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Gospel Wakefulness
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Do you ever feel like your desire for God is waning? Are you numb to the routine of church? What does it mean to be truly awakened to the wonder of the gospel?
Jared Wilson contends that we must be regularly engaged and engaging others with the good news of the sacrificing, dying, rising, exalted person of Jesus Christ. Wilson reminds us of the death-proof, fail-proof King ...more
Jared Wilson contends that we must be regularly engaged and engaging others with the good news of the sacrificing, dying, rising, exalted person of Jesus Christ. Wilson reminds us of the death-proof, fail-proof King ...more
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Paperback, 224 pages
Published
October 6th 2011
by Crossway Books
(first published January 1st 2011)
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Jared Wilson writes a stirring work with such a flawed premise that he continually detracts from his own passion and eloquence. Because of this elitist, New Age "Gospel Wakefulness" that he drills over and over, at times he appears insincere in marketing a new breed of religion that ascribes transcendental experience as orthodoxy. While he spends many pages protecting his own idea with reasonable disclaimers, this isn't enough to ward off the uneasiness that this is his idea, an extrabiblical co
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way too many "stories". I felt like he sometimes drifted off topic.
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Harder to understand some of it. No discussion questions which would've been helpful
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I enjoyed several aspects of this book. Wilson is a great communicator and funny at times too. I highlighted like crazy because he just says things in a memorable way many times. But the book has some issues that detracted from it in my opinion.
First, the good stuff. Wilson states that "gospel wakefulness means treasuring Christ more greatly and savoring his power more sweetly." It is "not a second conversion experience...but rather a deeper and fuller appreciation of...conversion." What Wilson ...more
First, the good stuff. Wilson states that "gospel wakefulness means treasuring Christ more greatly and savoring his power more sweetly." It is "not a second conversion experience...but rather a deeper and fuller appreciation of...conversion." What Wilson ...more

Read my full review at Blogging Theologically:
What’s the thing that’s supposed to captivate Christians, above all else? What should motivate us to greater heights of joy, to greater levels of confidence and boldness in our daily lives? The gospel. For the Christian, there’s no better news than the good news of Jesus’ perfect life, death and resurrection. Nothing comes close. So why is it that we seem kind of ambivalent to it—as it it were something that we need to hear once and then can move on ...more
What’s the thing that’s supposed to captivate Christians, above all else? What should motivate us to greater heights of joy, to greater levels of confidence and boldness in our daily lives? The gospel. For the Christian, there’s no better news than the good news of Jesus’ perfect life, death and resurrection. Nothing comes close. So why is it that we seem kind of ambivalent to it—as it it were something that we need to hear once and then can move on ...more

It is so easy for Christians to become numb to the Gospel. It seems like it is a daily battle. Gospel Wakefulness reminds us of the Glory of the Gospel that we cannot but help to wake up to it or even to see that we have been neglecting our first love. I appreciated so much that wakefulnes does not start and cannot start without our brokeness. It is a brokeness that is freeing and God-glorifying. We cannot proclaim the Gospel unless we see that we are broken. This explained very well in the book
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A powerful call to live the Gospel - to eat, breath, sleep, live with the Gospel as the source of life.
Jared's prose is so full of honesty, insight and worship that the call to Gospel wakefulness has an integrity and power that is rare from my experience. The exhortation and exegesis comes from a life of living it and a faith that full of its promise.
The book covers a wide range of aspects of the Christian walk and includes a number of powerful and exemplary illustrations - stories told in the w ...more
Jared's prose is so full of honesty, insight and worship that the call to Gospel wakefulness has an integrity and power that is rare from my experience. The exhortation and exegesis comes from a life of living it and a faith that full of its promise.
The book covers a wide range of aspects of the Christian walk and includes a number of powerful and exemplary illustrations - stories told in the w ...more

Gospel Wakefulness is an excellent book that both convicts and encourages. It is something that I think all people who profess faith in Jesus Christ should read. It will definitely cause one to reevaluate your faith walk or journey and this is a good thing. I'm grateful for Jared Wilson's passion for Jesus and his exhortation for us to be gospel-centric; that we should never be bored with the gospel; that the gospel should be constantly renewing.
I highly recommend this great book. ...more
I highly recommend this great book. ...more

"In the well-appointed study of a professor of history in a prestigious university in the American South sits a brick-sized piece of the Berlin Wall. It sits on the floor, because he uses it as a doorstop. He is not ignorant of the piece’s historical significance; as a historian he is deeply informed of the struggle and the repression attached to the wall, to the shame it symbolized and the division both literal and cultural it created. He not only knows about but also teaches on the internation
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I've struggled with some of Jared Wilson's books in the past and thought I'd give him another chance, and go back to one his earliest works that is supposed to be behind much of his writing. I wish I hadn't.
In Gospel Wakefulness, Wilson contends that there are two types of Christians: normal ones, and then those who have discovered true brokenness in the gospel, and complete dependence on God -- or "Gospel Wakened Christians". That is a little unfair on Wilson, as he goes out of his way to say a ...more
In Gospel Wakefulness, Wilson contends that there are two types of Christians: normal ones, and then those who have discovered true brokenness in the gospel, and complete dependence on God -- or "Gospel Wakened Christians". That is a little unfair on Wilson, as he goes out of his way to say a ...more

The book was incongruent. From chapter to chapter there was little connection but much contradiction. Overall, it was difficult to ascertain the point if individual chapters and even more difficult to understand the main point of the book.
There is some idea of "Gospel Wakefulness" throughout, but this is never clearly or consistently defined. Just when the reader thinks there is a discernable point, it seems to flip the opposite direction.
From a reformed Christian perspective, I further struggle ...more
There is some idea of "Gospel Wakefulness" throughout, but this is never clearly or consistently defined. Just when the reader thinks there is a discernable point, it seems to flip the opposite direction.
From a reformed Christian perspective, I further struggle ...more

Good book - solid exposition of the gospel. A product of its time (10 years ago) in addressing distracted boomer churches to remember what is of first importance. Would be of less help in the present day to churches on the other side of the gospel-centered wave whose challenges might be different: members who know they're supposed to preach the gospel to themselves but don't see the attributes of God in a transforming way, don't see the sufficiency of every part of Scripture for every area of li
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Another solid work by Wilson. I particularly enjoyed the personal testimonies of people Wilson knows. Tying those stories in to the descriptions of Gospel Wakefulness was helpful. Wilson is careful to tie his insights to Scripture and to Church history, while looking for new(er) ways to describe how God is working. I would highly recommend this work.
For 2018 I decided to read through the entire Jared C. Wilson's corpus. Previous to 2018 to I had only read Otherworld and The Storytelling God. ...more
For 2018 I decided to read through the entire Jared C. Wilson's corpus. Previous to 2018 to I had only read Otherworld and The Storytelling God. ...more

This is an excellent book. It caused me to reconsider my testimony and answered some questions that I had about my own conversion to Christ. I also considered how often I act like what Christ has done is just a "down payment" that I need to keep working toward. I stand convicted there, and I am also convicted for not praying when I think I know what to do. Very powerful message.. . I also found the chapter on depression to be more than worth the price of the whole book.
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As a Christ follower who has had moments of gospel wakefulness, I knew Wilson's exact point in the first few pages. Nonetheless, he outlines a path to a deeper walk with Jesus. Deep in theology, but accessible to believers of any maturity level. If you're struggling to fit in among the "stronger Christians" or a church group, this is the book for you.
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Though occassionally a strong point sticks out, the prose wasn't as engaging. The key concept here is worth ruminating on but I feel like a chapter or two could've been cut down or cut out entirely.
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"Gospel Wakefulness means treasuring Christ more greatly and favoring his power more sweetly."
This book breaks that definition down, explaining that gospel wakefulness isn't something that you can learn, but something that happens to you. It talks about worship, depression, sanctification, brokenness, the church, and the confidence we can have in the gospel.
An implied gospel is a gospel FAIL. The gospel is the power to save sinners, of which we are all the foremost. Jesus came to die so that in ...more
This book breaks that definition down, explaining that gospel wakefulness isn't something that you can learn, but something that happens to you. It talks about worship, depression, sanctification, brokenness, the church, and the confidence we can have in the gospel.
An implied gospel is a gospel FAIL. The gospel is the power to save sinners, of which we are all the foremost. Jesus came to die so that in ...more

Best book I've read in a long long time!
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Excellent book.
Some of my favorite quotes:
"Grace upon grace comes rushing in, filling in the dry valleys of your life, wetting your parched skin, reviving your dry tongue. In the words of the hymn, you “scarce can take it in.” That sort of expression makes new and greater sense when you’ve experienced gospel wakefulness."
"Really, there are only two steps to gospel wakefulness: be utterly broken and be utterly awed. But neither of these things are things you can really do. They are things only Go ...more
Some of my favorite quotes:
"Grace upon grace comes rushing in, filling in the dry valleys of your life, wetting your parched skin, reviving your dry tongue. In the words of the hymn, you “scarce can take it in.” That sort of expression makes new and greater sense when you’ve experienced gospel wakefulness."
"Really, there are only two steps to gospel wakefulness: be utterly broken and be utterly awed. But neither of these things are things you can really do. They are things only Go ...more

This can be a very important book that can be difficult to read. The concept of making God the center of your life is extremely important to any Christian and one I've been wrestling with and asking God to make happen in my life so it was a timely read. I re-read and meditated on what was being said and believe I gained insights. Any book that can cause that result is worth reading.
However, there is a danger as much as the author tries to avoid it of multi-tier Christianity, making Gospel Wakefu ...more
However, there is a danger as much as the author tries to avoid it of multi-tier Christianity, making Gospel Wakefu ...more

This book was recommended to me, and while the overall principle of the book was good, I had a difficult time with the author's writing style because he came off as especially arrogant. Not only was he going to present a great concept to us, he has it all figured out and thank goodness he's here to explain it to us simpletons! Blech!
In addition to not especially liking the author's method for explaining the concept, what it looks like, and practical applications, I really don't think we need ano ...more
In addition to not especially liking the author's method for explaining the concept, what it looks like, and practical applications, I really don't think we need ano ...more

Goose pimples. Or is it goosebumps? I've heard both (perhaps it's a regional thing like the use of the words pop, soda, and Coke), but if you're like me you'll get both when you read Gospel Wakefulness by Jared C. Wilson. This book is an impassioned plea for every Christian to not just believe the truth of the gospel, but to feel and be carried along by it too. In Wilson, I found a bit of John Piper's zeal for the passion and glory of God in the gospel for a new generation.
Gospel Wakefulness wa ...more
Gospel Wakefulness wa ...more
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Jared C. Wilson is the Director of Content Strategy for Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Managing Editor of For The Church (ftc.co), and Director of the Pastoral Training Center at Liberty Baptist Church in Kansas City, Missouri. He is the author of numerous books, including "Gospel Wakefulness," "The Prodigal Church," and, most recently, "The Imperfect Disciple." Wilson blogs regularly at
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