Look and Live
Behold the Soul-Thrilling, Sin-Destroying Glory of Christ
About
Only One Addiction Can Set You Free
Matt Papa was a "professional Christian" in full-time ministry, ready and determined to change the world. All the while he was depressed, addicted to the approval of others, and enslaved to sin. But then everything changed. He encountered the glory of God.
All of us live in the tension between where we are and where we ought to be. We try our best to bully our desires into submission. And we all know, this is exhausting.
Are you tired? Stuck? Still fighting the same sin you've been fighting for years? The call in these pages is not to work or to strive, but to lift your eyes. You don't need more willpower. You need a vision of greatness that sweeps you off your feet. You need to see glory.
Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.
Look and Live.
Endorsements
Matt has helped me see that love for God grows out of an experience of beholding the love of God. We burn only as we behold. . . . This is a fantastic book and I commend it to you with the most enthusiastic support.
from the Foreword by J. D. Greear
Matt Papa cares about the glory of God, and you can sense that zeal on every page of this dynamic book. He also cares about you and me getting to grips with that glory. Sometimes as preacher, sometimes as prophet, sometimes as pastor, Matt guides us through these pages with kindness, seriousness, and love--for God's greater glory and our greater good.
Matt Redman, songwriter and worship leader
Making our lives about one unflinching gaze upon the glory of Christ--what a vision Matt Papa has put before us. I encourage everyone--Christian and non-Christian alike--to take up and read this book! We were all made to worship. The only question is whom or what do we worship? Matt shows us the biblical answer, and gives us compelling reasons for putting our eyes on Him.
Tony Merida, pastor, professor, and author
Matt Papa's book is a snakebite kit for suffering sinners. Each sentence of Look and Live extracts Satan's deadly venom and resuscitates the soul with the life-giving power of the glory of God!
Tony Nolan, snakebite survivor, author, and gospel preacher
I have enjoyed the privilege of serving with Matt Papa numerous times, and have always sensed that his leadership was an open invitation to join him in declarative worship. Look and Live is pen to paper in what I have observed from Matt's life and influence. To journey through this book is to go on a quest that will awaken our souls to the reality of the One who is 'majestic in holiness' and 'awesome in glorious deeds.'
Dr. Brent Crowe, author, speaker, and vice president of Student Leadership University
I am a Matt Papa fan, and have been wonderfully blessed by his friendship and ministry. I am grateful his reflections on worship are now shared in writing in Look and Live. It is biblically faithful and keeps the focus of worship where it belongs: on our glorious God.
Daniel L. Akin, president of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary
Whether in songs that help the church sing, or with words that aid us as we read, Matt Papa faithfully points us to the soul-stirring glory of God. Read this book and allow your heart to once again behold the wondrous mystery.
Matt Boswell, founder of Doxology & Theology, and pastor of ministries and worship at Providence Church, Frisco, Texas
I've worked with Matt for years as we attempt to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ. Matt's always been a thoughtful and passionate minister, but he seems to have tapped into something deeply powerful in the pages of Look and Live. This is Matt's life message--that Jesus Christ alone is worth living for, and that when you gaze upon His majesty and glory you will never be the same. This book is theologically robust and practically helpful, packed with Scripture and insight into the person and work of the risen Son of God. Matt lives out this message as a dad, husband, worship leader, and evangelist. This is a true gift to the church and the world.
Clayton King, president of Crossroads Camps and Clayton King Ministries, and teaching pastor at NewSpring Church, South Carolina
If C. S. Lewis and David Crowder wrote a book together about worship, you would have the rich theology of the great Christian apologist with the deep passion of worship from the contemporary artist. That's what Matt Papa has given us in Look and Live--a must-read for every worshiper.
Mike Harland, president of LifeWay Worship
Matt Papa's helpful book offers a compelling reminder that in the fast pace of life, there is a still small voice with a Galilean accent calling us to look and live: because He alone is the way, the truth, and the life.
Dan DeWitt, author of Jesus or Nothing, and dean of Boyce College, undergraduate school of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary
Matt Papa is a man on a mission and he's taking no prisoners. He has been undone by the soul-piercing glory of Jesus Christ and wants everyone who comes near him to join him in worshiping him. And we're not talking about a mild-mannered, comfortable, popular kind of worship (if there is such a thing). Matt is after your heart. He helps us cut through the empty, destructive promises of our idols to see the glory of the Triune God for what it truly is--a liberating, sanctifying, enriching, life-changing, joy-producing, worth-living-and-dying-for glory. And once you look and see it, you will never be the same.
Bob Kauflin, director of Sovereign Grace Music
The Author
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Matt Papa
Matt Papa (www.mattpapa.com) is a minister, recording artist, and worship leader based out of Raleigh, North Carolina, where he lives with his wife, Lauren, and three daughters, Paisley, Stella, and Sofi. He serves on staff as a worship leader at The Summit...
Continue reading about Matt Papa
Reviews
This was the book Papa was meant to write. I can't recommend it too highly.
Tim Challies, who named it one of his Top Books of 2014