Stolen Jesus

Jami Amerine

Description

Jami Stole Jesus...And Jesus Stole JamiLet's be honest. The journey to discovering JesusReal Jesuscan be complicated, messy, and a little crazy. Just ask Jami Amerine. Banned from the Mormon church as a child, she's spent the rest of her life trying to reconcile Fifth-Grade Jesus, Catholic Jesus, and Americanized Jesus (just to name a few). But when she met Real Jesus, everything changed. You can meet Him tooright here, just as you are. With designer coffee in hand or your jar of pickles for lunch. (Jami will tell youthatstory in chapter 1.) If you've ever felt confused by the conflicting representations of Jesus you've encountered in the world, you're invited to join Jami's quest to release all the wrong ideas and get to know Jesus as He really isbewildering grace and all. (Oh, and Stolen Jesus? He sits on Jami's mantel. You'll get to meet Him too!)

Sujets

• Philosophie et théologie

Informations

• Publié par: Harvest House Publishers
• Date de parution: 03 octobre 2017
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780736970648
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 2 Mo

Extrait

Praise for Stolen Jesus
When the grace of God collides with our candid admission of failure, the result is often laughter and joy. Stolen Jesus does not shy away from the hurts inflicted by messed-up religion, yet this is the funniest Christian book I have read. Thank God for honest authors like Jami Amerine who are brave enough to write about life as it is.
Paul Ellis, author of Stuff Jesus Never Said
Stolen Jesus will steal your heart and compel you to keep turning the pages. If you feel as though you are on shaky ground in your walk with Jesus, this book will leave you standing on solid ground.
Anna LeBaron, author of The Polygamist s Daughter
As mere mortals, we tend to create different versions of Jesus from our own experiences. Jami s fearless and funny categorization of her collection of different Jesuses is something to experience. Not only will you want to pay real money just to be in the backseat of her car during her next Starbucks run (because you will ), but this book will make you want to go deeper-truly examining your own Jesus collection and paring it down to one, true, Savior.
Kathi Lipp, author of The Husband Project, Clutter Free, and Overwhelmed
Jami Amerine announces, I broke up with Jesus! She does a good job of saying the things we all feel. Of searching for what we all want to find. And of refusing to settle for easy answers. I started reading her journey and ended up journeying right along with her. Thank you, Jami, for your humorously serious quest to find the Real Jesus.
Kay Marshall Strom, 21 st century abolitionist
Jami s search for Jesus is authentic, vulnerable, and heart touching. She rips off clean and tidy fa ades, fights legalism, and hits back against backbreaking shame. Expect to go through these pages laughing, arriving at the last page loved and liberated.
Kelly Balarie, author of Fear Fighting
Thank God that Jesus is not who I made Him out to be in high school-a roller coaster deity that was hormonal and enjoyed grounding me if I crossed the line. Stolen Jesus is delightful freedom to all those who have ever been burned by fakes, phonies, or counterfeits of the True Savior. Come away from the crazy by entering Jami s crazy as you snort with laughter, cry with relief, and uncover Real Jesus in all His glory.
Katie Reid, author of Made Like Martha
It s beautiful. It s authentic. It s delightful. It s honest. I chuckled and gasped and reflected and got covered in goose bumps. Every few pages, I found myself taking a break and pacing the floor to give my head a moment to catch up with what was happening in my heart. This book is a captivating story of a grace encounter with the Real Jesus. It left me praising Him. Pondering Him. Conscious of His presence. Aware of His love. Knowing Him more. Loving Him more without even trying.
Tricia Gunn, author of Unveiling Jesus
In this raw, hilarious, high-energy narrative, Jami Amerine describes the various Jesus aberrations that she has encountered in the American body of believers. These false Christs drive her to interminable God-pleasing works, requiring rigid perfection but instead generating shame, fear, and guilt. This was the perfect condition for Jami to finally discover the Real Jesus, who saves by grace.
Dr. Lynn Wilder, Ex-Mormon Christians United for Jesus
Jami Amerine will take you by surprise. She ll say what no one else is willing to say, reveal what no one else is willing to reveal, and do it in a manner that is self-deprecating, completely authentic, and emotionally real. Prepare yourself for an adventure.
Jan Greenwood, author of Women at War
I love a writer who tells the raw truth, shows her flaws and foibles, and keeps you smiling and hanging on every word! Stolen Jesus will have you laughing and nodding your head in agreement one minute and wiping away tears the next. Searching is good, questioning is good, but know that there are answers and Jami s book will help you find them. You ll come away wanting to know the Real Jesus.
Kate Battistelli, author of Growing Great Kids
Jami Amerine takes the reader on a tender, riveting, multifaceted journey in Stolen Jesus. The Jesus she discovers in the new covenant is like a cool glass of water after spending years in a relentless fiery furnace. There nothing mundane about this author and absolutely nothing boring in the poignant words of Stolen Jesus.
Tracy Levinson, author of Unashamed
HARVEST HOUSE PUBLISHERS
EUGENE, OREGON
Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from the Holy Bible, New International Version , NIV . Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Verses marked ESV are from The ESV Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version ), copyright 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Verses marked NLT are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, 1996, 2004, 2007, 2013 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Verses marked MSG are taken from THE MESSAGE. Copyright by Eugene H. Peterson 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.
Verses marked NASB are taken from the New American Standard Bible , 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. ( www.Lockman.org )
Verses marked AMP are taken from the Amplified Bible, copyright 2015 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. ( www.Lockman.org )
Verses marked KJV are taken from the King James Version. Public domain.
Some names and situations have been changed to protect individuals.
Interior design by Janelle Coury
Cover design by Bryce Williamson
Cover Image grinvalds, germi_p / iStock
Published in association with Kirkland Media Management, LLC. P.O. Box 1539, Liberty, Texas 77575
STOLEN JESUS
Copyright 2017 Jami Amerine
Published by Harvest House Publishers
Eugene, Oregon 97402
www.harvesthousepublishers.com
ISBN 978-0-7369-7063-1 (pbk.)
ISBN 978-0-7369-7064-8 (eBook)
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Amerine, Jami, author.
Title: Stolen Jesus / Jami Amerine.
Description: Eugene, Oregon: Harvest House Publishers, 2017. | Includes bibliographical references.
Identifiers: LCCN 2017011314 (print) | LCCN 2017030763 (ebook) | ISBN 9780736970648 (ebook) | ISBN 9780736970631 (pbk.)
Subjects: LCSH: Jesus Christ-Person and offices. | Amerine, Jami. | Christian biography.
Classification: LCC BT203 (ebook) | LCC BT203 .A528 2017 (print) | DDC 232-dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017011314
All rights reserved. No part of this electronic publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means-electronic, mechanical, digital, photocopy, recording, or any other-without the prior written permission of the publisher. The authorized purchaser has been granted a nontransferable, nonexclusive, and noncommercial right to access and view this electronic publication, and purchaser agrees to do so only in accordance with the terms of use under which it was purchased or transmitted. Participation in or encouragement of piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of author s and publisher s rights is strictly prohibited.
Dedication
For Steve Murray-Thanks for asking.
Contents
Praise for Stolen Jesus
Dedication
Foreword
Introduction
1. Stealing Jesus
2. Tangled and Trapped
3. Mormon Jesus
4. Fifth-Grade Jesus
5. High School Jesus
6. Justin s Jesus
7. Scare-Me-Up Jesus
8. Michigan Jesus
9. Idol Jesus
10. Americanized Jesus
11. Real Satan
12. Just Jesus
13. Grace, My Brother
14. The Blood Worked
15. Sweet Jesus
16. Meet Jesus
Afterword
Notes
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
H EBREWS 11:1 KJV
Foreword
A s I set this book down (after reading through it in a single day), I realize what a gift I am holding. I ve cried, laughed, smiled, and sighed with Jami through these pages. The REAL Jesus, the Jesus I want my children to grow up with, is right here. He is good. He is grace. He is everything.
I found Jami s blog years ago and felt an immediate connection. I laughed as I read that first blog post. I finished reading and immediately sent the link to at least seven of my friends. Could this woman possibly be any more my kind of person? Through the real moments we have all had as parents, Jami shares her heart and her Jesus with everyone she meets and keeps you laughing through it all.
This book is for the lifelong Christian who needs a little reminder of how real Jesus is in their everyday circumstances-but it isn t just for them. This book is also for the brand-new believer who still sees the world through shiny, rose-colored glasses. And this book is for everyone who broke up with Jesus years ago because they were looking at people and circumstances and not at Christ Himself.
If you ve spent your life searching for Jesus in people and places and things, Stolen Jesus was written especially for you. Jami s journey is one we ve all taken in our own ways. From church camp to college, from that first sweet child s prayer to the angry prayer we ve cried in the midst of heartache, Jesus has been there for us every step along the way.
I share Jami s blog with as many people as I possibly can, and today I am thrilled to be able to share her book as well. It is an honor to be writing this foreword, and my prayer is that this book will touch your life as deeply as it has touched mine.
-Mary Younkin
author of The Weeknight Dinner Cookbook
Introduction
You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.
J OHN 8:32 ESV
I broke up with Jesus.
I said it fli