Beloved Mess

God's Perfect Love for Your Imperfect Life

by: Kimm Crandall

• Format

  E-Book

  ISBN

  9781493404872

  Pub. Date

  Jun 2016

  SRP

  $13.99

  Buy

About

God doesn't expect you to have it all together.

Life is messy. Yet the pressure to appear to others as though you've got it all together is a powerful force. We strive to act morally, look good, and set a positive example. After all, as others may tell us, we're the only Jesus some people see--so we better make him look good. That's a heavy burden.

But the Christian life is not about being less of a mess. It's about admitting that we need to be saved from trying to clean ourselves up. In Beloved Mess, Kimm Crandall frees you to live with the assurance that God loves you right here, right now. He's not waiting for you to clean up your act before you're worthy to come to him. In fact, he wants you to stop trying to fix the mess and allow him to wash it away.

"Kimm unpacks the wonder of God's mercy with honesty and courage and shows how it reaches all the way down to every dimension of our hearts and lives."--Justin S. Holcomb, professor at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary; author of On the Grace of God

"Read this short but life-changing book, go back to it again and again, and see yourself falling more in love with the one who loved us and gave himself for us."--Jessica Thompson, author of Everyday Grace

Kimm Crandall is a mother of four and the author of Christ in the Chaos. The founder of Dropping Keys Ministries, she is a frequent blogger on popular Christian websites such as Key Life Network (KeyLife.org) and Logos's Faithlife Women. She has been a featured guest on several nationally syndicated radio shows, such as Haven Today and Steve Brown, Etc. She also speaks at conferences and retreats for churches and parachurch organizations.

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Endorsements

"Life is a mess of our sin and suffering, but thankfully God meets us with his redeeming grace. Instead of judgment and rejection, he offers love and acceptance. Kimm unpacks the wonder of God's mercy with honesty and courage and shows how it reaches all the way down to every dimension of our hearts and lives."

Justin S. Holcomb, professor at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, author of On the Grace of God

"What a refreshing book! Beloved Mess is funny, arresting, radical, and best of all, true. Sometimes I think we Christians have missed the "main thing" about our faith: We're great sinners and Jesus is a great Savior. That means that we're free, forgiven, acceptable, and loved. If that doesn't make you want to dance, laugh, and sing, you're dead and just haven't been buried yet. Read this book and give it to all your friends. We'll laugh, sing, and dance together."

Steve Brown, broadcaster, seminary professor, and author

"In Beloved Mess, Kimm pours out her heart with a gospel urgency and authenticity that brings you to your knees in praise of God's glorious grace. There is no faking it or tidying up of her story. She believes God's love for each of us in our mess is the most beautiful thing we can behold, and she puts it on full display. Read this short but life-changing book, go back to it again and again, and see yourself falling more in love with the One who loved us and gave himself for us."

Jessica Thompson, author of Everyday Grace

"Tired of performance-based, score-carding, joy-sabotaging, heart-deflating spirituality? Me too. My friend Kimm Crandall gives voice to the longing of our hearts for less posing and more reposing in the outrageous riches of God's grace. Beloved Mess underscores that it is our 'belovedness' in Jesus which frees us from our navel-gazing fixation with ourselves and leads us into a life of living and loving to the glory of God. Kimm has reminded me afresh that it was never about the 'victorious Christian life,' but about the victorious Christ. It's precisely because God cannot love us any more than he already does in Christ that we can think less often about ourselves, and more often about extending his mercy and grace to others."

Scotty Ward Smith, teacher in residence at West End Community Church, author of Every Season Prayers

"Kimm Crandall couldn't hide her mess if she tried, and it's the most beloved thing I know about her. Kimm, in life and in this book, displays her glorious need for the gospel and its good grace. She clings to the cross and teaches her readers how to live with vulnerability toward Christ and others. It's a refreshing mess if I ever saw one."

Lore Ferguson Wilbert, director of community and formation at Park Church, Denver, writer at Sayable.net

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