Free - by J Kevin Butcher (Paperback)

About the Book

"Good Christians are supposedly known for diligently practicing spiritual disciplines like Bible study, prayer, evangelism, and serving God--disciplines that are expected, through inspired effort, to conquer sin in us and in the world. The tragedy is, so few Christians understand that we aren't just sinful but wounded. We don't need a list of disciplines. We need a Healer, a Deliverer to come and set us free. Here is the truth: we have a Healer. His name is Jesus Christ. He loves us. His calls us first to own how desperate we are for him; and then to accept his invitation to abide in his great love"--Amazon.com.

Book Synopsis

Are you weary? Trying to follow Jesus and be a "good Christian," only to hear the voice of shame whisper, try harder?

Good Christians are supposedly known for diligently practicing spiritual disciplines like Bible study, prayer, evangelism, and serving God. Disciplines that are expected, through inspired effort, to conquer sin in us and in the world. The tragedy is, so few Christians understand that we aren't just sinful but wounded. We don't need a list of disciplines. We need a Healer, a Deliverer to come and set us free.

Here is the truth: We have a Healer. His name is Jesus Christ. He loves us. His calls us first to own how desperate we are--for him; and then to accept his invitation to abide in his great love.

Kevin Butcher points us toward this healing Jesus, who offers us his all-encompassing love. You will find nothing here about lists and shoulds. Instead, you will discover how to fall in love with Jesus and then how to walk with him--not in drudgery, but freedom--abiding in his love. A love that rescues us from drudgery and shame, surrounding us with joy even in our darkest hour. A love so powerful that it births our worship, obedience, and willingness to surrender all to him.

Even when hell is at your doorstep, the love of Jesus will surround you, protect you, empower you, and set you free. Because God's love isn't just important to your journey--God's love is everything.

From the Back Cover

Do you know, really know, that God loves you?
Here's the tragic reality: Very few of us see God as deeply in love with us, calling us above all else to love him deeply in return. Instead, our walk with Jesus is full of duty, fear, and shame. Many of us not only are discouraged but have simply checked out.

Weary follower of Jesus, it's not how much we study and work and confess and agonize and sweat. No--God's love is the how of the journey, the life we've been missing and longing for. Jesus' invitation to us is the same one he gave his closest followers in John 15: "Abide. Abide in my love." This love will cover, sustain, and free us to walk powerfully with him no matter what the enemy brings. It's a love that will heal us . . . and lead us all the way home.

Hear this, son or daughter of God: You and your story are invited by Jesus himself into the mysterious, lifelong embrace of his love. Are you ready to find freedom?

Review Quotes

In this latest inspirational book by Butcher (Choose and Choose Again, 2016), pastor of Hope Community Church of Detroit, he tackles the kind of Christian thought that can lead to shame based religion. Reminiscent of Margaret Paul's Do I Have to Give Up Me To Be Loved By God, Butcher's book uses personal stories, quotes, and scripture to show how abiding in Jesus' love is enough. Feelings of shame or of not being "good enough," damaging trauma, and debilitating false beliefs of undeserving love are all considered here. Butcher describes in depth how the "just do it" form of Christianity is "the veiled heresy that following Jesus is simply about Bible knowledge and trying really hard." That kind of life does not equate with being loved and living in love with God, Butcher argues, but with a form of spiritual abuse: the fear that if God truly knows all about our damaged and broken selves, how could He choose to love us? With true compassion, Butcher's words are a monument to love. Comfort food for the Christian soul.--Booklist