Thursday, December 17, 2009

40 loaves: Breaking Bread with Our Father Each Day by c.d. baker - Book Giveaway and Back Cover Review

Leave a comment on this post by midnight, December 23, 2009 to enter the giveaway for a copy of 40 Loaves - MERRY CHRISTMAS! :)
I'm sorry, no overseas entries please.



Why don’t I have more faith?
Why am I so bored with Jesus?
Why don’t I feel connected at church?

These are the types of questions the religious establishment often makes it uncomfortable, if not impossible, to ask. And by asking them, C. David Baker, author of 40 Loaves: Breaking Bread with Our Father Each Day hopes to start a conversation in people’s hearts, then with others, and ultimately with God. Many circles of Christianity have led us to believe that certainty and confidence are the proof of true spirituality; questions are discouraged.

But Jesus offered his followers an ongoing conversation—a relationship built around a free, open-ended discussion. Questions were encouraged. They were often impertinent, sometimes alarming, and the religious establishment was distinctly uncomfortable with them … just as it is today.

“40 Loaves is something of a collection of the kinds of questions I felt finally free to ask of myself and of my relationship with Christ,” says Baker. “It’s my belief that these questions are shared by many others who long for the freedom to simply ask them out loud. I hope this book becomes a platform that frees others to search their hearts more deeply and be fed with the Bread of life.”

Each “loaf” here is a big question that stimulates discussion, investigation, and contemplation; it will take hours—or days—to digest. Conversational, inviting, disarming, and real, 40 Loaves nourishes self-examination and offers validation for those who feel discouraged, guilty, or even shamed when the realities of their lives don’t match up with the ideals of the Christian establishment.

C. David Baker founded an award-winning business before redirecting his career to write full-time from his small farm in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. (The same area I call home!) He is the author of eight books, including six novels, one of which was nominated for a Christy Award. He has contributed articles to the Christian History Institute’s international publication Glimpses, and to Christian Singles magazine. Baker has a Master’s degree in theological studies from the University of St. Andrews in Scotland.
 
Back Cover Review:
C.D. Baker has a way of getting to the heart of the matter and laying the motives of our hearts wide open – and then dealing with it with the heart and compassion of a loving father. I believe that this is a gift that Daddy God has given him too.
 
I’ve found a treasure in c.d. baker’s devotionals – 1st in 101 Cups of Water and now in 40 loaves!
 
40 Loaves is written with the complete transparency and vulnerability of c.d. baker in a way that opened me up and got to the heart of the matter. This is the best kind of devotional! In this devotional, he asks questions that many of us are afraid to ask such as: Why do I want Jesus in my life? Why do I fear unbelief? Why am I so confused about finding God’s will? Why do I avoid sharing my faith? Why is my life such a mess? Why have I stopped dreaming?

Each devotional asks questions that challenged me to dig deeper and honestly probe at the source of my struggles…and ends with a short, but beautiful prayer written by people of faith over that centuries that also longed to honestly face themselves at the foot of the Cross and sit at the table of Jesus’ grace and be filled…and healed.

This book was provided for review by the WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group.

1 comment:

angelamcmichael said...

I think this book is for ME! Yep, I'm pretty sure. I like the vulnerability and the honest questions -- it's how I tend to think, and it's not real often that I find people who write that way too.