Soul Repair: Rebuilding Your Spiritual Life

by Jeff VanVonderen, Dale Ryan, Juanita Ryan

Do you fear that God is angry with you? Do you wonder if God is really for you? if God really loves you? Deep down many of us believe that we are not good enough, and never will be good enough, to have a meaningful relationship with God. This is because we have been spiritually trained in ways that have left us with distorted and inadequate spiritualities of four different And we are left with a toxic combination of fear and shame. We may try to get it right. We may try to control ourselves and others. We may try to please God and to earn God's love. After a while we find ourselves exhausted and discouraged, and we may feel even more alienated from God. Jeff VanVonderen, Dale Ryan and Juanita Ryan understand this problem because they have been there both personally and professionally. And they are prepared to help you rebuild your spiritual life. If you find yourself living out a burdensome and unfulfilling spirituality, this book is for you. If you are longing to have a relationship with God that works, this book can show you the way.

Genres: Faith, Christianity, Spirituality

191 pages, Hardcover

First published September 4, 2008

Reviews

[Meredith · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a follow-up to Van Vonderen's book "The Subtle Power of Spiritual Abuse." To this day, my husband and I cannot read this book without crying. We wondered how we could fall into such a spiritually abusive church the second time around. Then we realized that we had been conditioned that way, just as an abuse victim thinks that somehow they "deserve" what they get from their perpetrators. Nothing could be farther from the truth!
A false view of God drove us into abusive church situations. This book uncovers what those various false views of God are-beginning with the basic tenet that God loves His children! Too many churches don't teach that or honestly believe it.
Do you feel like you keep trying harder to earn God's love, but it still isn't enough? feel alienated from God? trying to control people? Read this book.
The beauty of this book is that it doesn't just identity the problem, but gives practical helps to restore one with a biblical view of God and rebuild one's relationship with the true God of the Bible.For those honestly seeking a relationship with God, this book will not disappoint!

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has been very helpful to me personally. It finally gives me some ways to separate the God-Who-Is-God from the dysfunctional gods-who-are-not-god I'm more familiar with. It describes ways I interpret scripture through my distortions and yet also challenges me to consider another interpretation that is actually much more consistent with a loving God - truth.

Anyone who struggles with any kind of self-protection, feeling that you have to keep earning the gift of salvation, or just feeling like you aren't performing to other's Christian standards, this book is great.

Search online for "NACR" (National Assoc. for Christian Recovery) for more resources by this author and others.

[Angela · Rating 4 out of 5]

Grace and mercy. Resting in love and not fear and anxiety. Excellent. Will re-read.

[Robin Kirk · Rating 5 out of 5]

I believe every Christian should read this book, but especially those whom have been spiritually abused or perhaps have spiritually abused others. This book will help you understand the false foundations of Christianity that we pick up along the way and wrong views about God’s character. And in turn, how to build a new foundation upon grace with the God of love and mercy. We are all broken and need grace!

[Savannah Williamson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very Helpful

Very healing. Got a lot of help from it just by reading it. Hoping to put it into practice. Already feeling a little closer to God.

[Chris Klausen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a super helpful book to those who have experienced some sort of trauma or hurt in their church experience.

[Jeff Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you're struggling with bitterness towards the church, God, and even yourself, I strongly recommend this book. It helped me through a very dark time when my daily devotionals just didn't seem to cut it. There were only a few moments where I had to "chew the meat and spit out the bones" but overall, this book helped me out of a horrible time in my Christian walk, a time where it almost ended in bitterness. Highly, highly recommend it.

[Julie Seldon]

good insight.