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I’ve read through Steven Furtick’s book Sun Stand Still once already and I’m going through it again with my Young Adult Life Group as well as with my two youth interns. I absolutely love the message behind this book and the inspiration it delivers to begin asking God for the impossible. There is one part of the book that I want to share with you. It’s where Furtick expresses the importance of preaching Scripture to ourselves. He shares 12 faith confessions based of Scripture that we can preach to ourselves through out the day to keep our focus on Christ through any situation. Here are the 12 faith confessions:

1. I am fully forgiven and free from all shame and condemnation. (Romans 8:1-2, Ephesians 1:7-8, 1 John 1:9)

2. I act in audacious faith to change the world in my generation. (Joshua 10:12-13, John 14:12)

3. I have no fear or anxiety; I trust in the Lord with all my heart. (Proverbs 3:5-6, Philippians 4:6-7, 1 Peter 5:7)

4. I am able to fulfill the calling God has place on my life. (Exodus 3:9-12; Psalm 57:2, Colossians 1:24-25)

5. I am fully resourced to do everything God has called me to do. (Deuteronomy 8:18, Luke 6:38, Philippians 4:13)

6. I have no insecurity, because I see myself the way God sees me. (Genesis 1:26-27, Psalm 139:13-16, Ephesians 5:25-27)

7. I am a faithful spouse (if you’re single, you can slop future in there) and a godly parent – our family is blessed. (Deuteronomy 6:6-9, Ephesians 5:22-25, Colossians 3:18-19, 1 Peter 3:1-7)

8. I am completely whole – physically, mentally, and emotionally. (Psalm 103:1-5, Matthew 8:16-17, 2 Corinthians 5:17, 1 Peter 2:24)

9. I am increasing in influence and favor for the kingdom of God. (Genesis 45:4-8, 1 Samuel 2:26, Acts 2:37-47)

10. I am enabled to walk in the sacrificial love of Christ. (2 Thessalonians 2:16-17, 1 John 3:16, 4:9-12)

11. I have the wisdom of the Lord concerning every decision I make. (2 Chronicles 1:7-12, Proverbs 2:6, Ecclesiastes 2:26, James 1:5)

12. I am protected from all harm and evil in Jesus’ name. (Genesis 50:20, Psalm 3:1-3, 2 Thessalonians 3:2-3)

“If you’re not daring to believe God for the impossible, you may be sleeping through some of the best parts of your life.” – Steven Furtick, Sun Stand Still

Most Christians are content with living a comfortable life. They live one week at a time just trying to survive from one weekend to the next. They don’t share their faith with others, they don’t serve in the church, and they definitely don’t ask God to give them a vision worthy of His glory.

Steven Furtick’s book, Sun Stand Still, challenges Christians to break free of their comfortable life and pursue God with audacious faith. Furtick reminds us that we serve the same God that we read about in the Bible who brought His people through impossible situations because they were daring enough to ask God for what seemed impossible.

I don’t know about you, but I want to live a life worthy of God’s call. I want to dare to ask God for the impossible. I want to live in such audacious faith that others think I’m crazy. I encourage you to pick up this book and open your heart to it’s message. God has spoken to me through Furtick and I believe that He will speak to you to. To give you another preview of the book, I want to close this post with the most challenging statement that I found in the book:

“If the size of your vision isn’t intimidating to you then it is probably insulting to God.” – Steven Furtick, Sun Stand Still

I have many good things to say about A New Kind of Youth Ministry. It is very easy for a youth pastor to feel like they are becoming babysitters and entertainers of students instead of someone who equips them to serve God and encourages them in their spiritual journey. This book gives a lot of great insight into how to prevent that from happening and ways that a ministry can work towards truly connecting students with God. At a time where I feel like I’m missing something in my ministry, God really used this to teach me to focus on the things in ministry that are truly important.

The only problem I had with this book is that the author talked about having a beer with youth pastors he worked with and having a quiet time thinking about his life while chewing tobacco. I don’t consider myself a judgmental person, but I really have a problem with Christian leaders who do not hold themselves to any kind of standard. Whether drinking or chewing tobacco could really be considered a sin, neither of them are things that could possibly bring glory to God and help our testimony among those who participate in those things every day. Even though I absolutely love the book, these two things did leave a slightly bitter taste in my mouth.

On the back cover of Uprising it says, “This book may not be for you!” I could not agree more with this statement, but not for the reasons that are implied. This statement implies that Uprising might be too challenging or too difficult to read for some people. It suggest that one might not be able to finish the book because the contents might be too radical and demand to much change for a single person to be willing to do. I, on the other hand, feel this book might not be for everyone merely based on the way that the information is presented.

Although Uprising is challenging and has some great thoughts, none of it’s content is as revolutionary as it may suggest. On top of that, it presents very simple concepts in a very wordy, intellectual way that at times can feel like beating a dead horse. There were a few instances where the author tried to turn an appetizer into a three course meal and it really did not work. No matter how good a book is, this can prevent many people from really being able to connect with a book. For me, I had difficulties at times. Maybe that’s why it took me almost two months to finish it.

Overall, I liked the book. Despite the presentation, I felt challenged by it’s content and felt that God used it to speak to me. Like I said, this book might not be for everyone. In many ways, it wasn’t exactly for me. But…was I challenged to change things in my life in order to glorify God more? Yes. Did God use this book to teach me something? Yes. Do I have a different perspective than I did when I started? In some ways, yes. Ultimately, you cannot complain to much about that.

Crazy Love by Francis Chan

You NEED to read this book. I have not read a book this thought provoking and challenging in a long time (except for God’s Word itself). Crazy Love focuses on the love that God has for us, the kind of love that He desires for us to have for Him, and how God’s love can be expressed through our lives. Crazy Love provides content that is both relevant to how many Christian’s live their lives and it speaks biblical truth about issues that we face daily. It is presented in such a way that is both eye opening and challenging as we learn to demonstrate “crazy” love in our lives. Pick up a copy and you won’t be disappointed.