Friday, October 18, 2013

One Way Love Book Review by Tullian Tchividjian (FlyBy Blog Promotions).



I read One Way Love: Inexhaustible Grace for an Exhausted World in exchange for honest review from FlyBy Blog Promotions. The book was written by Tullian Tchividjian and published by David C. Cook. I received a paperback version of the book. This post contains Amazon affiliate links.




About the Book: (From Media Kit)

Real life is long on law and short on grace—the demands never stop, the failures pile up, and fear sets in. Life requires many things from us—a stable marriage, successful children, a certain quality of life. Anyone living inside the guilt, anxiety, and uncertainty of daily life knows that the weight of life is heavy. We are all in need of some relief.

About the Author (From Media Kit)


William Graham Tullian Tchividjian (pronounced cha-vi-jin) is the Senior Pastor of Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church in Ft. Lauderdale, Fl. A Florida native, Tullian is the grandson of Billy and Ruth Graham. He is a visiting professor of theology at Reformed Theological Seminary, and a contributing editor to Leadership Journal. He is an ordained minister in Presbyterian Church of America. He is the author of six books; including the best seller, Jesus + Nothing = Everything that won Christianity Today’s 2011 book of the year. He travels extensively, speaking at conferences throughout the U.S.

My Review:

I chose this book because I do not understand God's Grace and Mercy. The book consists of 10 chapters. In Chapter 1, Introduction, Tullian discussed Performancism, which best fits me sometimes. According to Tullian, Performancism is the mindset that equates our identity and value directly to our performance and accomplishments,(p. 20). We can let our achievements define our identity. Our money, looks, cars, and degrees can set the stage for our worth and value. When the job or car is gone, then our identity is gone.

I used to work at a manufacturing plant. One of the female employees drove a nice racing car, with all the fixes and updates. She got into a car accident and the racing car was totaled. She was more upset over the car than her life.

For me,  I did not feel complete until I got my bachelor's degree, even though I rarely use it. I felt that I was letting people down because I did not finish college early in life, like you are supposed to. It took 13 years and multiple colleges to get one degree, yet it is a degree without experience, if I don't use it. There is nothing wrong with wanting to achieve the good things in life, but those things should not define us. Tullian said that people spend a lot of time building up their reputation and image  but at a cost to others and ourselves (p. 20). Page 20 also says Performancism is a form of worship--we spend our lives frantically propping up our images or reputations, trying to do it all--and do it all well--often at a cost to ourselves and those we love (p. 20). Instead of focusing on the important things, we focus on the things, which can improve our image, instead of dedicating and focusing our lives on God.

The book teaches people about Grace and how to move in God's grace. Tullian says we can not play it safe anymore (p. 25). We need to be saved and bring others to Christ. This will bring a revival to the Christian faith.

Chapter 2 discusses the exhausted world. We have responsibilities. Sometimes we take on too much responsibility. More responsibilities means you have to perform in more roles. You will fail and you will succeed in life. Problems will occur. Plenty of expectations, rewards, and punishments. We get stressed and burnt out. While, grace is pure, simple, irrational, giving, generous, terrifying, and rare, in addition grace is love that seeks you out when you have nothing to give in return (p. 32). 

This was a good read. This book must be read slow because it has a lot of knowledge and wisdom. It is available in print and kindle format. Have a blessed day. 

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