Surrendered Sexuality - a book review

-

 I stumbled upon this book because of my home church. This book wasn't even on my radar until my peers picked it up. Let's talk about connecting our faith and sexuality, which is a concept I have not heard much about. 


This book was a group read because of my home church. It is not the type of book I'm usually consuming. I read mostly fiction and some nonfiction on the side (more nowadays than I used to). The title alone had my attention. The concepts within the book deal with giving God our all and not just parts of us. It talks about sexuality as not an identity, but a part of us to surrender to God. Being God's children should be our identity core and part of our faith journey, according to this book. It has some guts as a whole, mostly because it's talking about stuff a lot of Christians aren't. 

Why this book has guts

This book has boldness that I don't usually see in Christian Self-Help (the only category I can think of for this book to fit in). It talks about sex, sexuality, and even *gasp* homosexuality. It also opens the doors connecting faith and sexuality. 

It's also very hard for my brain to grasp connecting those two separate boxes in my head. That's mostly because of my background of faith, in a small church that didn't talk about sex except to say "only in marriage". This book is making me think outside the box. It is as much about an intimate relationship with Jesus as an intimate sexual relationship. The point is that a relationship with Jesus comes first and then everything flows from that, because following only rules is legalism and that isn't why you should avoid sin. You should avoid sin because you love Jesus, not just to follow rules. 

Another thing that has guts is challenging the social roles that men and women have. For instance, the idea that everyone should have a significant other to be a success is wrong. Paul lived a single life. Jesus lived a single life. Society says you have to have a spouse. Society is wrong and the church, unfortunately, is not immune to societal pressures. Friendship is far more important to the church than having a spouse, or at least that's how it should be. Fellowship is the goal here - not romance!

Oh, and gender issues. This author, too, came across as a 'tomboy' (like me). What society says an ideal woman or ideal man is has become problematic. She addresses this. She also addresses that trad-wifing it is not the ideal woman and you can be a biblical woman without staying home to make bread all day. Society can't even decide what is fashionable, so why are we even following society's standard? We need to do what we are called to do, not follow blindly like sheep. We all learn to play roles in society and we are taught those as we grow up. Some of those can take a flying leap. 

Conclusion

Five stars, purely for a book with guts to help others fix sexual brokenness, not to shame someone for behavior caused by sexual brokenness. Read it. Enough said. 

***********************************************************************************

 
Morrow is released! This novella is the story of two women writing a family history for the Morrow family. They find a nasty secret while researching. Will they survive their internship? 

Sign up for my newsletter at this link to get a free first chapter. All you need to plug in is your email. You'll also get a free first chapter of Wrenville, my first novel. 



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Laurel and Hardy - a brief history

-
Image
 Laurel and Hardy are a pair of comedians I grew up watching, despite the fact they were popular in the 1930s. My dad loves their work and that era of film. Today let's look at their history. You might learn something new. I know I did. Courtesy of Fanpop Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy didn't start out working together. Stan was more of a writer than an actor and Oliver was working as primarily an actor.  Stan Laurel (Stan Jefferson) was the understudy to Charlie Chaplin in 1910. While working in Vaudeville he changed his last name to Laurel. He found success in 1920 while doing comedy, then went more into writing and directing. Hal Roach Studios signed him in 1925 and he was supposed to be more behind the camera than in front.  Oliver Hardy (Norvell Hardy) took the name Oliver in tribute to his late father. He managed a movie theatre in 1913 and said "why not" to acting. He was in 200 short films for various studios. Hal Roach signed him in 1926.  They began working t...
Read more

One by One by Ruth Ware - A book review

-
Image
 This book was an easy five stars. It's one of those books where you're just waiting for something to go wrong. The tension is already piano-wire tight and only tightens by the end. I didn't predict the murderer until the end setup made it obvious and said it outright. Let's get into it.  We have two perspectives in this whole book, both women. It reminded me of The Hitchcock Hotel or a modern twist on an Agatha Christie novel. Ware's a modern Agatha Christie. If you like Christie's stuff, you'll love this. Basic plot, a bunch of coworkers (all rich and kind of hipster) get snowed in after an accident on the slopes. As the lights go out, the heat wanes, and everyone gets more and more upset, things get worse. Someone is now dead in the chalet and they don't know who did it. Worse, help has not come, yet.  Spoiler territory So, you want to be surprised by the culprit? Don't read on just yet. It was a twist that made sense and yet, took me by surprise....
Read more

Nancy Drew - Werewolf In A Wonderland (#175) Review

-
Image
 I needed a short book to fill some review space, so here's a Nancy Drew book review. This is the 175th Nancy Drew classic - Werewolf In A Winter Wonderland. I collect these books. It's about 150 pages long and should be an easy read to fill some review space. This will not be spoiler free. You've been warned.  The plot of this book is Nancy Drew and her friends working for a winter carnival where things are going horribly wrong (as usual, for a Nancy Drew mystery). There is allegedly a werewolf running around, two wolves missing from a wolf reserve, and the carnival is getting sabotaged in nasty ways. This is all par for the course for these small classics.  Nancy Drew is a teenage sleuth in the small town of River Heights. If you don't know who she is a quick Google search will clear up your confusion. She's been around since the 1930s, starting as books and branching into movies and TV shows. This doesn't feature The Hardy Boys, but that series does connect t...
Read more