When I was in undergrad at Auburn, I lead a middle school girls small group with one of the sweetest ladies around. Little did I know that several years later I would be sitting down to write a review of something that then was just a dream.
One of my best friends had become very involved with the youth group at the Methodist church we shared our parking lot with and had convinced me to play on their intramural soccer team since they were in desperate need of girls. It took little convincing, as you know of my love for the sport. What I didn’t know was how much joining that team would interweave some wonderful people into my life. After hanging out with the youth minister and the group of like-minded college aged students, I came to find out that not only did we had many mutual friends, but that this was a group of people that was devoted to serving Jesus, loving others, and having a blast while doing it. Through this avenue, I agreed to co-lead a bible study with the youth minister’s wife, Kandace. And now ourselves at the beginning of the dream.
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| Kandace & Eric circa 2008 when Kandace & I co-lead |
As I mentioned, we were teaching middle school girls. If you have ever had the opportunity to work with this age group you will know it is a delicate time. I remember joking with Kandace as we prepared our lessons that we could write better material sometimes than some of the available options. That there was always something missing – it was too cheesy, too deep, or too boring. Even then, Kandace knew that Eric (her husband) could always convey to the youth just how much God loved them – but he could also challenge them to live out their faith in a very real way.
Well, the time has come where such a book exists that can convey everything we were looking for in our small group study – thanks to Eric Ballard himself. The dream is now a reality, and I am so proud to call these two friends and family in Christ. Eric has just recently published his first book, More Than Words: How to Move from Believing to Following, and I was so excited when Kandace sent me a message to let me know if was out on Amazon. So I hoped on over, bought a copy, and couldn’t wait to dive in.
I really love the flow of the book and how it’s set up. It’s broken up into six sessions as follows:
Spending Time With Jesus
God Requires Sacrifice
Learning to Surrender
Sharing Jesus
Serving Others
Making Disciples
The sessions are further broken into days that are full of scripture, reflection on the text, and thought provoking questions. At the end of each day, there are two closing points that are key to the study: So What? & Now What? In the So What – How does this relate? section, he reviews how this relates to us now. Throughout the book, Eric does a fantastic job of circling back to this point – we are a part of God’s story and scriptures within the Bible not only relate to us now, but can also guide us to understand who God is and how we are to live lives full of His joy. In the Now What – What am I supposed to do with this? section, Eric challenges the reader to take action. To do more than believe, but to truly follow in the example set forth by Christ.
I can’t wait to share this with our church’s youth pastor and all the youth minister’s wives I know. You can’t help but share great stuff, and that’s exactly what this is. Great.
So head on over to Amazon and grab a copy for you, your kids, or your youth group. You won’t be disappointed!
And be sure to connect with Eric via social media as well!
Disclosure: I purchased a copy of this book on my own to review and I was not financially compensated in any way for this post. All opinions expressed are my own and are based on my observations while reading this devotion.
