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Taking Your Faith Beyond Words to a Life of Action Be the Message (Hardback) - Common
Maybe you’re troubled by the disconnect between the words you speak and the life you live. Maybe you’d like to see your faith become more active and life-changing in the world around you. Pastor Kerry and Chris Shook felt that way. Even though their calling involved preaching and teaching, they became weary of sermons and words. They felt a gap between what they were saying and the needs of people around them. They decided to do something about it. Be the Message is their story of waking up to the gospel—not just a gospel of words and sermons, but the gospel of intention and action and people. They discovered a profound You Are the Gospel As they explored the deeper truths of scripture, the verse “the word of God lives in you” came alive. Digging deeper, they discovered that the gospel message is really about life message—your life lived out. God’s call to you is Be the Message Be the Message opens up a new world of understanding about what God calls you to. As the Shooks learned, the gospel is not about what you say. It’s about who you are and what you do—and how you can be God’s hands and feet in the world. What would happen if we talked about God less and walked with God more? Be the Message reminds us that Christianity was meant to be a faith of action, not a faith of words. Yet often we sacrifice doing something for the sake of talking about it. When we actually act out on our faith, we find our faith grows even more. You can do more than nothing. People’s lives are changed when you allow your life to be the gospel to the world. Living out the gospel in the world today is both simple and costly. The Shooks explore that paradox through biblical stories and their own experience of making a decision to live out the gospel in practical ways. Choosing to be the gospel changed their family, church and personal relationships with God. How can it change your life?
- GenresChristianNonfiction
Unknown Binding
First published January 1, 2014
27 people are currently reading
99 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
February 11, 2018
This book made my reread list. I still really loved this. I like that the title is exactly what this book is about.......Be the Message = live your beliefs. I rarely ever reread anything...but if I ever feel the need to make another reread list in the future, this one will definitely be one I'd read for the third time in heartbeat. It makes me want to do better.
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I loved this book. It not only inspires one to live better and to be more involved with those around them, but it also gives practical advice in so trying. The title says exactly what you get in this book. Be the message and help others. Live your beliefs. That sounds so simple but often times, for me anyway, I wait for the perfect chunk of free time to magically appear....but the reality at my age is......I don't ever have a chunk of free time. So I appreciated this. We aren't being asked to do anything big, but to just do something....anything that gets us closer to the end goal.
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I loved this book. It not only inspires one to live better and to be more involved with those around them, but it also gives practical advice in so trying. The title says exactly what you get in this book. Be the message and help others. Live your beliefs. That sounds so simple but often times, for me anyway, I wait for the perfect chunk of free time to magically appear....but the reality at my age is......I don't ever have a chunk of free time. So I appreciated this. We aren't being asked to do anything big, but to just do something....anything that gets us closer to the end goal.
March 22, 2015
Wow. Every Christian should read this book once a year as a reminder of what our faith is really all about. This book has wrecked me in such a great way. If you want revival- this is how you do it.
March 25, 2015
The message in the book is clear. We can be the message and not just speak it. Very motivating.
March 3, 2020
This tremendous book by a husband and wife team underlines the message that the life you’re leading is your Christian message ... of great support to their words of wisdom, are the chapter endings of “The Divine Whisper” (usually a scripture passage, a guide to meditation, and a plea for 5 minutes of silent thought) and “Love the One in Front of You” (a practical application of that chapter’s main idea”) ... a terrific tool for improving your faith walk ...
October 8, 2017
#Be The Message
This book challenges us to give up control and be God's hands and feet. Follow His holy disturbance and get involved. I am excited about doing this and need to make sure I don't allow things to make me not take the first step.
This book challenges us to give up control and be God's hands and feet. Follow His holy disturbance and get involved. I am excited about doing this and need to make sure I don't allow things to make me not take the first step.
April 8, 2016
Excellent book on practical Christian living and sharing your faith in a genuine manner! A must-read for Christians who want to live a meaningful life in Christ.
August 18, 2018
Great read
This book was a great read with many life applications. I would definitely recommend that all believers read this book.
This book was a great read with many life applications. I would definitely recommend that all believers read this book.
December 6, 2019
This is a really interesting take about how to live what you believe, and allowing yourself to be light and salt in our world. The framework for the Christian to "Be the Message" is very Biblical, and the Shooks' did a really good job of arranging their message to an understandable framework. Their personal stories of success, and failure, and how both changed the way that they thought and acted was good. This book would make a good small group study, or just a personal read to encourage your own spiritual growth. I listened to this book on Audible, but I also have the Kindle version that I will refer to again.
February 12, 2018
passionate book about taking your faith beyond words, a couple of cringe parts and things I just didn't agree with - eg: because a father has a drink every night doesn't mean he has caused his son's DUI - it could be a great example to teach responsible drinking, I know people that have one glass of wine with dinner every night and there is no alcohol problems with their now adult children.
Anyway apart from these minor quibbles it was a challenging read and well worth the investment.
Anyway apart from these minor quibbles it was a challenging read and well worth the investment.
September 7, 2022
This book has been on my “want to read list” for a while. I just found it by chance at Goodwill. It was worth the wait!
Kerry and Chris Shook will set you on fire to be the message. God has given us all a message-His message- and the Shooks encourage us to step out in faith, be the gospel, live like Jesus, and love the one in front of us.
Kerry and Chris Shook will set you on fire to be the message. God has given us all a message-His message- and the Shooks encourage us to step out in faith, be the gospel, live like Jesus, and love the one in front of us.
June 25, 2025
From skeptic to connoisseur, I can’t say enough about this book!! It’s a call to be the message and empowerment to be bold messengers. This book offers an invitation to be apart of a larger adventure than merely observing life. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is looking to be changed and hear your call on life. Warning: don’t read if you are not looking to be radically changed.
March 24, 2025
Reminds Christian’s to not only share the gospel. Share your own story with others and be the gospel in your life with actions.
“God asks you to be the message, don’t hide your failures. Your greatest mess is what God uses to become your greatest message.”
“God asks you to be the message, don’t hide your failures. Your greatest mess is what God uses to become your greatest message.”
December 17, 2017
Fairly generic, but a lot of good reminders and practical applications!
January 15, 2018
Good reminder of why we want to let go & practical applications. Talk less - walk more.
January 23, 2018
Easy read with a wonderful message. It can be easy to put down though.
May 24, 2018
A great book on walking the walk AND talking the talk.
June 3, 2019
Very easy to follow and learn, I got a good bit of solid information from the listen during commute times.
June 2, 2023
Very motivating...
February 18, 2015
BE THE MESSAGE is a good exhortation of our Godly responsibilities by reminding the reader it's not what you say but what you do that becomes your "life message". The book helps you in finding out what God thinks your life message should be and assists you in reaching that point.
This is my first encounter with Kerry Shook and his wife and co-author, Chris. They head a rather large Ministry based in Houston called The Woodlands Church. Though the book is not a recruiting or proselytizing piece, I can most definitely say after reading this book that this is a kind of Church I would attend and experience! It's obvious they walk their talk.
I don't like to comment on content too much for this type of book in fear of judging others beliefs. That being said, BE THE MESSAGE deserves to be read. The style and structure is clear, concise and easy to follow. The illustrations the authors used to solidify their points were for the most part successful and relevant. Scriptures were used and the authors did identify them in the text. I found myself making notes and looking these scriptures up on many occasions while reading the book. Again, with me, this is always a strong feature. In comparison to similar books in this genre, I found the Notes/Bibliography section to be somewhat light.
One giant point of context that the authors should be applauded for-they didn't stretch the book out to just add pages (unlike many Pastor written books in this genre). The Shooks made their points and then left us to Be The Message. It's my impression that was their intention from the beginning. I liked this book overall, and I liked the authors. BE THE MESSAGE definitely is worth the investment in terms of time and money.
This is my first encounter with Kerry Shook and his wife and co-author, Chris. They head a rather large Ministry based in Houston called The Woodlands Church. Though the book is not a recruiting or proselytizing piece, I can most definitely say after reading this book that this is a kind of Church I would attend and experience! It's obvious they walk their talk.
I don't like to comment on content too much for this type of book in fear of judging others beliefs. That being said, BE THE MESSAGE deserves to be read. The style and structure is clear, concise and easy to follow. The illustrations the authors used to solidify their points were for the most part successful and relevant. Scriptures were used and the authors did identify them in the text. I found myself making notes and looking these scriptures up on many occasions while reading the book. Again, with me, this is always a strong feature. In comparison to similar books in this genre, I found the Notes/Bibliography section to be somewhat light.
One giant point of context that the authors should be applauded for-they didn't stretch the book out to just add pages (unlike many Pastor written books in this genre). The Shooks made their points and then left us to Be The Message. It's my impression that was their intention from the beginning. I liked this book overall, and I liked the authors. BE THE MESSAGE definitely is worth the investment in terms of time and money.
October 21, 2014
Kerry and Chris Shook handily balance the wonder of grace with the calling to become sanctified through Christ in "Be the Message: Taking Your Faith Beyond Words to a Life of Action." The book begins with the Shooks exploring their own journey of faith as ministry leaders in a church. Their faith journey brought them to a point where they realize that God calls us out of a comfortable faith into a faith that takes risks. As they develop this idea, they explore the believer's need to be the Gospel, to represent Christ and offer the love of Christ in all of life's interactions. They challenge the believer to live sacrificially and echo the statement in I John 3:16ff. All those who follow Christ need to imitate His love in every relationship. At one point in the book they talk strongly about grace as the source of salvation and how the grace we receive through Christ must be passed on to others. They tell a story about a grandfather who encounters his grandson in the playpen. The grandson reaches out his arms so that grandpa will help him out of the playpen. Just as grandpa offers assistance the child's mother enters the room and tells the son that he should know better because he is being punished. The grandfather has a choice to make--live by the law or defeat the purpose of the punishment. The grandfather chooses neither. Instead he climbs into the playpen with his grandson. This is what Christ does for us, He enters into our world and shares our punishment. This is how we are called to live as those who are the message of Jesus Christ in this world, His church. I received this book as part of the Blogging for Books Program run by Crown Publishing Group.
December 14, 2014
"Taking your faith beyond words into a life of action," how exciting would it be to not just talk the talk, but what the walk? For every aspect of your like to reflect your love for Christ.
In this book the Shook's challenges Christians, asking if you're just apart of the christian culture and not actually living out ones faith. Remember, going to church makes you a christian like standing in a garage makes you a car.
Though there are some parts in the book I disagree on, I love the premise; challenging Christians to stop talking about their faith and start showing their faith.
The best example I can think of is christian parents; they take their children to church, read the bible to them and pray before meals, but unless the parents are living the faith their children won't absorb the message.
This book is a great place to start if you're wanting to challenge yourself to stop just talking, but overall I wasn't really impressed. I enjoyed it, but it wasn't a 'wow or epiphany' book.
I received this book for free from Blogging for Books for this review. A positive review is not expected nor guaranteed. All opinions are my own.
In this book the Shook's challenges Christians, asking if you're just apart of the christian culture and not actually living out ones faith. Remember, going to church makes you a christian like standing in a garage makes you a car.
Though there are some parts in the book I disagree on, I love the premise; challenging Christians to stop talking about their faith and start showing their faith.
The best example I can think of is christian parents; they take their children to church, read the bible to them and pray before meals, but unless the parents are living the faith their children won't absorb the message.
This book is a great place to start if you're wanting to challenge yourself to stop just talking, but overall I wasn't really impressed. I enjoyed it, but it wasn't a 'wow or epiphany' book.
I received this book for free from Blogging for Books for this review. A positive review is not expected nor guaranteed. All opinions are my own.
November 4, 2016
Our church just did a sermon & Bible study series based on this. Once I got past the first couple of chapters it was very good. Especially appreciated the idea of God using our "mess"(our difficulties) for His "message"; not in the cliched 'everything happens for a reason' way, but at least in realizing stuff we go through makes us more sympathetic to others going thru it (in my case recent 'mobility issues').
October 7, 2014
No one can be the gospel. The gospel is good news to be proclaimed. Faith comes by hearing and hearing from the Word of Christ (Romans 10:17). This book's message to get Christians to witness with their lives which is like using a telephone without the digits. I cannot recommend this book at all.
October 6, 2014
Good book for everyone.
March 16, 2017
ARC received courtesy of NetGalley and the Publisher, in exchange for an honest review
IMO, this was a spectacular devotional that really speaks to the heart of those who need just a little bit more, than the typical "cookie-cutter" devotional. I loved the fact that the reader is allowed to absorb the message for the day, and do some deep reflection that ultimately promotes growth.
Giving this one: 5 stars.
IMO, this was a spectacular devotional that really speaks to the heart of those who need just a little bit more, than the typical "cookie-cutter" devotional. I loved the fact that the reader is allowed to absorb the message for the day, and do some deep reflection that ultimately promotes growth.
Giving this one: 5 stars.
Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews