The Beautiful Fight.

Okay, so it's actually not a Wes Wednesday (oops! I forgot!), but nevertheless, I wanted to tell you about a cool resource for cultivating your personal relationship with Jesus that I just ran across over the past few weeks. It's a book called The Beautiful Fight by Gary Thomas.

I actually was required to read this book for a class I'm taking at school this semester, but I found it to be a worthwhile read. Thomas opens up the book by sharing this story about a woman named Perpetua who lived in the Roman Empire, but had such a deep faith that she boldly continued sharing Christ, even at the cost of her own life (which she actually lost being killed by a lion in Rome's ampitheater in front of thousands of people).

The whole premise of the book is helping Christians to embrace a life that shows clear transformation. I think we can all attest that this is one of the most powerful evidences of God's working in a person's life; the transformation that we see in him or her because of the power and presence of the Holy Spirit. In The Beautiful Fight, Gary Thomas wants to help people embrace that sort of lifestyle; one that really demonstrates a true transformation made possible only by the power of Christ within each one of us.

I know that for me, this book hit me at a good time. The whole theme is something that really captured me; I want to live a life that shows transformation because of my commitment to following Jesus. I haven't felt like I've been hitting that mark lately, and Thomas offers some good ideas on how I can better live a life that, while a struggle, will in the end show the transformational power of God in me. Here at Suncrest, we want to be a church that is used by God to change lives. And I think that starts with us letting God change our life individually.

Really, it's a great read! I'd highly recommend it to you to check out!