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What if your heart is no longer 'prone to wander?' What if God is more interested in releasing a noble goodness He's already placed within you, rather than pressuring you to be more 'holy?' Discover the book by Jim Robbins.
Wednesday, November 12, 2008 at 10:58AM 
What are you reading these days, or have read, that deals with the life of the heart, that takes seriously the radical renovation of the heart that is ushered in when we say 'yes' to Jesus ?
How did it affect you?
Reader Comments (10)
I'm not sure if it was Steve McVey who I first heard this from, or somebody else, but I know I've heard him talk about it on more than one occasion. I can't remember specifically which book(s) he has addressed this in, but here's a link to a short video in which he talked about it. 101 Lies Taught In Church Every Sunday - Lie #74 Your Heart Is Desperately Wicked.
Thanks, Joel. Lie #74 is certainly one of the most devastating I can think of. I'll check out the video link.
I've also read most of John Eldredge's Wild At Heart. The book was recommended to me by a counselor a few years back as an aid in marriage issues. I didn't actually get the book until about a year later, and I found it to be a great read for life in general. For several years I had already been learning about grace and our identity in Christ, and this book helped to connect a few more of the dots when it came to learning about the heart.
"Wild at Heart" started me on a recovery of my heart in a way nothing else did. It also helped expose the religious spirit. The seed of my recovery of heart was actually planted by Larry Crabb's book, "Connecting" but sprouted like mad when I read Eldredge's books and attended his men's "Bootcamp" and "Advanced" events. Probably the most transformative series of catalysts in my life.
"Waking the Dead" is probably my favorite. If the church understood the ideas in that book, everything would change.
Joel,
I liked Steve McVey's video on lie #74. Right on the mark. I sent him an email introducing myself and told him the link came from you.
Jim, I like your choice of books. I've read Connecting and really enjoyed it. I also really liked Waking the Dead. Both of these are great books.
The book that has impacted me the most, however, is Darin Hufford's book The God's Honest Truth. That book has revolutionized my life and my thinking about my heart and God’s.
Wow, I've been waiting almost 20 years for a good discussion of the christian nature. Its a long time to be alone with your thoughts. I did read "Wild at Heart" a few years ago and it was good but did not explore all the nooks and crannies my mind has traveled. I found your site via a book review by Grace and am I ever thirsty.
I've been reading a lot from Eldredge. He talks of God taking us into our wound in order to heal us. Not sure how to reconcile this concept with what you share about our new, good heart. I mean how should we view the wound(s) in relationship to our new heart? Is it our new heart that has been wounded or the 'old man' (flesh) ? And if the latter, why does it need to be healed? Just what is the relationship between our new, good heart and our wounds?
Outstanding question, Dave. The short answer is, I don't really know exactly how this works; but to me, the giving of the new heart at our conversion doesn't erase the wounds. I think Eldredge would say the same, here. The wounds linger until, as John points out, Father heals them. It's as if they get transferred from the old heart to the new.
By the way, Eldredge also goes into the idea of the new heart -- a bit more in Waking the Dead. He doesn't really explain the answer to your question either. His writing on the new heart, though, was such a great help to me as I understood that particular part of Christ's work that rarely gets talked about.
Part of the trouble is we try to picture in our minds how this happens, and there's a lot of mystery to the human personality. I'll be honest, I haven't really figured out the dynamics on this one yet. If you do, let me know! Great question, one that I've been asking for a while now, and haven't really found a satisfactory answer to.
Sounds like you understand my confusion!
Before we believed, we had a heart of flesh. Most of us took our wounds long before we believed. Those wounds were arrows aimed at the heart.
When we believed, God took from us that heart of stone and gave us a new, good heart of flesh. We don't always choose to live from that heart and, because we don't guard it, we often lose touch with it. I think this is what John means when he talks about us recovering our hearts. What good to recover a heart of stone? We need to recover what God placed within us (our new heart) and begin to live from it again.
I have no doubt that we continue to be confronted with attempts to wound our new, good heart. And I fully understand God's need to take us into those when we are and heal us. But it seems to make no sense to me to pursue healing of wounds we received prior to receiving our new hearts unless, as you stated, that woundedness is somehow 'transferred' from old to new. Thank goodness the same can't be said for our sinfulness!