CHALLENGES THAT TRANSFORM YOUR SOUL

Today I am pleased to welcome a guest writer, Leonard Boesger, who has been and continues to be a blessing to me. I do trust he will be a blessing to you.

Len is a Nazarene layman and retired business leader. His career took him and his family to many locations throughout the Eastern U.S. and Canada including York, Pennsylvania.  He and his wife, Betty, now split their time between Ohio and Florida having a grown son in each of those states. He serves on some corporate boards and speaks on leadership issues to both businesses and church groups. 

"In his book, FaultLines, Steve DeNeff makes a compelling case that most of our growth in Christ is a function of how we deal with seismic shifts in our lives. From the first chapter on growing up to the last chapter entitled “Death”, DeNeff presents provoking evidence that our efforts to meet God’s command to “be holy” are shaped far more by the crises that are inevitably a part of life than by all the sermons and lessons we hear and study. While those prepare us for such events, it is in their application that true spiritual growth occurs. 

As he notes, “God forms you best where life’s breaks go deep.” As is true in our physical world, fault lines result from things we cannot control and we must react to them. In addition, like the physical world, some seismic shifts happen quickly while others take time.  It is likely that a reader will be reminded of such shifts in their own life and recall how they dealt with them. Another possibility, as was the case with this reader, is being reminded of some people who are currently experiencing fault lines of huge proportion and that demanded intercessory prayer. 

FaultLines is a practical guide to better understanding that life’s abrupt changes are actually opportunities for growth that cannot be attained by any other means. DeNeff holds that such events are transformational for one’s soul.  Using Biblical references and his own experiences as a pastor, he provides a rich texture of situations that illustrate and support his points. 

Additional resources are available that complement the text including sermon introductions on DVD-ROM format providing eight video shorts for worship service illustration or introduction.  Also included is a “teaser” for promoting a series of sermons based on the book.  A group study DVD is available with eight videos (twenty minutes in length) that relate to each chapter with Steve DeNeff and other interviewees providing insights to challenge and lead a group study. More resources are available in online downloadable format for promoting, teaching and preaching. 

If you are given to having a “conversation” with the author by making margin notes and underlining passages as I am, Steve Deneff invites you to do just that. I highly recommend FaultLines."

About the author:

Steve DeNeff is senior pastor of College Wesleyan Church in Marion, Indiana.  He has more than thirty-five years of pastoral experience  and travels extensively as a conference speaker and leadership trainer.  He is the author of More Than Forgiveness, 7 Saving Graces, The Way of Holiness and coauthor of the best selling SoulShift.