What's Big Starts Small
6 Ways to Grow Great Faith
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- $10.99
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- $10.99
Publisher Description
Does Your Faith Seem Stuck?
Do you ever feel like you're not growing in your faith the way you're supposed to? It turns out, there are forces working against you--threats to your faith--trying to keep you from flourishing in your relationship with God.
One of Jesus' parables--in fact, the one that gets the most space on God's sacred pages--deals with this very issue. It's the story about the sower, the seed, and the soil (Matthew 13). Just as a farmer doesn't toss seed on the ground to get rid of it, God never brings you into contact with his Word for no reason. A farmer wants fruit, and God wants to help you experience more joy, peace, love, etc.
This book is structured around the six threats Jesus lists in the parable of the sower and the seed--pride, pain, worries, wealth, wants, and not waiting--and the corresponding strategies to overcome them. If you're wondering why your faith isn't working in some aspects of your life, the message of this book may be what you've been looking for.
"Mike Novotny is one of those rare writers who is a real joy to read, and his new book, What's Big Starts Small, is no exception. If you've ever struggled with your Christian life or been frustrated with God, this is the book for you."--PHIL COOK, PhD, media producer and author of The Way Back: How Christians Blew Our Credibility and How We Get It Back
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
This spry treatise by pastor Novotny (3 Words That Will Change Your Life) examines pitfalls to faith using Jesus's parable of the sower, in which a farmer scatters seeds on a path, rocks, thorns, and good soil, with only the lattermost producing crops. The author distills from this story "six threats to your potential as a hearer of God's Word"—pride, pain, worries, wealth, wants, and not waiting—and offers guidance on how to develop an enduring faith. Novotny suggests that, like the scorching sun beaming onto a plant shallowly rooted in rocky soil, the disapproval of non-Christians can be painful, and he urges readers to establish deep roots for their beliefs, reminding them that "the answer to giving up on God is getting more of God." Wealth, the author cautions, can distract from one's spiritual growth and stymie one's faith just as thorns inhibit the growth of other plants; one might donate money or meditate on Jesus to temper this threat. Novotny's sense of humor enlivens the theology ("Here's a report from the Department of the Obvious: God is greater than people"). The result is a winning guide for nurturing Christian belief.