Finding God In The Ruins

The beauty of Matt Bays testimony of pain in Finding God in the Ruins is that it grants permission for doubt. Often we are given a tidy package in which we are told to relate to God, to trust blindly, and to rest securely in His unknown plan. Bays, through sharing his own struggles, tells of a deeper faith only found in asking hard questions. This book was provided to me by LitFuse and David C Cook in exchange for my honest opinion.

Finding God - In Tears

This book is not for the faint of heart. Tears will be shed as you hear over and over again, “me too, I’ve been there.” Bays shares his story of incest, abuse and loss. He shares the questions that don’t come with easy answers but do give rise to a deeper faith.

Our theology does not line up exact, but that is one of the things I love the most. Seeing someone else wrestle with scripture and challenge me to look at the text outside of my own tidy box is both challenging and inspiring. Matt Bays gives permission to hurt. He gives permission to wrestle with God. He gives permission to challenge belief and to get uncomfortable in our faith.

Finding God - In Messes

As someone who has worked in ministry, I find it refreshing when I hear another pastor say “me too” when it comes to wrestling with doubt. During the past few years, I have walked away from the tidy easy answers and started asking the uncomfortable questions. In the process, I have discovered a much richer faith and though I live in the uneasiness of doubt and knowledge that I see only in a mirror dimly I know that I am in the midst of my journey and not at the end. Matt Bays is a fellow journeyer in this messy place called life and I love him for it.

If you are comfortable where you are, don’t pick up this book. If you have some hard questions but have questioned your right to answer them then this book is for you. If you are looking for easy answers you won’t find them here. If you are looking for someone to walk beside you through the unknown then you’ve found a companion in Matt Bays.

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Matt Bays is a writer, speaker, and musician with a passion to call people out of their hiding places. In ministry for twenty years, he and his wife, Heather, live in Indianapolis with their fun-loving and insightful teenage daughters.

Find out more about Matt Bays at MattBaysWriter.com

Before you go grab a copy of Finding God in the Ruins and maybe another bookshelf for all these great books we’re adding!