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TrueFaced
TrueFaced draws a clear distinction between two very different underlying motives Christians sometimes operate under: our determination to please God or to trust Him. This book shows us how to trust Him more.
Explore issues of identity and grace in your relationships with others and with God.
Explore issues of identity and grace in your relationships with others and with God.
159 pages, Paperback
First published August 31, 2003
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 92 reviews
January 11, 2010
I have a sneaking suspicion that some of my friends will lambaste me for the low rating, but having just finished Jerry Bridges' Discipline of Grace, I found this book to be overly one-sided. While I think that this book could be a very effective introduction to living out of your identity in Christ or the exchanged life for the young believer or a life-long christian coming out of an unhealthily legalistic environment, I think that in the long run it comes at sin from the wrong angle (how it makes you feel, not how it makes God feel), and is very man-centered rather than God-centered despite some comments to the contrary.
The best indicator for that is the line on page 65 that says "...the three of us teach that 'How I view myself is the most revealing commentary of my theology.'" While I agree that our view of ourselves is very indicative of our theology, I align more with A.W. Tozer, who said "What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us." This may be semantics, since what we think about God will directly inform what we think about ourselves.
Many of the friends I respect most love this book, and it's less that 150 pages, so decide for yourself.
The best indicator for that is the line on page 65 that says "...the three of us teach that 'How I view myself is the most revealing commentary of my theology.'" While I agree that our view of ourselves is very indicative of our theology, I align more with A.W. Tozer, who said "What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us." This may be semantics, since what we think about God will directly inform what we think about ourselves.
Many of the friends I respect most love this book, and it's less that 150 pages, so decide for yourself.
May 2, 2022
We used this book for a lady's book study. We all loved it. I'm afraid any books we try next won't be as good. It's full of deep important truths.
February 6, 2013
This is a book that gets to the heart of the true gospel of love and grace. The authors talk about sin management and how Christians, tend to hide behind masks that are meant to hide the shame of our sins, but only keep us from being loved and loving others well. The cure for shame and sin management is to trust in who God says we are which is redeemed by the blood of Christ and totally forgiven and loved and to bring our true selves into a community where we can be loved with all our junk and love others in that. The truths in this book have been life changing for me. In trusting God and others with who I really am, I have opened myself up to change from the inside out, with the exposure of un-resolve and healing from the results of my sin and sin done to me. A lifetime of sin management and wearing masks kept me spiritually immature and not well loved. Beware, it's not an easy path to take. It is messy. But, it has great eternal value.
August 14, 2012
Truly LOVED the concept of this book. It was personally challenging. When you have been brought up in Anglo-American Christian culture, we are so conditioned to believe Busy-ness is next to Godliness. When I took off the "masks" I had been working so hard to nurture and maintain, I was kind of left with "Now What? If I'm not this person who is busy working to please God, then who am I?" Many of us have been spiritually manipulated by people who claim to be "authorities" into believing that if we are given the opportunity to do any and every good thing and we don't we "make Jesus sad", even to the point of sacrificing Family on the altar of ministry. And all of this working and performing has fed our pride and arrogance. We can never Please God until we truly begin to trust Him, and casting our cares on Him and accepting the Grace He offers is not a desprt act of weakness but a willful act of humility We have been misled by a culture who has preached Grace, but doesn't really have a clue what Grace truly is. But trusting God with who I really am, isn't really the tough part, but the "trusting others". While I agree we should not have to perform or pretend we are someone we are not, and even when surrounded by posers we should maintain authenticity and we should't live a Guarded exsistance, I didn't read anything in the book that really helped the reader understand how to build your community of Grace with trustworthy people. If we don't learn to create and maintain healthy boundaries, we will get sucked back on the Hamster Wheel in the Room of Good Intentions. But the message of the book to look at the true meaning and offering of Grace and step into it is a VERY liberating one.
March 13, 2009
Great book, shares on how we should be real and genuine with each other. Being Truefaced takes courage, Jesus had this courage, Joshua and Caleb had this courage. Johnathan had this courage. King David did at times. Take a change read the book, start to become real, moreover, opportunity to thicken ones skin and take a chance on relationship(s).
May 12, 2022
This book changed my life. In short, God loves me. Of course I knew that before but this book made me realize the insane depth of love He has for me. I will read this book again and I will recommend it to everyone.
May 21, 2020
I grew up “in the church” so to speak, and I entered adulthood with a pietistic outlook on life - seeking to please God through my own efforts, actions, and behaviors. I am among the many who had consciously or subconsciously thought that the path to spiritual maturity was to sin less and to manage my sin problems by the more regular practicing of spiritual disciplines like prayer & bible reading. Basically, I’m the target audience for this.
For the last couple of years I’ve been trying to learn more of what it is to live out of who God says I am rather than out of my ever shifting feelings - so this is right up my alley. Sadly, there is so much mask-wearing in so many churches. This book seeks to address this issue - addressing it on the individual level. The main question the authors ask pertains to what is your primary motive - to please God or to trust him? How you answer that question has profound implications for your life. The thesis here is that it is only by first learning to trust God that you can ever truly please him & find spiritual fulfillment. Other noteworthy subjects discussed in the text involve repentance & forgiveness - common words/concepts in Christian circles, but taught in a way here that I hadn’t heard before. FWIW, Dallas Willard says that this is one of the best books on practical theology that he’s ever seen - coming from him, that’s a pretty high compliment. I have to say that I got a lot out of this book as well. I’m sure it is one that I will revisit in the future, and one that I will be recommending to other Christians, as the liberating message of the book is one that all Christians need to hear.
For the last couple of years I’ve been trying to learn more of what it is to live out of who God says I am rather than out of my ever shifting feelings - so this is right up my alley. Sadly, there is so much mask-wearing in so many churches. This book seeks to address this issue - addressing it on the individual level. The main question the authors ask pertains to what is your primary motive - to please God or to trust him? How you answer that question has profound implications for your life. The thesis here is that it is only by first learning to trust God that you can ever truly please him & find spiritual fulfillment. Other noteworthy subjects discussed in the text involve repentance & forgiveness - common words/concepts in Christian circles, but taught in a way here that I hadn’t heard before. FWIW, Dallas Willard says that this is one of the best books on practical theology that he’s ever seen - coming from him, that’s a pretty high compliment. I have to say that I got a lot out of this book as well. I’m sure it is one that I will revisit in the future, and one that I will be recommending to other Christians, as the liberating message of the book is one that all Christians need to hear.
March 5, 2021
This book has me feeling that peaceful feeling of “I don’t need to try so hard all the time.”
July 24, 2019
This book had some real truth in it, but the way it was written was off-putting and not enjoyable to read.
January 21, 2010
I thought this book was a mediocre introduction to our identity in Christ. However, many of my friends and colleagues love this book and highly recommend it. I thought the strong part of the book was its desire to demonstrate what community can look like when it is liked in authenticity.
However, I had several complaints with it:
1) While it talked frequently about understanding our new identity in Christ, it rarely used Scripture to show the way that God himself has talked about our new identity. The Scriptural references were alluded to in the endnotes, but the Scripture themselves were rarely used.
2) There were ridiculous analogies and colloquialisms that made the book confusing. There were several times that the authors would say something that made sense and then illustrate it with an analogy. When they were finished with the analogy, I wasn't sure that I understood what they were saying anymore. Analogies are supposed to make things easier, not harder to understand. Other times, they would throw in random expressions that made little to no sense and distracted from the overarching message of the paragraph.
3) The authors never addressed the tension that exists in leadership between being "TrueFaced" and using wisdom and discretion with whom you share your authentic self. This takes a great deal of discernment, and we cannot be (in my opinion) equally authentic with every person.
If I had not had such high expectations from all of the recommendations, I might have given Truefaced 3 stars, but my high expectations were met with low realizations. I would agree with my friend Jeremy Marshall's encouragement: since so many great people recommend Truefaced, read it for yourself and decide for yourself.
However, I had several complaints with it:
1) While it talked frequently about understanding our new identity in Christ, it rarely used Scripture to show the way that God himself has talked about our new identity. The Scriptural references were alluded to in the endnotes, but the Scripture themselves were rarely used.
2) There were ridiculous analogies and colloquialisms that made the book confusing. There were several times that the authors would say something that made sense and then illustrate it with an analogy. When they were finished with the analogy, I wasn't sure that I understood what they were saying anymore. Analogies are supposed to make things easier, not harder to understand. Other times, they would throw in random expressions that made little to no sense and distracted from the overarching message of the paragraph.
3) The authors never addressed the tension that exists in leadership between being "TrueFaced" and using wisdom and discretion with whom you share your authentic self. This takes a great deal of discernment, and we cannot be (in my opinion) equally authentic with every person.
If I had not had such high expectations from all of the recommendations, I might have given Truefaced 3 stars, but my high expectations were met with low realizations. I would agree with my friend Jeremy Marshall's encouragement: since so many great people recommend Truefaced, read it for yourself and decide for yourself.
February 5, 2009
This was an extremely insightful book. Take off our masks and be our true self. As I read this great book I continued to think that there are people in this world that we truly cannot be truefaced. I believe this can only happen in Heaven. This is a book to continue to go back to and refresh.
February 18, 2014
True Faced explores the tension between pleasing God and trusting God. The principles in this book will hold a mirror to your faith and challenge you to take a whole new look at who you are in the economy of grace. My first read through wasn't enough; my husband and I are now reading it together.
March 13, 2020
Another one of my favorites - a "wow" book.
TrueFaced : trust God and others with who you really are is a healing balm for the tired Christian soul. I have read it repeatedly in order to both read and study it, to digest it. It is that good. TrueFaced addresses the stark incompatibility of our human drive to please God with the absolute necessity that we trust him. In building their case, Thrall, McNicol, & Lynch begin with a metaphor of two roads and two rooms. The road of pleasing God leads to the room of good intentions - a room in which the inhabitants expend great effort to be pleasing to God. The road of trusting God leads to the room of grace, inhabited by men and women whose lives are disasters, leaving them no option but to trust in God's grace, love, and goodness.
TrueFaced makes no apology as it boldly addresses the throng of believers who are tired, cynical, well-intentioned, yet hiding. We wear dry, cracked masks as we work on our sin problem in order to attain a life of intimacy with our maker. We dare not let anyone see the real inside. We are 'fine' and determined to live godly. We want to hear nothing of the grief, struggles, or failures of others in the room.
Eventually, the strain of playing the game, and constantly repairing the mask we wear becomes too much. Being bathed in grace and surrounded by people similarly bathed in grace eventually has us cry out, 'Alright, listen! I'm not fine! I haven't been fine for a long time. I feel guilty, lonely and depressed. I'm sad most of the time and I can't make my life work. And if any of you knew half of my daily thoughts, you would throw me out of your little club. ... I'm not doing fine! Thanks for asking!' Thinking we have just bared our soul and shocked the rest of the room, those bathed in grace look at us with a quizzical look and respond, 'Really? That's all you've got?'
TrueFaced introduces us to a freedom in Christ, a freedom in God's grace in which we allow ourselves to be authentic - authentic with God and authentic with one another. The text encourages community where flaws are not hidden, but acknowledged openly, and faced side-by-side with our God who says, 'Let's work on this together.'
The book frees the worn-out believer to rest in God's grace.
TrueFaced : trust God and others with who you really are is a healing balm for the tired Christian soul. I have read it repeatedly in order to both read and study it, to digest it. It is that good. TrueFaced addresses the stark incompatibility of our human drive to please God with the absolute necessity that we trust him. In building their case, Thrall, McNicol, & Lynch begin with a metaphor of two roads and two rooms. The road of pleasing God leads to the room of good intentions - a room in which the inhabitants expend great effort to be pleasing to God. The road of trusting God leads to the room of grace, inhabited by men and women whose lives are disasters, leaving them no option but to trust in God's grace, love, and goodness.
TrueFaced makes no apology as it boldly addresses the throng of believers who are tired, cynical, well-intentioned, yet hiding. We wear dry, cracked masks as we work on our sin problem in order to attain a life of intimacy with our maker. We dare not let anyone see the real inside. We are 'fine' and determined to live godly. We want to hear nothing of the grief, struggles, or failures of others in the room.
Eventually, the strain of playing the game, and constantly repairing the mask we wear becomes too much. Being bathed in grace and surrounded by people similarly bathed in grace eventually has us cry out, 'Alright, listen! I'm not fine! I haven't been fine for a long time. I feel guilty, lonely and depressed. I'm sad most of the time and I can't make my life work. And if any of you knew half of my daily thoughts, you would throw me out of your little club. ... I'm not doing fine! Thanks for asking!' Thinking we have just bared our soul and shocked the rest of the room, those bathed in grace look at us with a quizzical look and respond, 'Really? That's all you've got?'
TrueFaced introduces us to a freedom in Christ, a freedom in God's grace in which we allow ourselves to be authentic - authentic with God and authentic with one another. The text encourages community where flaws are not hidden, but acknowledged openly, and faced side-by-side with our God who says, 'Let's work on this together.'
The book frees the worn-out believer to rest in God's grace.
September 7, 2024
This book is full of compassion and understanding and is like watching a show full of broken, complex characters portrayed with love that makes you feel relieved because it feels like you can let go and be yourself.
The authors taught me how we need to acknowledge our relational needs, how sin distorts us, and the freedom of grace & repentance in light of how God sees us… in summary, how our acceptance of grace and true trust in God is directly related to how much we are able to let our masks down or not. How faith is a relational process of trust and joy, not one of willful self-management. It is a short and concise read and well organized.
Reading this book also showed me that it is not wrong to dream, and it centered my life on God. It is a book with truths I want to apply to my life.
The authors taught me how we need to acknowledge our relational needs, how sin distorts us, and the freedom of grace & repentance in light of how God sees us… in summary, how our acceptance of grace and true trust in God is directly related to how much we are able to let our masks down or not. How faith is a relational process of trust and joy, not one of willful self-management. It is a short and concise read and well organized.
Reading this book also showed me that it is not wrong to dream, and it centered my life on God. It is a book with truths I want to apply to my life.
June 6, 2018
Powerfully written, "TrueFaced' impacted my personal life and promoted change during a time I felt uncertain in many aspects of my personal journey. Each time I've read this book I gained more of a sense of who I am as a victim as it peeled away those self-confines, while I became True to who I truly am. It aided me in my personal journey into becoming an abuse survivor! This book changed my perspective of pleasing my way into acceptance: With God and others; I began to simply trust God with who I am as His child. It is a must read for all who are attempting to figure out how they fit into a life of insecurity and uncertainty, because of past abuse. For those who want more, and seek to overcome a performance attitude.
October 20, 2021
There’s a lot of talk in here about the work of Christ but very little explanation on what He did and how it applies to your life. Because of this, the book morphs into this theology that God and others are just waiting for you to walk in your dreams and destiny (this is all the last chapter is about). Instead of the gospel turning our eyes on who Christ is, what He’s done, and what that means for us (true delight found in Him forever and living for His glory), it takes what Christ has done for us (with very little explanation on what that is) and turns God into a servant for our dreams and destiny in this life.
July 16, 2024
From a trauma and addictions recovery perspective, this book bridges the gap of language, intention, process and emotion into the space of Christian living. I love it. It may challenge what you believe to be right, but let it allow you to listen to another area of practical theology that speaks toward vulnerable-truth.
July 26, 2024
This is a slim volume, but it contains a really powerful message.
I felt like occasionally the metaphors and the capitalized phrases were overdone, but that's easy to set aside because they do help to make something that can be challenging or intangible for our minds to wrap around more approachable.
I felt like occasionally the metaphors and the capitalized phrases were overdone, but that's easy to set aside because they do help to make something that can be challenging or intangible for our minds to wrap around more approachable.
June 24, 2019
A life changing book
I have done this book with the whole church at one time in my life. I did a devotional by the author and it spoke to me deeply.
I started reading the book finding that some of it i am living today. The rest i needed a review. I'm glad I did. You will be too.
I have done this book with the whole church at one time in my life. I did a devotional by the author and it spoke to me deeply.
I started reading the book finding that some of it i am living today. The rest i needed a review. I'm glad I did. You will be too.
October 21, 2021
I'm only 67% through this book but then I lost the book and it was an amazing book so, as soon as I find the book I will read the rest of it and update this review but I truly feel that already, it is absolutely worth reading. Helpful and insightful.
August 12, 2017
Good book
I really like this book. It has so much truth in it. I have recommended it to a few other people
I really like this book. It has so much truth in it. I have recommended it to a few other people
June 21, 2019
Meh, found it hard to get into the writing style and seemed to use a lot of blanket statements.
November 8, 2019
Grace
We don’t believe enough in the impact of this amazing concept. The authors have unpacked the lifestyle of grace in a way that is imminently practical.
We don’t believe enough in the impact of this amazing concept. The authors have unpacked the lifestyle of grace in a way that is imminently practical.
September 10, 2020
AMAZING
What an amazing book. I will keep reading and learning and applying as much as I can . I will truly recommend this book to a lot of friends.
What an amazing book. I will keep reading and learning and applying as much as I can . I will truly recommend this book to a lot of friends.
July 26, 2019
as always, wonderful in this contemporary with no fantastic or elements but a surprise in the ending!
March 1, 2022
This is a must read! I was extremely encouraged, challenged and inspired by this book.
My friend lent me this book over three years ago and I finally read it! I was deeply changed by this book.
My friend lent me this book over three years ago and I finally read it! I was deeply changed by this book.
November 7, 2012
This is a purely Christian book, so here is the place to stop reading if that's not your inclination.
I first heard a sermon called "The Room of Good Intentions vs. the Room of Grace" by John Lynch at a PromiseKeepers event circa 1997. At the time, it totally blew me away. Fast forward 10+ years and we're visiting a church called Journey Community Church in La Mesa, California. The guest speaker happened to be none other than John Lynch, and that sermon about forgiveness a few months ago struck a chord with me again. I started digging for that old sermon that I had heard many years ago and was able to find it online. This book is based on that sermon.
I can't explain all the concepts in the book, but simply put, this book contrasts pleasing God with trusting God. It doesn't sound like that much of a difference, but in my own understanding they are on different sides of the galaxy. I've spent my life trying to please God and have frequently experienced frustration, disappointment, self-loathing, defeat, and doubt. Trusting God throws everything into a completely different light. It both relieves the burden of "I've gotta do better" and provides the forgiveness and unconditional love of God to make real change.
There is, of course, a lot more to it than a paragraph. Part of trusting God also means being in a community where we can be completely honest about who we are, junk and all. Hence the name "TrueFaced".
The concept in this book has revolutionized my view of my relationship with God. If you're a believer, take the time to soak it in!
I first heard a sermon called "The Room of Good Intentions vs. the Room of Grace" by John Lynch at a PromiseKeepers event circa 1997. At the time, it totally blew me away. Fast forward 10+ years and we're visiting a church called Journey Community Church in La Mesa, California. The guest speaker happened to be none other than John Lynch, and that sermon about forgiveness a few months ago struck a chord with me again. I started digging for that old sermon that I had heard many years ago and was able to find it online. This book is based on that sermon.
I can't explain all the concepts in the book, but simply put, this book contrasts pleasing God with trusting God. It doesn't sound like that much of a difference, but in my own understanding they are on different sides of the galaxy. I've spent my life trying to please God and have frequently experienced frustration, disappointment, self-loathing, defeat, and doubt. Trusting God throws everything into a completely different light. It both relieves the burden of "I've gotta do better" and provides the forgiveness and unconditional love of God to make real change.
There is, of course, a lot more to it than a paragraph. Part of trusting God also means being in a community where we can be completely honest about who we are, junk and all. Hence the name "TrueFaced".
The concept in this book has revolutionized my view of my relationship with God. If you're a believer, take the time to soak it in!
December 7, 2010
Helpful in its advice to live honestly, recognizing your mistakes and failings rather than trying desperately to cover them up by judging others in the meantime. While the writing seemed very planned-out, going from stage 1 to 2 to 3, etc., I found the mixed metaphors in the book (okay, so first we're talking about masks... now we're talking about rooms... now it's gifts... and now we're on trains?) confusing, and some of the phrasing was awkward, so I wouldn't say that this is a literary masterpiece, but has some solid advice, and no matter how much my snootier side might want to deny it, I did learn from this and find myself thinking about it. It covered much broader areas than I thought it would, talking about forgiveness of self and others, so I thought that was especially helpful. It ultimately wasn't all that I had hoped that it would be, but provided some good food for thought and prayer.
September 23, 2009
GREAT book!
This book brings to light how easy it is to move away from grace, try on our own to keep our lives looking like they are together, and although we might cringe at the term "legalism," we are actually living that way. The authors show that there are two basic ways we can live the Christian life: 1. we can try to please God, which is impossible to do and will leave us with the feeling that we just need to do a little bit more. This path will keep us in unresolved sin because we will be hiding, or 2. Trust God which will result in relationship with Him and freedom of experiencing His full pleasure with us. (on the same topic, I also read Grace Walk, Grace Rules and Grace Land by Steve McVey)
This book brings to light how easy it is to move away from grace, try on our own to keep our lives looking like they are together, and although we might cringe at the term "legalism," we are actually living that way. The authors show that there are two basic ways we can live the Christian life: 1. we can try to please God, which is impossible to do and will leave us with the feeling that we just need to do a little bit more. This path will keep us in unresolved sin because we will be hiding, or 2. Trust God which will result in relationship with Him and freedom of experiencing His full pleasure with us. (on the same topic, I also read Grace Walk, Grace Rules and Grace Land by Steve McVey)
January 16, 2026
I thought this excellent, the first time I read it. And indeed, it's a refreshing view of the Christian life, and the importance of being 'real'. So many of us hide behind masks, most of all in church circles. This book encourages us to trust God, to depend on him fully, and to put aside our need to put on a good appearance.
There's a lot more than that. Some of the metaphors are taken to extremes, in my view, and some of the advice may be a tad too simple, even trite. But there are some interesting anecdotes, and the writing is good.
All in all I found it very readable and quite reassuring. Recommended.
Latest longer review: https://suesbookreviews.blogspot.com/...
There's a lot more than that. Some of the metaphors are taken to extremes, in my view, and some of the advice may be a tad too simple, even trite. But there are some interesting anecdotes, and the writing is good.
All in all I found it very readable and quite reassuring. Recommended.
Latest longer review: https://suesbookreviews.blogspot.com/...
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