My new book, I’m a Christian—Now What?: A Guide to Your New Life with Christ is officially available today! This book has been in the works for a long time, and I am eager to see how it helps and encourages its readers—both those who are new Christians, as well as those more seasoned ones who are walking with them.
In addition to sharing the story of the book on my podcast, Your Next Favorite Book, today, I wanted to give you a look at 10 helpful quotes from the book:
On Belief & the Challenges of Discipleship
“…when you become a Christian, especially when you’re coming to faith as an adult, you’re starting life over from scratch. You’re a grown-up in body, but a child in your faith, which means these early weeks, months, and years are a crucial time in your faith.” (5)
“…for those of us who grew up without any real connection with—or, in some cases, awareness of—Christianity, there is nothing normal about it. We don’t see a cross and think “Jesus.” We see a cross and see the letter t.” (10)
The Bible and Prayer
“The Bible is the foundation of our life as Christians. Get a grip on it now. Don’t let anything else take away from its priority in your life. Do this, and it will go well for you.” (29)
“…if prayer is talking to God, and we believe God hears and answers our prayers, and we believe that there is nothing that we can’t pray about, then there isn’t really such a thing as a right or wrong way to pray.” (35)
Faith and Creativity
“As a Christian, you do not need to be resigned to artistic mediocrity. There are Christians who make great art. There are non-Christians who make great art, too. There are Christians who make terrible art, and non-Christians who make terrible art, too. Our job is to both make and enjoy great books, movies, music, and every other creative endeavor under the sun, in a way that reflects our love of God as the One who created creativity.” (65)
“The answer to embracing creativity in any form is not to offer a knock-off or a sound-alike. We shouldn’t encourage people to watch the ‘best Christian movie’— we should encourage them to watch objectively great movies (as subjective as that statement may be). Substitute creativity is mediocrity, and when it comes to creativity, mediocrity is a sin.” (143)
Sharing the Gospel and the People God Uses
“God brought Jesus into the world through messed-up people. God saves messed-up people through Jesus. And God makes Jesus known to messed-up people using the messed-up people he saves.” (86)
“Sharing your story isn’t the same as sharing the gospel. Your story is how you came to believe the gospel and be saved through the gospel. But it’s not the gospel. Only the gospel—the death and resurrection of Jesus for our sins—is the gospel. But your story can provide a natural opening to sharing the most important message about the most important person in the universe.” (119)
Character and Virtues
“The secret to disagreeing like a Christian is best described as convictional kindness. Convictional kindness means having a firm belief or opinion while also being willing to genuinely listen to the views and perspectives of others. It is the natural outworking of both humility and tolerance, and in another time this would have been called by another name: charity.” (107-108)
“Seek to live a quiet life. Focus on where God has placed you and the work he has called you to in this moment. Pursue a heart of convictional kindness. Put all your hope in Jesus, the author and finisher of your faith (Hebrews 12:2). He will never disappoint.” (135)
