July 24, 2017
Stickl, lead pastor of Valley Creek Church in Flower Mound, Tex., focuses here on leaning passionately into one’s relationship with the Lord—as opposed to working hard to earn God’s favor. According to Stickl, God wants to set people free and is continually at work within the hearts of believers to do just that. When Christians learn how to love themselves as God loves them, they become empowered to fully and selflessly serve all of God’s creatures. Stickl’s formula for becoming free is simple: receive God’s grace (identity) and experience His presence (relationship) to release His kingdom (purpose). In one of the strongest moments, he recalls childhood memories of eating out at restaurants and completing connect-the-dot puzzles as he waited for his food; in the same way, Christians want to create their own connect-the-dot plans for life rather than trust God to reveal only one step (one dot) at a time. He asserts that, if God revealed his plan to Christ followers, they wouldn’t be able to handle it. It is therefore necessary to have faith and “follow the Cloud” that originally led the Israelites out of Egypt. This book will have great appeal to millennial Christians looking for fresh takes on scriptural lessons.