Clutter-FREE Christianity by Robert Jeffress looks like it’ll be a book I really need to dig into before reviewing. I somehow mixed up the dates of two of the blog tour book reviews and have therefore only read through the first chapter and glanced through a few of the others. So, I’ll have to put off the full review for a few weeks, but I do have a few initial thoughts.

First, I initially thought the “clutter” this book was referring to would be the tangible things that clutter our lives and that it would be another book on the three (or ten or twelve – lol) steps to decluttering and reorganizing our lives. However, after reading the first few chapters I realize this book is about so much more than decluttering personal belongings or things we normally think of when pondering the term “decluttering”. When I think of that term, for example, I usually think of decluttering a house or a closet or some other tangible thing. This book asks the following question:

“When did the Christian life become so complicated?” The description on the back of the book goes on to say “your greatest desire is to please God, but with each passing week, your spiritual to-do list grows longer. As you strive to fulfill a never-ending inventory of requirements for being a godly parent, spouse, voter, employee, and more, you feel increasingly disconnected from the God you’re trying to serve. It’s time to cut through the clutter and get to the heart of what it means to please God.

In the first chapter, the author talks about preparing for a move. I’ve never moved to another town so I likened it to planning a vacation, instead. When one goes on vacation, even if you’re just going to ‘go with the flow” and have a relaxed vacation, you would typically still need to make some sort of airline reservations, secure hotel accomodations, perhaps rent a car or figure out some sort of transportation, secure any necessary paperwork, figure out what you need to pack, and physically pack (LOL). The author states on page 2 that “failing to prepare for your journey would be unwise and could result in some disastrous consequences. If you know you’re going to make a long trip, you certainly want to be ready for it.”

The author likens the above to the day when each of us will take the journey of our lifetime to a foreign land we’ve never seen. Although our departure time is unknown to us, the hour is already fixed on God’s calendar. At that moment, we will leave behind everything we own and know to stand alone before God. He will then determine our eternal destiny. We can not wait until that moment to prepare for this journey because the preparations we make in this life will determine where we find ourselves at the end of this journey. It is a sobering thought especially as we reach midlife and the realization that we have more years behind us than ahead of us.

In the first chapter, the author asks the following questions to help us prepare for the journey of our life and those are, “What does God really want from me and what must I do to please God?” He goes on to offer several answers to these questions with the bottom line being “it all comes to living in the heart of God” stating when our judgment day comes God won’t really care about “secondary concerns” – whether or not we were: a Democrat or Repbulican; able to diagram the end times; able to articulate the relationship between His sovereignty and our responsibility; participating in every worthy cause that comes along – fighting against same-sex marriage, voicing opposition to abortion, helping poverty stricken countries, or adopting orphans. (I added a few of these examples myself as I pondered some of the things I have to decide whether or not to become involved in).

Of course, each of us can not be involved in every single thing that comes along no matter how worthy the cause. Because I need a daily visual reminder of my need to simplify, I keep the following quote by Thoreau displayed prominently on my desk: “Our life is frittered away by detail. Simplify. Simplify. Simplify.” Over the years, I have pondered the how, what, and why of simplifying. I know how to simplify a schedule, a document, a correspondence, a budget, etc., but still there are more things that need to be simplified in my life. I haven’t quite put my finger on what exactly those things or how to go about simplifying them. I just know they’re out there. In the first chapter of this book, I found my new favorite quote by Hans Hofmann which is “The ability to simplify means to eliminate the unnecessary so that the necessary may speak.” I LOVE that quote and I can already think of a dozen examples where things in the past could have/should have been simplified so allowing the core of the matter to be more easily remembered, embraced, and abided by. I have a feeling that Dr. Jeffress through this book, Clutter-Free Christianity is going to help me flesh out the things I know are “out there” somewhere (LOL) that need simplifying in my life. I’ll admit that I’m notorious for just doing the bare minimum of what needs to be done to get us where we’re going figuring I’ll figure out the rest when we get there. This book, in just the very first chapter, has already challenged me to spend more time fervently preparing for the most important journey of my life and to more fervently preparing our children whom HE has entrusted to us for their journeys to life’s end because none of us knows how much time we have left to prepare for that day. I will give a full review later, but I can already tell by the first chapter that this will be a life changing book!

I don’t want to get behind in giving away the books for these blog tours so I’m going to go ahead and list the book for give away now. If you would like to enter the drawing for this book, please leave me a comment or send me an email. I will hold the drawing for this book on Sunday, April 5th.

Publishers Review: Clutter-Free Christianity, by Dr. Robert Jeffress, addresses the
question “When did the Christian life become so complicated?” by showing
readers how to partner with God in the process of spiritual
transformation by following Christ’s example in forgiveness, obedience,
trust, contentment, service and prayer. As worn-out Christians work to
reduce the clutter by focusing on the principles of faith, readers will
find their spiritual to-do lists shrinking and their love for God
increasing. Through solid biblical teaching and practical insights, Dr.
Jeffress points readers toward a revitalized faith centered on becoming
more like Jesus in action, attitude and affection and helps readers
clear away the clutter and reveal the heart of God.

Publisher’s Summary:
When did the Christian life become so complicated?
Your greatest desire is to please God, but with each passing week, your
spiritual to-do list grows longer. As you strive to fulfill a
never-ending inventory of requirements for being a godly parent, spouse,
voter, employee, and more, you feel increasingly disconnected from the
God you’re trying to serve.

It’s time to cut through the clutter and get to the heart of what it
means to please God. In this liberating look at the core principles of
faith, Dr. Robert Jeffress reveals the truth about what God really wants
from you–and what He wants to do for you.

Through solid biblical teaching and practical insights, Dr. Jeffress
points you toward a revitalized faith centered on becoming more like
Jesus in action, attitude, and affection. You’ll learn how to partner
with God in the process of spiritual transformation as you choose to
follow Christ in forgiveness, obedience, trust, contentment, service,
and prayer.

Through a renewed focus on experiencing the kingdom of God right now,
you’ll find your to-do list shrinking and your spiritual life deepening.
It all comes with embracing Clutter-Free Christianity.
Includes a Bible study guide for personal growth and group discussion.

Author Bio:
Dr. Robert Jeffress is the senior pastor of First Baptist Dallas, one of
the most historic churches in the Southern Baptist Convention. The
author of sixteen books, he is a graduate of Dallas Theological Seminary
and Southwest Baptist Theological Seminary. In addition, live broadcasts
of Dr. Jeffress’ weekly messages reach millions of listeners and viewers
each week, while his daily sermon series airs on 1,100 television
stations and cable systems nationwide. Dr. Jeffress and his wife, Amy,
are the parents of two adult daughters.