Connecting With God: A Spiritual Formation Guide Book

I don't know WHEN I'm going to learn the lesson, but writing book reviews alone has called my attention to the fact that I've got some serious heart work to do as relates to pre-judging (I think we actually call that 'prejudice' :-( ). Here I am again, beginning a book review with a disclaimer that I didn't want to read the book. Good grief. Mental note to self: let's be done with this snobbish attitude.

So In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day seemed like a terrible title. And I was given the book for free. And the physical format of the book made me think it was sort of a throw-away devotional book, a token gift. So it had three strikes against it. But I can't just toss a book without giving it a shot. So I mentally gave it one chapter to prove itself before I donated it to those who can't afford good books. (Sad, what am I DOING harboring these attitudes?!?).

Let's indulge ourselves in the ultimate readers' sin, let's skip to the end of this review: In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day is one of my Top Ten books of all time. I know it's colored by the fact that it hits right where God's already talking in my life, but even without that lens, this is the BEST book I've read so far about what a LIVING FAITH looks like. In a family full of 'fighters', I inherited the 'flight' gene. When times get tough, the tough get going and the weak run away. And, dang it, I'm that person too often. This book holds the key to conquering that weakness.

You COULD read it in a week, easy. But you SHOULD read it slower. It's packed full of a vibrant faith that breaks the chains of control, self-reliance, risk-aversion, settling for less, etc...that so many of us Christians suffer from. When we consider the giants of the faith, none of them sat in their pews, waiting for God to show up, and yet isn't that our default setting? I don't want to be that person, and truthfully, I don't know one Christian who DOES! And yet I, like so many others, either lack the faith or the understanding of the power of that faith to BE spiritual giants. No need! If you want a spiritual shot in the arm, if you want to know how to begin building that potential in your life, then you want to read In a Pit With a Lion on a Snowy Day.

And, oh-by-the-way, the name got redeemed when I learned it's based on a biblical story I've read before but totally MISSED the point of. Dang. How many other things are tucked away in there like this that I'm missing! Guess I'd better end this review with a recommendation of another book :): Quest Study Bible: NIV