All In - Book Review

Do you have just enough of Jesus to be informed, but not quite enough of Him to be transformed?  The gospel costs us nothing, but it demands our everything. Being a Christ follower is not a spectator sport.  Going “all out” is giving it all you got, maximum effort, 100%.  Mark Batterson shows how we die and how we live when we go all out and all in, or completely surrender, our lives to the lordship of Jesus Christ in his book All In: You Are One Decision Away from a Totally Different Life.

Mark Batterson shows that when you give yourself to Christ and die to self, you don’t really lose, you gain, and following Christ is an incredible adventure.  With examples from the Bible, historical figures, and in his own life, he illustrates what a life lived for Jesus can look like.

Some great quotes from this book:

·  Consecration is going all in and all out for the All in all.

·  We won’t come alive, in the truest and fullest sense, until we die to self. And we won’t find ourselves until we lose ourselves in the cause of Christ.

·  Mercy is not getting what you deserve – the wrath of God.  Grace is getting what you don’t deserve – the righteousness of Christ.

·  We’re too Christian to enjoy sin and too sinful to enjoy Christ.

·  Soli Deo Gloria – the Rosetta Stone that makes life make sense.

·  In Hebrew, there is no distinction between knowing and doing. Knowing is doing and doing is knowing. If you aren’t doing it, you don’t really know it.

While I am not certain exactly how the book is organized, it is still a great motivational book for change as we lose ourselves for the cause of Christ.  Whether it be a small decision that is consistent over a duration or the push toward a big life-altering decision, this book inspires you to change.  With short pithy sayings interspersed throughout the book, Mark Batterson comes across a bit like your own personal cheerleader, but sometimes, that could be exactly what we need to propel us forward.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Zondervan Publishing in exchange for my honest review.