Title
Transformed
by Tough Times
Author
Steve
Reed
Publisher
Reed
Group Publishing, 2012, 215 pages
My Review
I loved this book.
If you are going through something difficult, this book will help. Steve
Reed shares not only advice and direction through the scriptures to get through
your tough times, but also his own story.
I think that’s what makes this book so great. He’s been there. But he’s come through it to the other side seeing
what God is doing in his life through those hardships. He can see how his
suffering is being used for Christ – something he’s called ‘The Suffering
Clause.’ Reed says
“...getting in touch with my suffering clause has become one of the greatest things that ever happened to me. It didn’t happen overnight, and I had to live through some tough times for many years before I understood the positive ramifications of what God was doing in my life.”
We’re shown how
Jesus got through His tough times, by looking through the cross to the other
side. Then the author shows us how to
just that. Steve Reed has helped me let
go of something that I have been struggling with for a long time. I highly recommend this book to not only help
you get through your tough times, but to come out the other side transformed
and thankful.
 |
| My Overall Rating |
About the
Author
Steve Reed is the Chief
Encouragement Officer and Cross Cultural Catalyst for Daybreak International, a
missions organization he founded that is dedicated to planting churches for the
marginalized and forgotten peoples of the world. Currently, his two major
projects focus on cowboys in Central America, and Kekchi Indians in the jungles
of Guatemala. Those who know Steve best speak of his relentless encouragement
and undying loyalty to people who face tough times. When not traveling in
Central America, Steve comes home to Kansas City. He is married to Nola, and
they have three young adult sons, a beloved daughter-in-law, and a grand baby
on the way!
Author Interview
A book about tough times usually implies that the
author has had some personal experiences that connect to that topic. Where did
the book start for you?
In college, I was a kicker and punter at Oklahoma State University under a
demanding head coach, Jimmy Johnson. (Football fans might recognize him as the
coach for two college national championships in the 80’s and a couple of Super
Bowls in the 90’s for the Dallas Cowboys). Just playing for Coach Johnson was
tough enough, but my sophomore year, I got my knee bent backwards in a Junior
Varsity game in Lincoln, Nebraska. When surgery and rehab efforts didn’t get me
back to playing football, I eventually had to hang up the cleats. Looking back
now, that experience made me more aware of how other people dealt with
adversity and caused me to pay more attention to how I could respond when faced
with tough times.
Your book transitions
pretty quickly from your football days to life as a church planter and how that
actually prompted you to write this book. How did that all happen?
When football didn’t work out, I found myself drawn to ministry in a great
church near the OSU campus. Charlie Baker, the pastor of that church, invited
me and other college students to partner with him in creating a weekly worship
service for students. In doing that ministry I fell in love with the church and
decided to go to seminary and be a pastor myself. After getting married and going
through seminary training, we eventually moved to Kansas City to start
churches. For nearly 20 years we were involved in the roller coaster rides of
starting five different churches in our region. Most days, I absolutely loved
it. But in one of those church starts we had a train wreck that knocked me for
a loop and out of a church that I loved perhaps more than I loved my wife and
family.
So after that you went on an even deeper quest for figuring out what was happening to you? Right. With a new intensity I began to systematically search the scriptures to find some help for my pain. And I collected information and stories from others wiser than me and from many who had suffered greatly and come through with amazing faith and character.
You write about a day in Costa Rica that changed your life. What happened? After the break up from the church, I wound up going to Costa Rica on a mission trip with my parents. My parents, by the way, were missionaries when I was a kid and 30 years prior we had actually lived in Costa Rica. For me, going back was a fun, blast to the past. But more than that, the people there were cathartic for me. I was an emotional mess much of the time. And one day I must have cried with three or four people who needed to know Christ, but who were in pain. God used my pain and my weeping with others to both minister to them and to me. That day I discovered something about God’s ministry of tears and how sometimes He does more through our weaknesses and frailties than He does with our strengths.
So this is where your international ministry began? Yes. While in Costa Rica, a Guatemalan man by the name of Cesar Gonzalez invited me to come to his country and dream about ministries and churches for people in Guatemala who don’t like church. To hear the whole story you’d have to pack a lunch! But let me briefly say that Cesar would have been a mafia hit man if God hadn’t gotten a hold of him! With a little encouragement from some pastor friends in Kansas City, I took him up on his invitation, and for two weeks Cesar and I drove around the country looking at dozens of different situations and groups of people. Little did I know then, that 13 years later we would be working in over 55 locations covering Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador. I mention this because I have learned a lot from believers from other cultures and have put much of that into the book. Many of us in North America aren’t aware that both Guatemala and El Salvador have been through recent civil wars. Many people there have shared first hand stories of unimaginable grief and heartache. As I have walked alongside them, my faith has been challenged and I have an increasing desire to not just mindlessly go through my tough times, but to actually think deeply and grow through my tough circumstances. As I’ve done a little bit of that, I think it’s time that I pass some of this on to others who can benefit like I have.
Where can people find your book? For now it’s only available from the trunk of my car! Or, more conveniently, it can be ordered from the website www.TransformedbyToughTimes.com. Soon it should become available on Amazon and we hope to have a Kindle version available in the near future as well. By the way, before Christmas we finished taping the audio book and I can’t wait to unveil that in the next couple of months too.
You also have a companion Bible study available as well right? Yes! Thank you for mentioning that. I think I am about as excited about the study guide as I am the book. On the website, www.TransformedbyToughTimes.com is a 24-session small groups Bible study guide that can be downloaded for free. It matches up to chapters in the book and then goes deeper with pertinent Bible stories and information related to the topic. Incidentally, when someone wants me to coach them through their own tough times, this is essentially the material I use. In early tests, we are getting positive feedback from groups going through the book and the Bible study together. Do check it out!
Find out about more opportunities for a free copy of TRANSFORMED BY TOUGH TIMES, go to https://www.facebook.com/events/338690666247617.
This blog host was given a complimentary copy of this book from the author in exchange for posting the author’s interview and/or book review on this blog. CSS Virtual Book Tours are managed by Christian Speakers Services (http://ChristianSpeakersServices.com).
