Review: Didn’t See it Coming

Editor Eric Black reviews "Didn't See it Coming" by Carey Nieuwhof.

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Didn’t See it Coming: Overcoming the 7 Greatest Challenges that No One Expects and Everyone Experiences

By Carey Nieuwhof (Waterbrook)

I knew from the table of contents Carey Nieuwhof’s book would be important, but I didn’t know he would be writing to me. I was standing while reading and was only a few paragraphs into the introduction when I instinctively sat down, my eyes glued to the page, soaking it in.

Of course, Nieuwhof wasn’t writing only to me. He is writing to people who didn’t intend to become disillusioned, who didn’t intend to sour on life, who didn’t set out to burn out, who didn’t see these things coming, but they came nonetheless.

Nieuwhof, a successful pastor, describes the seven challenges of cynicism, compromise, loneliness, irrelevance, pride, burnout and emptiness—not from a theoretical position but from his personal experience. His candidness about his experience resonated with me and captured my attention.

Each of the seven challenges is followed by a chapter with practical counsel for overcoming them and being renewed.

Better than renewal is avoidance, which Nieuwhof suggests begins with awareness. We must wake up to how we brought these things on ourselves. Then we can redirect our lives. The problem is we aren’t awake.

May we take the time to be awakened and renewed.

Eric Black, executive director, editor and publisher
Baptist Standard


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