Don’t Miss This BRAND NEW Must-Read by Bob Merritt: “Done With That: Escape the Struggle of Your Old Life”
Friends! Come August 1st, a hot-off-the-press book will be available to you. Guys and gals will want to bolt to your nearest bookstore to grab this compelling book! Trust me on this…
I’ve been blessed to get a sneak peak. Bob is a gifted writer as well as a quintessential story teller. He’s also brutally honest (many times you’ll say to yourself, “Wow, I think that, but I’m not about to publicly confess that.”).
Let’s start with some of Bob’s endorsers—they’re most impressive. One of my favorites is by author Mark Batterson. Mark says, “…Bob shows that less means more. Less regret means more joy. Less loneliness means more belonging. Less angst means more contentment. Bob’s hard-fought battle will help you win yours.”
Our own Senior Pastor, Kyle Idleman, says, “Freedom in Christ is one of the most powerful gifts of the gospel. But knowledge of that freedom and walking in that freedom are two different things. This book moves us from knowledge to action, with practical application for every person who is truly ready to move.”
The book’s divided into three parts: Getting Honest, Aha Moments, and The New Life is Less and More, four chapters per part, with Bob taking us by the hand throughout the entire book. The Intro’ causes you to say, “I’m so glad I found this book.” Once you get into the chapters you’ll say, “Wow, I need this book.”
Thirty-six excellent discussion questions, three per each of the twelve chapters, are included for your small group or Bible study buddies. Chapter 10 - Fewer Possessions, More People, has my favorite of all the thought-provoking questions in it: “Create a list of the people who really matter to you. Who are the ten who will cry at your funeral, and is there anything you need to change to make sure those ten are getting your best?”
And look at this:
In Chapter One we learn from Dallas Willard re: “the challenge of living the Christian life. He said the word disciple appears 269 times in the New Testament but the word Christian appears only 3 times.” Bob continues, “The cost of discipleship is real, but the price of non-discipleship is a life that NEVER improves and stays stuck in relational breakdown and personal strife.”
Bob shows us that spiritual growth takes time and regardless of where we are, (see below...)
Numerous Scripture verses and Biblical character’s actions build Bob’s points in each chapter. I found myself logging many of them into my journal, each one pertinent to whatever day I was reading.
Chapter Four gives us a point thanks to a golf analogy that’s also killer funny at Bob’s expense. Bob manages to tear his rotator cuff (ouch) and suffers thru’ intense physical therapy. We readers feel his pain.
This chapter is about leaving our old life for a new one. It’s easy to get comfy in our old life. And in Bob’s case, things weren’t going to change for him unless he turned himself in for some help. By that time, Bob reveals he’d seen “two doctors, four physical trainers, and one therapist.” He says, “I’d read a dozen articles, watched four videos, and received fifteen pages of exercises. I was determined to overcome my problem and resume playing the game of golf as God intended.”
The pain is what was teaching Bob he had to change. Here’s where we’re given three steps toward change:
Humility,
Honesty, and
Hard work… (Don’t miss this chapter!)
Bob’s revelation is: “Just as there is physical therapy for shoulder pain, there is spiritual therapy to develop our faith: both require a commitment to doing the work…It took humility, facts, and action to abandon the old life of failure and pain and move squarely into the new life of golf and happiness.”
Totally a guys’ guy, Bob relays some hysterical hunting stories. I’ve read these out loud to my husband while both of us howl ‘til we cry. My husband is so happy my copy of the book has come in the mail now so he can dive in. (I was reading digitally.)
(Be sure to catch some of Bob’s sermons from his church’s website.)
Finally, I’ll share a few tidbits from my favorite chapter, Chapter 8 - Turning Points. (Never in a million years would I’ve thought an illustration using skinny jeans would grab me.)
Hang with me…the “Spiritual Turning Point” is hugely an “aha!” We’re gifted with four practices to help us “open up the channels for God’s Spirit to speak:”
1 – Read God’s Word
2 – Read inspiring books (My personal favorite!)
3 – Reduce the noise in your life (Warning: This is a tough one.)
4 – Confess your sins (Not for the faint of heart.)
Sound impossible? Bob clarifies, “…these major turning points don’t happen every day. But a major spiritual turning point can happen in an instant, in an hour or two, or over several days. And when it occurs, it’ll feel as though you’ve been saved or freed from something, as though you’ve had a breakthrough, and as though you’re about to enter a new stage of life—a better, stronger, wiser, and more spiritually centered stage…”
These are just a minutia of the WEALTH of helpful information you’ll gain from reading this book. And, if you haven't read Get Wise, also by Bob, here's the review link.
‘Til next time!
Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the page above are “affiliate links.”