I doubt Rory Feek will ever read my review, so what bugged me most about his book isn't for him, it's for my readers in case you pick up his book.
I encourage you to read autobiographies and biographies like they're going out of style. We have so much to learn from others when you open the page of a book. And I learned a lot from Rory even if there were some foundational issues that I'll address here.
Rory spends a lot of time talking about his past. The guilt, anguish and shame of it all. I admire him for that. It takes a lot of guts to talk about past mistakes with open frankness. He said something that I really like,
So here's what I have to say about that: if you put your faith in the gospel of Jesus Christ - that He died on the cross for sin according to Scripture, that He was buried, and that He rose on the third day according to Scriptures - do not let guilt consume you. Jesus died for your sin, who are you to remember it? It is the only weapon Satan had against us - sin. He likes to remind us of it, remind us of our depravity, because it takes our mind off the things that are above - on the gift of grace and righteousness given from Jesus Christ, his enemy who defeated Him because He conquered death and sin on the cross!
Do not ever, ever forget that truth.
The second piece of this book that bugged me was this ideal most Christians have about being a Christian: change. True, heart change. For some reason we think we have the power to do so. We forget verses like Ephesians 2:1 where it clearly states that we are dead in our trespasses and that we follow the prince of the power of the air and that we are children of wrath. We forget passages like Romans 3:1-11 where it says that no one, not even one does good, no one seeks for God, no one understands. We glaze over Scripture that deals with the depth of sin, not ever realizing our position before God is hopeless. We are absolutely nothing, nothing without Jesus Christ who (thank goodness) died for those trespasses that made us dead while we were still sinners (Romans 5:8). We miss portions of Scripture where it clearly states that this work of redemption "is not your own doing, it is the gift of God, not a result of works so that no one may boast." (Ephesians 2:8) We are so sinful that we want to take the glory away from Christ and give ourselves credit for the change and then we forget who to rely on when the change desperately needs to occur.
You cannot change you. You cannot, with your own attempts, become a better wife, mother, person. You just can't on your own accord. We are ruled by our desires. Our desire is sin. We covet. We lie. We are greedy. Faithless. Heartless. Boastful. Inventors of evil. Envious. Disobedient to parents, or any authority for that matter. And before you stop reading, I suggest you turn to places like Romans 1-3 or Ephesians 2, "And you are dead in your trespasses..." Those things I said are direct quotes from the apostle Paul himself.
We are enemies of God because God is at war with sin, and we are sinners (another truth from Romans). Plus, Ephesians 2 is pretty darn plain, we are dead in our trespasses. And there is nothing more for a dead-man to do than stink.
So I wish Rory said less about what he felt he had to do to be a better man and more time on the gospel.
We need Jesus. He changes hearts. Through HIM and HIS perfection do we become better from the inside out.
So I wish Rory shared exactly what he believed about the God he serves. Or exactly what his faith was in. Here's why I make such a big stink about this: Satan serves God (Read Job 1:6-12 where we see that Satan is subject to the authority of God. Satan himself must give an account of his actions.) Satan believes in God, he knows he exists, and knows God's word better than the best theologian. I am not saying that Rory's belief in God is fake, I'm just saying that Christians spend too much time saying, I believe in God without a firm stance on the gospel - the only means of salvation.
That's what I did before I was truly a believer. I claimed I believed in God, but the name of Jesus curdled my stomach. I couldn't stand other people sharing His name. I loathed the idea of going to church. I had zero desire to open my Bible. And yet, I said out loud that I was a "Christian" when I was far from it. I slept around. I drank too much. I was lazy. Glutenous. Loud-mouthed. Disobedient to parents and despised authority. I was selfish.
It was only when I heard the gospel (for the thousandth time) but finally understanding that I could do nothing for my salvation and I could do nothing on my own accord to become a better person. That is the work of Christ! He did the work when He died on the cross according to Scripture, was buried, that He was raised from the dead on the third day according to Scripture and there are witnesses to prove it (1 Corithians 15:3).
And he gets the glory for it.
So the grace He gives is a gift. And the work He does He does for His glory.
I must simply hold fast to my faith. Rest in Christ, know (with every ounce of my being) verses like Galations 2:20,
Don't mince words with a simple, I believe in God. Satan loves that. Share the only defense we have against Satan - Jesus died for my sin and you can no longer hold the guilt and fear against me. And just in case Rory does read this - if that's what Joey believed, that is what you should fearlessly share.
Rory spends a lot of time talking about his past. The guilt, anguish and shame of it all. I admire him for that. It takes a lot of guts to talk about past mistakes with open frankness. He said something that I really like,
"There are chapters in a person's life that you don't want to write. Things that you don't want to talk about. I would've thought for me it would be parts of my past that I am embarrassed about or ashamed of. But strangely, I don't have any problem writing about those things. I can see now where they have led and what they've taught me and how important they are to the bigger story that God has been telling with my life. And my hope is that in my being honest about who I was... who I am... it might encourage someone, the way that my wife's courage in life and in death has encouraged me and others." (p.247)That statement was an excellent piece to read after the first 100+ pages where I felt he was still holding on to the guilt, anguish and shame he felt because of past mistakes.
So here's what I have to say about that: if you put your faith in the gospel of Jesus Christ - that He died on the cross for sin according to Scripture, that He was buried, and that He rose on the third day according to Scriptures - do not let guilt consume you. Jesus died for your sin, who are you to remember it? It is the only weapon Satan had against us - sin. He likes to remind us of it, remind us of our depravity, because it takes our mind off the things that are above - on the gift of grace and righteousness given from Jesus Christ, his enemy who defeated Him because He conquered death and sin on the cross!
Do not ever, ever forget that truth.
The second piece of this book that bugged me was this ideal most Christians have about being a Christian: change. True, heart change. For some reason we think we have the power to do so. We forget verses like Ephesians 2:1 where it clearly states that we are dead in our trespasses and that we follow the prince of the power of the air and that we are children of wrath. We forget passages like Romans 3:1-11 where it says that no one, not even one does good, no one seeks for God, no one understands. We glaze over Scripture that deals with the depth of sin, not ever realizing our position before God is hopeless. We are absolutely nothing, nothing without Jesus Christ who (thank goodness) died for those trespasses that made us dead while we were still sinners (Romans 5:8). We miss portions of Scripture where it clearly states that this work of redemption "is not your own doing, it is the gift of God, not a result of works so that no one may boast." (Ephesians 2:8) We are so sinful that we want to take the glory away from Christ and give ourselves credit for the change and then we forget who to rely on when the change desperately needs to occur.
You cannot change you. You cannot, with your own attempts, become a better wife, mother, person. You just can't on your own accord. We are ruled by our desires. Our desire is sin. We covet. We lie. We are greedy. Faithless. Heartless. Boastful. Inventors of evil. Envious. Disobedient to parents, or any authority for that matter. And before you stop reading, I suggest you turn to places like Romans 1-3 or Ephesians 2, "And you are dead in your trespasses..." Those things I said are direct quotes from the apostle Paul himself.
We are enemies of God because God is at war with sin, and we are sinners (another truth from Romans). Plus, Ephesians 2 is pretty darn plain, we are dead in our trespasses. And there is nothing more for a dead-man to do than stink.
So I wish Rory said less about what he felt he had to do to be a better man and more time on the gospel.
We need Jesus. He changes hearts. Through HIM and HIS perfection do we become better from the inside out.
So I wish Rory shared exactly what he believed about the God he serves. Or exactly what his faith was in. Here's why I make such a big stink about this: Satan serves God (Read Job 1:6-12 where we see that Satan is subject to the authority of God. Satan himself must give an account of his actions.) Satan believes in God, he knows he exists, and knows God's word better than the best theologian. I am not saying that Rory's belief in God is fake, I'm just saying that Christians spend too much time saying, I believe in God without a firm stance on the gospel - the only means of salvation.
That's what I did before I was truly a believer. I claimed I believed in God, but the name of Jesus curdled my stomach. I couldn't stand other people sharing His name. I loathed the idea of going to church. I had zero desire to open my Bible. And yet, I said out loud that I was a "Christian" when I was far from it. I slept around. I drank too much. I was lazy. Glutenous. Loud-mouthed. Disobedient to parents and despised authority. I was selfish.
It was only when I heard the gospel (for the thousandth time) but finally understanding that I could do nothing for my salvation and I could do nothing on my own accord to become a better person. That is the work of Christ! He did the work when He died on the cross according to Scripture, was buried, that He was raised from the dead on the third day according to Scripture and there are witnesses to prove it (1 Corithians 15:3).
And he gets the glory for it.
So the grace He gives is a gift. And the work He does He does for His glory.
"For we are HIS workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which GOD PREPARED beforehand that we should walk in them." Ephesians 2:10 (Caps mine.)Workmanship can be translated to literally mean, poem. We are His poem. I find that beautiful. With each stanza He is changing us, creating beautiful poetry and He will be get the credit for His work.
I must simply hold fast to my faith. Rest in Christ, know (with every ounce of my being) verses like Galations 2:20,
"I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me."I must understand that my old self is gone and I am a new creation in Jesus. While living in Christ, I begin to loathe the sin that once held me captive, but does no longer! Because of Christ I can be victorious and pray that God kill it in me because I know He is capable and He will. And as I read my Bible these truths permeate throughout, helping me rest and draw closer to God as He reveals Himself in it. I pray that for Rory - that He takes his talent for words and makes the message of Christ clear to his readers. That he uses his God given influence to be a witness for the gospel of Jesus Christ. Write "Jesus died on the cross. Jesus was buried. And HALLELUJAH! Jesus rose again!" Nothing else saves. Nothing else changes lives eternally. Nothing.
Don't mince words with a simple, I believe in God. Satan loves that. Share the only defense we have against Satan - Jesus died for my sin and you can no longer hold the guilt and fear against me. And just in case Rory does read this - if that's what Joey believed, that is what you should fearlessly share.
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One of my favorite parts of the book was that they hit their knees in prayer for everything. The difficulties in their marriage, health, music career, money, everything. And Rory has these amazing truths woven throughout, like this one amazing example on page 167 where the book became hard to put down,
"[Joey] let the music go. She didn't need it anymore, not the way she did before. She could finally open her hand and give it to Him. Completely.
And I think it was then, and only then, that He could give it to her. The music. The dream she'd always wanted. To sing on a stage and have a million people watching and hearing her.
He was about to give it to her.
Only because now she didn't need it.
That's when He does it sometimes. And He'll do it in a way that you never expected.
That's what He did with us, anyway."
