Hellven: The struggles of being a worldly Christian

by David Stanfield

In this book, you will hear from a man that grew up in the church as a preacher's kid and yet considers himself to be a worldly Christian who struggles daily. God gave David an assignment to write this book, which you will hear was a struggle in obedience in itself, but David hopes that through his obedience, this book will help you as much as it has helped him. No matter what you are going through or how far off the path you have gotten, there is always hope in Christ and He is always there with you.

Each chapter of the book covers different struggles that we live through daily and how to deal with them. David discusses some of his own struggles and things he has gone through. At the end of each chapter, there are 10 scriptures to help you overcome the struggle. You can come back to each specific chapter or struggle any time you are dealing with it and study those scriptures to help you overcome the things you are going through.

168 pages, Paperback

Published May 18, 2022

Reviews

[Shirley Alarie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Are you ready to take a serious look in the mirror and step up your game as a Christian? If so, then 'Hellven' should be the next book on your “to-read” list! I love that author David Stanfield’s purpose in writing this book was a complete act of obedience. The writing of the book itself is an exercise in exactly what Hellven intends – to encourage the lukewarm Christian to stop living with the mentality of: ‘I’m already saved, so how I’m living is good enough.’

Hellven is that state in which Christians get lulled away from Christ by worldly standards. 'Hellven – The Struggles of Being a Worldly Christian' aims to open the eyes of readers to the ways we’re individually missing the mark in living as God intended. If we’re able to take our current blinders off, it opens an opportunity for an amazing relationship with God. This book helps identify the blinders.

'Hellven' covers the gamut of worldly struggles, including doubt, anger, profane language, worry, relationships, forgiveness, finances, life/work balance, stress, depression, grief, addiction, honesty/integrity, and witnessing. There’s definitely something for everyone! Stanfield doesn’t claim to have answers to get everyone on the right track, but that isn’t his goal. He uses examples from his own life to illustrate the multitude of ways that we fall short of living as God intended and offers a hopeful view of getting on the right track.

Lastly, each chapter ends with numerous related Bible verses that give readers encouragement that’s pertinent to the various topics.

Who would benefit from this book? This book would be helpful for Christians who aren’t actively seeking or deepening a relationship with God. It would also benefit those who are trying to strengthen their relationship with God but who haven’t taken an honest look in the mirror to see where they’re falling short. Lastly, this book could really help any Christian, because we all fall short in one way or another.

How this book affected me: I understood and appreciated the author’s motivation for writing 'Hellven' as an act of obedience, as I’ve been called in similar ways. I loved how he was very transparent with the length of time he put off writing the book as well as his other struggles that he used as examples in the book. 'Hellven' encouraged me in my own Christian journey.

Our Christian Book Reviews: The book reviews at Finding God Among Us focus on Christian books – adult and children, fiction and nonfiction. Our specialties are books on faith and new Christian book releases. We’re proud to be included in the Top Christian Book Review Bloggers. I chose to read this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

[Jamie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an honest discussion about the back-and-forth we face in life as believers and the various aspects of life challenges. David addresses not only the day-to-day struggles, but the spiritual battle that goes on in the lives of Christians. No one is immune to struggle, but how do we deal with it and what do we do about it? David has given us a powerful tool with this book - it’s a challenge to just moving through life vs. thriving, an encouragement to keep our hearts and minds centered on Christ, and a reminder that even though we face spiritual battles l, we have the power of the Spirit and an eternal hope to give us strength. If you’re up for a bit of real-talk, heart-level challenges, as well as scriptural and personal encouragement, you should pick up a copy!


I received a pre-release download of the book to review.