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Broken and Beloved: How Jesus Loves Us into Wholeness
It’s okay to admit that you’re not okay.
This is true because Jesus died so brokenness does not have to define you.
In Broken and Beloved , Sammy Rhodes takes you on a deep dive into the Gospel of John, showing that God meets us in our brokenness and in our desire to be loved . And what we find is that God not only loves us, He calls us His beloved .
In Broken and Beloved, you’ll discover
This is true because Jesus died so brokenness does not have to define you.
In Broken and Beloved , Sammy Rhodes takes you on a deep dive into the Gospel of John, showing that God meets us in our brokenness and in our desire to be loved . And what we find is that God not only loves us, He calls us His beloved .
In Broken and Beloved, you’ll discover
- GenresChristianChristianity
208 pages, Paperback
Published March 31, 2020
8 people are currently reading
146 people want to read
About the author
Sammy Rhodes
2 books20 followersSammy Rhodes is a campus minister with Reformed University Fellowship at the University of South Carolina. Rhodes also has a popular Internet presence, which has been highlighted in the Huffington Post, Salon, Paste, and Christianity Today. His hobbies include doughnuts, music he thinks he “discovered,” and watching all of the Netflix.
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Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews
April 18, 2020
I haven’t been able to finish any book at all during quarantine, and not for lack of trying. This book was just what I most needed.
May 4, 2020
I admire Rhodes' courage to face the ugliness in the world and in his own heart and story, all the while knowing Jesus has overcome it. As I was reading, it dawned on me how uncommon this raw vulnerability is among self-professing Christians. This is clearly communicated in Rhodes' analogy between "7th Heaven" and "Breaking Bad" in terms of how we live out Christianity. Do our lives smack of the niceness of 7th heaven or do they reflect the deep redemption of Jesus? I see this book as a timely invitation to live into the FULLNESS of what Christ has done for us. To see how his love reaches deeper than we thought. To face the parts of ourselves we hate the most knowing Jesus sees them before we do, and He loves us still.
The choice I now have (you now have) after reading this book is to keep hiding in our shame...or to surrender to the deep roots the gospel in the details of our lives. Could there be any better sign of a book than one that forced me to put it down at points just so I could be honest with Jesus and thank him deeply for his love?
I'd commend this book to someone who wants to understand the love of Jesus more deeply, either as it applies to the hard parts of your story OR for someone who is first exploring the Christian faith. This book is accessible, enjoyable, and easy to read.
The choice I now have (you now have) after reading this book is to keep hiding in our shame...or to surrender to the deep roots the gospel in the details of our lives. Could there be any better sign of a book than one that forced me to put it down at points just so I could be honest with Jesus and thank him deeply for his love?
I'd commend this book to someone who wants to understand the love of Jesus more deeply, either as it applies to the hard parts of your story OR for someone who is first exploring the Christian faith. This book is accessible, enjoyable, and easy to read.
April 24, 2020
I love reading Sammy, you hear his voice so clearly in his writing. He says come and sit with me for a while, we will talk about how it feels to be broken and beloved, and afterwards we will both feel better. There are no real answers in this book, the questions of brokenness are too hard for simple answers. This book is more of a demonstration of how to discover Jesus there with you in your pain and watch him slowly heal.
What does healing look like? It looks like being able to talk about your scars instead of shamefully hiding them. It looks like looking at those places of failure and seeing the sweet places wheee Jesus found you.
Sammy’s book made me feel better, made me love Jesus more and hate myself less. That is a good book.
I really hope Sammy keeps writing. If he does I hope he trusts his own voice more and relies on quotations less. The quotes were all were well chosen and insightful, but his voice is the one we read the book for. It is the voice of friendship and authenticity that we need.
What does healing look like? It looks like being able to talk about your scars instead of shamefully hiding them. It looks like looking at those places of failure and seeing the sweet places wheee Jesus found you.
Sammy’s book made me feel better, made me love Jesus more and hate myself less. That is a good book.
I really hope Sammy keeps writing. If he does I hope he trusts his own voice more and relies on quotations less. The quotes were all were well chosen and insightful, but his voice is the one we read the book for. It is the voice of friendship and authenticity that we need.
June 30, 2024
I won’t lie I don’t remember a ton from this book because I read it before going to bed. I do remember that this book made me feel closer to the Lord and I can say that I understand his grace more for me after reading. Sammie is great at relating to his readers and helping them see how Jesus meets us in our shame.
December 23, 2020
A cheeseboard of openness and humility
February 5, 2025
SUCH a good book! I think I underlined and dog-eared so many sections to come back to!! It was incredible how Rhodes used so many examples to show how broken we are but how great God’s grace for us is. I learned a lot and pray that what I learned will help me grow!
June 23, 2020
Sammy’s writing feels so...easy. Comfortable. Comforting. His words and stories and encouragement about living in and through loneliness were the exact words I needed to hear. I found myself underlining so much and nodding along as I read because of how much I resonated with his words. If you’re in need of the encouragement that you’re not alone in this world and your walk with God, please pick up this book!
September 28, 2020
From Brad Pitt to Danny DeVito, from Smashing Pumpkins to Christian music, from JTB to a Dodge Stratus, the word thirsty to a hilarious Eminem reference, and the timing in The Little Mermaid, Rhodes's humor is not only entertaining but also rich in authenticity. I couldn't put this book down! I enjoy the format that Rhodes lays out before each chapter because he has 2-4 quotes and or Bible verses that perfectly summarize the upcoming chapter. This book has smooth transitions from personal anecdotes, book quotes, and Biblical truth to sprinkled pop culture references. He takes Biblical characters such as Paul, Peter, and Thomas, and makes their stories tangible and very applicable. His honesty is very enjoyable, seasoned with grace, which aids in progressing topics like waiting on the Lord, depression, funerals, shame, jealousy, and crying. He explains how Jesus wept, his baptism, why he waited when a friend passed away, and why his public ministry began at a wedding. He quotes C.S Lewis in almost every chapter and quotes the late Robin Williams once. His inclusion of the two made my heart very happy. Plus, Rhodes is a RUF campus minister, and RUF is very close and dear to me. I want to sit down at Starbucks, hand Sammy (because we would 100% be friends) two "WJHD" bracelets, and talk about life and Jesus. With so many wine references (I prefer a glass of red myself), I want to have a bottle of wine with Rhodes too and "mutter up the courage to send a bottle back in the kind of power move that surely only Enneagram eights have enjoyed...". I laughed, cried, prayed, and smiled. This book leaves me with a more enriching knowledge that I am BELOVED by Jesus.
Fav quotes:
"To be loved is the cry of our hearts. To be broken is the reality of our lives. To be loved in the face of our brokenness is the healing we have found in Jesus."
"Shame has power because sin is real."
"Pain is more bearable when shared."
"I needed a Savior who could teach me how to cry."
Fav quotes:
"To be loved is the cry of our hearts. To be broken is the reality of our lives. To be loved in the face of our brokenness is the healing we have found in Jesus."
"Shame has power because sin is real."
"Pain is more bearable when shared."
"I needed a Savior who could teach me how to cry."
July 14, 2024
Refreshing. This book dives into a vulnerable look at the authors life, as he sits down and has a conversation with you about the book of John. He found ways to rephrase and make the gospel simple, and convicting. At times it’s funny, and others takes many assumptions we have in Christianity a step further in a way to apply, think deeper, and know Christ more. This would be a great book to go through in discipling a high school, or college student. Also found out the author and I have more than 30 mutual friends on Facebook lol who knew.
Some quotes:
In the Kingdom of God, every day is Hug a Pharisee Day.
Hug them until the kindness of God leads them to repen-ance. Then hug them some more. There is a strong chance you needed that same hug, and still do.
The Old Testament prophet Ezekiel pictured new birth in two different ways. One is a pile of bones lying lifeless on the ground, and suddenly God breathes into them, and they take flesh and muscle and begin dancing. The other is a man with a stone heart, and God does a radically invasive surgery where He takes out the dead, cold heart of stone and gives the man a beating, blood-pumping heart of flesh.
I met Jesus at fourteen, and for the last twenty-five years, He has been leading me into my new name.
He didn't change my circumstances, but He did change my name. My first name is still Broken. This side of Heaven, I will grow, I have grown, but I will never be perfect, never be free of sin or flaws. I will still face loneliness and fear. I still bear the scars of life in a broken world.
But I have a new last name, with more distinctive traits than the ones found in the Rhodes family line: Beloved. One so precious to Jesus that He didn't just pass through my life.
He moved into the neighborhood. He plans on building a life of love with you and me forever. We can stop looking at our feet and walk with Him as those who, even though broken, are forever beloved.
Some quotes:
In the Kingdom of God, every day is Hug a Pharisee Day.
Hug them until the kindness of God leads them to repen-ance. Then hug them some more. There is a strong chance you needed that same hug, and still do.
The Old Testament prophet Ezekiel pictured new birth in two different ways. One is a pile of bones lying lifeless on the ground, and suddenly God breathes into them, and they take flesh and muscle and begin dancing. The other is a man with a stone heart, and God does a radically invasive surgery where He takes out the dead, cold heart of stone and gives the man a beating, blood-pumping heart of flesh.
I met Jesus at fourteen, and for the last twenty-five years, He has been leading me into my new name.
He didn't change my circumstances, but He did change my name. My first name is still Broken. This side of Heaven, I will grow, I have grown, but I will never be perfect, never be free of sin or flaws. I will still face loneliness and fear. I still bear the scars of life in a broken world.
But I have a new last name, with more distinctive traits than the ones found in the Rhodes family line: Beloved. One so precious to Jesus that He didn't just pass through my life.
He moved into the neighborhood. He plans on building a life of love with you and me forever. We can stop looking at our feet and walk with Him as those who, even though broken, are forever beloved.
May 4, 2020
Reading this book is like chatting at a coffee shop with a good friend who also loves Jesus. It’s convicting and comforting all at once, and reminds me yet again of something I seem to never truly remember: Jesus loves me. He always has, and there’s nothing I did to deserve it, and nothing I can do to loose that. Filled with great Sammy stories and humor - ps I had no idea your wife has a tattoo ! Power to her! - this book is a great reminder of the certainty of two things, mans sin and God’s great great love, both I think need to be said , especially in this confusing days of a pandemic. If this even sounds remotely interesting, pick up a copy of Broken and Beloved. You will not regret it.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 25, 2020
In this book, Sammy Rhodes is like an awkward, Beyoncé-loving Tim Keller delivering self-deprecating yet hopeful Christ-centered college sermons on Gospel of John.
Nothing in this book is incredibly ground-breaking, but Sammy consistently applies the good news of Jesus to those wrestling with sin, guilt, shame, loneliness, lust, loss, rejection, and a host of things.
Entertaining. Encouraging. 5 Stars.
Nothing in this book is incredibly ground-breaking, but Sammy consistently applies the good news of Jesus to those wrestling with sin, guilt, shame, loneliness, lust, loss, rejection, and a host of things.
Entertaining. Encouraging. 5 Stars.
May 25, 2021
I love Sammy's honest and raw writing. He says the things that we often think and feel, but don't have the courage to speak. In Broken and Beloved, Sammy displays the warm tenderness that Christ displays to us weak and helpless creatures in the midst of faults and failures. I especially appreciate Sammy's engaging story-telling ability. This is very down-to-earth writing.
May 21, 2024
What a book!
What a tender, touching book that moves the reader to love Jesus, by once again seeing how Jesus loves us through the stories in the Gospel of John, and Sammy’s own related stories.
Both John and Sammy are storytellers, whose aim is to help people see Jesus. And from seeing Jesus to knowing, worshiping, and loving him.
Highly recommend!
What a tender, touching book that moves the reader to love Jesus, by once again seeing how Jesus loves us through the stories in the Gospel of John, and Sammy’s own related stories.
Both John and Sammy are storytellers, whose aim is to help people see Jesus. And from seeing Jesus to knowing, worshiping, and loving him.
Highly recommend!
April 8, 2020
I love Sammy Rhodes. Personable. Humble. Gospel-centric. Emotional. Loves Narnia and Tim Keller :). Rhodes goes through the Gospel of John to show us a Savior who pursues the broken and makes them beloved.
June 13, 2020
Very good book and meditations i
On a journey of brokenness to finding himself beloved.i enjoyed the quotes and insights from scripture. Highly recommend for college students and instructors. Very in touch with student struggle and applying the Christian tradition to them
On a journey of brokenness to finding himself beloved.i enjoyed the quotes and insights from scripture. Highly recommend for college students and instructors. Very in touch with student struggle and applying the Christian tradition to them
September 18, 2020
Encouraging and funny
If you are feeling down, know God loves you and need encouragement, this book is for you. It’s full of scripture, humor and real life experiences that let you know you are not alone!
If you are feeling down, know God loves you and need encouragement, this book is for you. It’s full of scripture, humor and real life experiences that let you know you are not alone!
May 15, 2021
Honest, personal words that mean something
I have read the first two books by Sammy Rhodes, and I am more tender and encouraged for having done so. I will be first in line if he writes another. I loved it to the very last page.
I have read the first two books by Sammy Rhodes, and I am more tender and encouraged for having done so. I will be first in line if he writes another. I loved it to the very last page.
April 1, 2020
"He loves to take broken things and make them
whole again. It is his work. It is his way. He makes the broken beloved.
People like us most of all."
whole again. It is his work. It is his way. He makes the broken beloved.
People like us most of all."
April 22, 2020
Gentle, beautiful, vulnerable reflections on the gospel of John. A refreshing reminder of Jesus’s great love of broken people like us.
May 22, 2020
So relatable
So good
So good
June 19, 2020
His honesty is refreshing. Reading this reminded me of many truths I often forget but need to remember daily. Especially loved chapter 6 and 10.
July 8, 2020
This book met me in the ordinariness of watching three children at the park.
January 14, 2021
An honest look at ones own brokenness and need. A story of redemption.
Read
May 12, 2021Really drives home just how central a humble heart is to being a Christian. Been meaning to read this for awhile and highly rec, very encouraging.
September 6, 2021
So good! Took lots of notes for reminders from this one.
August 23, 2022
A real person wrote this.
August 29, 2020
Jesus loves me even when I’m cringe
Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews