I love books. I like books that make me feel good, inspire me and match my thought process. I like books that teach me new things, see things from a different perspective and strengthen my beliefs. Every now and then, a book comes a long that walks across the room and gets directly in your face. It grabs you around the collar, lifts you out of your seat and tells you like it really is. It calls you out. It challenges you. It makes you uncomfortable for all of the right reasons. Enter the book “Free Book*” by Brain Tome.
Brian Tome is the Senior Pastor of Crossroads Church in Cincinnati, Ohio. While I don’t mean this to sound creepy or weird, I would like to meet this guy. I don’t want to meet him in a fanatical sort of way, I want to shake his hand. I want to personally thank him for writing the best book I have ever read. Period. Thanks to facebook, I was able to send him a note to thank him, but I’d really like to sit down and talk about this one. I can’t believe the timing and I can’t believe how this book hit me right where I needed to hear it…on many levels.
I am going to tell you right now that this isn’t your average, everyday “Jesus Loves You” kind of book. This is an in your face reminder that we are FREE in Christ. There are things that you will read that might make you a bit uncomfortable. Before you put the book down, ask yourself why this makes you uncomfortable. I’m not sure if I speak for you, but I know I don’t like someone being brutally honest with me. I certainly don’t like reading it in a book from a guy I have never met. I kept reading and realized that I need honest. I need someone reminding me of the freedom I have often missed while being in bondage to strongholds in my life. I’ve missed freedom by forgiving but not forgetting. I’ve allowed bitterness and a past I regret to be chains that hold me down.
I cannot say enough about the impact that “Free Book*” has had on me in the days since I began reading it. One night I read chapters regarding bitterness and strongholds. I took some time to identify the ones in my life and pray over each on specifically. I literally awoke the next morning with the hymn “Blessed Assurance” on my mind. You can ask my wife, I was singing it all morning. I’m not a guy that walks around singing hymns so this was not normal activity for me. It was, however, a reminder of the covenant I had made through prayer the night before.
Will you wake up singing hymns just because you read “Free Book*”? I doubt it. That’s not what I am going for in this review. What I will promise you is that you will be challenged. You will be asked to take a hard, tough look at your life and your journey. You will be reminded that we are FREE in Christ. For this and many other reasons, I say that “Free Book*” is the best book I have ever read. I encourage you to get a copy for yourself and see the freedom that you are missing.
I give “Free Book*” a 5 out of 5!
Note: Thomas Nelson sent me the above book for review purposes. It will allow me to keep the book. I have received no other compensation from Thomas Nelson.
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