Open
Get Ready for the Adventure of a Lifetime
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4.5 • 11 Ratings
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
You’ve accepted the invitation. Are you ready to take the next step?
From the New York Times bestselling author of Dinner with a Perfect Stranger, Open will forever change the way you think about faith.
It wasn’t the end of the world. It was just the end of Emma Jameson’s world. Fresh off the heels of a devastating breakup and floundering in her career, Emma is struggling to come to grips with why God allows so much pain in our lives, why He seems so absent when she needs Him most, and why the Gospel accounts—our supposed guide for how to lead a contented Christian life—feel so completely irrelevant.
Then one day, a mysterious envelope arrives in Emma’s mailbox with the word Open written on the outside. Inside the envelope is a card bearing the following message: “For a real adventure with Jesus, go through the nearest open door.”
Skeptical, but having absolutely nothing to lose, Emma steps through the pantry door, only to find herself instantly transported back to the first century, where she is taken on a personal tour of various Gospel accounts by none other than Jesus himself—an experience that radically challenges Emma’s perception of the Gospels and what it really means to be a Christian.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Gregory (Dinner with a Perfect Stranger) continues engaging readers with his masterful storytelling in this instructive book of creative nonfiction. Gregory opens with the internal conversation of fictional character Emma Jameson, whose heart has been bruised after a breakup with her longtime boyfriend. Then, a note appears challenging Emma to go through the nearest open door, which she immediately does. Enter the world of Jesus, where Emma is an unseen (except to Jesus) guest and therefore allowed to watch, learn, and listen to many of the stories told about Christ throughout the Bible. With expertise and flawless transitions, Gregory guides readers to the healing embrace of God's love for all who are brokenhearted, lost, and despairingly hopeless. Readers of faith will find themselves captivated (and perhaps a little surprised) at how Gregory weaves biblical stories and lessons into the heart and mind of a present-day character. Those looking for a creative way to engage with the tenets of Christianity established at it's very roots will find a wealth of knowledge here.
Customer Reviews
Impactful
I have mentioned this before… some books are hard for me to review. Open is one such book. The reason that Open is difficult for me to review is the fact that God is using its message, along with John Bevere’s book The Bait of Satan (a bible study that I am currently going through), to work on a painful personal stronghold in my life. I was hurt deeply a few years ago. The kind of hurt that has radically changed the lives of my family. I need to get past that offense. Both of these books…one fiction, one a bible study…are like a one-two punch at the heart of me. Therefore, I can’t break the story down analytically. All that I can say is that God is using the works of David Gregory and John Bevere to show me the sin of holding onto an offense. I am lovingly being reminded that Christ is the answer. He is the healer. What I have specifically received from Open is a reminder of the personhood of Christ. That as a believer I need to love and seek Christ. Christ hasn’t given me a series of steps/rules to be followed… items to be checked off a mythical list of required acts for good Christians. Instead, He calls me to seek after Him. To worship Him. To love Him.
“Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.”
John 14:21
God always has impeccable timing. It is only God that can orchestrate a friend inviting me to a bible study while at the same time I finally pick up Open to read (a book that I am very late in reviewing… I should have already read it). I pray that God will use Gregory’s story in your life as He is doing in mine.
Soli Deo Gloria!
I received a review copy in exchange for my honest and unbiased review. My thanks to the author and publisher.
For all of my reviews visit my blog at www (dot) blessedandbewildered (dot) com