What do you think?
Rate this book
Strangely Bright: Can You Love God and Enjoy This World?
Learn to Delight in God and in His Good Gifts
At the heart of the Christian life lies the tension of the single-minded pursuit of the glory of God and the deep enjoyment of the things that God has made. How can Christians enjoy the good things of earth? Whether it’s a delicious meal or a game night with friends, listening to jazz or watching baseball, earthly joys often seem to compete with a deep love for God. Scripture supports both the enjoyment of the Creator and the enjoyment of the creation, revealing that this tension in the Christian life is also found in the Bible. In this accessible book, Joe Rigney displays how Christians can delight in God and enjoy his good gifts.
At the heart of the Christian life lies the tension of the single-minded pursuit of the glory of God and the deep enjoyment of the things that God has made. How can Christians enjoy the good things of earth? Whether it’s a delicious meal or a game night with friends, listening to jazz or watching baseball, earthly joys often seem to compete with a deep love for God. Scripture supports both the enjoyment of the Creator and the enjoyment of the creation, revealing that this tension in the Christian life is also found in the Bible. In this accessible book, Joe Rigney displays how Christians can delight in God and enjoy his good gifts.
130 pages, Paperback
Published March 26, 2024
91 people are currently reading
1933 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 241 reviews
September 4, 2020
4.5. After a slightly sleepy start in chapter 1, the book soars and Rigney’s pen sparkles. Lots of counterintuitive insight and convicting application. A soul-invigorating read.
June 22, 2021
Fantastic! I have read his other book, The Things of Earth a couple of times and I loved that one tiny bit better (I love the depth of his arguments in it). BUT this one, Strangely Bright, is the one I will be giving away to friends. Such a great book.
October 12, 2021
Una excelente lectura, breve y fácil de seguir, para todos aquellos que se han sentido culpables por disfrutar de las bendiciones que Dios les ha concedido.
Si alguna vez te has preguntado “¿Será que estoy disfrutando demasiado de lo que Dios me ha dado? ¿Estaré siendo idólatra?”, este libro es para ti.
Si alguna vez te has preguntado “¿Será que estoy disfrutando demasiado de lo que Dios me ha dado? ¿Estaré siendo idólatra?”, este libro es para ti.
March 16, 2025
An approachable book that distills Rigney's magnificent "Things of Earth" to a bite-sized and applicable level. "Things of Earth" changed my life, and now "Strangely Bright" will likely be the one I begin recommending to folks.
April 20, 2021
I confess I wanted to read this first because I loved the cover! Second, a friend recommended it, and third, I THOUGHT IT WAS FICTION😂. After reading the synopsis on my hoopla audio app, I decided to go for it anyway. (Some of you know I’m usually a fiction girl😊)
•
I love this book. It made me think about the joys of this world and how they all point to God, how to enjoy life and always remember it’s merely a taste of heaven and always, always, Jesus is better.
•
I highly recommend this book. I think of it often as I go about my day. It was not only thought provoking and poetic, but also practical. It’s full of every day wisdom but also deep theological truths. Scripture is on every page. I love it when a book sends me straight to His Word.
•
I love this book. It made me think about the joys of this world and how they all point to God, how to enjoy life and always remember it’s merely a taste of heaven and always, always, Jesus is better.
•
I highly recommend this book. I think of it often as I go about my day. It was not only thought provoking and poetic, but also practical. It’s full of every day wisdom but also deep theological truths. Scripture is on every page. I love it when a book sends me straight to His Word.
March 1, 2024
Short but with incredible depth. Rigney argues that Christians can love God and enjoy his world. Basically he says “we can love God by enjoying His good gifts of this world.” Now that seems counter to all we have been taught, and that’s his point we have been taught a truncated version of the truth. We are to love God and like a child getting a gift on Christmas love the gifts as well as a means of loving the giver. This has been pressed home to me in my current study of Ecclesiastes, helped by the books Living Life Backwards and Don’t Waste Your Breath. Life is a gift to be enjoyed as we praise the Creator! Amen!
November 26, 2022
The last 30 pages were exceptionally good.
May 20, 2025
I struggled with 4 or 5 stars because I didn’t absolutely love the book, but I found everything in the book very helpful. I read this book in companion with Stop Loving The World by William Greenhill, because I thought their books could provide both sides of the truth: Don’t love the world, but enjoy the gifts God has given us on this celestial ball.
My favorite quote from the book was, “‘It hurts just as much as it’s worth.’ It hurts just as much as he’s worth. It hurts just as much as she’s worth. Sorrow is what love looks like when love’s object is taken. The depth of pain shows the value of what was lost. And the whole point of this book has been that the things of earth are unfathomably valuable because they are designed to bring us to God. And they can bring us to him, even when they are being taken by him.”
My favorite quote from the book was, “‘It hurts just as much as it’s worth.’ It hurts just as much as he’s worth. It hurts just as much as she’s worth. Sorrow is what love looks like when love’s object is taken. The depth of pain shows the value of what was lost. And the whole point of this book has been that the things of earth are unfathomably valuable because they are designed to bring us to God. And they can bring us to him, even when they are being taken by him.”
April 26, 2024
Excellent book. Rigney can really write.
June 16, 2020
“Can you love God and enjoy this world?” This question drives Joe Rigney’s newest book, Strangely Bright. Such a question often generates more heat than light as many people are accustomed to downplaying earthly things and emphasizing heavenly things. After all, the well-known hymn encourages us to:
Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full on his wonderful face, and the things of earth will grow strangely dim, in the light of his glory and grace.
The admonition seems sound and even reasonable. But Rigney argues something that may run counter to conventional wisdom. His argument is essentially this:
Enjoy God in everything and everything in God, knowing he is greater and more satisfying than any and all of his gifts.
The path that leads to Rigney’s conclusion is set up by examining the passages that help clarify the biblical tension. First, the author reveals that biblical texts that place an emphasis on complete devotion to Christ. Such passages are referred to as totalizing passages and include Colossians 3:1-2, Philippians 3:7-8, and Psalm 73:25-26. These texts are contrasted with things of the earth passages that include James 1:17, 1 Timothy 4:4, and 1 Timothy 6:17. These passages emphasize God’s good gift that creatures are meant to enjoy.
In the end, Rigney skillfully demonstrates how glorifying God and enjoying his good gifts are not at odds: “All of God’s gifts are invitations - they display who he is and invite us to know him and delight in him.” The author borrows a page from John Piper’s Christian Hedonism that was introduced in his book, Desiring God that was first published in 1986. “God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him,” argued Piper.
Strangely Bright is a stunning retelling of Piper’s original thesis. This is a thrilling and liberating book. One the one hand, it has the power to crush any legalistic tendencies and warn readers to steer clear from any form of idolatry. The author strikes the biblical balance and leads readers on a path that is sure to encourage many.
Highly recommended.
Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full on his wonderful face, and the things of earth will grow strangely dim, in the light of his glory and grace.
The admonition seems sound and even reasonable. But Rigney argues something that may run counter to conventional wisdom. His argument is essentially this:
Enjoy God in everything and everything in God, knowing he is greater and more satisfying than any and all of his gifts.
The path that leads to Rigney’s conclusion is set up by examining the passages that help clarify the biblical tension. First, the author reveals that biblical texts that place an emphasis on complete devotion to Christ. Such passages are referred to as totalizing passages and include Colossians 3:1-2, Philippians 3:7-8, and Psalm 73:25-26. These texts are contrasted with things of the earth passages that include James 1:17, 1 Timothy 4:4, and 1 Timothy 6:17. These passages emphasize God’s good gift that creatures are meant to enjoy.
In the end, Rigney skillfully demonstrates how glorifying God and enjoying his good gifts are not at odds: “All of God’s gifts are invitations - they display who he is and invite us to know him and delight in him.” The author borrows a page from John Piper’s Christian Hedonism that was introduced in his book, Desiring God that was first published in 1986. “God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him,” argued Piper.
Strangely Bright is a stunning retelling of Piper’s original thesis. This is a thrilling and liberating book. One the one hand, it has the power to crush any legalistic tendencies and warn readers to steer clear from any form of idolatry. The author strikes the biblical balance and leads readers on a path that is sure to encourage many.
Highly recommended.
January 12, 2021
Psalm 73 says, “there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you.” Yet 1 Tim 6 tells us that God “richly provides us with everything to enjoy.” So are we supposed to take pleasure in God’s earthly gifts? Or should we instead deny ourselves these worldly pleasures so we can enjoy God alone? Rigney’s wonderful and wise book helps us to reconcile this apparent tension. It’s similar in many ways to another book that I heartily recommend, Gary Selby’s “Pursuing an Earthly Spirituality: CS Lewis and Incarnational Faith.” Rigney also uses insights from CSL to reinforce his exposition. Both books are excellent. Apparently Rigney also has a more in-depth study, “The Things of Earth,” which I will now need to read as well.
Here is one of many passages I liked:
“Joy in baseball becomes joy in God when I share joy with my sons and therefore love them by showing them what God is like. We know the distinct delight of introducing another person to one of our favorite pleasures. The pleasure of sharing is distinct in kind from the pleasure of the object or activity. It’s one thing to enjoy reading a book I love; it’s another flavor of joy to give that book to my son whom I expect will also love it, and then find that he does. The anticipation of sharing that story with him, of seeing him light up at the same parts, of entering into the joy for the first time, is its own reward. This is often what parents are—the bringers and introducers of joy. God is like that. He loves to be the bringer of joys.”
Thank you Mark & Tracie for the great Christmas gift!
Here is one of many passages I liked:
“Joy in baseball becomes joy in God when I share joy with my sons and therefore love them by showing them what God is like. We know the distinct delight of introducing another person to one of our favorite pleasures. The pleasure of sharing is distinct in kind from the pleasure of the object or activity. It’s one thing to enjoy reading a book I love; it’s another flavor of joy to give that book to my son whom I expect will also love it, and then find that he does. The anticipation of sharing that story with him, of seeing him light up at the same parts, of entering into the joy for the first time, is its own reward. This is often what parents are—the bringers and introducers of joy. God is like that. He loves to be the bringer of joys.”
Thank you Mark & Tracie for the great Christmas gift!
November 30, 2020
I am so excited to share my *TOP* 2020 Non-Fiction read: Strangely Bright! I loved loved LOVED this book, y'all. There is so much packed in these 128 pages. It is readable and relatable, yet deeply profound. Here is one quote I've been thinking on since I came across it: "Our experience of the world gives us categories for knowing God and his word." So good, right? This book showed me new pathways for understanding scripture and contemplating the world around me. I seriously have not been able to be quiet about this one IRL and will talk anyone's ear off about it if they get within 3 feet of me 😂 (SORRY, MOM)
Rigney writes some great truths that I have never ever thought of before re general revelation, special revelation, relational and vocational pleasures...it's really good, guys! I highly recommend. Rigney also wrote a longer, more in-depth book on the same topic, and I fully intend to read that one as well. Thank you, Crossway Books for this amazing book that seriously blessed my life. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐+❤
Rigney writes some great truths that I have never ever thought of before re general revelation, special revelation, relational and vocational pleasures...it's really good, guys! I highly recommend. Rigney also wrote a longer, more in-depth book on the same topic, and I fully intend to read that one as well. Thank you, Crossway Books for this amazing book that seriously blessed my life. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐+❤
October 30, 2021
“The heavens declare the glory of God... All of creation reveals who God is and what he is like, and it does so through a woven web of images and metaphors and pictures and analogies. Made things make invisible attributes visible.”
“Follow [the gifts] back to the giver. See them as declarations of his glory. Know them as images of divine things. And then turn your eyes upon Jesus. Look full in his wonderful face. And the things of earth will grow strangely *bright*, in the light of his glory and grace.”
“Follow [the gifts] back to the giver. See them as declarations of his glory. Know them as images of divine things. And then turn your eyes upon Jesus. Look full in his wonderful face. And the things of earth will grow strangely *bright*, in the light of his glory and grace.”
April 6, 2021
Freeing, life-giving, and tear inducing. How can we fall in love with natural revelation; see God in our everyday lives; experience Him in our vocation and gifts and friends; and still live in a Biblically orthodox way.
The chapter on suffering lead me to internally hide a desire to sob while sitting in the student center of MBTS. Read this book. It is on par with Gentle and Lowly in the way that Rigney leads us to love God and love life through the lens of Scripture.
The chapter on suffering lead me to internally hide a desire to sob while sitting in the student center of MBTS. Read this book. It is on par with Gentle and Lowly in the way that Rigney leads us to love God and love life through the lens of Scripture.
January 4, 2022
One of the best books I’ve ever read. So beautifully written. In this introductory work Rigney successfully addresses the biblical tension between total worship and devoutness to God and our enjoyment of his creational gifts. We are to enjoy this beautiful gifts because ultimately they point us back to the splendor and glory of Jesus, the creator and sustainer of all things. Read this! I commend it.
September 11, 2021
“Can you love God and enjoy this world?” Yes. A wonderful introduction and teaser for Rigney’s meatier ‘The Things of Earth.’
October 16, 2025
Just a wonderful reminder to enjoy God by enjoying His gifts. The perfect book as we head into a very sensory season of crisp walks, snow, carols, and eggnog.
September 22, 2023
I was hoping I would like this book, and found that I loved it. Biblical truths clearly argued and beautifully presented. Now I want to go teach my grandsons how to catch a baseball.
November 24, 2020
On the verge of Black Friday, in the throes of online Christmas gift shopping, hoping that delivery will be on time for our stuff to arrive.
Every Christmas the great battle in my soul is focused on the question, “How much is too much?” It seems as the years go by, that definition shifts and changes. Our life in Africa was simple, we didn’t have much. The mud hut was small, there wasn’t room for extras and with the rats and termites, anything could easily be destroyed.
The contrast of life here in North America now, is obvious, hence the battle with the question in the face of a longing to give my kids ‘good gifts’ to enjoy. Returning home after a Christmas gathering as the car is packed full. There’s a guilt that begins to weigh in, it seems too much.
The created things in life are not meant to take the place of highest importance in our life. We surely continue to battle against greed, pride and selfishness, but the things of the world aren’t meant to detract from God, they are meant to point us to Him. Joe Rigney unpacks this tension in his new book, “Strangely Bright: Can You Love God and Enjoy This World?” Here are some of his main points.
The Declaration of the Heavens
The heavens declare the glory of God; His attributes, His plan of redemption, because “made things make invisible attributes visible.” This is the wonder of what God has created, because it reveals the One who made it, so that “in showing us what God is like, the world beckons us further up and further in so that we can know him and love him and enjoy him through the things he has made.”
3 Categories of Pleasures
He tells us about 3 categories of pleasure: Things we enjoy, people we love, activities we do. We don’t have to reflect long on our own lives to put our enjoyment into these categories! From the garden of Eden, in the very beginning, we can see that God gave the garden for them to enjoy, He gave them each other and He gave them work to do.
Although we often think about God’s first command as don’t eat from the tree, His first instruction was, “you may surely eat of every tree of the garden” (Genesis 2:16) and goes on to say “but the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you will surely die” (Genesis 2:17). So his first command is not the prohibition, but the permission, to enjoy what He has already placed for them.
Enjoyment When Jesus Is Better
It can be hard to reconcile the joy we find in stuff, when we feel like we ‘should’ love God more. There is this tension of experiencing gratification in something we have, and loving the Lord. But,“the pleasures of this world – whether sensible, relational, or vocational – are given to us by God for our enjoyment and as a means of accomplishing his mission in the world.” God gives us good things to enjoy, for the purpose of His mission in the world to make disciples of all nations, and to know Him more.
Surely the danger in enjoying things is that they can become idols, becoming the central focus of our life. Facing, “the two fundamental sins that human beings commit: idolatry and ingratitude” he explains that, “idolatry, then, is the separation of the gifts from the giver and then a preference for the gifts over the giver.” Our response to God’s good gifts has more to do with whether we separate our good things from God, instead of enjoying them together with God. So, we ask the question, how then do we enjoy God’s gifts without them becoming idols?
By giving thanks, and honoring God in our pleasure.
You can love the cake and eat it too, enjoying it as a gift from God, experiencing a taste of the joy that Jesus offers.
A Life Guided by Christ
In Colossians 3:1-4, we read, “set your mind on things that are above, not on things that are on earth” and we often interpret this to mean that we should only be thinking about God. However, earthly things does not mean created things, but rather sinful things. It is an invitation for us to seek a heavenly mindset, because “Christ is the North Star, the fixed point that helps us to navigate our ship through life. To be oriented by the glory of Christ means, first, that Christ is the supreme object of our desire.”
Our outward lives, how we speak, live and practice our faith, demonstrates to the world around us the great hope and joy we have in Christ. We practice self-control and generosity, setting our hope not on riches but on God.
In the Face of Suffering
God’s good gifts can be lost. We experience a natural suffering, such as sickness and disease, where we suffer both loss and longing where, “in the suffering of loss, we know the sweetness of what we no longer possess.”
He offers encouragement for us in our natural suffering, to press into Jesus and press into people. For, "nothing good will ever finally be lost. Earth has no sorrows that heaven cannot heal."
As we prepare for the Christmas gift-giving season, may you be encouraged to share in the joy of created things, with a keen awareness to any idolatry and ingratitude, and may we continue to use his good gifts toward his mission in the world.
"What does supreme and full and expanding love for God look like when it meets one of his gifts? Glad reception and enjoyment of his gifts."
How will you respond to God's good gifts to you this week?
Every Christmas the great battle in my soul is focused on the question, “How much is too much?” It seems as the years go by, that definition shifts and changes. Our life in Africa was simple, we didn’t have much. The mud hut was small, there wasn’t room for extras and with the rats and termites, anything could easily be destroyed.
The contrast of life here in North America now, is obvious, hence the battle with the question in the face of a longing to give my kids ‘good gifts’ to enjoy. Returning home after a Christmas gathering as the car is packed full. There’s a guilt that begins to weigh in, it seems too much.
The created things in life are not meant to take the place of highest importance in our life. We surely continue to battle against greed, pride and selfishness, but the things of the world aren’t meant to detract from God, they are meant to point us to Him. Joe Rigney unpacks this tension in his new book, “Strangely Bright: Can You Love God and Enjoy This World?” Here are some of his main points.
The Declaration of the Heavens
The heavens declare the glory of God; His attributes, His plan of redemption, because “made things make invisible attributes visible.” This is the wonder of what God has created, because it reveals the One who made it, so that “in showing us what God is like, the world beckons us further up and further in so that we can know him and love him and enjoy him through the things he has made.”
3 Categories of Pleasures
He tells us about 3 categories of pleasure: Things we enjoy, people we love, activities we do. We don’t have to reflect long on our own lives to put our enjoyment into these categories! From the garden of Eden, in the very beginning, we can see that God gave the garden for them to enjoy, He gave them each other and He gave them work to do.
Although we often think about God’s first command as don’t eat from the tree, His first instruction was, “you may surely eat of every tree of the garden” (Genesis 2:16) and goes on to say “but the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you will surely die” (Genesis 2:17). So his first command is not the prohibition, but the permission, to enjoy what He has already placed for them.
Enjoyment When Jesus Is Better
It can be hard to reconcile the joy we find in stuff, when we feel like we ‘should’ love God more. There is this tension of experiencing gratification in something we have, and loving the Lord. But,“the pleasures of this world – whether sensible, relational, or vocational – are given to us by God for our enjoyment and as a means of accomplishing his mission in the world.” God gives us good things to enjoy, for the purpose of His mission in the world to make disciples of all nations, and to know Him more.
Surely the danger in enjoying things is that they can become idols, becoming the central focus of our life. Facing, “the two fundamental sins that human beings commit: idolatry and ingratitude” he explains that, “idolatry, then, is the separation of the gifts from the giver and then a preference for the gifts over the giver.” Our response to God’s good gifts has more to do with whether we separate our good things from God, instead of enjoying them together with God. So, we ask the question, how then do we enjoy God’s gifts without them becoming idols?
By giving thanks, and honoring God in our pleasure.
You can love the cake and eat it too, enjoying it as a gift from God, experiencing a taste of the joy that Jesus offers.
A Life Guided by Christ
In Colossians 3:1-4, we read, “set your mind on things that are above, not on things that are on earth” and we often interpret this to mean that we should only be thinking about God. However, earthly things does not mean created things, but rather sinful things. It is an invitation for us to seek a heavenly mindset, because “Christ is the North Star, the fixed point that helps us to navigate our ship through life. To be oriented by the glory of Christ means, first, that Christ is the supreme object of our desire.”
Our outward lives, how we speak, live and practice our faith, demonstrates to the world around us the great hope and joy we have in Christ. We practice self-control and generosity, setting our hope not on riches but on God.
In the Face of Suffering
God’s good gifts can be lost. We experience a natural suffering, such as sickness and disease, where we suffer both loss and longing where, “in the suffering of loss, we know the sweetness of what we no longer possess.”
He offers encouragement for us in our natural suffering, to press into Jesus and press into people. For, "nothing good will ever finally be lost. Earth has no sorrows that heaven cannot heal."
As we prepare for the Christmas gift-giving season, may you be encouraged to share in the joy of created things, with a keen awareness to any idolatry and ingratitude, and may we continue to use his good gifts toward his mission in the world.
"What does supreme and full and expanding love for God look like when it meets one of his gifts? Glad reception and enjoyment of his gifts."
How will you respond to God's good gifts to you this week?
January 29, 2024
Very approachable and helpful book on enjoying the gifts of God in this life as extensions of the pleasure and goodness of God himself.
July 19, 2024
Wonderful!
Rigney reconciles how Christians indeed can enjoy the things of the Earth whilst avoiding idolatry. We can supremely love God & love His creation. I wish I could have read this as a young teenage girl who did not have this understanding & was racked with guilt for loving things “too much”.
It was very well-written, easy to comprehend, Biblically grounded, succinct, & encouraging but not overly optimistic or hedonistic.
Spoiler alert: I’m very excited to make his wife’s highly acclaimed Pumpkin Crunch Cake recipe that he’s included after the epilogue, as fall is just around the corner. And I’ll enjoy it to the max, as I enjoy the One who made pumpkins, sugar, & my taste buds to help me know what he meant when he said “taste and see that the Lord is good”.
Rigney reconciles how Christians indeed can enjoy the things of the Earth whilst avoiding idolatry. We can supremely love God & love His creation. I wish I could have read this as a young teenage girl who did not have this understanding & was racked with guilt for loving things “too much”.
It was very well-written, easy to comprehend, Biblically grounded, succinct, & encouraging but not overly optimistic or hedonistic.
Spoiler alert: I’m very excited to make his wife’s highly acclaimed Pumpkin Crunch Cake recipe that he’s included after the epilogue, as fall is just around the corner. And I’ll enjoy it to the max, as I enjoy the One who made pumpkins, sugar, & my taste buds to help me know what he meant when he said “taste and see that the Lord is good”.
April 1, 2023
Fantastic read. This one had the quotes for me!
The pleasures of this world - whether sensible, relational, or vocational - are given to us by God for our enjoyment and as a means of accomplishing his mission in the world. (p. 47)
"We must devote careful attention to the world God made, and then we must follow the rivers back to the source. We must chase the sunbeams back to the sun." (p. 51)
You are a word from God, God means something through you. You are a communication from God about God, just like the heavens. Your conduct, your life, is itself a kind of divine speech. It is revelation from God, designed by him to show the world what He is like. Here's how this basic truth challenges me personally: Will I tell the truth about God or will I lie? Will God teach others about himself through me by way of comparison or by way of contrast? Everyone is going to glorify God one way or another. Either God will point at us and say, "I am something like that. That, even with all the flaws, is a little picture of what I am like." Or he will point at us and say, "That's the opposite of what I am like. I'm not that kind of husband. I'm not that kind of father. I'm not that kind of friend." (p. 63)
"As a husband, as a father, as a wife, as a mother, as a child, as a friend, as a pastor, you - your life, your speech, your conduct - out to be a display of triune glory and an invitation to triune glory. You ought to be a testimony to grace and an invitation to grace. You should aim to be a walking, talking, living, breathing gospel proclamation." (p. 63)
[C]orporate worship is a mixture of direct and indirect godwardness as we set our minds on God himself but with a deep awareness of his people around us. We lift up our prayers to him, but we do so with the prayers of his people, both in the room and around the world. We raise our voices to him in song, but as we sing and make melody to him, we also address one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs (Esph. 5:19). Corporate godwardness is the anchor for our week. And it's absolutely essential. Biblical authors tell us that we must not neglect meeting together (Heb. 10:25) but instead to encourage one another and stir one another up to love and good deeds. (p. 67).
[G]od intentionally filled the world with all kinds of pleasures - sensible pleasures, relational pleasures, and vocational pleasures. He gives these good gifts to us both for our enjoyment and also that we can accomplish his mission in the world. With God as the supreme object of our desires and the supreme model for our desires, we are called to enjoy God in everything and everything in God." (p. 74)
The pleasures of this world - whether sensible, relational, or vocational - are given to us by God for our enjoyment and as a means of accomplishing his mission in the world. (p. 47)
"We must devote careful attention to the world God made, and then we must follow the rivers back to the source. We must chase the sunbeams back to the sun." (p. 51)
You are a word from God, God means something through you. You are a communication from God about God, just like the heavens. Your conduct, your life, is itself a kind of divine speech. It is revelation from God, designed by him to show the world what He is like. Here's how this basic truth challenges me personally: Will I tell the truth about God or will I lie? Will God teach others about himself through me by way of comparison or by way of contrast? Everyone is going to glorify God one way or another. Either God will point at us and say, "I am something like that. That, even with all the flaws, is a little picture of what I am like." Or he will point at us and say, "That's the opposite of what I am like. I'm not that kind of husband. I'm not that kind of father. I'm not that kind of friend." (p. 63)
"As a husband, as a father, as a wife, as a mother, as a child, as a friend, as a pastor, you - your life, your speech, your conduct - out to be a display of triune glory and an invitation to triune glory. You ought to be a testimony to grace and an invitation to grace. You should aim to be a walking, talking, living, breathing gospel proclamation." (p. 63)
[C]orporate worship is a mixture of direct and indirect godwardness as we set our minds on God himself but with a deep awareness of his people around us. We lift up our prayers to him, but we do so with the prayers of his people, both in the room and around the world. We raise our voices to him in song, but as we sing and make melody to him, we also address one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs (Esph. 5:19). Corporate godwardness is the anchor for our week. And it's absolutely essential. Biblical authors tell us that we must not neglect meeting together (Heb. 10:25) but instead to encourage one another and stir one another up to love and good deeds. (p. 67).
[G]od intentionally filled the world with all kinds of pleasures - sensible pleasures, relational pleasures, and vocational pleasures. He gives these good gifts to us both for our enjoyment and also that we can accomplish his mission in the world. With God as the supreme object of our desires and the supreme model for our desires, we are called to enjoy God in everything and everything in God." (p. 74)
April 18, 2023
The old hymn says...
Turn you eyes upon Jesus
Look full in His wonderful face
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim
In the light of His glory and grace
Joel Rigney respectfully disagrees. In Strangely Bright, he makes a strong biblical case for a believer's ability to enjoy God's good creation while navigating the tension of cherishing Christ above all.
"[H]ow does a single-minded pursuit of the glory of God fit with a real and deep enjoyment of created things? Let me get more concrete: how does the rock-bottom biblical truth that you are called to glorify God by delighting in him above everything else relate to your enjoyment of good friends, pork tamales, the laughter of children, West Texas sunsets, marital love, and college football?"
He helps the reader thread the needle between asceticism and worldliness. He roots his arguments in solid biblical exegesis. And he does so while resisting the urge to create a straw man to destroy; instead, he deals fairly with counterarguments.
A word on Rigney's writing style: I love how he begins each chapter with a bit of a recap so that the reader can understand the overall flow to his argument. This book would be usable and beneficial to both pastors and laity alike. I strongly recommend it!
Turn you eyes upon Jesus
Look full in His wonderful face
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim
In the light of His glory and grace
Joel Rigney respectfully disagrees. In Strangely Bright, he makes a strong biblical case for a believer's ability to enjoy God's good creation while navigating the tension of cherishing Christ above all.
"[H]ow does a single-minded pursuit of the glory of God fit with a real and deep enjoyment of created things? Let me get more concrete: how does the rock-bottom biblical truth that you are called to glorify God by delighting in him above everything else relate to your enjoyment of good friends, pork tamales, the laughter of children, West Texas sunsets, marital love, and college football?"
He helps the reader thread the needle between asceticism and worldliness. He roots his arguments in solid biblical exegesis. And he does so while resisting the urge to create a straw man to destroy; instead, he deals fairly with counterarguments.
A word on Rigney's writing style: I love how he begins each chapter with a bit of a recap so that the reader can understand the overall flow to his argument. This book would be usable and beneficial to both pastors and laity alike. I strongly recommend it!
Read
July 30, 2022A great book to help build a theology of enjoying the things of the world. Really enjoyed it. The quote about the reason bread exists blew my mind, and I’m still wrestling with it. The section about baseball was extremely timely for me, especially the quote. Looking forward to reading the longer version!
“Long before you and I existed, long before Jesus came in the flesh, before the Bible was written down, from the very beginning God invented something called “hunger” and something called “bread” so that some day, when Jesus showed up, we would have categories for understanding who he is. In other words, when Jesus says, “I am the bread of life,” he’s not finding or discovering a convenient metaphor. He’s revealing the main reason that bread exists.”
“Joy in baseball becomes joy in God when it helps me to kill sin and pursue holiness.”
“Long before you and I existed, long before Jesus came in the flesh, before the Bible was written down, from the very beginning God invented something called “hunger” and something called “bread” so that some day, when Jesus showed up, we would have categories for understanding who he is. In other words, when Jesus says, “I am the bread of life,” he’s not finding or discovering a convenient metaphor. He’s revealing the main reason that bread exists.”
“Joy in baseball becomes joy in God when it helps me to kill sin and pursue holiness.”
September 21, 2020
This book functions like a condensed and focused version of Rigney’s earlier work The Things of Earth (also highly recommended). Rigney does a very good job of explaining how we can use the things that surround us in our everyday life—food, family, even baseball—to point us to the God who has graciously given those things to us. I especially appreciate his focus in the last half of the book on still holding the things of earth loosely: being willing to forgo pleasures for the sake of God, generously giving as an expression of God’s love for His creation, and enduring suffering of all sorts well because our trust in the Lord is greater than our trust in created things.
June 7, 2021
An easy read about enjoying the good things in the world to the glory of God. Rather than seeing things we enjoy in the world as rivals for our enjoyment of God, this book explains how an integrated approach to the things of the world enables us to see how the best things in life can fuel our joy in God. It explains that because God is sovereign over all the good things he provides for us, we don't need to feel as if our love for God must take us away from the joys of the world. The content seemed to be better fit for a sermon than a book but it was still a simple summary of the topic that I would recommend to anyone wondering how to both love God and enjoy life.
May 18, 2024
This book contained excellent reminders in it of why and how Christians can enjoy God through his good gifts. "If I know in my bones that Christ is the alpha and omega of all joy and delight, then I need not fear the lesser pleasures. Let them erupt. Let them soar as high as they can. For when they do, they carry my joy in God with them." Rigney also includes qualifications to the above statement such as self-denial, suffering, legitimacy of pleasures, etc. The style of this book read as "Christian Hedonism meets 'All of Christ for all of Life.'" (Or: "Minneapolis and Moscow shake hands") Rigney indicates that this book is a shorter version of his book "Things of Earth."
July 11, 2024
Audio
I appreciated the tension between loving God and appreciating His gifts without becoming idolatrous. Keeping focus on the giver while also enjoying the gifts (and there are many…God enjoys giving us good gifts!) Perhaps my favorite portion of the book was near the end, the discussion of suffering being characterized by loss or longing: it was succinct and a helpful lens for how God points us to himself.
I appreciated the tension between loving God and appreciating His gifts without becoming idolatrous. Keeping focus on the giver while also enjoying the gifts (and there are many…God enjoys giving us good gifts!) Perhaps my favorite portion of the book was near the end, the discussion of suffering being characterized by loss or longing: it was succinct and a helpful lens for how God points us to himself.
January 21, 2021
Richly strengthening. A sweet, short read that says things simply, but allows you to linger on each thought and translate the truths into your own life. The only negative is that it isn’t longer or deeper, but Rigney answers that by offering me “The Things of Earth”, his longer and fuller treatment of this subject. I’m add that to my list and highly recommend this book!
January 27, 2022
Fantastic. Enjoy God in everything, and everything in God.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 241 reviews