We’re back with week 4 of the second Religion + Fiction Book Club! Thanks for your interest and for joining in the religious fiction fun. And apologies for the one-day delay. Things happen like snow days in Michigan with the kiddos home :)
If you missed the introduction episode to more of the background behind the book, including my own spiritual journey that led to me writing it, you can listen to that episode HERE. Catch up with the first week and feel free to join in anytime.
The schedule will run as follows with links to past episodes:
Below are some of the questions I posed in the book club episode that I hope get you thinking about Peter Daniel Young’s story — and your own. Comment below or use the questions in a group or individual study to deepen your engagement with the story.
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Week 4 Thoughts + Questions
After a sort of crisis of faith is sparked in Peter after being confronted with questions from friends he wasn’t prepared to answer, the tension and inner conflict is deepened with several relationships in his life — including his ministry and his parents.
Chapter 20–21
When was a time you were confronted about your own character, or even your spiritual direction? What was that like, and was it warranted? What happened as a result? How did it shape and change you?
What about a time you felt misunderstood and mischaracterized by the questions and push-back you were giving your faith? What happened, and how did you feel about it?
Sometimes confrontation and even discipline is a necessary good for the sake of our Christian walk and spiritual journey. Bernie had some good advice for Peter when his own season of discipline came:
“Think about Philippians 2. ‘Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.’”
I sat up for Bernie’s impromptu sermon, letting Paul’s words sink deep.
“It’s a double-sided coin, our transformation is. We’re told to work out our salvation—to do all we can to love God and love people, and with fear and trembling. But it doesn’t end there. We’re not alone! God is with us. He’s working on us. Not only is he helping us to want to love him and others. He’s helping us actually do it, to act on that desire. All so he can fulfill his good purpose—in us and through us and out into the world.”
I sat up straighter, considering Bernie’s encouraging words.
“Peter, God is with you. He’s working on you. He will help you want to love him and others, and he will help you do it. Again, I know!”
First, have you experienced a season of “discipline” or confrontation and correction — and was it a necessary good for the sake of your Christian walk and spiritual journey? What was that like, and what resulted from it?
If you are in the midst such a season, what do these words from both Paul and Bernie mean to you?
Chapters 22-24
There is a quote from the book Peter reads about Pastor Jack’s spiritual journey that resonates with him — it’s one I’ve resonated with when I first heard it from a mentor:
“When Jesus came, he blew everything to pieces, and when I saw where the pieces landed, I knew I was free.”
In other words, sometimes Jesus doesn’t merely come into our life and faith to caretake it: He comes to overhaul both!
How has Jesus blown up your life, your faith?
Where do you see him working now, changing things up and drawing you into a new direction of life with him?
Often the greatest tension in our relationships when we confront and question deep questions about faith, life, and everything in between come from family, especially parents.
How has your family shaped your faith? What was your childhood faith like? How is it now similar to or different from that familial tradition?
Which characters do you relate to in Chapter 24: Peter or his parents? Are you the one butting up against familial tradition, or are you the one being pressed against? What has that been like?
Has such a struggle and directional shift come between you and your family, or other close relationships? If so, what has that been like?
How can we navigate our most personal relationships when we are struggling with deep questions or when we feel drawn in a new direction?
Chapter 25
How did Logan’s own family past impact his ability to wrestle with deep questions of faith, life, and everything in between, especially throughout the book? What lessons can we take from that?
What does it do for you to know that even when faced with the resurrected Jesus in actual, physical, bodily form, some disciples doubted? What does it mean for our own questions that Jesus still used them to launch and grow his Church?
Chapter 26
When have you experienced fallout from your own spiritual journey, and the tension that often brings with others? What happened on the other side?
Again, thanks for joining the book club. Hope you can join next week!
You can still join at anytime, going at your own pace reading the book and listening to the episodes. Grab it for all ereaders at most online retailers if you’d like to join, or get it direct from my bookshop at 25% off with code BOOKCLUB25. For easy links:
J. A. Bouma believes nobody should have to read bad religious fiction—whether it’s cheesy plots with pat answers or misrepresentations of the Christian faith and the Bible. So he tells compelling, propulsive stories that thrill as much as inspire, while offering a dose of insight along the way. Available at most online retailers and direct: shop.jabouma.com.
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