God’s Not Like That: Redeeming Inherited Beliefs and Finding the Father You Long For

by Bryan Clark

USA Today Bestseller

Many of us long for the abundant life Jesus promised, but instead we feel stagnant and frustrated in our faith. More of us cultivate our view of God from our family of origin than from the pages of the Bible—and a faulty view of God will always be a barrier to a satisfying spiritual life.
 
In his unique and interactive book God Isn’t Like That , author Bryan Clark returns us to Scripture on a step-by-step journey to identify and then correct our misconceptions about God. This highly practical book helps us
   
Abundant life has nothing to do with money or prosperity or health. Abundant life has everything to do with a right view of God that sustains us, comforts us, and satisfies us through every season.
 
 
 

Genres: Christian, Theology

224 pages, Paperback

Published July 4, 2023

Reviews

[Kennedy Ralph · Rating 1 out of 5]

I disagree with all of the reviews about this book. I think this book did a terrible job at doing what it said it was going to do. I don’t know why i’m surprised he didn’t do well, after all he’s a pastor and not a psychologist. He’s speaking about family dynamics in a way that someone who is highly educated should speak to and his resources are… well there really are none so to speak. He quotes 1 psychologist in the entire book but that happened towards the middle and it was so brief. As for gender roles, he hypes them up like he has ground breaking news to tell us and then does what every man in society does- talks about himself. There was an entire chapter dedicated to the role as a woman and he gave us 1 paragraph and used the rest of the chapter to talk about himself as a dad. I actually laughed when i finished that chapter because i was baffled. This is actually so pathetic. I thankfully did not choose this book, but it was bought for me for my 1:1 book club. I would give this book 1/5 stars and would never pick it up again.

[Caleb White · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book needs to be in every person’s hands. Bryan helps us to see how our experience at home influences how we imagine God to be and then helps us unpack the ways God is Not like that. I found myself at many points so thankful for such a clear vision for what it means to be a parent and how to better model the love of God to my children. He often reminds the reader that our parents are also people with their own stories and experiences growing up and to place our focus on our growth with God instead of bitterness towards our parents and their shortcomings. 5/5 recommend!

[Adam Jarvis · Rating 4 out of 5]

I absolutely loved the premise of this book. Very interesting, thought-provoking, and written in a very easy-to-comprehend format. However, I did find the center chapters (4-7) to be a bit thin, cliché, and projective in their conclusions.

The rest of the book (chapters 1-3 and 8-9) provide the reader with some amazing food for thought and hope. I truly believe the author has something very important to say here about how every person forms their own ideas about God.

[M.L. Howard · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've had the added benefit of getting to listen to his sermon a number of times in person. Very well written, very much made me consider things from a different point of view. I'm glad I took the time to read it.

[Nicki · Rating 5 out of 5]

The author of this book is our pastor at Lincoln Berean Church. I have always loved his sermons and this book is a repeat and extension of his Bible teachings. Loved it!

[Anne · Rating 2 out of 5]

There are some good things in here but lots of things I refer to as “old messaging” if you are healing from religious trauma. The title feels misleading to me because it sounds like we’re gonna hear “better news” but it’s still complementarian (he uses an analogy of business ownership for marriage and to how a wife gifted in leadership could be an “administrative assistant” but the husband would still be the owner and the wife couldn’t do whatever she wants with the business). The book takes an unaffirming stance for gay marriage (didn’t seem like any stance needed to be taken in this book so I don’t know why that was put in). There are repeated reminders in the book that if the response to this book shouldn’t be to feel angry or bitter towards your family. I think anger is often appropriate and encouraging people to not feel that way can be invalidating. Overall I’d say this book feels oversimplified and could maybe be titled God’s not entirely like that (but mostly He is).

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm rounding this rating up to 3; I would give it 2.5 stars if I could. This is a difficult book to review because it wasn't the book I thought it would be, nor the book I wanted it to be. I was looking for a Biblical discussion on what God is truly like, and how we misrepresent Him in our thoughts and our beliefs. But this book is really a book on marriage and the family, and what the Bible has to say about those subjects. I understand what the author is doing -- trying to show us how our family of origin differed from Biblical standards, and how that messed up our thinking. It just really didn't work for me and it felt like a bait-and-switch from the topic that was supposed to be discussed. I did appreciate some of the wisdom shared about marriage and the family, but overall this wasn't an effective approach to the subject of the true character and nature of God. At least not for me.

[Sarah Piper · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this. I struggled through part of the middle but that was more on me. As a divorced woman I have a hard time reading about perfect marriages and perfect husbands but that’s not what this was.

Our church recently did a sermon series about our wrong views of God and characteristics we give Him based on this same premise and so this was wonderful to read afterward.

Our life group leader read it and bought us all copies and I really believe everyone needs to read this and understand it. This helps me further to understand some of my personal hangups and issues with God and other relationships.

[Andy Gilford · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an incredible read; a masterclass on various themes and how our view of God rightly or wrongly shapes our views of marriage, family, parenting, etc. I went into this book wanting to discover how past hurt, conflict, and poor views of God/His character could be undone and place an emphasis on grace, compassion, and forgiveness instead of anger, hurt, and unforgiveness. This book now stands as a tremendous read toward healing from the past and fixating on who God really is

[Melissa Doss · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great book that deals with your childhood and becoming a parent. It explains how subliminally you may have learned things about God that are not true according to scripture. It’s some real soul work when you have unresolved feelings about things from your childhood, but helps you to understand Gods character better. It made me think harder about how I parent my kids as well and what I am teaching them about our faith.

[Bekah Walters · Rating 1 out of 5]

The thesis is flawed. It sounds interesting, but it's based off of the idea that a modern concept of the Western family is God's ideal way of revealing Himself to us. In order to make this leap, you have to read too far into analogies present in the Bible and take them farther than God does which results in the book feeling a bit idolatrous.
God reveals Himself in His Word. Period. Full-Stop!

[Debbie Anstine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent step in resetting your relationship with God and His character versus our experiences. Loved this. Audiobook is narrated by Bryan himself. We chose that method for hubby and I to hear together. Well done Bryan!

[Karina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very insightful! Everyone should read this!

[Emily Pope · Rating 5 out of 5]

excellent

Well written, so very helpful to walk in the healing of Jesus to the truth and intention of His design for you and your life and relationships.

[Sarah Krehnke · Rating 1 out of 5]

Very boring. I like the idea, but all the author does is repeat everything in a different order EVERY SINGLE chapter!

[Katie Lyman · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed. Helps understand my walk with the Lord.

[Lanelle D. Stumf · Rating 5 out of 5]

wow

Thank you Pastor Brian Clark for your book. Thank you for really letting me reflect on my life and really understand a lot about myself. I highly recommend this book.

[John D. Holmes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Practical Insightful Solid

Very helpful in asking the right questions that, for some reason, nobody's asking. The author approaches the subject of how our family of origin shapes our view of God in a balanced way without condemnation or being too shallow.