I just couldn't get into this book at all. ( )

I read This Beautiful Mess: Practicing the Presence of the Kingdom of God in exchange for honest review from Blogging for Books.

The book discusses looking at our lives through the kingdom of God. Jesus has a vision for the church (his followers), but his followers did not immediately follow the vision (p. 1).

McKinley discusses on Page 27, how the Jews were expecting a king to save them from oppression and bring freedom. Yet, Jesus came as a baby to a virgin. He did not start his ministry right away. Jesus was the King of Kings, but no one was expecting him to come as a newborn.

He did not practice his ministry until he was old enough, then he died for our sins, only to rise again. Jesus also said he would come back and reclaim his kingdom and his bride (followers).

I loved the title of the book. It sounded similar to Perfect Chaos, my blog (http://sdwperfectchaos.blogspot.com/2013/10/this-beautiful-mess-by-rick-mckinley.html). In the midst of my trials and troubles. In the the midst of meltdowns, temper tantrums, and therapist appointments. I can still laugh. I can still breathe. I am still alive. My life is perfectly imperfect. Today, I had two assignments due for class, in addition to two product reviews for Tomoson. I got home from church, did some cleaning and cooking, and tried to get to work. I could not get started until after 6 pm. The kids, great-niece, and nephew kept bothering me. From invading my camera space when I tried to do a video review to crawling over me when I was trying to type up my notes into my assignment. I still got my work done and turned in on time, but it took some creativity.

The pastor at church, talked about following instructions and proper planning. The sunday school lesson discussed financial management and once again, planning. My mess could have been a little different if I planned more in advance versus on the day of. Some days are better than others, but it's now 12:30 am. All the kids are sleep. I finally got some peace to work.

God's kingdom is messy, yet beautiful. Even though people are not perfect, even though people are doing their own thing, God is still in control of our messes. Even though, we want to rule our own kingdoms, God is still here waiting for us to get things right. One day, we will be perfect, but we can't get there on our own (p. 5).

I love how the book is set up. The author presents stories and poems, instead of theology. The book is easy to read and easy to understand.

The book teaches us that God accepts us in our brokenness (p. 17). He forgives us of our sins (p. 17). Jesus will never bow down to you or adapt himself to your beliefs (p. 21).

Finally, the book discussed how to follow God's vision. The first step is to repent (p. 28). Repenting does not happen once, but multiple times in our lifetimes. We also have to be Kingdom people. We need to be like God. Live for God. Live for Christ. Simply be in God's kingdom. We don't live for us--We should live for God.

Oregon Imago Dei church pastor Rick McKinley lets you rediscover the nature of the Kingdom of God. Sharp as a razor blade as he pinpoints weeknesses in our western version of institutionalized Christianity. Unable to share our faith with neighbors, reluctant to devote our money to kingdom matters (which actually isn’t your local church building or programs), stuck in one of two camps, either concentrating on personal salvation or doing good. The Kingdom of God is near you, already visible in the mess that the current earth is. And the Kingdom will blossom fully in the future, yes. The New Testament doesn’t provide all kind of how-to guides, and yet the Kingdom grew fast and spread around the world. So, why are we waiting for more books, sermons, courses and
This Beautiful Mess explores what happens when really treasure the Kingdom of God, like the parables Jesus told us about His Kingdom. The beauty of Jesus’ reign will break forcefully through the mess of our broken world. breaking into the mess of our broken world. Personal and social transformation will take place. In special sections Voices of the Kingdom personal stories from fellow Oregon believers share faith with you. In this second, updated version of the 2006 original several chapters have been added, as well as a small-group conversation starter guide. ( )