Real Love in an Angry World: How to Stick to Your Convictions without Alienating People

Enjoy Pastor Rick & this book is so good. I have this book & gave one as a gift to my dad who is a pastor. He enjoyed it as well.

Loved this book so much that I finished it in a day! Great insight, wisdom, and humor made me not want to put it down!

Great book. Rick Bezet keeps it real in this book

Awesome book

My Rating - Put it on your listLevel - Quick, easy read; short bookSummaryA good, quick summary of this book is somewhat hard to do. Bezet's main idea is that there are unhappy people out there who are mad and/or judgmental towards Christianity. Additionally, these people come from both ends - those opposed to Christianity, and Christians (or at least those who would call themselves as such, like Westboro Baptist) themselves who think your Christianity isn't good enough. He spends a little time on Christian who have drifted away from historic Christianity, i.e. denying the validity of the Scriptures, miracles, etc. However, most of the time is spent on the two more angry sides, the non-believers and judgmental believers (for instance, he relates a story of taking his wife to see a Celine Dion in Vegas, and losing a few church members once they found out he was in Vegas).The book is broken into nine chapters that kind of bounce around on different topics. Everything from picking our battles to loving your neighbor (and just who is your neighbor) to then loving you enemy, to a little bit of history on the Bible. He touches on politics a number of times, but not necessarily specific topics or policy points, mainly just that Christians can disagree with each other while still be Christians, and Christians can disagree with non-Christians while still showing love and understanding. I don't know how long he has been working on the book, but as it was published near the end of 2017, I assume it is at least partially motivated by the rise and election of Trump.My ThoughtsOverall, it is a good book. Bezet is a good writer, very personal, and I thought, very humorous. I struggle with exactly who should read this book. For most Christians, it is probably worth your time to read, especially because it is so short. It reads quickly and is funny, his points on how to listen to people and how important it is to really listen, and his continual emphasis on the need to truly love others, are great reminders and points weakness for most of us. I especially like his point about loving others being the second great commandment. He points out that on the liberal Christian and non-Christian side, there is often the comment that we just need to love each other because that is what Jesus said and that is all we need. Bezet rightly points out, this is the second great command, this first is to love God. Part of that love means being faithful to God and His Word.While all is helpful, I think the best use could be for those Christians on the extreme end of the non-loving judgmental side. Those who are the most angry and often express hate. The problem is, of course, I don't think the people who need it the most would actually read it, and if they did they'd likely just disagree. I guess you never know how the Spirit will move some people, but I remain skeptical. Either way, it might be helpful for you to recognize some issues in your life, and if you see some of these issues in others, it might help you in reaching out to them and helping them to show the love of Christ, while retaining the love for God.*I received a free copy of this book for an honest reviewMore reviews at MondayMorningTheologian.com

The world, and in particular, the United States is becoming more divisive.Few people I know would disagree with that statement right now.Yet, few people I know – including, or perhaps, especially – Christians, know what to do about that divisiveness.In his book, Real Love In An Angry World, pastor and author Rick Bezet attempts to give Christians a roadmap for how to stick to their convictions without alienating people.What I loved about Real Love In An Angry World is how relationally centered it is. Rick's roadmap for how to stick to your convictions without alienating people begins with defining truth relationally. According to him, “When we recognize that trust is a Who (not just a what), our focus moves from what we know to Who we know. And that means we experience truth totally within the context of relationships... If we view truth as territory to defend, instead of a relationship to share, our instinct will be to get defensive with others whom we consider a threat to our faith.”Given Rick's focus on relationships, it's not surprising that he also emphasizes the role community has in discipleship. According to him, “We can misunderstand things when we're on our own, but we're more likely to sort out our misunderstandings if we read [the Bible] with others... God never intended for us to be off on our own trying to figure everything out.”Rick's roadmap for how to stick to your convictions without alienating people also includes love. He reminds people, “God is not mad at you. He loves you and wants to be with you... It's not that God can't stand to be in our presence because we're messed up people. It's that we can't live in His presence with sin.” In fact, Rick suggests “the world doesn't know what real love looks like because the church has viewed the world as the enemy... We talk about love, but what we demonstrate is hate.”In order to stick to your convictions without alienating people, Rick also suggests that “your convictions should never be broadcast. They have to be requested.” How I wish I would have learned that years ago! Doing so would have saved me all kinds of alienation and grief.To be clear, this is NOT a book that addresses specific issues (political or otherwise). Those expecting it to do so will be sorely disappointed. As Rick explains, “When we throw ourselves into an issue – even when it's a good thing – we can completely lose sight of people... Fixating on issues makes it hard to make disciples. When we focus on issues, we form teams that compete – it's us against them.”That said, Real Love In An Angry World is a much-needed and timely work that many Christians will find helpful. It would also make for a good book to discuss in small groups, where people could, together in community, wrestle with how best to apply Rick's roadmap to their lives.********************************************************Disclosure: I received a free copy of Real Love In An Angry World in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Great read - very honest and true