Restored: Finding Redemption in Our Mess

by Tom Berlin

Often we make a mess of our lives and wonder if there is any redemption. In this book, pastor and author Tom Berlin helps us see our mess through the eyes of Christ to find redemption and restoration. Using Scripture, devotional tools, and the writings of Ignatius of Loyola, John of the Cross, St. Augustine, John Wesley, Evelyn Underhill, and others, Berlin encourages reflection and meditation through our own brokenness. Only then can we focus on the cross as the place where we truly surrender control, leave our mess, and find redemption.



Chapters

This Is a Real Mess
Who Left This Mess?

Bless This Mess
No Messing Around
Address This Mess
The Message in the Mess

144 pages, Paperback

Published December 20, 2016

Reviews

[Frank Chirico]

My aunt gave me this book to read and see what I thought. I was pleasantly surprised being it was from a United Methodist publisher. Basically it talked about the gospel and written in a way that an unbeliever could possibly understand. Had alot of good points and anecdotes. Nothing stuck out as strange. I wasn't a fan of the bible verse translations used, but it didn't detract from the points made. I'll probabaly keep it around and give it to a person who is seeking or a new believer.

[Katie]

My mom gave me this book a few years ago, and I read it in my quest to read all the physical books I own. I didn't find anything revelatory in this book. It reviewed the basics of church that I've been hearing since I was young. I expected more from it, but that was more with what I thought it would be versus what it was.

[Tanya]

Sunday School study - overall good discussions from the book but chapters were redundant in parts and the examples were a bit forced. The concept of our messes and how we relate to them, cope with them, clean them up, make them, etc .. was interersting topic to delve into.

[Kay Mcgriff]

Excellent Bible study. It let to many good discussions with our group.

[Kevin]

Easy to read. A good, solid presentation of Wesleyan Theology.

[Carol H.]

Read like a series of sermons, which it was. Not my kind of preacher.

[Roxi]

2017 Bethel Wesley United Methodist Church Lenten Study

[Jason Stanley]

In Restored: Finding Redemption in Our Mess (Abingdon Press, 2016), Rev. Tom Berlin uses his gift of storytelling to remind us how messy our lives are, but they don't have to stay that way. The messiness in our lives, Berlin acknowledges, is the result of the condition of sin. "I've called the book Restored," Berlin writes, "because restoration is the goal of the Christian life." How are we restored? We are restored through the power of grace. Berlin's book is a primer in United Methodist theology, a theology grounded in grace. Restored outlines the three shades of grace and how they are active in the life of the Christian. Perfect for Lent, Berlin encourages us to declutter the messiness of our lives by accepting the grace that is extended and active in our lives.

Restored has a DVD and small group leader guide available as well.

Read more at jasoncstanley.com.

[Michelle Kidwell]



Restored

Finding Redemption in Our Mess

by Tom Berlin

Abingdon PressChristian, Religion & Spirituality

Pub Date 20 Dec 2016

Archive Date 20 Jan 2016

I am voluntarily reviewing a copy of Restored through the Publisher and Netgalley:

Tom Berlin a Pastor, reminds us that we are alk created in Gods image but Sin has mafe that a distant memory.

Tom Berlin tells us that we should think of sin as a disease that affects us in very real ways. And we are all old told to stop trying to manage our sins.  

The Author points out too that God does not empower us with Grace, but he does offee it to us.  

I give Restored five out of five stars.

Happy Reading.

[Michael]

The story of restoration must be from God. No human can fully understand grace.

[Tonya]

I really enjoyed this book. We did it as a Lenten study at our church.

[Loretta]

This is our book for our Lenten Soup Suppers series. It was very interesting. It is about the mess we can make of our lives. By the grace of God, we can clean up our messes and become more and more Christ-like.

[Marilyn]

Good selection for our Companions' study group - used during Lent 2017.

[Jill Lohr]

Very relevant