Running with God was such a book for me. I enjoy trying to stay healthy and physically fit. I’m not much of a runner anymore; I prefer getting on my road bike or mountain bike and hitting the pavement or the trails. But it’s all about training–dedication, development, and perseverance. As I edited this book, I found myself learning from the author about applying the secrets of physical training to spiritual fitness.
It was an honor for me to partner with Liz Linssen on editing this book, as well as her newest book, Nature of Faith and Miracles.
Liz bases everything she says on God’s Word. This book is saturated with Scripture. Liz uses creative stories (both her own and those of her friends), good illustrations, and excellent commentary. I really liked the comparisons between running and other forms of training with spiritual training. I found it easy to relate to her teaching and very easy to understand and apply the stages of spiritual development by seeing it as spiritual training.
“Many believers in churches wonder why they are not maturing in their faith,” Liz says on page 25. She helps us deal with our attitudes, goal setting, commitment, and perseverance, just to name a few of the parts of the training program she teaches.
This is not a book of theory! It’s written by someone who has obviously worked on her own spiritual training, struggled along with way, and kept going. Liz is unapologetically passionate not only about her own spiritual growth but that of others as well.
This book is not just for athletes, however. You’ll grow in your faith whether you enjoy running marathons or you feel like you’re running on empty spiritually.
The book was written for use in small groups. The end of each of the seven chapters includes a set of great application-oriented discussion questions you can use.
