At its heart country music is, and always has been, about the lyric. It's everyday life set to music. Our everyday lives are full of so many different kinds of things. Different experiences, different emotions, different relationships and so on. And country music goes into all of it. There is a country song for just about any situation you can think of. A lot of it's about good times. Good experiences and emotions. But I think that the best country songs - the best songs, in general - are the ones that speak to the heart. Oftentimes those are the ones about not so great times.
You know, those times when something happens that leaves you reeling. Someone you love dies or your relationship falls apart. You lose your job or you get diagnosed with some life-threatening or chronic disease. Maybe it's not you; maybe it's a friend. You struggle with an addiction or some kind of disorder. And so on. These kinds of things make for a great country song, but when we're going through it ourselves? These are the kind of things that can cripple us. That can take away our joy and steal our hope and leave us feeling anxious or depressed. Scared or angry. You get the picture. Sometimes we feel this way for years at a time and it never seems to get any better. So what do we do about it?
If you follow me on twitter or Instagram or Pinterest (I'm countrymusicatk on all of them), you may have seen me talking about a book that's coming out on October 1st called Let Hope In. And that's what I'm going to be talking about today. You can watch the book trailer here.
Let Hope In was written by Pete Wilson, who is the founding and senior pastor of Cross Point Church which is one of the fastest growing churches in America. There are multiple Cross Point campuses throughout the Nashville area and there's even an Internet campus so you can watch online. Fun fact: Cross Point also happens to be the church I go to. I've been to a lot of churches and I can honestly say that I've never loved a church like I love this one. You can learn more about Cross Point on their website: http://www.crosspoint.tv. One of my favorite things about Cross Point is how relatable the pastors are. I've been to a few churches where the pastor seemed kind of removed from their congregation somehow. Like they were more concerned with appearing like they had everything all figured out than they were about being real. Not so with Cross Point. The pastors at Cross Point not only seem real, but they all genuinely care about the people they are preaching to.
I bring that up because that realness and that caring is very much apparent in Pete's writing. Speaking as someone who has seen Pete preach countless times by now, I can say that how he comes across in Let Hope In is exactly how he is on the pulpit. This is his third book and my personal favorite. Though I did enjoy both his first book, Plan B, and his second, Empty Promises. It's funny that I got the opportunity to read Let Hope In at this point in my life, a time when this is exactly the kind of message I needed. I think that that will be the case for many, if not most, of the people who read this book. Because like I said in the introduction, we all go through times where something awful happens and we don't know what to do about it. For us country fans, I think that's a big part of why we're drawn to country music. The songs can offer some comfort; this book offers a solution.
It's right in the title. Let Hope In. As Pete says, "Your past is not your past if it's still impacting your present." In this book, Pete shares some of the stories of people he's counseled over the years and to help us see how our past impacts us. He uses several Biblical stories to help us understand how God wants to heal us from our past and present hurts.
Pete gives us four choices that can change our lives if we let them.
Choice #1: Choosing to Transform Instead of Transfer
Choice #2: Choosing to Be Okay With Not Being Okay
Choice #3: Choosing to Trust Rather Than Please
Choice#4: Hurt People, Hurt People, But Free People Choose to Free People
I'm really not one to write in books, but I have a feeling that might change with this one. There's just so many good lines and passages in here. Some that I'd like to put up on a wall in a place where I'm sure to see it. Starting with just two words: "But God". Those two words and what he says about them have had a major impact on my prayer life. Then I got hit by this gem which I loved: "God is bigger than your history and more concerned with your destiny". And that was just chapter 1!
I'm a pretty fast reader, but it took me a long time to get through this - not because I wasn't enjoying it, but because it gave me so much to think about. This is going to be one that I'm going to return to over and over again. I believe that Let Hope In is going to be a major blessing to everyone who reads it and I really couldn't recommend it high enough. Get this book. Seriously. Not a Christian? I don't think you have to be in order to get something out of this. You might get a little more out of it if you are a Christian, but this book is very accessible. We could all benefit from a little more hope in our lives. The more hope we have, the better. We just have to choose to let it in. Let Hope In will show you how to do that.
*I received an advance copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review. Let Hope In will be available wherever book are sold on October 1st. For more information about the book, about Pete or to see what others are saying, head on over to http://www.lethopein.com.
Thanks for reading!
Let Hope In was written by Pete Wilson, who is the founding and senior pastor of Cross Point Church which is one of the fastest growing churches in America. There are multiple Cross Point campuses throughout the Nashville area and there's even an Internet campus so you can watch online. Fun fact: Cross Point also happens to be the church I go to. I've been to a lot of churches and I can honestly say that I've never loved a church like I love this one. You can learn more about Cross Point on their website: http://www.crosspoint.tv. One of my favorite things about Cross Point is how relatable the pastors are. I've been to a few churches where the pastor seemed kind of removed from their congregation somehow. Like they were more concerned with appearing like they had everything all figured out than they were about being real. Not so with Cross Point. The pastors at Cross Point not only seem real, but they all genuinely care about the people they are preaching to.
I bring that up because that realness and that caring is very much apparent in Pete's writing. Speaking as someone who has seen Pete preach countless times by now, I can say that how he comes across in Let Hope In is exactly how he is on the pulpit. This is his third book and my personal favorite. Though I did enjoy both his first book, Plan B, and his second, Empty Promises. It's funny that I got the opportunity to read Let Hope In at this point in my life, a time when this is exactly the kind of message I needed. I think that that will be the case for many, if not most, of the people who read this book. Because like I said in the introduction, we all go through times where something awful happens and we don't know what to do about it. For us country fans, I think that's a big part of why we're drawn to country music. The songs can offer some comfort; this book offers a solution.
It's right in the title. Let Hope In. As Pete says, "Your past is not your past if it's still impacting your present." In this book, Pete shares some of the stories of people he's counseled over the years and to help us see how our past impacts us. He uses several Biblical stories to help us understand how God wants to heal us from our past and present hurts.
Pete gives us four choices that can change our lives if we let them.
Choice #1: Choosing to Transform Instead of Transfer
Choice #2: Choosing to Be Okay With Not Being Okay
Choice #3: Choosing to Trust Rather Than Please
Choice#4: Hurt People, Hurt People, But Free People Choose to Free People
I'm really not one to write in books, but I have a feeling that might change with this one. There's just so many good lines and passages in here. Some that I'd like to put up on a wall in a place where I'm sure to see it. Starting with just two words: "But God". Those two words and what he says about them have had a major impact on my prayer life. Then I got hit by this gem which I loved: "God is bigger than your history and more concerned with your destiny". And that was just chapter 1!
I'm a pretty fast reader, but it took me a long time to get through this - not because I wasn't enjoying it, but because it gave me so much to think about. This is going to be one that I'm going to return to over and over again. I believe that Let Hope In is going to be a major blessing to everyone who reads it and I really couldn't recommend it high enough. Get this book. Seriously. Not a Christian? I don't think you have to be in order to get something out of this. You might get a little more out of it if you are a Christian, but this book is very accessible. We could all benefit from a little more hope in our lives. The more hope we have, the better. We just have to choose to let it in. Let Hope In will show you how to do that.
*I received an advance copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review. Let Hope In will be available wherever book are sold on October 1st. For more information about the book, about Pete or to see what others are saying, head on over to http://www.lethopein.com.
Thanks for reading!
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