"Surely I'm not the only person who lies in bed at night wondering, Is this all there is? I can't be the only one who looks at the seemingly rich buffet of everything this world has to offer and loses my appetite, because even with countless provisions, friends, and activities - many of which are not only good but could be classified as godly - I can't shake the sense that there's something more. The hunger growls that there's more of God not only to uncover but to discover."
With that quote at the beginning of "The Organic God" by author, Margaret Feinberg, I right away felt my heart connect with that message. I too desperately desire something more than I see in this world, a desire to know more of God than I do now, to have a living-breathing relationship with him that touches every area of my life. And that's exactly what Margaret passionately shares in this book. My sister actually bought this book a year ago. The beautiful cover and interesting title was intriguing to both of us. I quickly stole it from her, immediately started reading, and fell in love with it! But for some reason, I put it down and got distracted from finishing it. It wasn't till just a couple weeks ago that I started reading through the whole book again, and it's funny, I almost feel like it has spoken to me in stronger way now than it did a year ago. The truth in this book just seemed to jump off the pages and come alive to me.
Through personal stories and scripture, Margaret talks about how we can find a deeper relationship with God that is free from the pollution of this world. A relationship with God that is organic - natural, pure, essential - as Margaret describes it in the book. Free from our preconceived notions, attitudes, and biases, and know the One true God of the Bible. Each chapter in the book is about different attributes of God that Margaret has experienced. Attributes such as bighearted, breathtakingly beautiful, amazingly wise, surprisingly talkative, wildly infallible, outrageously generous, unbelievably stubborn, abundantly kind, and deeply mysterious. As Margaret saw these characteristics of God at work in her life, she began to discover a God who was so real, and more involved in her life than she had realized. "I can't help but reflect on my own spiritual journey and wonder how much of God I really know and how much of God I simply take other people's word for or dismiss altogether. If God is bighearted, then why am I tempted to live with a closed hand? If God is surprisingly talkative, then why don't I take more time to listen? If God is deeply mysterious, then why do I sometimes lose the intrigue?"
Margaret is also such a great storyteller! I loved reading stories about her life and the way she has seen God's amazing provision at work. About the way she started hearing him speak to her, stepping out in faith and obeying him. As well as the things she's learned on her journey. She shares a story about how she was very insecure when it came to witnessing to people, how she would fumble her words, and never quite knew what to say. She was speaking to a friend of hers who is a pastor and he told her when he witnesses to people he only asks one very simple yet profound question, what do you love about Jesus? Margaret said that question took her breath away. She talks about how she loves the beauty of Jesus. And at the end of the chapter, poses this question to us by saying, "...I have one question I can't not ask you, what do you love about Jesus? I have no agenda, except one. I promise." There is even a page at the beginning of the book where you can write your answer to that question and pass the book along to someone else.
A nice addition at the end of the book is reflection questions that correlate with each chapter. Which would be ideal for small groups who want to read the book together. Also, Margaret provides a sound track for each chapter! With songs from artists like U2, Derek Webb, Sara Groves, and Coldplay.
I feel like "The Organic God" helped me discover something that I've been hungry for. Just reading how she has experienced God gave me a renewed excitement in my heart to see him move in my life like that. I just felt a passion rise up in me to discover more and more of who he really is. Margaret's passion for the Bible - the way she talks about it in such a living breathing way - is truly contagious. It makes you want to dive deeper in the pages of the word. I felt inspired to be more aware of God's presence. To keep my ears listening for his voice and my eyes open to his fingerprints in my life. This book truly feels like a journey, a journey of discovering that there's so much more to God than we can even begin to comprehend ... he is after all deeply mysterious.
To purchase "The Organic God" Click Here
For more info on Margaret Feinberg go to: www.margaretfeinberg.com
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