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I always hesitate to write about my book, not because readers of Kingdom People aren’t interested, but because it seems self-promoting. And yet, it’s been several months since I’ve written about Holy Subversion, which was published by the good folks at Crossway earlier this year. So I sense that my blog readers deserve an update on the book and the feedback I’ve received since its release.

One of the joys of writing is hearing from readers. Knowing that more than a million books are published each year, I count it a great privilege that people would put mine on their reading list.

I’m excited to see the different ways that people have decided to read this book. Here are three:

~ as a companion to Tim Keller’s Counterfeit Gods

A good number of people have told me that they read Keller’s Counterfeit Gods and Holy Subversion back to back. Here’s what they say: “Keller’s book lays the foundational theology for understanding idolatry, and then Holy Subversion provides a direct and personal application of this theology.” Of course, one can find lots of practical application in Counterfeit Gods and there is certainly theological reflection in Holy Subversion. But overall, readers have told me that reading the two books together in a complementary fashion has been a helpful exercise.

~ as a small-group resource

I’ve heard from a number of church groups using Holy Subversion as a resource. From men’s Bible studies in the morning to co-ed classes on Sunday evenings, church groups have chosen this material as a conversation-starter about idolatry and its effects in our lives. The notes and emails I have received have encouraged me. I love hearing about the discussions that are started as a result of the book.

~ as a guide to personal repentance

Most of the emails I have received have come from individuals reading Holy Subversion on their own. They say things like: “This smacked me hard, but in a good way.” Or… “I felt like you were shining a spotlight into some areas of my life that I wanted to keep hidden.” Or… “I’m rethinking the way certain aspects of my life reflect my devotion to self rather than Christ.”

My response to this feedback? I totally understand. If you think it’s difficult to read a book on idolatry, try writing one! The Lord has continued to convict and challenge me since the book has come out. The further I go in my quest to live according to the gospel, the more God shows me how idolatry lurks in so many places in my heart and life.

So I go back to this prayer from Charles Spurgeon and seek to make it my own:

Lord Jesus,
take from us now
everything that would hinder the closest communion with God.
Any wish or desire that might hamper us in prayer
remove, we pray you.
Any memory of either sorrow or care
that might hinder the fixing of our affection wholly on our God,
take it away now.
What have we to do with idols anymore?
You have seen and observed us.
You know where the difficulty lies.
Help us against it,
and may we now come boldly,
not in the holy place alone,
but in the holiest of all,
where we should not dare to come
if our great Lord had not torn the veil,
sprinkled the mercy seat with his own blood,
and asked us to enter.

What about you? If you’ve read Holy Subversion, how did you do so? How would you recommend others use this material?

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