Book review: "Speechless"

This past weekend, I finished reading "Speechless: Living in Awe of God's Disruptive Grace" by Steven Curtis Chapman and Scotty Smith. This is my book review of the book...

I have loved Steven Curtis Chapman's music for years, have all of his CD's, and I have blogged about some of his songs before. His song, "I Will be Here" was the song Joshua sang at our wedding. I read the book, Choosing to See by Mary Beth Chapman (Steven's wife) about 2 years ago (read more about that book pub. Sept 2010 here). I really enjoyed that book, even if parts of it got me crying. Some of the stories from Mary Beth's book were included in Steven's book, which was published in 1999. Very many things have changed in the Chapman's lives since Speechless was written (including their adoption of three Chinese daughters and losing Maria in a car accident in May 2008).

I found this book at the Library book sale earlier this summer and immediately purchased it. It sat on my shelves for a few months, and I'm glad I finally pulled it out and read it. Steven Curtis Chapman and his pastor, Scotty Smith wrote this book about the wonder of God's grace, and how it can touch our lives. The more we see God's grace in our daily lives, the more we see our lives touched and how it can make us speechless. The book is interspersed with lyrics from Steven's Speechless CD, including the #1 hit, Dive. I enjoyed reading the stories of the inspiration for the songs in the CD, as well as some of his older songs.

My favorite portion of the book is near the end, when Scotty Smith is discussing heaven, and the end times. He writes about heaven, and how Christians can see it as a form of the Garden of Eden, when Adam and Eve walked with God, and worshipped Him.   My favorite lines in this portion say, "Remember, the King loves us! The kingdom has come and the kingdom is coming! We are not home yet, but we will be some day!" What hope and gratefulness we can have in our hearts and lives as we look forward to being in heaven with Jesus, the Savior! God's grace can truly transform a life!

I encourage you that if you are interested in learning more about God's grace and also about Steven Curtis Chapman's life and music to pick up this book.

From the Back Cover

Have you encountered God's disruptive grace? The kind of grace that can change your life and turn your understanding of what it means to be a Christian upside down? If you're wondering where the "abundance" of the "abundant life" is, singer-songwriter Steven Curtis Chapman and Pastor Scotty Smith want to introduce you to a grace that can transform your marriage, your family, your friendships, and your relationship with God and yourself. A grace too big, too wonderful for words, that will leave you Speechless.

See the book review on Amazon.com here.

What books have you read lately? I'd love to hear your thoughts about them!

This review has also been posted on goodreads.com.

Ephesians 2:8-9
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.

John 1:15-17
(John testified concerning him. He cried out, saying, “This is the one I spoke about when I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’”) Out of his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

Romans 6:14
For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace.

Ephesians 2:6-8
 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—

2 Timothy 1:9-10
He has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.