book review: "route 66" by krish kandiah

"Route 66 is book that helps you to discover how the 66 books of the Bible help us to know God and how to live for him. This book is a crash course in enjoying the breadth and depth of the Bible, packed full of practical help. For many of us, there is a disconnect between the Bible we know we should treasure and the book we struggle to read. On the one hand, we know the Bible is a lamp to our feet, honey on our lips, the sword of the Spirit, and given to equip us for every good work. But sometimes the Bible feels more like a bizarre collection of ancient texts filled with obscure laws, irrelevant genealogies and incomprehensible prophecies with a few nuggets of wisdom, timeless stories and comforting promises mixed in. Using the analogy of a journey, Route 66 unfolds how different passages of the Bible can help us travel through different passages of our life" (from Krish's website about the book).

The book is designed as an eight week study guide, if you will. "For the most part the story of the Bible is a retelling of how God has connected characters, communities, continents and the cosmos itself in His great big story for all of creation, making the character of the invisible God visible to us." The book can be read individually or within a small group.

I couldn't take the time to read this book in eight weeks as it's intended but I want to go back and do that at some point. I really liked Krish's style of writing and how each day's reading is no more than three to four pages. One line that stands out to me was in the first week of the book titled "Living Faithfully:" "God's aim [for giving us the Bible] was the opposite [of a bullet list of "need to know" facts] - that the stories could boil over into the messy reality of our lives." I like this because life isn't neat and tidy. We have things we're going through and we need God to move as only He can. We can read about people in the Bible and see how God delivered them and find comfort in His words offering us peace and strength. "The variety of the Bible mirrors the variety and breadth of human experience - our personalities, our moods, our decisions, our learning preferences, our life experiences, our flaws, our gifts, our struggles, our needs." This book will help you gain a better understanding of the Bible and in turn, gain a better understanding of God.

I received a copy of this book from Kregel Publications for my honest review.

You can learn more about the book from Kregel's site and read a sample chapter.