it to.

One more positive I should mention. Each chapter ends with questions, either for individual reflection or group discussion.

3 out of 5 stars

Category: Christian Life

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Published October 15, 2012 by Bethany House
202 pages

Book source: For review

2 Comments

  • Sounds interesting enough, but I think it’s easy for books like these to blend together sometimes and seem like it’s something the reader may have already heard before.
    “to live in a constant state of gratitude, being thankful for all of our blessings rather than grumbling about what we don’t have”<-this is a great way to live life, always grateful.

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