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A Beautiful Mess

How God re-creates our lives

Danielle Strickland author

Format:Paperback

Publisher:SPCK Publishing

Published:22nd Aug '14

Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back

A Beautiful Mess cover

God's divine order is so much bigger than our plans. You don't build a life or a church, you grow it. A book about expecting more.

This profound little book encourages us to set aside our limited expectations, and to fall in line with God's. Human beings like organization, structures, plans; God grows people. We ask for a budget; God offers us love. If you are aiming at relationship rather than performance, how do you measure effectiveness? How do you write a mission statement, yet allow God space to act out His plan rather than yours? What does Divine Order look like? Faith in God involves risk, and the possibility that God will do something entirely new. Starting with the seven days of creation, Danielle considers how God's world resembles A Beautiful Mess - vibrant, full of colour and pulsating with life, but not about propositions. The Christian life is organic, not prescribed. We were not created to work, but to be fruitful. We need to be willing to put ourselves in a position where only God can do what needs to be done, and to have the humility to let God show us what that is.

“Christians are holy troublemakers, God's counterculture, people who refuse to accept the world as it is and insist on moving the world towards what it should be. This book is not just about how God can fix your life... it's about how God might mess you up. A Beautiful Mess is a beautiful book, coming from a woman whose life and work I have long admired.” -- Shane Claiborne
"In this book, Danielle Strickland proves that she is not just a rather unusual bundle of Jesus-energy on steroids, but a deeply reflective monastic who is adept at finding meaning in the mess we call life." -- Alan Hirsch
“This is a challenging and thought-provoking book that highlights how many of us have made an idol out of order and control. In her straight-talking style Danielle dares us to embrace the ups and downs of life, and to let go of our need to be in the driving seat, in order to see new life and growth. As always her words are full of her inspiring and infectious love for Jesus and hunger to see the world changed in his name. If you like things neat and tidy, buy this book and be reminded of the beauty and joy to be found in embracing chaos and giving over control to God.” -- Mike Pilavachi, Soul Survivor

ISBN: 9780857215949

Dimensions: unknown

Weight: unknown

128 pages

New edition