Welcome to Litsy!

A Christian book, think it‘s Rachel Held Evans‘ last one. I really liked this one. She uses some stories from the Bible in a retelling, then talks about each one. She was always open about questioning her faith sometimes, & this is about her trying to reconcile parts of the Bible with her beliefs. Think this was #doublespin for November.

If you don‘t believe in a literal interpretation of the Bible (I don‘t) and think it is often used as a weapon by Fundamentalist Evangelicals (I do) and are still a little fascinated by it (I am) then this is a great read for you too.
I love Rachel Held Evans and still mourn that she passed so early. I loved listening to the audiobook read by her ❤️💔.

Lately, I‘ve been feeling cynical and doubtful, and RHE always helps with that. I just hate it that this is her last book. 😢 #audiobook #hoopla

This book looks at the historical contexts and cultures that influenced the Bible & sheds light on what the Bible is and how it is meant to be read. This perspective provided me a platform for engagement in and with the Bible and fellow believers again, leaving space for doubts, interpretations, and debates. I not only learned a lot about ancient literature and cultural norms that influenced the Bible‘s writers, but also renewed a deadened faith.

I read 20 books in February!
25% NF (met my goal, yay!)
45% BIPOC authors (surpassed my goal, woot!)

Didn‘t really enjoy the right hand three on the bottom row. But otherwise had some great reads. Will do a separate post with favorites! #howjessicareads2021

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️Reading Evans the *affirmation* I felt that not only did someone educated think similarly to me but she also had sources to back her (us) up was a balm. She doesn‘t let you just sit in your agreement, tho.She challenges you to learn more, go deeper, live the faith, ask your cynical questions, yes, but also work to find the answers - she voices understanding but doesn‘t let you off the hook. I know I will be re-reading it again & again.

“Once upon a time, there lived a girl with a magic book.”
#FirstLineFridays @ShyBookOwl

This is really good! But listening to Rachel‘s voice makes me a little sad. I can‘t believe it‘s already been almost two years since her death. #audiopuzzling

Happy belated birthday, @BookishTrish I sent you a gift but mailed it to myself. 🙄 It will be on its way to you shortly!

I‘ve been holding out on starting this book since it is Rachel‘s last. Her books and speaking have been so, so important to me over the past several years. I was raised in a strict Pentecostal household and church. She was raised similarly. So I feel not-so-alone when I read RHE‘s stuff.

I‘m reading along and discussing with a real-life friend. Buddy reads are such a treat!!

I read most of this book and will finish it when my audiobook hold comes in. She doesn‘t avoid the difficult things about the Bible but instead asks to look hard at those stories that seem to undermine humanity. This book has been a light in my often difficult faith journey. Love her take. She will be missed

I have never participated in a #readathon before. I know I won‘t get #24b4monday with work and family, but the hubby will be away and I just might trying staying offline all weekend to see how much reading I can actually get in! I really want to finish the two books on the top of the pic. Anything on the bottom is bonus!

#7Days7Covers #CoverCrush Day 4

7 days, 7 covers you love, no explanation. Try to tag someone new each day.

Anyone else interested, consider yourself tagged as well!

This is her final gift. It‘s genius. I cried at the end, when she wrote about everything she would teach her baby. Thank you Rachel, for showing a path back to the Bible for the skittish, the triggered, and the enraged, before you left us. 😭 #theology #christianity #resistance #faith #hope #inclusion

”While Christians tend to turn to scripture to end a conversation, Jews turn to Scripture to start a conversation.” #quotsyaug19

The Bible is full of miracles, harsh truths, parables, and more. The author is open and honest about her struggle to align those truths with our current culture. She discovers that it‘s the stories in the Bible that she connects with. Jesus brings truth home by presenting a story as an example. In that way, it‘s easier for people to connect and understand. In the end, the questions don‘t disappear, but neither does the faith.

Good choice for a devotional.

What makes the Bible‘s miracle stories so compelling is the idea that God cares about people‘s suffering, not simply their “spiritual blindness” or “spiritual poverty” but also their actual blindness and actual poverty.

The gospel means that every small story is part of a sweeping story, every ordinary life part of an extraordinary movement. God is busy making all things new, and the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus has opened that work to everyone who wants in on it. The church is not a group of people who believe all the same things; the church is a group of people caught up in the same story, with Jesus at the center.

I can‘t help but be reminded of the time Google Maps tried to guide me directly into the Mystic River. Boston is the most horrible place in which to try to follow a GPS. The GPS probably just laughs at you and says good luck, it‘s Boston. 🙄😂

Jesus is what the living, breathing will of God looks like. This includes compassion for the poor, esteem for women, healing for the sick, and solidarity with the suffering. It means breaking bread with outcasts and embracing little children. It means choosing forgiveness over retribution, the cross over revenge, and cooking breakfast for the friend who betrayed you.

Jews believe these questions are up for debate, instructive not only when we arrive at an answer, but when the ensuing discussion reveals something important to us about our faith, our community, and ourselves. While Christians tend to turn to Scripture to end a conversation, Jews turn to Scripture to start a conversation.

It was bittersweet to read this when I did, with Rachel Held Evans‘ passing last month. I have such respect for her & her writing; her voice was so needed & it‘s missed greatly. I had a rough start with this—I loved the humor of her intro, but her tone early on tended toward condescending (kind of “oh, those silly views I used to hold”) and I struggled with that. But as she got into the meat of the book, I resonated with her more & more. ⤵️

It‘s a beautiful day for reading outside! It‘s hot, but there‘s a nice breeze blowing. I also may have taken a nap on the front porch. #summerbreak #teachersofLitsy

As I was finishing my morning walk, I found these roses had bloomed in the front yard! I think they count as inspiring.

#BFC #bookfitnesschallenge

FZ: Job has a porn addiction?
E: According to Bill, everyone has a porn addiction.
B: Yep. Because of feminism.

😂

I‘m getting back into this one today. I miss Rachel Held Evans.

I finished my third audiobook at lunch yesterday and started the tagged one on afternoon break. I‘m also glad I got my 3 half hour walks in at the start of the week, because late last night I woke up nauseous 🤢

This morning is lemon ginger tea as I prepare for a work meeting in a few hours. Thanks to my fellow #BFC peeps for leading by example: rest is important to our fitness, too!

#bookfitnesschallenge

Rachel Held Evans' death last week moved this to the top of my TBR. Feels like good reading for Eastertide.

This book has been on my shelf for months. After Rachel Held Evans‘ unexpected passing I pulled it down. This book is a joy to read!

I really loved the new take on the Bible story that this book presented. A lot of Religious people may not like that.

We went to Barnes & Noble before we saw Avengers: Endgame (which was great). Here‘s my book haul. I especially wanted to get Inspired after reading about Rachel Held Evans death.

I usually don‘t care about celebrity deaths but this might go a bit higher on the TBR just about now.

Rachel Held Evans‘ words have resonated in my life in powerful ways. Searching for Sunday was encouraging & healing as my husband & I processed a painful separation from our church. And I‘m currently in the middle of Inspired, during a season of re-examining/re-evaluating my perspective on the Old Testament. I was heartbroken hearing of her passing today. I‘m thankful for the legacy she leaves—but what a great loss! My prayers are with her family.

Gutted by the tragic loss of Rachel Held Evans. I was on the launch team of her last book, not because of how much I love books, but because of how much I loved her and what her voice meant to me. I genuinely feel like a light just got extinguished, but I also feel like this tweet speaks truth to the influence she had.

RIP dear Rachel. You helped me become a progressive Christian and I will always be grateful!

Saying many prayers for this wonderful author. I had the opportunity to hear her speak twice last year, with Nadia Bolz Weber (whom I adore!), and I am just astonished at the massive curveball life has thrown her way. She helped to grow and inspire my faith and the faiths of many. I pray she comes out of this ordeal as best as she can, and that her family can find some peace.
(ETA: She has now passed away since originally posting this.)

I‘m offering some suggestions to help you shake up your reading choices in your small group at church. Time to read some female authors outside of women‘s ministry.

https://bookriot.com/2019/03/15/expand-your-small-group-reading-at-church-try-a-...

@bookriot #amwriting

I was slightly sceptical that I would like this but it was really good. She gives a great overview of the biggest problematic issues related to the Bible without being overly verbose. I actually started reading my Bible again regularly while reading this book 😂 I can recommend it to sceptic and saint alike.

Up next! #amreading #booksonfaith

As someone with a sometimes-complicated relationship with the Bible, I'm really enjoying RHE's take. But this happens continually throughout the book - whenever she quotes an author, she uses the past tense, not the present. In academic/non-fiction writing, you use the present tense, no? When referring to something written in a book by that author, I mean. Driving me crazy!

Starting to get into this one!

Really enjoying this one so far - amazing insights and storytelling

Haha I just realized that I didn't actually get a book for Christmas this year! But that's okay as I bought two books for myself yesterday 😊

My first Bible was one of those Precious Moments volumes that boasted blond, doe-eyed David on the cover, two baby lambs resting in his arms, and a sparrow perched on his staff, the shepherd boy blissfully unaware that in a few short years he‘d be delivering 200 Philistine foreskins to his father-in-law as a bride price. Inside were all my favorite biblical heroes and heroines depicted as children. (Well, almost all of them...⤵️

Grad school has me crazy these days, and I‘ve been in a reading slump, but this book is so good...

Having heard plenty of literal interpretations without room for questioning, I appreciated Inspired for its ability to question and reframe these stories. It‘s worth a read for Christians and questioners.

#netgalley #InspiredBook

You guys are all so awesome. For my 50K giveaway I invited you to share your reading life with our Litsy family in just 5 words. They‘ve all been brilliant and inspiring to read. From the ambiguous to the pithy, from the comic to the educational. You‘re all such a thoughtful and inspiring lot! Thank you - keep ‘em coming! #50kreadinglifegiveaway