Unchained Book Review (Litfuse)

Disclaimer: This post contains Amazon Affiliate Links.




I read Unchained by Noel Jesse Heikkinen in exchange for honest review from Litfuse. The book is Christian-based. The book's subtitle if If Jesus has set us free, why don't we feel free?. Guilt. I am a Christian and I have felt guilt over many things, even years after I asked for forgiveness over and over again.

The author discussed how Christians walk around with heavy chains on, worrying about how many mistakes God is adding up. For me, one of my heavy chains is my sexual past. The author said "there is no joy in sin and I felt trapped." I have felt that way many times after having one sexual encounter after another. I was sexually free, but not truly free with God. Freedom should tell the world you are Christian was one of the most powerful lines in the book.

Another topic, which hit me hard was about prayer schedules and reading the bible. The author discussed how people have good intentions to read the bible and pray every day, but then things get in the way. The idea of reading and praying becomes more important than following Jesus. It is like when I took a bible course on purity years ago. Some days, I forgot to log in, so I tried to double up and triple up the next day. Completing the course became more important than trying to improve my spiritual life. When I did complete the course, I was more happy I finally finished though I barely learned anything.

The author said the problem with man-made rules is the rules place yokes, which require more than the bible commands. The man-made rules changes how we think God feels about us and when we fail, "we don't feel free."

I also liked the section on the law (biblical law, aka the old testament). The author discusses how people place different levels of importance on different laws. Is it a better sin if we steal some paper from work versus robbing a  bank? How important is keeping the Sabbath? When was the last time we truly kept the Sabbath?

The section on the law was my favorite section in the book.

The book has discussion questions at the end of each chapter. The book was an amazing read.

You can purchase the book using the link above. The book comes in Kindle and Hardcover format. The book is prime-eligible.

This beautiful Mess by Rick McKinley Book Review (Blogging for Books)

I read This Beautiful Mess: Practicing the Presence of the Kingdom of God in exchange for honest review from Blogging for Books. This post contains Amazon affiliate links.

The book discusses looking at our lives through the kingdom of God. Jesus has a vision for the church (his followers), but his followers did not immediately follow the vision (p. 1). 

McKinley discusses on Page 27, how the Jews were expecting a king to save them from oppression and bring freedom. Yet, Jesus came as a baby to a virgin. He did not start his ministry right away. Jesus was the King of Kings, but no one was expecting him to come as a newborn. 

He did not practice his ministry until he was old enough,  then he died for our sins, only to rise again. Jesus also said he would come back and reclaim his kingdom and his bride (followers). 

I loved the title of the book. It sounded similar to Perfect Chaos. In the midst of my trials and troubles. In the the midst of meltdowns, temper tantrums, and therapist appointments. I can still laugh. I can still breathe. I am still alive. My life is perfectly imperfect. Today, I had two assignments due for class, in addition to two product reviews for Tomoson. I got home from church, did some cleaning and cooking, and tried to get to work. I could not get started until after 6 pm. The kids, great-niece, and nephew kept bothering me. From invading my camera space when I tried to do a video review to crawling over me when I was trying to type up my notes into my assignment. I still got my work done and turned in on time, but it took some creativity. 

The pastor at church, talked about following instructions and proper planning. The sunday school lesson discussed financial management and once again, planning. My mess could have been a little different if I planned more in advance versus on the day of. Some days are better than others, but it's now 12:30 am. All the kids are sleep. I finally got some peace to work. 

God's kingdom is messy, yet beautiful. Even though people are not perfect,  even though people are doing their own thing, God is still in control of our messes. Even though, we want to rule our own kingdoms, God is still here waiting for us to get things right. One day, we will be perfect, but we can't get there on our own (p. 5). 

I love how the book is set up. The author presents stories and poems, instead of theology. The book is easy to read and easy to understand. 

The book teaches us that God accepts us in our brokenness (p. 17). He forgives us of our sins (p. 17). Jesus will never bow down to you or adapt himself to your beliefs (p. 21). 

Finally, the book discussed how to follow God's vision. The first step is to repent (p. 28). Repenting does not happen once, but multiple times in our lifetimes. We also have to be Kingdom people. We need to be like God. Live for God. Live for Christ. Simply be in God's kingdom. We don't live for us--We should live for God. 

Morning Inspiration

I overheard T.D. Jakes this Morning. He was talking about how sometimes even when we grow, we sometimes get stuck in an old mindset, based on our culture and upbringing. The Egyptians wanted to be freed from Pharaoh. Even though they was freed later, Some thought living in slavery was better than living in freedom. They craved old foods, instead of the new Manna. All that complaining kept them stuck in the wilderness for 40 long, long years. The ones who entered the wilderness were not the same ones that came out of the wilderness.

We all are going through something right now. We are human. That's what we do. We all make mistakes. and We all have something to be grateful for daily.

Have a blessed day. --
amazon.com/author/staciewyatt

Throw away the toys

I am celibate, but I still struggle with sexual thoughts and the occasional pleasure session. I been taking a purity course (way of purity), which is for pornography addiction/sex addiction. I was a sex addict. I was a toy addict. I was a self pleasure addict. The course is taught from a Christian perspective I havent watched porn in a minute, but I want to finish the course. One of the lessons discusses removing things, which will hinder your progress. Delete the phone numbers, block certain websites, throw away anything which will set you back. I have sex toys. I havent used them in a long, long time, but I hate to toss them out. The toys cost me money, well not my actual money. Most of the toys were funded by my former job as a web cam girl. Some of these toys cost between 20 to 40 or more bucks. I am no longer a web cam girl. I no longer have sex. I still hate to throw away the toys.

My rationalization: if i toss the toys, i still have fingers. either way, if i want to do something, i can without having sex. But i need to toss the toys (after removing the batteries, just in case they are still good), in order to move forward in my faith and celibacy progress.

Why I should toss them:
1. part of my old life as a sex addict
2. move forward in Christian fath
3. Part of my old life as a web cam girl
4. I didn't actually have to use my 'real' money to pay for them.
5. represents addiction/addicktion

Why am I holding on to them:
1. good condition. works.
2. still got fingers.
3. cost a lot of money (even though I never saw the money).
4. dont feel like digging for them, out of hiding, to toss them out.
5. laziness.

So I went to the closet, pulled out the rubber maid, found the bag, found some things I forgot I had, and realized this was not the whole collection. Tossed away what I had and hopefully I remember where the rest is. Besides, I dont use them anyway (another rationalization). Yet, I still wanted to hold on to them. Time to let them go. Giving up the old life for a new life.

Adventures in Celibacy

Stacie D. Wyatt