I received this book from the publisher for review and it far exceeded my expectations. First things first, If I’m ever in Jacksonville, FL on a Sunday morning, I am going to this guy’s church. Joby Martin is pastor of The Church of Eleven22, and wow what a communicator! He is deep and yet very understandable. If this guy ever wrote a paraphrase of the Bible, I would buy it. His short paraphrases of texts explain the text masterfully and with a fair amount of humor. This book was a joy to read.
In Anything Is Possible, the subtitle sums up the book really well. It says, “How Nine Miracles of Jesus Reveal God’s Love for You.” Combining stories from the author’s years of ministry with strong biblical teaching, this book brings tangible evidence of God’s miraculous power and love for us. A sampling of the chapter titles illustrates where he is going. Water Into Wine—Do You Believe Enough to Obey?, The Paralytic—Do You Believe Jesus Will Carry You?, The feeding of the Five Thousand—Do You Believe Even When Doubt Creeps In?, etc. All the stories are very familiar, but Martin brings great insights into them that not only helps you to see them with new eyes, but really brings the applicable truths for our lives to the forefront. This book dealt with some really important topics for people of faith, while also considerate of unbelievers who might be reading. I would go so far as to say it is very evangelistic in tone as well. This book is wall to wall encouragement mixed with challenging questions that really felt like “iron sharpens iron.”
Anything Is Possible will make you believe just that. It is a joy to read, written conversationally, with real depth and a lot of heart. I’ll say it again, Joby Martin is an amazing communicator and I could not recommend this book more highly, especially if you are, or know and love someone going through a trial. Pick it up!
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