AUDIOBOOK REVIEW: Stop Asking Jesus Into Your Heart by J.D. Greear

The problems addressed by J.D. Greear’s book, Stop Asking Jesus Into Your Heart are very real ones.  Many people who identify as Christian do so only because they “prayed a prayer once,” but their life shows no evidence of conversion.  Also, many Christians live in perpetual fear of “losing their salvation,” or not experiencing a dramatic enough conversion to believe they are saved.

Greear himself lived in fear for many years and wrote this book to specifically address the latter problem.  I found his honesty to be refreshing, as well as his words compelling.  This is a book written from the gut, but focused on the head more than the heart.  And that’s a good thing.  Feelings can be deceiving, Greear points out, and remembering your conversion isn’t as important as knowing where you stand with Jesus today.

Highlights for me included Greear’s explanation of what true repentance looks like (chapter five), and the significance of Jesus’ substitutionary death on the cross (chapter three).  Also, Tom Parks does a great job narrating this audiobook.

Unfortunately, I don’t feel like I could use this book for its stated purpose; namely to hand out to people who are struggling with assurance of salvation.  I simply disagree theologically with too many concepts in the latter part of this book.  I was able to sort through these statements and get to the gems underneath, but I fear impressionable young people who are struggling in their faith will not be able to go to such lengths.

I like the book and I agree with most of it.  I will use it for personal reference when I teach on related topics.  I just can’t necessarily recommend it to the struggling students I work with.  It would raise more questions than it answers.

Please Note: This audiobook was gifted as a part of the Christianaudio Reviewers Program in exchange for my unbiased review of this work. This has in no way influenced my opinion or review of this work.  More information can be found about this and other Christian audiobooks at christianaudio.com.