{"id":354,"date":"2012-07-01T11:44:17","date_gmt":"2012-07-01T15:44:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ordinaryservant.com\/?p=354"},"modified":"2012-07-07T16:39:15","modified_gmt":"2012-07-07T20:39:15","slug":"book-review-god-loves-broken-people","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.ordinaryservant.com\/?p=354","title":{"rendered":"Book Review: God Loves Broken People"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

God Loves Broken Peopl<\/em>e<\/h5>\n

By Sheila Walsh
\nHardcover: 224 pages
\nPublisher: Thomas Nelson
\nPublished: March 13, 2012
\nPrice: $21.99
\nLanguage: English
\nISBN-10: 1400202450
\nISBN-13: 978-1400202454
\nPurchase:\u00a0 Amazon<\/a> | CBD<\/a> | Barnes and Noble<\/a><\/p>\n

Description<\/h2>\n

God loves broken people.\u00a0And when weary, wounded men and women find a way to open their bruised hearts and somehow welcome Him into their personal darkness, they will find a love beyond anything they have ever known.<\/p>\n

When the glass house Sheila had lived in for so many years came crashing to the ground, she began a new life outside the safety of those walls.\u00a0No, it didn’t feel good or safe \u2014 not at all.\u00a0But it felt true<\/em>.\u00a0Sheila saw herself as a broken lamb limping after the Shepherd, not knowing where He was going, but knowing that wherever He went, she wanted to go with Him.<\/p>\n

In twelve stirring, and deeply revealing chapters, Sheila Walsh shows how personal brokenness can open doors of intimacy with Jesus Christ that might never open in any other way. It’s not that God loves broken people more than those who imagine themselves to be whole \u2014 it’s simply that they know<\/em> they are loved.\u00a0They dare to believe it\u2026 and through such trust, a new wholeness emerges from yesterday’s broken pieces.<\/p>\n

Review<\/h2>\n

Several months ago, I heard Sheila Walsh speak for the first time on a Focus on the Family<\/a> <\/strong>broadcast.\u00a0I had heard of her, but didn’t know much about her. This particular day, I was home sick and laying in bed depressed. I decided to turn on the radio to 570 AM<\/a> for some encouragement. Sheila Walsh was introduced and began to speak about her life.\u00a0I felt as if she was speaking directly to me.\u00a0The Holy Spirit was using her to minister to me in a deep way so that I found myself in tears. She left such an impression that when I saw God Loves Broken People (And Those Who Pretend They’re Not)<\/em> I knew I wanted to read and review it.<\/p>\n

Sheila Walsh is an eloquent speaker.\u00a0She is also a wonderful storyteller and Bible teacher.\u00a0I appreciated her honesty and transparency in her writing. There is no fluff, Sheila Walsh tells it like it is. She also writes with a heart of compassion and love for people which is revealed on every page of this book.<\/p>\n

I identified and resonated with what she wrote on page 45:<\/p>\n

“God isn’t some cosmic jukebox in the sky, from which, so long as you have the right coin, you get to pick the soundtrack for your life.\u00a0Those who peddle a health-and-wealth message have wounded uncounted thousands who are left reeling with only one conclusion:\u00a0The reason that my child died, or that my marriage failed, or that we lost our house\u2026 is because I didn’t have enough faith.<\/em><\/p>\n

‘That is beyond cruel; it is blaphemous.\u00a0Christ never promised an easy path.\u00a0He never said there would be roses with no thorns, or seasons without winter, or pathways without obstacles.\u00a0In fact it is quite the opposite.”<\/p>\n

This was comforting for me to read.\u00a0For years I felt condemned by Christians because they would judge me for being depressed.\u00a0They would accuse me of lacking faith because I was hurting and struggling with depression.\u00a0I’m so glad I no longer believe those lies.<\/p>\n

Sheila Walsh addresses these misconceptions and more in God Loves Broken People.\u00a0<\/em>She also touches upon the hard questions we wrestle with as believers. Those questions we are afraid to ask others or even talk to God about. This book <\/em>gave me encouragement and hope. If you are hurting, depressed, struggling, suffering or wondering why bad things happen, I highly recommend God Loves Broken People.<\/em><\/p>\n

In conclusion, I want to thank BookSneeze for blessing me with a complimentary copy of this book to read and review.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Author<\/h2>\n

Sheila Walsh<\/a>, Women of Faith<\/a>\u00ae speaker, is the author of the award-winning Gigi, God\u2019s Little Princess<\/em>\u00ae series, The Shelter of God\u2019s Promises<\/em>, and a new novel, Sweet Sanctuary<\/em>. Sheila lives in Texas with her husband, Barry, and son Christian.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

God Loves Broken People By Sheila Walsh Hardcover: 224 pages Publisher: Thomas Nelson Published: March 13, 2012 Price: $21.99 Language: English ISBN-10: 1400202450 ISBN-13: 978-1400202454 Purchase:\u00a0 Amazon | CBD | Barnes and Noble Description God loves broken people.\u00a0And when weary, wounded men and women find a way to open their bruised hearts and somehow welcome […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0},"categories":[16,8],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.ordinaryservant.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/354"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.ordinaryservant.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.ordinaryservant.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.ordinaryservant.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.ordinaryservant.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=354"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"http:\/\/www.ordinaryservant.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/354\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":363,"href":"http:\/\/www.ordinaryservant.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/354\/revisions\/363"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.ordinaryservant.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=354"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.ordinaryservant.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=354"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.ordinaryservant.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=354"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}