This morning a lady called that I have never met to tell me she was reading my book and wants her son to read it. We went on to have a long and very enjoyable conversation about our faith.
Sometimes the best insights come about just because we begin discussing something that matters to us.
I would love to have more of these kinds of discussions. I think the best place for them is right here on my blog cite.
The more a conversation expands to include others, the more interesting it becomes. I would like as many as possible to share the discussion. So how about you join one or start one.
Leave a comment or question on the cite, start a discussion, advance a discussion, end a discussion or just express your opinion.
You can even choose a pen name and I will never know who you are – how is that for safe?
Mark,
You stated during service this Sunday that innocence is restored to us. My mind is having trouble excepting that I’m actually innocent when I know that I’m guilty of sin almost daily. I love the idea of being innocent so I can feel free to commune with him more easily, it also feels right in my spirit that we are innocent. Can you advise on accepting this characteristic back into my life.
Thanks
Jeff
I received Mark’s book by chance. A friend who knows I read a lot gave it to me. In all honesty, the title did not really grab me but since it was a Sunday afternoon and I didn’t have much on my list, I sat on my back deck with the book and a little curiosity. I don’t believe God is “religious”. First chapter, second chapter… By chapter seven something was moving in me. I could not put the book down. When I had to put the book down due to the things at hand, I found myself desiring to find a window to get back to the book. What I found so fascinating was when the book started dealing with “the law” verses not “the law” and the chasm between the old and the new Testaments. I am married to a Jewish man, and the issues that separate our faiths has become very near and dear to my heart. I really wanted to understand this. Let me bottom line it – Mark has brought a clarity and simplicity to the very core of Christianity. A faith where so many people are wanting the live the Kingdom right here and now, but are so confused with so much input and misunderstanding. In John 10:10 Jesus says, “I have come that you may have life, and have it abundantly.” Thank you Mark for helping me to receive this abundance. This book is a game changer! I am “experiencing God” in a new and closer way! Halleluia! Blessings on the success of this book.
Pam, Nothing makes me happier than to hear that someone is experiencing God is a new and closer way because of something I have said or done! My desire is that we can move beyond ideas about God to experiences of Him. My prayer for you is that the new understanding you have received goes on to more and more experience of His love for you. An abundance of love always “leaks”. We call that leakage the “gospel”. Thank you so much for taking the time to comment. You have been a true encouragement for me!
I can hear Mark’s voice as I read this book. The challenging concepts, honest & personal stories, mixed with humor make it a joy to read. But all that is second class to the effect the truths presented in this book will have on you. They changed my life.
Thank you, Mark, for putting yourself out there in such a genuine way.
Just when you thought you had a pretty good understanding of God, the Father and the Holy Spirit, Mark’s book opens up a new revelation of intimacy and breaking down the walls of being religious as the Pharisee were back in the day! I’ve received so much FREEDOM from old religious traditions and a religious up bringing reading chapter after chapter.
Mark’s testimonies makes you laugh, brings suspense and excitment, tears of joy and a heart of repentance! I am so motivated to share Mark’s book to people I know who was hurt by the church because of the absent of the Holy Spirit and that personal relationship Mark shares thoughout this powerful book!
For years I have had felt so held back from loving people and accepting them because a wrong set of standards that had been imposed on me by all things, the church. We would be betraying God if we didn’t first have our “Christian standards met before we could ever allow a person in… It truly grieved me for years.. I felt such freedom to love when I realized that wasn’t Gods designed . In fact it was breaking His heart. Marks book not only confirms but simplifiest the message of our relationship with God to an intimate practical one. Once we have cosied up and are comfortable with the God of the universe, it is a powerful love that we are able to comfortably and naturally have for one another no matter what walk of life someone maybe coming from. Love this book.. It’s a life changer!!
Kevin,
My deepest desire is to help people come to see God in a more accurate way, free from the negative connotations of religion. It makes me so happy to read this comment! Thank you for encouraging me!
Thank you Josh!
What an honor to be used by God to help change someone’s life. Sometimes we wonder what difference we are making. Reading this review removes my doubts.
Hi Roxanne – Wow! I think the little Pharisee living inside each of us just took at hit! Isn’t it amazing to see the connection between receiving the love of our Father God and being finally free to give it away without making demands of those we are loving? Unconditional love -what a concept! Thanks,
Mark
A good writer through his style and content can compel you to turn page after page until the book is finished and you are left wanting even more. Mark Cowper-Smith has done that in this book. Using his sense of humor and trial-lawyer focus, he has distilled the Bible to it’s most beautiful core concept. If you are a Christian, you must read this book. If you are not a Christian, you must read this book.
Thanks Daryl – I love the phrase, “beautiful core concept”. Great comment Daryl! It was the promise of a relationship with God based upon His act of forgiveness that was called the “good news”. A life under religion was what the people were living before Jesus. It wasn’t news and it wasn’t good. Why would anyone trade that to return to religion, yet we do it unconsciously. We still need a savior even after we accept Him – to save us from returning to religion.
You don’t often say a non-fiction book is a “pager turner,” but your book, Is God Religious? If not, why are we? is just that… a page turner. I found myself saying things like, “I didn’t know that” and “Is that how I react or behave?,” and “Am I religious?” I was raised a Catholic in the ’50s and so I understand the reverence, respect, and fear of God. God was too powerful, too perfect, too unapproachable for me. I became a rebellious product of the ’60s and left God and religion behind me. Thirty years later I truly met the real Jesus and everything changed. As I read this book, I found myself highlighting in yellow simple truths chapter after chapter. I applied myself to the questions at the end of each chapter and feel as if I have a greater understanding of Who the Lord is to be in my life and perhaps more importantly, how important I am to Him. I highly recommend your book.
Your testimonial really means a lot to me. You have lived religion and now you are experiencing God as Father. There really is nothing to compare with His unconditional love!
Thanks,
Mark