Soul Bare - by Cara Sexton (Paperback)

About the Book

How are we to have hope and experience wholeness amid challenges and failures? Featuring writers like Emily P. Freeman, Sarah Bessey, and Holley Gerth, these reflections help you experience beauty in the brokenness of real life laid bare.

Book Synopsis

How are Christians supposed to have hope and experience wholeness amid personal challenges and failures? Featuring contributions from influential young writers like Emily P. Freeman, Sarah Bessey, Holley Gerth and more, these poignant and powerful reflections help you experience beauty in the brokenness of real life laid bare.

Review Quotes

"I held my breath, I cried, I shuddered, I whispered prayers, I ached. Most of all, I fell more deeply in love with Jesus through these words and stories. I can't help but think how wide and deep and long this love is that finds us all so broken and yet so beautiful."

"If you harbor any doubts that God is present in the broken places, let this prayerful chorus of voices dispel them. Soul Bare is a psalm to what is hard and holy, a glorious song of praise to a God who reaches into darkness and blesses even our deepest wounds."

"If you read this book with an open heart, you will find yourself in its pages too. As you read, reflect, and then find the courage to share your own soul bare story, may you remember that authenticity is about more than spilling your secrets or wounds on the ground for people to gawk at. Sexton reminds us that the best authenticity is 'about the raw and real baring of our souls for a holy, redemptive purpose.' May you read and share stories of brokenness in the pursuit of redemption."

"So often Christian books offer us a well-intended formula for healing-one we've heard so often, we've got it down pat. But what happens when the formula fails in real life? What happens when the right ingredients or the proper measures still leave us empty in despair instead of full with promise and hope? Soul Bare won't offer you a formula. You won't turn the final pages armed with a ready-made antidote for brokenness or a cure-all salve for sin. What you will find is raw realness: uncensored stories by real people wrestling with the grit of real life. Lean in deep to Soul Bare. Your wounds have a place here. Your heart will find a home between these pages. You will see your real self in these stories. And you will glimpse our real God."

"These stories are brave, honest, and lyrical: a mosaic of shadows and light. As I turned these pages, I felt like I was being invited to glimpse a sacred cross section of the human experience. Suffering. Celebration. Despair. Hope. Sin. Forgiveness. And through it all an unmistakable thread of relentless redemption."

"Wading through the waters of Soul Bare, I felt I'd been entrusted with something precious. These pages are filled with the all-too-true and all-too-resonant stories of real people who have loved, lost, sinned, survived, hoped, and healed. The fact that these contributors happen to be gifted writers only makes the reading that much better. They are in essence 'going first, ' bringing their scars into broad daylight so the rest of us will follow-and Lord knows we need to. It's way too easy to hide behind small talk and Christian cliche. You can get away with it for quite a long time, but real life begins in real relationship. And relationships are born of vulnerability. We've got to learn to drop our masks and be human together. I'm grateful beyond words to the brave women and men who shared their humanity and God's goodness on the pages of this book. It's an absolute gift."

"What does it mean to be 'authentic'? We give the word a lot of reverence, but actually stepping out in authenticity remains a frightening prospect for many of us. There are those parts of our lives that we would rather not acknowledge, that we would rather forget, that we assume would isolate us if they were found out. Soul Bare is proof that authenticity never isolates, but always invites new growth and community. Any reader is bound to find him or herself in these pages somewhere."

About the Author

Cara Sexton lives in Oklahoma with her husband and four kids and writes about life, faith, family, pain, the written word and the beautiful mystery of God.