Title: The Jesus Who Surprises: Opening Our Eyes to His Presence in All of Life and Scripture by Dee Brestin

Pages: 256

Genres: Nonfiction, Christian Living

Publisher: Waterbrook & Multnomah (July 23rd, 2019)

Summary

Join beloved Bible teacher and best-selling author Dee Brestin in discovering the surprising places Jesus shows up in the Old Testament and the unexpected ways He speaks into our lives today.

Offering a fascinating perspective on the historic, poetic, and prophetic books of the Old Testament, Brestin draws on her deep understanding of the full scope of the Bible to explore the timeless story of God’s quest to rescue each of us. She combines rich teaching, memorable storytelling, and an in-depth Bible study component to create a resource that shows readers how the story began (the books of Moses), how to live in the story (the poetic books), and how the story will end (the prophets).

*I received a free copy of this book.  All thoughts and opinions are my own.  A huge thank you to the publisher!*

Lately, I’ve been on a quest to find more biblically sound, Christian living books.  If you don’t often read this genre, then you might be surprised to find that a lot of the books labeled as Christian living, are oftentimes not all that Bible-based.  There’s a lot of cherry-picking Bible verses to fit the author’s agenda.  I’m happy to say, however, that The Jesus Who Surprises is not one of those books!

This book was such a fascinating read.  Dee Brestin writes in such a way that is conversational and personal and yet also maintains a voice of reason that is concise and informative.  I love how each personal experience is also given a biblical perspective.  The author uses Bible verses to back up everything she says, and not only that, but she provides context for each of those verses.  The Jesus Who Surprises is truly a breath of fresh air in the Christian living genre.

Not only is it an excellent book, but The Jesus Who Surprises also doubles as a Bible study and devotional.  It provides additional links to videos, as well as daily reflections, and group activities.  While I did not do the entire, in-depth daily study, I looked at some of the days and really liked what I saw.  I would love to reread this book in the future and do the entire study with a couple of friends.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this book.  Dee Brestin is a talented writer and has clearly put so much thought, effort, and study into creating this book.  This was one the best books I read in 2019. I would recommend The Jesus Who Surprises to all my Christian friends!