Passion [Book Review]

There are people who doubt my generation. They say we live on our phones, are selfish, and don’t care for anyone other than “me, myself, and I.”

And there are days I believe that, too.

But then I meet others who believe differently and are doing something to show that our generation may be known one way but we are not all the same.

There are those standing up to say it only takes one to make a difference and so why not be that one?

Aliza and I are taking a stab at it, and there are countless others, too. I’m going to keep saying it until I go hoarse: this generation can flip this world upside down with the love of Jesus.

I believe it in my core, and I smile big when people choose to support, encourage, and push this generation.

There are those who choose to champion us instead of chasten us.

Recently, a few of those people wrote a book together for everyone – not just generation Y.

I think you need to read it. Every word of it.

PASSION: The Bright Light of Glory is a compilation of stories and messages (many, if not all of them, from the Passion Conference) written by Louie Giglio, Francis Chan, Beth Moore, John Piper, Judah Smith, and Christine Caine. Each message is a direct transcription from the conference, so if you were unable to attend Passion 2013, this will be a little bit like you’re there.

The heartbeat is Jesus and the book is centered around one point: we each only get one brief shot at this thing called life, so we’ve got to make it count. How can we be the ones that burn brightly for His renown?

Each chapter beautifully weaves Scripture into storytelling and truth into what seems ordinary. Stories that I’ve heard told over and over again came to life with these words.

Let’s be honest – there were a few moments reading this book that I physically felt my eyes glaze over. I had to read and re-read paragraphs until I felt like I had at least a loose grasp of what was being said. But then other chapters shook me up so much inside that the book would sit on my nightstand for days, my mind tossing and turning.

It will make you think. This book will challenge you to examine what you really believe and what that means for your life.

Each of the authors and speakers taught me multiple things and I re-heard truths that I’m afraid I forget a little too often. To give you a little glimpse at the words inside, allow me to share a quote or two from each contributor:

God didn’t take away the holes in His hands and His side; the scars remained. But they were transformed from a mark of pain to a mark of victory. The same thing happens to us through the power of the Holy Spirit. We bear those marks of what once was so that we can show what now is. -Louie Giglio

What is the one passion of your life that makes everything else look like rubbish in comparison? Oh, that God would help me waken in you a single passion for a single great reality that would unleash you, and set you free from small dreams, and send you, for the glory of Christ, into all the spheres of secular life and to all the peoples of the earth. -John Piper

God’s Word was not meant to build up our theology. It was meant to change our reality. -Beth Moore

You operate with a massive advantage: you are working from acceptance and not for it. You strive to be the best, not so that you can be applauded by someone else, but because you are already dearly loved by God. -Louie Giglio

We might be tempted to equate compassion with getting sad watching a movie or hearing a story. That’s not compassion; that’s sentiment. Compassion isn’t compassion until you are actually interrupted. It’s not real until it inspired action. -Christine Caine

“I finally asked one of the leaders, “Don’t you have people in your churches who just call themselves Christians but don’t really live it out?” He just looked at me and said, “That wouldn’t make any sense. If you call yourself a Christian, you automatically lose everything. Why would someone volunteer for that if they weren’t serious?” -Francis Chan

Don’t let past mistakes delay today’s obedience. -Beth Moore

Let’s be careful, students, that we’re not busy adhering to a code or concepts or principles and we miss the person. It’s all about Jesus. -Judah Smith

Personally, I refuse to pretend being a 20-something in todays world is easy. It’s plain hard. But with every truth poured back in, it’s a little bit easier to remember who I am because of Whose I am.

I highly recommend PASSION: The Bright Light of Glory to you, not because it’s encouraging or written by some amazing people, but because it is packed full of Truth. If you truly read and let it sink in, you will not walk away unchanged.

Writer’s Note: I was provided a copy of this book from BookLook in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own. Affiliate links are included in this post.