Reframe


Reframe: From The God We've Made To God With Us is a short little book by Brian Hardin (an ordained minister, record producer, photographer, graphic designer, author, and the voice behind the Daily Audio Bible). It's divided into three sections: Rethink (Rethinking You, Rethinking the Box, Rethinking God), Reframe (Reframing Starvation, Reframing Nourishment), and Restart (Restarting Change, Restarting Everything). I'm always interested in reading books that will help me draw closer to and deepen my relationship with God, so I was intrigued by and wanted to read this book. I'd never heard of Brian Hardin or the Daily Audio Bible before, so this was totally new to me. The book description reads:

"Accomplished recording producer Brian Hardin experienced a mediocre Christian faith until one day, he purposed to read the Bible daily. His resolve led to the start of the Daily Audio Bible, which after eight years has had more than 55 million downloads and feeds hundreds of thousands of listeners each day.

In the process of reading the Bible to his growing audience every day without fail, he has made a true, real friend in Jesus. Not a “Hey God, I know You’re up there somewhere” type of relationship, but one that contains the emotions, dialogue, and intimate moments that we long for from our closest of comrades. Brian found it necessary to entirely reframe his perception of God into a relationship as real as any experienced here on earth.

Reframe challenges you to change your paradigm about your relationship and connection with God, because in truth, you are engineered so that life will not work without Him. Reframe invites you to reconsider life and what it might look like if you were ruined for anything else but a life-giving connection to the almighty God."

I liked this book, but it was definitely written in an interesting and different style. Brian Hardin writes in an expansive, flowery, extravagant style. It was a bit jarring and felt a bit over the top at first, but I got used to it as the book went on. However, I appreciated Brian's spirit and his eagerness to share what he's learned about having a living, vibrant relationship with God. I know for myself, and probably many others, my relationship with God can often (sadly) feel like a checklist: read X number of chapters in my Bible, read a chapter in my devotional book, pray for X minutes or through X list. I often feel like God wants more from me than a rote checklist, although I also believe that doing your best is better than giving up on having an active relationship with God. Reframe really gets to the heart of this issue and gave me a new desire and a new plan for revitalizing my relationship with God. I recommend this book to any Christian who is looking to deepen their walk with God and strengthen their faith.

I received a copy of this book from Tyndale Blog Network in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

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