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Nailed It!: 365 Sarcastic Devotions for Angry and Worn-Out People
Stuck again? Bible Reading Plan not working out?
Everyone gets stuck. Nailed 365 Sarcastic Devotions for Angry or Worn-Out People can help “unstick” offering just a few brief verses for each day, you’ll encounter biblical men and women like you—desperately in need of God—and also find encounters with God himself, and how he sought you out in spite of yourself. And you’ll discover anew that the Bible is worth every minute you devote to it.
With a devotional for every day of the year, Anne Kennedy will guide you through the Bible—the whole Bible—helping you turn your eyes towards Jesus with every step.
Everyone gets stuck. Nailed 365 Sarcastic Devotions for Angry or Worn-Out People can help “unstick” offering just a few brief verses for each day, you’ll encounter biblical men and women like you—desperately in need of God—and also find encounters with God himself, and how he sought you out in spite of yourself. And you’ll discover anew that the Bible is worth every minute you devote to it.
With a devotional for every day of the year, Anne Kennedy will guide you through the Bible—the whole Bible—helping you turn your eyes towards Jesus with every step.
486 pages, Kindle Edition
Published December 1, 2016
23 people are currently reading
126 people want to read
About the author
Anne Kennedy
89 books38 followersAnne Kennedy lives in upstate New York, where she mothers her six young children and helps her husband keep body and soul together in the pastoring of a small Anglican church. Having grown up in French-speaking West Africa and traveled all over the world, she is constantly surprised to wake up every morning in her gently-fading small American town which, even after 16 years, still feels like the end of the world.
Anne has a B.A. from Cornell University and an M.Div. from Virginia Theological Seminary.
Anne has a B.A. from Cornell University and an M.Div. from Virginia Theological Seminary.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
June 5, 2021
I did it. I finished a devotional. This was an excellent companion for a pandemic parenting year. I love the way Anne Kennedy turns her sarcasm back on herself, recognizing her own mixed motives, desire to perform, longing to be seen other than she actually is. The scriptures she chooses launch into simple, searingly honest, almost puritanical confessions. So often throughout the year+, this book gave me permission to be honest about my own weariness and it often resonated deeply with me.
December 17, 2016
In the introduction to this book, Anne Kennedy allows that one might binge read it but that it's really a book of daily devotionals. I had fun binge reading it, but I am looking forward to taking my time using it as a daily resource.
First, it is a real devotional, because each of the short reflections on a Bible passage make God the subject. They turn the readers thoughts and, hopefully, whole life toward God as revealed in Scripture. Too many so-called devotionals are about me, myself and I and become a kind of idolatry.
Second, Anne provides a refreshing version of what some call the "Ignatian method," allowing the reader's imagination to enter a Biblical passage. But as a Reformed Anglican writer, she never allows this to overthrow the plain sense and Christ-oriented content of any passage. The reader's experience is not to overthrow the revelation of God in Christ, but to experience Christ as revealed in the Old and New Testaments.
Third, her use of the Old Testament is the obvious fruit of years of prayerful study. So many stories and passages that make many say, "Oh, I like Jesus, but not all that OT blood and judgement and stuff," are opened up as guides to the New Covenant in Christ. That's what most churches affirm, of course, but many church members ignore in their discomfort. Anne finds ways to affirm that discomfort while overcoming it.
Fourth, while she has a clear heart for swamped women, men will find this a useful devotional as well. I remember one Christian woman I knew who couldn't stand most Christian women's resources and events because they all OD'd on "cute." This book is not cute. At all. Just peruse a few of the recurring daily subtitles and you'll get the picture.
Fifth, it is refreshing to have a contemporary Christian woman who enters into the challenging and even off-putting passages of the Bible without claiming to trump them with her own "experience" and assumed wisdom. Anne is a Christian writer in the great tradition, seeking to understand life in the light of the revealed Word rather than impose her subjective stuff on the cosmos. As such she becomes a valuable spiritual companion, a fallen being bumping around a fallen world with the fallen rest of us rather than sitting among a smug illuminati.
Finally, three words: horrible pink tricycle. Start reading and you'll find them. And you'll grow.
First, it is a real devotional, because each of the short reflections on a Bible passage make God the subject. They turn the readers thoughts and, hopefully, whole life toward God as revealed in Scripture. Too many so-called devotionals are about me, myself and I and become a kind of idolatry.
Second, Anne provides a refreshing version of what some call the "Ignatian method," allowing the reader's imagination to enter a Biblical passage. But as a Reformed Anglican writer, she never allows this to overthrow the plain sense and Christ-oriented content of any passage. The reader's experience is not to overthrow the revelation of God in Christ, but to experience Christ as revealed in the Old and New Testaments.
Third, her use of the Old Testament is the obvious fruit of years of prayerful study. So many stories and passages that make many say, "Oh, I like Jesus, but not all that OT blood and judgement and stuff," are opened up as guides to the New Covenant in Christ. That's what most churches affirm, of course, but many church members ignore in their discomfort. Anne finds ways to affirm that discomfort while overcoming it.
Fourth, while she has a clear heart for swamped women, men will find this a useful devotional as well. I remember one Christian woman I knew who couldn't stand most Christian women's resources and events because they all OD'd on "cute." This book is not cute. At all. Just peruse a few of the recurring daily subtitles and you'll get the picture.
Fifth, it is refreshing to have a contemporary Christian woman who enters into the challenging and even off-putting passages of the Bible without claiming to trump them with her own "experience" and assumed wisdom. Anne is a Christian writer in the great tradition, seeking to understand life in the light of the revealed Word rather than impose her subjective stuff on the cosmos. As such she becomes a valuable spiritual companion, a fallen being bumping around a fallen world with the fallen rest of us rather than sitting among a smug illuminati.
Finally, three words: horrible pink tricycle. Start reading and you'll find them. And you'll grow.
January 6, 2020
It took me 3 years to get through this devotional, but I savored every one as I read it. I just try to read too many books at one time and this one was meant to read 1 per day for 365 days. Aimee Byrd let me borrow it and now I will have a hard time giving it back because I want to start it over again right away. Anne Kennedy is so relatable and funny AND sarcastic! The devotions read like a conversation that you don’t want to end. She takes a few verses from almost every book in the Bible from Genesis to Revelation. You feel like you’ve had a great overview of the scope of scripture with every single devotion pointing you to Christ! Here’s the bad news...it’s out of print!!!! But, I have heard a rumor that she is revising it and republishing it as we speak!
April 26, 2018
Well, for a book with such a provocative title, and one surely to catch my eye because of that, it has been disappointing. I tried two years in a row to get through it, and petered out at about 25% or thereabouts. Maybe in another season of life, maybe not. Sometimes it's not the right time for certain books, and I'm going to put it aside for now in hopes that it will work for me later.
For now, my observation is this: devotions for angry & worn-out people (which clearly applies to many, especially those of us in the parenting trenches) need to be sincere and not cheesy, acknowledge the difficulties of life, and offer something substantive. I didn't get that here, and I might have simply missed it, but I also may be expecting more than this approach could deliver (at least, to me).
For now, my observation is this: devotions for angry & worn-out people (which clearly applies to many, especially those of us in the parenting trenches) need to be sincere and not cheesy, acknowledge the difficulties of life, and offer something substantive. I didn't get that here, and I might have simply missed it, but I also may be expecting more than this approach could deliver (at least, to me).
January 1, 2019
In spite of its title and cover, Nailed It: 365 Sarcastic Devotions for Angry or Worn-Out People, this devotional actually keeps sarcasm and humor to a minimum. What it doesn’t compromise on is its gravity and authenticity. Anne Kennedy does not shy away from the fact that the Christian life is *hard* - not a flowery, “bless this mess” kind of hard, but *really* hard, as running themes like “You Still Can’t Do It” attest. But Kennedy is also unwavering in showing the reader that Jesus is better than any alternative. I can’t recommend this devotional enough to break up the many saccharine options out there.
March 3, 2019
I ended up having to really rush this because I had to return it to the library. This is definitely going on my "to own" pile. Kennedy is really funny and forward about cutting through the trite-ness of other devotion books. I agree with her readings of scripture most of the time, and appreciate the fact that she is trying to do something different with this book.
July 24, 2018
Wonderful devotional book for those who do not typically enjoy devotional books! This book constantly leads me back to the best book...The Bible! Thanks, Anne, for pursuing godliness and the knowledge of God without the "fluff".
December 5, 2017
This book has been a pleasant surprise! I am one who appreciates brevity that challenges my own thoughts and this book did not disappoint me at all! I will probably reread this.
March 8, 2018
I cannot recommend this book highly enough. 'Tis most excellent.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews