Books I love

Practicing the Way

by John Mark Comer

Have you ever gone to an event that you knew nothing about? Maybe you have a time and a location, but aside from that, you were just walking in blind. It can be an unsettling feeling.

How do you act as a Christian?

For many years of my Christian walk, it felt like trying to drive somewhere I’d never been without directions. I might ask someone along the way, “Do you know how to follow Jesus?” and often, I would just get, “Read the signs and keep going. You’re doing great!” But most of the time, I wasn’t even sure I was headed in the right direction.

This book contains a map, directions, and a compass. If you need help knowing what to do next in your Christian walk, this book will help point you in the right direction. I’ve been waiting years for a book like this.

There have been times that I have grasped at straws to try and make sense of what I’m supposed to DO as a Christian. Whatever happened to be popular at the moment was generally where my attempts would land. “You should have a quiet time.” Ok, not sure what I’m supposed to be doing, but here I am, being quiet. “Follow the ACTS method of praying.” That worked for a while but then started to feel formulaic and stale. At every turn, my attempts seemed forced, like a checklist. Over the years, I’ve longed for my relationship with Jesus to feel like an actual relationship, not a systematic method for becoming a good person.

This book meets you right in that place. Comer has this fantastic ability to write in a humble and conversational style. You’re invited to sit with Jesus and His disciples and contemplate what Jesus meant when he said, “Follow me.”

He then gives nine practices you can incorporate to help guide you closer to God. He calls them rules, but they’re really not. The practices are anchors (Comers analogy) that pull you back to your center even as life tosses you about.

I will be buying this book for friends. I can’t recommend it enough. If you desperately want to live a life close to Jesus, this book will be the map that helps you get there.