God over Good: Saving Your Faith by Losing Your Expectations of God - Softcover

Norsworthy, Luke

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0801093325 ISBN 13: 9780801093326

Publisher: Baker Books, 2018

Synopsis

It's hard to say that God is good when God isn't always what we expect good to be. A good father wouldn't make it so difficult to get to know him, would he? And if God is all-powerful, wouldn't he ensure that we never suffered? Either our understanding of God is incorrect, or our definition of good is inadequate.

In a world that is messy and a church that is imperfect, it's easy to let our faith be lost. But that doesn't mean we have to lose God. It means we must consider the fact that perhaps our idealized expectations are just plain wrong. With transparency about his own struggles with cynicism and doubt, pastor Luke Norsworthy helps frustrated Christians and skeptics trade their confinement of God in an anemic definition of good for confidence in the God who is present in everything, including our suffering.

About this title

From the Back Cover

"Luke Norsworthy's inviting, accessible, and entirely enjoyable new book is an invitation to come to know God better. Or to come to know God for the first time. Highly recommended."--James Martin, SJ, author of Jesus: A Pilgrimage and The Jesuit Guide

"Luke's insight and humor come through his stories and theology in beautifully carved pieces we can savor long after the reading is over. Part memoir, part preaching, part amazing storytelling--it's all a gift offered by a man of great faith who has chosen God over everything."--Becca Stevens, author, priest, and founder of Thistle Farms

"What a generous gift! Norsworthy opens wide the door of his heart to reveal his struggle to find a path through the dark woods of spiritual doubt and uncertainty. In this book, alternately moving and humorous, he doesn't abandon us in the now-all-too-familiar landscape of religious cynicism but instead joyfully leads us into the land of hope and resurrection."--Ian Morgan Cron, author of The Road Back to You; host of the podcast Typology

"Luke transparently shares the struggle many have with a faith focused on certain answers because that type of faith ends up delivering only more questions. But Luke doesn't leave us there; he shows us a way to the other side of cynicism. God isn't what we always expect, but God is always beautiful. There is life and love on the other side of simplicity, and Luke guides us toward it."-- Fr. Richard Rohr, author of Everything Belongs and Falling Upward

"Luke does such a brave job in this book--telling the truth, asking the questions many of us aren't willing to ask (but hear in our heads), and walking us all toward honesty and freedom and the person we really want to be. God over Good will rescue you in ways you didn't know you needed rescuing."--Annie F. Downs, bestselling author of 100 Days to Brave and Looking for Lovely

From the Inside Flap

Trusting God when God doesn't live up to your expectations

God is good. Except . . . God doesn't always seem to be what we would call good. A good father wouldn't make it so difficult to get to know him, would he? And if God is all-powerful, wouldn't God ensure that we never suffer? Either our understanding of God is incorrect, or our definition of good is inadequate.

In a world that is messy and a church that is imperfect, it's easy to let our faith be lost. But that doesn't mean we have to lose God. It means we must consider that perhaps our idealized expectations are wrong.

With transparency about his own struggles with cynicism and doubt, pastor Luke Norsworthy will help you trade your confinement of God to an anemic definition of good for confidence in the God who is present in everything.|Luke Norsworthy (MDiv, Abilene Christian University) is the senior minister of the 1,500-member Westover Hills Church of Christ in Austin, Texas. A frequent speaker at universities, retreats, and conferences, he is the host of the popular Newsworthy with Norsworthy podcast on which he has rubbed shoulders with some of the brightest and most prominent voices in theology, including N. T. Wright, Barbara Brown Taylor, Miroslav Volf, Walter Brueggemann, John Ortberg, and others. He lives in Austin, Texas, with his wife and three daughters.

Edition details

• Publisher: Baker Books
• Publication date: 2018
• ISBN 10: 0801093325
• ISBN 13: 9780801093326
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 224