“Honest to God”

by Josh Weidmann

Moody Publishers

Summary

Josh Weidmann uses his love for scripture and wonderful ability to craft powerful illustrations to make complex, emotional and theological concepts understandable in this helpful book. His desire is to help you drop every barrier standing between you and God. Why? Because “being honest with God leads to transformation, because it allays our fears and opens our hearts to receive the forgiveness He offers us in Christ Jesus.” (Pg 42)

Review

This is the first book I’ve reviewed that I had no prior knowledge of before it was sent to me. I’ll be honest, I chose it because it had a cool cover, and an interesting subtitle (“Becoming brutally honest with a gracious God”). It took me a while to get around to it, but I’m glad I did because there are a lot of good things in this book.

Weidmann’s pastoral concern and desire to help us be free from the things that are standing between us and Jesus (fear, shame, deception, pride, etc.) comes through on every page. He is honest and transparent, to the point of being emotionally raw, as he invites us to join him in asking some pretty tough questions and then searching scripture for answers.

I was touched by many chapters in this book. If you look at my notes you will see “this is my favourite chapter” at least four times! His chapter on anger was wonderfully insightful. The chapter on shame was moving. “The Scandal of Grace” will be with me for a long time. “Radical Integrity” is a phrase I will certainly add to my lexicon. Weidmann’s greatest strength is his ability to use illustrative stories and powerful metaphors to convey biblically sound and theologically helpful concepts in a meaningful, readily applicable way. And he does it in every chapter!

The last part of the book, “Baring Your Soul for the Sake of Change”, is a very practical section which will help anyone who is struggling with doubt, secret sins, fear, or intimacy issues. Don’t skip straight to this section because the whole book leads up to it, but don’t miss it either because it’s extremely helpful.

Conclusion

This book is a perfect introduction for every new believer who wants to know how get honest with God and relate to Him in a deep, personal way — and for any mature believers who have forgotten how.