Monday, October 3, 2016

Jesus and the Beanstalk: Overcoming Your Giants and Living a Fruitful Life- Lori Stanley Roeleveld

My Rating: 4 Stars

Description: We live in unsettling, challenging times. Everywhere we look, we see giant problems: giant obstacles to sharing faith, giant barriers to peaceful lives, giant strongholds of fear. But what if you knew eight small secrets to unlocking a strength big enough to overcome whatever obstacle life may bring?

Using allegory and a bit of humor, Jesus and the Beanstalk explores a passage in 2 Peter 1 to uncover eight truths that will help you unleash a larger-than-life faith: 


- Faith
- Goodness
- Knowledge
- Self-control
- Perseverance
- Godliness
- Affection for others
- Love 

In this creative, refreshing perspective on spiritual growth, you will discover an unyielding strength when you tap the power of a God who is stronger than any beanstalk and bigger than your biggest giants.

My Thoughts: I don't usually read non-fiction, mostly because I find that the themes and messages found in fiction stick with me longer. But when I heard of this book, I was interested in how the author used a fairly simple fairy tale to draw allegory to the Christian faith, especially since it is one that most people already know.

However, Roeleveld does not simply rely on the story of Jack and the Beanstalk to make her points, she consistently backs them up with scripture and personal experiences. The references to scripture were perhaps my favorite parts of this book, as comparing Jack and the Beanstalk to the verses in 2 Peter served to remind me just how magnificent and marvelous our God really is and that slaying giants isn't just for storybooks and Old Testament David.

The draw backs I found were that not all of Roeleveld's personal stories made sense to me in the context of chapter in which she had used them, and there were also some chapters that seemed to drag the point on longer than necessary. However, I do recommend this for those who love fiction and are looking for a book such as this.

I received this book through Litfuse in exchange for an honest review.

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