​When I attended Ozark Christian College, I had to take a lot of Bible classes. Some of my classes were incredibly memorable and some were much less memorable. One of the classes that I remember most clearly was Hebrews with Chad Ragsdale. While I had memorized Hebrews 11 in the eighth grade, I had otherwise not paid much attention to Hebrews before then. However, this class changed all that. I began to see how this book helps modern Christians see some incredible connections between the Old and New Testament and teaches many relevant lessons on faith, trust, endurance, and community. So when I heard that he had published a book about Hebrews, I was excited to read it. It reminded me of some of the illustrations and applications we discussed in class and how they still apply to our lives today. It’s definitely worth the read ~ Bethel ​In his book Holy Grit, Chad Ragsdale walks through the practical application of the book of Hebrews chapter by chapter to help his readers discover how to develop a faith that lasts. Instead of approaching the text as a commentary, this book focuses largely on making sense of confusing concepts and how the truths from the book of Hebrews apply to our lives today. We discover how the original audience was also struggling with their faith when things got difficult and even with moving forward in their spiritual maturity, which are struggles Christians still face today. While some of the Old Testament references are considered to be confusing by many, this book helps clarify much of the confusion surrounding these metaphors and how the elements of the old covenant made way for the new. Throughout all of this, we see how we can cultivate a faithful resilience, which Ragsdale calls “holy grit”, which will allow us to stand firm and hold fast to faith and hope when life becomes difficult or uncertain. As it does in the book of Hebrews itself, each chapter of Holy Grit builds on the hope and endurance it gives its audience to live out faithful resilience, both individually and in the context of community with each other. With personal stories throughout and discussion guides at the end of each chapter, this book is a great resource of knowledge and wisdom from one of the New Testament's most mysterious books. This is one I highly recommend.
Personal Rating. My only criticism is that I think that the book got slightly confusing in some places. Because this book was largely applicational, it sometimes got confusing where the narrative of each chapter was going in comparison with the text from Hebrews. However, most of this can be resolved by reading Hebrews with each chapter of the book. Aside from this minor issue, I enjoyed this book very much and would highly recommend it. To read my review of Chad Ragsdale's book,
​Christian Convictions, click here