You can really grow

by John Hindley

God does not want us simply to survive in our faith. He wants us to thrive, to enjoy growing as part of his family. Many of us want to grow, but don't know how to. Many of us feel stuck in a rut in our faith, or are following routines that don't seem to work. John shows us what growth actually is why growth is hugely exciting and how to grow into the people we long to be. You can really grow, and this books shows you how.

Genres: Christian, Christian Non Fiction, Nonfiction

140 pages, Paperback

First published February 26, 2015

About the author

I really enjoy writing. I discovered this when I was working on Serving without Sinking, the first book I wrote. I am delighted to be a follower of Jesus, a husband and a father. I find my work as pastor of Broadgrace, a church in Norfolk a blessing (www.broadgrace.org.uk). To also have the opportunity to spend time writing feels like the icing on the cake.

The books I have written come out of struggles and tensions I have found as I have read the Bible, served in churches and followed Jesus. When I have observed others with similar fears, concerns, hopes and dreams it has encouraged me to pray, think and then write. I hope the books that result will bless the church.

Reviews

[Charlea Legg · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was given this book around a year or two ago at a youth worship event. It was a book that looked interesting and relevant but I would probably not get round to reading all of.
Over the last 4 to 5 days I have been reading this book and couldn't put it down. It is full of inspiring, encouraging, and surprising things. I has really helped me see how I can grow as a Christian, even how my suffering and my sin can allow me to grow. The thing that stood out most to me and just made perfect sense but I had never thought of it before was the point made about how to grow we need to be a part of a growing church family which has Jesus at the heart. Growing is not something we do individually like our individualistic society would have us think, but is something we do collectively like a child growing up in a family. The book also threw up some other eye opening things about the way we pray and read the Bible, that it shouldn't be a daily to-do list but an activity we choose to do because we want to have a relationship with God and this way we will get more out of reading the Bible and praying.
There is SO much I could write about this book but it would be better for people to just pick it up and spend some time actually reading it and then they will discover how eye opening and surprising it is and how much it will help them grow and thrive in their Christian lives.

[J · Rating 4 out of 5]

A breezy but down-to-earth book about being a Christian. Sensible, wise, biblical, gentle, positive, but not without challenge. Nothing too rocket sciencey, and nothing too obscure.

Something really stood out, though: chapter 7 on seeing Jesus in creation. For a moment the author sounded less like a late-modern evangelical (I put it like this in order to indicate to the non-Christian reader that I understand how Hindley's identity might be considered A Bad Thing, but let's be honest, we've all suffered, intellectually, at the hands of rationalism, some more willingly than others) and more like an early medieval theologian, seeing metaphorical and transcendent Christological significance in the smallest of things.

[Carter Hemphill · Rating 3 out of 5]

This would be a good book for a bible study. Not too long, but full of good theology and practical advice for growing in Christ. I particularly liked the first few chapters on Christian growth (took lots of notes) and found the later chapters to be good reminders (less quote worthy), including brief overviews of Christian disciplines like prayer, reading the Bible, church participation (and some less common ones like appreciating God through creation, finding God in the ordinary and suffering/sin). A good devotional with useful and honest anecdotes by the author.

[Fiona · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short, pointy, and accessible to pretty much any age or reading ability.

[Matt Chapman · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very readable introduction to how and where growth happens in the Christian life.

Contents:
1. I know I ought to grow...
2. I don't really want to grow...
3. I don't really know how to grow...
4. Dependence in prayer
5. Why Bible reading can stunt or grow you
6. Growing as your church does
7. Seeing Jesus in creation
8. People and their stories
9. How suffering can grow us
10. How sin can grow us
11. Where we're growing to

[Ian Rees · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very readable. It has a particular challenge that Christians should seek to grow up in Christ together, rather than think in individualistic terms about "my" growth.