Bury Your Ordinary: Practical Habits of a Heart Fully Alive

by Justin Kendrick

Many Christians wonder, “Why am I stuck spiritually when I read the Bible pray, and go to church?” In Bury Your Ordinary, Pastor Justin Kendrick offers a clear map for spiritual growth to help Develop seven habits that lead to explosive spiritual growthRealize the number-one ingredient God looks for in a disciple makerShare their faith as a way of lifeLearn to follow the promptings of the Holy SpiritLive out the truth that God is deeply satisfied with who they are Bury Your Ordinary is a field manual to an entirely different way of life that starts with digging a deep hole, putting the “ordinary you” inside it, covering it with dirt, and walking away as a transformed person. Through intentional changes to your habits, you will discover a deeper love for God and a heart fully alive.  

Genres: Christian, Christian Living, Nonfiction

206 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 1, 2021

About the author

Justin Kendrick is the Lead Pastor of Vox Church, which he founded in 2011 with a small group of friends on the doorstep of Yale University in the least-churched region in America. Since that time, Vox has grown to multiple locations across New England. The dream of Vox Church is to see the least-churched region of the U.S. become the most spiritually vibrant place on Earth. Justin married his high school sweetheart, Chrisy, and they live outside New Haven, Connecticut, with their three sons.

Reviews

[Clarissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really cool to read a book written by my pastor! Besides that, this book was great at challenging me while also guiding me in strengthening my spiritual habits. Loved the many points of view (his own, quotes or best practices from others) & most importantly the use of scripture to paint clear pictures of what point he was making. Overall a great read for a beginner or longtime Christian who is hungry in growing their faith and growing closer to god!

[Jake Rosekopf · Rating 5 out of 5]

If spiritual maturity in Christ is the target for every believer, the habits outlined in this book are arrows!

[Jeremy · Rating 4 out of 5]

In sum:

Finding Your Center

Habit 1: Relationship. Receive the love of God daily by seeking him in the morning. Remind your soul that the greatest treasure in life is not what God gives, but God himself. Allow your heart to internalize the truth that, in Christ, you are the beloved.

Habit 2: Radiance. Learn to give the love you have freely received by stepping out of your comfort zone and sharing Christ with others. Show kindness to the stranger. Take time to listen to those whom God brings across your path. Pray for a heart that loves others, and grow your heart of love by sharing your faith.

Habit 3: Receptivity. Abide in love throughout the day, learning to depend on his Spirit for guidance and direction. Don’t try to earn the ability to hear the Spirit. Instead, learn to rest in the confidence that God is with you because of grace.

Guard Rail Habits

Habit 4: Righteousness. Grow in holiness as you obey love, and surrender your natural desires to his design for your sexuality. Experience the greater power of Christ in you to live beyond lust and temptation.

Habit 5: Resources. Grow your trust in love by practicing financial generosity. As you give God control of your resources, your confidence in his love for you grows.

Long Haul Living

Habit 6: Rhythm. Submit to love by practicing a weekly Sabbath. Through this habit, learn to freely receive love rather than trying to earn it. Rest in God’s satisfaction toward you instead of in your list of personal achievements.

Habit 7: Replication. Stretch your love by investing your best in someone else, and experience the joy of seeing that person grow. This will allow you to break the power of selfishness and celebrate the success of another.

The essence of these seven habits is not to make you a really good person. Rather, they are to give you a practical strategy to grow in love. Through these habits you will learn to receive love, give love, abide in love, obey love, trust in love, submit to love, and stretch love.


Potent Quotables:

The central message of Jesus is that this life is not all there is! You are an eternal being, with an eternal purpose. Beyond what you can see with your natural eyes, there is a spiritual world, and it is the unseen things that last forever. Because of this, true greatness cannot be defined by status or accomplishments in this life. It must be defined by your impact in the next life. True greatness does not begin with accomplishments. It begins with relationship… True greatness is relationship with God… If God is God and eternity is real, then a great life is one that is lived in authentic, growing relationship with him. To know God, I mean really know him—this is life itself!

Maybe the missing element to a truly great life has less to do with God’s willingness to move and more to do with our unwillingness to move. The greater life we yearn for is actually obtainable, but it’s going to take a significant shift in our perspective and behavior to obtain it.

As soon as any follower of Jesus decides to pursue holiness, they will soon be confronted with their own inability to live holy. And almost every time, we try to fix the problem ourselves through behavior modification: just try harder… If you fail at obedience, you’re haunted by shame. If you succeed at behavior modification, you are flooded with self-righteousness... God never intended for you to carry that weight. His plan is not behavior modification through human effort but identity transformation by divine intervention. God must first change the core of your identity, then you must change the way you see things, and from this new perspective the power to actually change your behavior overflows.

“Outcomes are about what you get. Processes are about what you do. Identity is about what you believe.” James Clear

“When we finally understand that God isn’t mad at us anymore, we become free to concentrate on love and growth instead of trying to appease him.” Dr. Henry Cloud and Dr. John Townsend (How People Grow)

Jesus intentionally used the word psyche, which refers to your inner, psychological life, or sense of self. To follow Jesus, you must deny your old sense of self and let go of the identity that has been built on your good works.

There is more available—more peace, more miracles, more life! If God is in your heart, then there’s more in your tank!

Ineffective witnessing usually takes one of three forms: there’s the Sergeant, the Salesman, and the Sage.

God gave [us] sex as a bonding agent that would fuse two together in a profound and mysterious way, so much so that two actually become one. We see this bonding in the physical act of sex, where a man enters a woman and the lines between the two are blurred, but God’s design goes much deeper. The act of sexual intimacy fuses the two together in every way—spiritually, emotionally, psychologically, economically, and physically. Interestingly enough, science supports this biblical claim. During any sexual act, the brain releases dopamine to increase focus, norepinephrine to enhance memory, oxytocin to weld the emotional experience into the soul, and serotonin to create a sense of calm. The physical body uses every tool available to cause fusion.

The critical question that must be answered in order for your dragon heart to be changed is “How does Jesus look at me?” Does he look with eyes of disappointment? Does he look with eyes of disgust? Is he looking at you through the lens of an exacting accountant? Or a ruthless taskmaster? The one truth that changes everything else is the truth that the posture of God’s heart toward you, right now—is love! If this is true, then anything God asks you to do, he is not thinking of his glory only—he is also thinking of your good! All of his commands are for your benefit and blessing. At its core, Christianity is not a list of rules to follow or sacrifices to make. Christianity is a radical change of heart caused by the profound revelation that you are loved by God! And the revelation of God’s love reorders the priorities of the heart.

[Jenna Rooney · Rating 5 out of 5]

No one will ever be able to master discipleship- we will never stop learning. That is one of the first things that Kendrick let readers know in his new book, "Bury Your Ordinary." Discipleship is a hot topic. What is a disciple? How do we follow Jesus's command to go make disciples?

"Bury Your Ordinary" gives deep biblical layers into discipleship yet gives simple examples and explanations of where and how to start. Kendrick provides 7 practical and healthy habits that teach us to how to be disciples. He also gives a glimpse of how to teach these habits in a discipling relationship with a fellow believer.

Kendrick's writing fluxgates between being inspirational, practical, and quite hilarious. There are moments where I laughed out loud at his stories or references and there were times where I so deeply related to his words that I was completely drawn in.

I would recommend this book for any Christ follower, regardless of how long they've known Christ or if they have been in a discipling relationship. "Bury Your Ordinary" is bound to make you take a hard and honest look at your life and evaluate if your habits are glorifying to God. This is a reminder that we all need as Christians.

I received an advance copy of this book.

[Theresa Laggis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Justin provides, from his lived experience, a guide to pattern our lives through purposeful relationship with Christ. In living as disciples, it is essential to implement daily practices that deepen our relationship with Jesus to live fully in alignment with Him. Growing to know Christ more intimately is an ever-evolving process that we need to take an active role in, intentionally putting Him at the center, to bury our ordinary in exchange for extraordinary. True relationship with Jesus allows us to experience love in the deepest way, letting it live in and through us. Bury Your Ordinary is both great inspiration and practical instruction inviting and encouraging us each to live expectant and with hearts fully alive. Thank you Justin for this great resource.

[Catherine A. · Rating 5 out of 5]

In his book, “Bury Your Ordinary”, author Justin Kendrick gives a plan of how to develop 7 habits to get closer to God, which in turn will help us to grow in love. So much time is spent working to make life better, but unless we put God at the center, nothing will improve. Justin gives us practical steps to do this. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is looking for ways to have a stronger relationship with God.
I received an advance reader copy of this book.

[Lisa Wright · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great reminder

I heard Justin Kendrick talking about this book on a podcast. I really was impressed with the reminder of the practical habits that I need to pursue in my faith journey. The list is not to be taken as legalism of habits to do to reach maturity as a believer, but are ways to help us grow in our walk with God and share our faith with others.

[Christi Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

Discipleship is a core need of all believers. This book carefully gives the habits needed by Christians and does so in a way that even an unbeliever could be drawn to these deep, abiding, healing truths

[Maria J. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent read! Practical habits to grow in Christ and live more authentically as a Jesus follower. Personally, as I apply these habits I’ve encountered Gods presence in my everyday life. There are no words to describe it other than I recommend every Christina to read “Bury Your Ordinary”.

[Sandra Agate · Rating 5 out of 5]

essential for your growth

An amazing challenge for anyone on the path of following Christ in your daily life. Just a beginner here, but has already made me think about my journey differently. So glad I read this!!

[Dave Bruno · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic book. Highly Recommended! Sure to be helpful to anyone seeking to grow in their faith.

[Signe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Convicting. Practical. If followed, truly life changing--which takes great boldness and faith.

[Paul Harrison · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great book, very practical. It's almost a lite version of Emotional Healthy Leaders. This would make a great high school graduation gift.