They called Puritan Richard Sibbes the sweet-dropper. Pros: (1) She names name by the hundreds. The book’s subtitle (‘a history of the American prosperity gospel’) could just as well remove the word “American” since much of the PG round the world pulls from the US anyway. These topics became four of the five chapters. She argues the prosperity gospel (PG) centers on four themes: faith (a power turning words into reality), wealth (faith in the pocketbook), health (faith in the body), and victory (faith’s final goal). Ironically, incurable colon cancer struck this young Duke professor as the book was going to print. Summary: a lucid, concise and superbly researched historical account of the prosperity gospel-the best in print.īowler took years visiting health and wealth churches around the US in research for this book.

Not for what we do, but for who we are.Kate Bowler, Oxford, 2013, 337 pages, 5 of 5 stars We who remember that we are loved, loved, loved. We who remember that the world keeps spinning without us. We who discover rest and new life and renewal when we step off the treadmill (or at least turn it down).

So blessed are we who stop – okay, maybe not stop entirely, who are we kidding – but who slow down. And we became a bit miserable to be around. We felt the strain on our relationships and our spiritual lives. We measured our worth by how tired we were every morning, how many special events we missed because of work, by how many times we answered “How are you?” with “Busy.” We thought: This is the good life.īut then we grew tired and lonely. Play with a grandchild.Īs we journey this path together, receive Bowler’s A Blessing for Slowing Down.īlessed are we who thought we were self-made by the doing, by the accolades, by the accomplishments, and by the gold stars. Do that one boring thing you have been avoiding. Say “I love you” to your spouse or child or beloved pet. Here are some suggestions, adapted from author Kate Bowler, to help us think about our bare essentials: Pick one, pick two as a way to prioritize what matters to you. Think about the non-negotiables of your day. Lent offers a clear-eyed look at reality so we can attend to the values we cherish most. Lent invites us to stop pretending that we have unlimited energy or endless time to do what is meaningful. Space in our lives between what keeps us up at night and contentment. Space between the war in Ukraine and the peace for which we long. This Lent, we’re on a journey to carve out space between despair and hope.

Blessed by Kate Bowler