Messy Spirituality

God's Annoying Love for Imperfect People

By: Mike Yaconelli

Narrated by: Fred Stella

Length: 4 hrs and 4 mins

Publisher's summary

Find freedom from legalism's should's and discover the deep spirituality of being loved by the God who meets and transforms you in the midst of a messy and unpredictable life.

Do you ever feel like you don't pray enough, read your Bible enough, share your faith enough, love God enough...and ultimately that you're not a very good Christian?

Welcome to the club. Messy Spirituality was written for the silent majority of us who are convinced we just don't do Christianity right. Mike Yaconelli dares to suggest that imperfection, unfinishedness, and messiness are, in fact, the earmarks of true Christianity; that real Christianity is messy, erratic, lopsided...and gloriously liberating.

In this audiobook, he challenges you to let go of the legalism that holds you back and embrace the grace freedom that God offers. He opens your eyes to the one-size-fits-all spirituality churches often want us to embrace and shares what it truly means to walk with God in a deep, intimate, life-changing way.

Full of innovative ideas and concepts, Messy Spirituality is a classic that offers timeless wisdom for anyone ready to be free from the bonds of perfectionism.

Spanish edition also available.

©2007 Michael Yaconelli (P)2008 Zondervan

Incredibly honest testimony

The author puts himself out there, vulnerable and honest, willing to use his weaknesses to point to our need for a loving Creator.

Spiritual Food

I absolutely love this audio book. it is truly amazing. I am happy to be one over the top messy individual loved by a big, forgiving God❤

The messy me!

This was a great book! It spoke to the mess that is me, and showed me a grace and love of Jesus!

Emotional

How bad do we all miss Mike?

There is no way to listen to this and not get emotional. What a great book.

Messy Spirituality

A wonderful journey through an affirmation of what used to be an extremely confusing reflection of my misunderstanding of what a life pursuit of Jesus was supposed to look like. Now that I understand more clearly that Jesus only wants our pursuit and does not want us to have a self expectation of perfection, I can be free to walk with Jesus and be calm when the world is messy.

This was a great message.

I really appreciated the author's honesty about his situations and his perspective on some of the stories I've heard all my life. Even his explanation understanding of Jesus's ministry on Earth.

It’s ok to not be perfect

I read a lot of motivational content and there is a lot of drive to push you to be better than you currently are. To stop making excuses. To just go win. And while I do agree in pushing yourself to grow, this book is an incredibly pleasant view into the reality of a Christian life. Not to make excuses as to continue in unhealthy living but to be at peace with your failures and humanness. To realized God accepts you just as you are. Whether you’ve never learned much about God or you’ve grown up like me in more strict settings in churches where you constantly feel like you’re not enough, this book, I believe, shows the real heart of God. You cannot escape his love and nothing you do will disqualify you from his love.

a new favorite!

just what my soul needed! my brain, too! life is messy. faith can be, too.

Humbling and Profound

If this book doesn’t change your view of your own spiritual life and the life to which we are being called, nothing will.

Finally and honest view of Christain living

Mike Yaconelli was a lay minister and founder of Youth Specialties. A Christian leadership organization that focus's on developing people specifically for ministry with young people. Mike tragically passed away in 2003 of an auto accident after suffering a stroke while driving. This was my first introduction to Mike and I have to say I think I would have really liked him had I known him. His brand of "K-mart Seminary" is refreshing in it's simplicity. He doesn't feel the need like allot of Churches and Church leaders to constantly have everything look perfect.

The Review:
Messy Spirituality, is truly what Mike practiced. He was not perfect, and he knew it. He made many mistakes, big ones too. He was divorced, which for many would be Church Leaders can be the end of your Ministry Career. But in spite of all of his short comings in life , he was constantly reminded that God loved him. Just a few days before his death, he was speaking at a conference and said that his first words to God if he had died right then would be "What a Ride, What a Ride".

Mike speaks to what many in the Christian culture would call "Legalism" or "Holiness" or just plain "Perfectionism" that has pushed many people away from the Church. It has always struck me as odd how an institution that should be loving and accepting of all people can so blindly do the exact opposite of what Jesus taught. This is a hot button issue if you're involved in the Church leadership world. And it's never just as easy as doing what Jesus says, because Jesus doesn't always speak in formula's or absolutes. He speaks in stories and gives real examples. Like another favorite author of mine Donald Miller says, "if you read through the Gospels, it's almost as though Jesus is doing everything He can to never do the same thing twice, because if He did we wouldn't trust Him , we'd trust the Formula". I think that's what we in the Church in Am