All Things Together: How Apprenticeship to Jesus Is the Way of Flourishing in a Fragmented World

by Heath Hardesty

Feeling fragmented and longing for wholeness? Pastor Heath Hardesty reveals how apprenticeship to Jesus can reintegrate your life, offering a fresh vision for spiritual formation that leads to true human flourishing.

“Heath Hardesty is a pastor whose emerging voice needs to be heard.”—John Mark Comer, New York Times bestselling author of Practicing the Way and The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry

In a world of burnout, shattered attention, digital overwhelm, and spiritual disconnection, many have lost sight of the greater story they were meant to inhabit.

All Things Together is a winsome invitation to rediscover that story through a re-imagined vision of apprenticeship to Jesus—one that brings coherence to the scattered pieces of our lives and cultivates peace in a divided world.

Rooted in a deeply biblical three-part paradigm, Pastor Heath Hardesty shows how in apprenticeship, union with Jesus is the origin, abiding and obeying Him are the essence, and imaging Him is the aim. Weaving scriptural wisdom, pastoral insight, and blue-collar experience, he gently guides readers into vital practices for a reintegrated life and a renewed sense of what it means to be truly human.

Whether you’re a seeker, a seasoned follower of Jesus, or simply longing for something more whole and alive, All Things Together will ignite your imagination and equip you to draw closer to God as He transforms you into a person of greater love, lasting joy, and radiant wholeness.

Genres: Christian, Faith, Nonfiction, Christian Non Fiction

288 pages, Paperback

Published October 14, 2025

Reviews

[Brett Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Few books today are both ontologically true and aesthetically beautiful. This book takes you on a journey of apprenticeship that is culturally relevant to the modern Westerner, while also sharing a message that is not "new." Like Heath says, apprenticeship is a part of the human experience, and so it is no wonder the guidance throughout this book makes your soul sing with meaning and purpose. This book exposes that there is a difference between apprenticeship to Jesus and merely having opinions about God (a lifestyle many Christians would refuse to admit). I recommend this to anyone who wishes to be existentially challenged toward a new way of being.

[Ian · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very good book on apprenticeship with Jesus. Split across 2 sections, Hardesty presents in the first section a picture of what apprenticeship can look like providing Biblical examples for how it has been prevalent since the creation of man. The second section ('Re-Inhabiting a Fragmented World") sets out the 7 apprenticeship disciplines that will help the reader grow into more like Jesus. There are no real surprises in this section but Hardesty presents it well with good storytelling and suggested practices. Having been a plumber before being called to the pastorate, Hardesty is able to draw on his learning experience being yoked to his plumber boss and that of being yoked to Jesus.

I appreciated his catch cry: Union with God -> Abiding + Obeying -> Imaging

It's simple and easy to remember.

I found the first section at times a little theological and went into some detail that I didn't feel necessary. Perhaps more discussion around what Union with God would also have helped. Section 2 is ripe for an accompanying workbook, not unlike something like John Mark Comer's 'Practicing the Way'. Do we need another one? Perhaps not but would help those readers not familiar with Comer's work a practical roadmap to engaging with each of the 7 disciplines.

This is a very good addition to the Christian spiritual formation library and gained much through reading it.

I appreciate having received an early ebook copy from the publisher via NetGalley but this has had no influence on my review.

[David Steele · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this much more accessible than many other books of this type. Compared to the likes of Jordan Peterson or Simone Weil, it's a page-turner. The author does a great job of taking esoteric concepts and breaking them down into common-sense, simple ideas. His characterisation of Christ as the blue-collar incarnation of God was excellent.
There's a lot in this scripture-based approach to daily life that I found challenging, not in an intellectual sense, but in my own relationship (or lack of it) with faith. It was one of those books that left me wanting to do better, not out of guilt, but just because I can. As with many American commentators, Hardesty is comfortable expressing a relationship with Jesus that most British writers shy away from. The British are more comfortable speaking about God than Jesus, and I think their relationship with the divine is generally less personal and immediate as a result of this.

[Celeste · Rating 5 out of 5]

“His hands hold scars that say, 'I know a better way.’”

All Things Together is one of my favorite works of nonfiction I’ve ever read. From the first page, Hardesty has this philosophical, poetic sensibility to his prose that caught me by the throat. His writing style is exactly the type that resonates the deepest within me. And his subject matter, that of our vital need to recover the apprenticeship element of the Christian faith and how to apply that on a personal level, was so well conveyed. There was never a moment when he skewed too erudite to follow, too difficult to apply, or too dry to entrance. I’ve already metaphorically pressed this book into the hands of my pastor, my brother, my mom, and everyone in my Sunday school class. It’s a book that I’ll revisit and recommend often.

I mentioned the poetic sensibility of Hardesty’s prose. One element that I loved was that he immediately took off quoting poetry and referencing great works of literature. There are references and shout outs to so many thinkers I admire, like Tim Mackie and C.S. Lewis, Malcolm Guite and G.K. Chesterton. And the footnotes! They're delightful!

Hardesty's blue-collar background mixes with his literature major to imbue his writing with a rootedness, a tangible quality that is missing from many similar books penned by those who have rarely ventured from their ivory towers. It imbues the entire book with this richness that can't really be imitated without having lived and escaped and returned reluctantly to this kind of life. That particular balance reminded me just a tiny bit of Wendell Berry. Certain aspects of this book also brought to mind Postman's Amusing Ourselves to Death, but with a much more theological bent. Postman points out what we're doing, whereas Hardesty takes things several steps further but venturing into why we do this and how it hurts ourselves and our apprenticeship to Jesus.

The entire book was brilliant from start to finish, but there were certain chapters that stood out to me. Chapter 6, "Across the Arc," was a fascinating and eye-opening look at Biblical stories I've known my entire life, but from a slightly different angle. Here Hardesty shows us the importance of living in accordance with God's words to us (shema) if we want things to be as they ought to be (shalom). The way he showed this in play through Scripture, whether in cautionary tales of its absence or redemptive examples of its presence, was incredibly enlightening. Chapter 13, "Faithful Witness," was just lovely. I appreciated the visual of the disgruntled young reluctant plumber being slowly, sweetly mentored by a pastor as they bonded over a shared love of literature, and as said pastor joined with Christ in gently drawing Hardesty towards a life of pastoral ministry.

If you’re looking for a nonfiction work that will encourage your faith, give you practical steps you can make to deepen your walk with Christ, and is simply a joy to read from a literary perspective, I can’t recommend All Things Together highly enough.

"Take heart, He is on the move making wrecked things new and healing wonderblind eyes."

Below are some (honestly, a lot) of my favorite quotes and highlights from the book. These are for my own future reference, so I can come back to them again and again. But you’re more than welcome to read on if you’d like a taste Hardesty’s prose and observations!

"We cannot know what it means to be truly human without knowing God...it is in knowing God that we have the light necessary to see ourselves."

"Their integrity could not hold. It is the way of things--to unravel and dissolve, for beautiful order to slouch toward bedlam. Things fall apart." These were Hardesty's musings over a warehouse full of scrapped and scavenged pipe from past repair jobs. That type of philosophy meeting the physical strikes me as so profound.

"We grow so accustomed to good things. Numb to wonders of innovation and savvy design. It's never enough. We take so much for granted. We are wonderblind."

"...some heavenly alchemy has broken in. An alchemy of grace transmuting the mundane moment into something golden.
Is this what hope feels like?"

"There, looking up at me from that fire-made mirror, was the clear reflection of the master's image--my father's face. And he was smiling at me.
In that renewed wreckage, I saw my father's delight."

"I suppose that is the case with most soul-reorienting moments--they work like lightning and thunder. The revelation is a swift strike of light, but the meaning comes murmuring across the sky and time at its own unhurried pace. Finally, we hear the voice of what we have seen."

"Apprenticeship reduced to an option or to a spiritual extra is a gutting of the gospel."

"Apprenticeship to Jesus is not some kind of extra credit for spiritual overachievers added to a standard-level Christianity. It is not an optional way to supersize the basic Christian meal that is dished out in well-branded drive-through-esque services and efficiency-driven programs. Apprenticeship is the essence the Christian life. It is the meat, the carne, the incarnational substance, the muscle-clad and nerve-entwined body of it all. And the universal essence of apprenticeship is union with the Master, which leads to abiding with and obeying the Master, which then leads to imaging the Master."

"Our imaginations are fractured and distorted. Our hearts and our narratives are splintered. We are awash in glittering fragments. We pit good things against each other, believing we must choose one over the other. We drift in a sea of cultural debris rising and falling on the tides of our busy days. A jumble of amputated verses, dislocated Bible stories, theological sound bites, tattered threads of traditions, a cargo load of preferences, and maybe a few ancient spiritual practices float about in the prismatic oil slicks of the wreckage. All these bits and pieces knock about, resulting in piecemeal de-storied, and distorted views of apprenticeship to Jesus, rendering apprenticeship something like a side quest for the more adventure-seeking Christian, but rarely seen as essential to human flourishing."

"Jesus is not just to be viewed as an object in our field of sight...He is the light by which we view the world."

"That is what beauty does. It calls up from within us a deep and ancient reflex to reach out of ourselves to another and invite them to "come and see" that which has dazzled us."

"How we imagine our world, how we envision the story in which we live, profoundly shapes the most seemingly insignificant motions and particularities of our lives."

"Imagination is for reality, and the creation of fiction should always serve what's true. A good sci-fi story should really do something daring to the soul. Dangerous explorations of space should shed light on the black holes and bright horizons of our hearts. Moby Dick should reveal the Ahab- like madness of human pride and the fierce grandeur of an untamable God. Alice's adventures in Wonderland should teach us something about the marvels and dangers of being "curiouser and curiouser." Bluey should induce us to enjoy familial love and value the character formation found in play. A good fairy tale will serve as a training ground for a child to confront evil and loss within a manageable frame."

"Fiction helps us see reality to which we are wonderblind. Kisses break curses because being known and loved heals the traumatized soul. Villains appear beautiful because evil is derivative, a plagiarist of the goodness that precedes it and will eternally outlast it. Rings forged by elves are pregnant with power because the artifacts we make have the power to take life, nurture love, and shape cultures. Laboratory-resurrected velociraptors go rogue because there are powers that PhDs and unchecked pride cannot control. Jedis wield lightsabers because, well, they are awesome--and light is the greatest of weapons against the dark side.
The imagination forges fiction to serve reality."

"Like a super-magnet, stories pull together the charged fragments of existence..."

"We are story-formed beings. Stories sculpt the world we inhabit...So is it any wonder Jesus was a storyteller? Parables were the scalpels by which He went to surgery on cataracted hearts."

"So yes, the curse (the death that lurks about in our world) and our twistedness is a very real and present danger; it just turns out blessings are older than curses. Delight runs deeper than disruption. Beauty, goodness, and truth are primary; distortions, disorder, and fractures are only ever secondary at best. Evil is an interloper, not the homeowner. A parasite, not the party host. When we get these things mixed up, we confuse remedies and maladies."

"Like sunlight pouring into a dark room, the Light brings out the colors and shapes and beautifying contrasts; it does not bleach them all to non-distinction."

"Regardless of age or stage, that human being is ever on a journey of being
formed. How could it be otherwise for a finite and time-bound creature whose heart's chambers hold eternal splendors
and ancient shadows?"

"This Age of Dis-Integration we find ourselves in is marked by being disenchanted, dissociated, discontextualized, dislocated, disembodied, and disconnected... Becoming aware of the forces that deform us will help us in following the way of Jesus."

"In a world that has attempted to exorcise God from His own universe, the self is now ruptured and reality haunted."

"Ours is an age that happily says we have a body to use but does not understand that we are embodied beings for a sacred purpose. The logical outcome of exiling God from the universe is that the body is no longer holy, just matter to be manipulated."

"There is a hole in the middle of our anthropology made by our break with God, and this great act of violence has compromised the integrity of it all."

"Apprenticeship to Jesus is intensely analog. Radically embodied. It is specific in time and place and personhood. The Christian faith is not a generality or theory. It isn't an abstraction. It isn't anonymous. It is not downloadable. It is earthy and bodily. Full of things like DNA sequences, gnarled family trees, quirky love stories, birth pains, death throes, fingerprints, and scars."

"Only the ultimate Adam (Jesus) and the bride born from His side (the church) can bring shalom to a fragmented world."

"...the only thing more practical than having your head in the Bible is having the Bible in your head. There is nothing more practical for living in accordance with reality than having one's imagination reshaped by the story God tells about who He is and who we are and what all this is for."

"Prayer is ever and always a response from the creature to the Creator. Prayer is continuing a conversation that God has started."

"But the church is not about data transmission or even knowledge. Never was. It is about transformation into Christlikeness, embodying love, learning to live well in God's world. Love is not made up of the efficient and comfortable. Rather, love is made of things like crosses and thorns, uncomfortable conversations and the pains of patience. Just as one learns to swim in water, one learns to love in community."

'Satan is parasitic, so his go-to is twisting what is meant for good into a tool for grinding God's image bearers to dust. It is his perverted pleasure to take the things meant for the highest good and hammer them into weapons to bury God's people. Satan revels in beating plowshares into community-splitting swords. He takes glee in subverting the things meant for fellowship in order to sabotage the soul and the kingdom."

"...forsaking the church because of church hurt is like never eating food again because of food poisoning and a night of the dry heaves. Terrible, yes. A sign you should never eat again? No."

"Distraction is a great enemy of the soul. So, too, is hurry."

"Jesus knows that we are often a chronically distracted, overloaded, anti-present people, and therefore not present to God's presence with us. He knows we are unpracticed in the art of being fully present and fully alive."

"Hurry originates not from demanding external circumstances but from a disordered heart."

"Time, like film, or a canvas, or a melody, is a medium in which finite human beings encounter the infinite and eternal God in a transformative way."

"There is no shadow of scarcity in Him. No lack. No deficiency, no matter how much of Himself He profusely gives to others."

"Generosity is incapable of scowling because it is too busy laughing at the amazing grace of it all."

"Generosity is both a sign of a grace-changed life and a means by which God's grace continues to change us. The more we practice generosity, the more we practice being like Jesus."

"We must learn that gentleness doesn't mean never saying hard things. It doesn't mean sweeping evils and injustices under an existential rug. It doesn't mean never calling out error, forecasting rough consequences, or holding people accountable."

"We all have some power, you know.The question is: How are you using the power God has given you?"

"True gentleness is bold and courageous and costly, but it uses its power to call others into flourishing, not cancel them by way of the feel-good anger and hate in our hearts."

"The gentleness of God is the staggering power by which all things hold together."

"'Your grumbling is unhealthy, unhelpful, and unholy.'"

"Jesus is the perfectly integrated, fully in sync, utterly congruent human being. He is authenticity incarnate. There is no dissonance in His being, no shadow, no disjointedness, no distance between the ought and is of His life. And so, apprentices of Jesus are those who are becoming more and more congruent, more coherent, as they become like Him."

"'Let the goodness of my deed reveal the truth of my words.'"

"Movements of benevolent action that meet physical needs but never show how the rays of light can be traced back to Jesus can leave confusion about what love is and isn't. Kind gestures never linked to good news often leave people stuck in their darkness clinging to terrible gods. Dots never connected and lines never drawn leave needed portraits of Jesus unpainted."

"Apprentices of Jesus are a people who have His name on their lips, ready to gladly tell the story of who we once were and who we now are on this road of becoming like Him."

"One of the most profound ways to practice faithful witness is to suffer well--to grieve with hope."

"The goodness of God is not measured by convenience or comfort, but by the cross of Christ."

"In this world there are some splendors we can see only in the dark. There are some needful praises born only from the contractions of a sorrow-shaken soul."

"His words of divine love mirrored His sacred wounds. Wounds shaped like mouths, speaking healing. Jesus is the King of startling congruency."

[Arienne Gillette · Rating 5 out of 5]

A soaring narrative of faith and coming back to Christ after letting faith go. Beautifully scripted, enchanting language, this book sings of Christ.

[Katie Betts · Rating 5 out of 5]

In a world marked by burnout, fractured attention, and spiritual disconnection, many people sense their lives are scattered but don’t know how to gather them back together. This book reframes apprenticeship to Jesus as the path toward coherence—anchoring formation in union with Christ, shaping daily obedience, and restoring a way of life that feels whole, grounded, and human again.

Content-wise, it sits in similar territory to what John Mark Comer has been doing with Practicing the Way, but the way it’s written feels much closer to Jon Tyson’s thought process. I enjoyed how aach chapter opens with relevant quotes that frame what’s coming.

The most compelling part is the in-depth case for why apprenticeship isn’t just helpful but foundational. The comparison between apprenticeship and Jesus coming as the blue-collar incarnation of God was especially strong and clearly explained.

Since I love learning about spiritual disciplines and practices that help us grow, I really loved the second half. If you’ve read widely in this space, there isn’t anything “new,” but it’s presented through engaging storytelling, and the practical application feels fresh and grounded.

Overall, the book is very accessible while still carrying depth, largely because of the pastoral tone. I would honestly gift this to any man—it’s especially good for those who have experienced spiritual formation mostly through female-leaning language or practices. The apprenticeship imagery, plumbing comparisons, and clear steps for the seven practices make it feel practical and embodied.

Also: the footnotes are a delight! Don’t skip ‘em.

Thank you @heathhardesty & @prhaudio for the books!

Perfect for you if you like:
Spiritual disciplines
Formation-driven Christian living
Approachable and pastoral anecdotes

Similar:
The Deeply Formed Life by Rich Villodas
Practicing the Way by John Mark Comer
Celebration of Discipline by Richard J. Foster

[Jeff · Rating 5 out of 5]

In “All Things Together”, pastor Heath Hardesty has written a really good book on what it means to be an apprentice to Jesus.

The book is divided into two parts. The first part is focused on re-thinking the concept of being an apprentice and what that means as believers of Jesus. This section will endear itself as the reader will experience Hardesty’s life lessons as an apprentice in plumbing.

The second part of the book is where the book really begins to shine. Hardesty focuses on 7 key practices of an apprentice to Jesus.
1. Scripture Meditation
2. Unceasing Prayer
3. Life Together
4. Unhurried Presence
5. Joyful Generosity
6. Compassionate Gentleness
7. Faithful Witness

This is more of an overview of each practice. There are many good books that go deeper, but Hardesty has done extensive research and challenges the reader in each area.

DO NOT MISS THE FOOTNOTES! Much like Kyle Idleman, you will be entertained by the footnotes and definitely do not want to skip them.

Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for providing an ARC for an unbiased review.

[Tanner Harms · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hardesty's All Things Together reads as both erudite and relatable while expounding the timeless truths of Christian discipline and discipleship. His gritty life experience as a plumber and a pastor distinctly shapes his understanding of the complex struggles we face in our dis-integrated (to use one of Hardesty's terms) milieu, and his scholarship and literary acumen shape his ideas into elegant forms.

I strongly recommend this book to anyone searching for meaning and stability in these distracted, technological times. It is one for us to Hagah--a Hebrew word, which Hardesty explains, means to chew on; to meditate upon deeply. As we digest the truths in All Things Together, it becomes clear that the hope for a better future lies not in progress or power, but in the gentle way of Jesus, our blue-collar King.

[Kira Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

A delightful read! All Things Together is a rare gift: theologically rich, pastorally grounded, and deeply practical. In a time of burnout, distraction, and spiritual confusion, Heath Hardesty offers a compelling framework for following Jesus that brings clarity and coherence to the scattered pieces of modern life.

Rooted in Scripture and real-life experience,
Hardesty’s vision of apprenticeship, union with Christ as the origin, abiding and obedience as the essence, and imaging Him as the aim feels both ancient and refreshingly relevant. This is not just another Christian living book; it’s a guide to becoming truly whole.
Highly recommended for seekers, longtime believers, and anyone longing for deeper integration and lasting peace!

[Kent Laws · Rating 5 out of 5]

From the dingy crawl spaces of Longmont, CO, this service plumber turned pastor takes the reader on a journey of dragons and discontextualizations, human connections and hurry sickness, splinters and shema-ing. His first hand knowledge of being a plumber’s apprentice shines light on the ultimate apprenticeship, to King Jesus. The first half of the book dives poetically into re-imagining apprenticeship in a broken and dis-integrated world. The second half highlights seven practices for living the with-God life. Not a book to be hurried through, but thoughtfully pondered and implemented on your spiritual journey.

[Nate · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book ultimately fell flat for me. It felt bland and rarely engaged the heart of the Gospel or what it truly means to be an apprentice of Jesus. In particular, it neglects the importance of good works, the practice of the sacraments, and especially the centrality of the Eucharist in the Christian life.
That said, Chapter 10 stood out as a bright spot, offering a meaningful reflection on patience in prayer.
Overall, the book feels like a missed opportunity, especially when it selectively quotes Catholic saints and writers only to force their words into a narrative that does not fully align with their theology or lived faith.

[Pete · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first half introduced the idea of discipleship as apprenticing—most powerful was the author's own experience as a service plumber.
The second half introduced seven practices, which I felt were a little too introductory.
I especially enjoyed the author's commentary in the notes.
Perhaps I was hoping for a closer explanation of modern fragmentation versus integration in Jesus. The author mentioned this framework (union, abide and obey, image God), but I wanted to see that explored more.

**received early access via NetGalley from the publisher**

[Noah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ever wondered why you continue to chase the wind in search of the ultimate meaning of existence and purpose for your life? Search no longer as the key to unlock the mystery has been found through Heath's new book All Things Together! He deep dives into the factors contributing to our upside down view of the world and leads us on a path to a rich and personal relationship with Christ through the seven practices of apprenticeship. Set aside all other books as this is a must read if you desire urgency in your life to a rich and meaningful life.

[Michael Brock · Rating 5 out of 5]

"All Things Together" is an engaging appeal to reclaim that narrative through a revised vision of discipleship under Jesus—a concept that unifies the fragmented aspects of our existence and cultivates peace in a divided world.

[Mallory Garrison · Rating 5 out of 5]

Heath is just such a kind poet. His framework for apprenticeship and spiritual formation is truly refreshing. I loved how rather than talking about practices he talks about these deeper values that form through the practices. He takes time to beautifully explore the why behind formation.

[Justin Ruszkiewicz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very well written and very impactful. Similar to Comer’s “Practicing The Way” but I honestly felt like his writing style is more to my liking. He’s a splendid storyteller and a word-smith, kind of like Eugene H. Peterson.

Rating: 9.25/10, five stars!

[Erik Lindstrom · Rating 4 out of 5]

Worth a re-read.