__There is a love that doesn't give up.__   
We all spend a significant portion of life running, chasing down our own plans and desires. Despite God's call on our lives, we, like Jonah, are often found rowing against the storms that God is using to pull us back on course. But God's relentless grace is always there, in the midst of the messes we make and no matter how far we've strayed.  
  
In Glorious Mess, Mike Howerton clearly reveals God's perfect love for imperfect people. He shows you how to hear God's voice, how to embrace God's calling, how to make the most of your messes, and how to see God working through them. Howerton encourages, inspires, and challenges you to be your best self before God and others. Includes insightful discussion questions for group or personal use.  
  
  
"This book is pure gold! Read it a first time to be encouraged, then read it again to soak in and apply its life-changing wisdom. Mike Howerton, one of my all-time favorite young leaders, has hit a home run!"--Rick Warren, Saddleback Church; author of The Purpose Driven Life   
"Howerton has written a passionate, personal, pastoral, and practical look at how God brings his glory out of our messes through the grace of Jesus."--Mark Driscoll, founding pastor of Mars Hill Church; co-founder of Acts 29 Church Planting Network  
  
"Glorious Mess makes you laugh and then makes you think and pretty soon leaves you prayerful--in a good way. This is a powerful book that will confront you and lift you at the same time."--Jud Wilhite, pastor of Central Christian Church, Las Vegas; author of Torn and Uncensored Grace   
"Glorious Mess is a profoundly gracious, funny, and challenging call for ordinary people to truly risk themselves in service to Jesus. I highly recommend it!"--Mike Erre, pastor of Mariners Church, Mission Viejo, California; author of The Jesus of Suburbia   
  
__Mike Howerton__ is lead pastor of Overlake Christian Church in Redmond, Washington, and served for six years as the college pastor at Saddleback Church. He is a graduate of Pepperdine University and received his master's degree from Fuller Theological Seminary. Mike lives in Washington with his wife, Jodie, and their three children. Visit www.GloriousMess.org for more information.

__Mike Howerton__ is lead pastor of Overlake Christian Church in Redmond, Washington, and served for six years as the college pastor at Saddleback Church. He is a graduate of Pepperdine University and received his master's degree from Fuller Theological Seminary. Mike lives in Washington with his wife, Jodie, and their three children.

Despite God's call on our lives, most of us spend a fair amount of time running in the other direction, chasing after our own plans and desires. Like Jonah, however, we eventually discover we've made a mess of things; we're rowing against the storms God is using to pull us back on course.  
  
In Glorious Mess, Mike Howerton shows how God's relentless grace extends into all the messes we make in our lives, that God clearly reveals his love for imperfect people no matter how far we've strayed. He shows readers how to hear God's voice, how to embrace God's calling on their lives, how to get out of their messes, and how to see God working. The result is not just forgiveness and direction for life, but also encouragement and inspiration to be our best selves before God and others.  
  
Includes discussion questions for group or personal use.

Dynamic communicator and pastor explores God's relentless love for imperfect people and how he works through them in spite of their mistakes and failures.

Howerton, Mike

Cover

Title Page

Copyright Page

Endorsements

Epigraph

Introduction

Act 1 Listening to God’s Voice

1 God Speaks to Us

2 The Way God Talks

3 How to Be an Active Listener

4 Barriers to Hearing

Act 2 Running from God

5 Tempted to Run

6 The Results of Running

7 Hitting the Brakes

Act 3 Getting Out of Your Glorious Mess

8 The Anatomy of a Mess

9 Two Ways Out

10 Improving Your Life by Changing Your Mind

11 Rescue Is a Many-Splendored Thing

12 When Vomit Looks like Rescue

Act 4 Seeing God Work

13 Thank the God of Second Chances

14 How Simple Is It?

15 The Bold Choice

16 Finding Joy

Act 5 Embracing God’s Amazing Grace

17 When Grace Isn't Wanted

18 Building Your Life on God's Grace

19 God's Ultimate Desire

20 Glorious

Epilogue

Small Group Discussion Guide

Week 1: Listening to God's Voice

Week 2: Running from God

Week 3: Getting Out of Your Glorious Mess

Week 4: Seeing God Work

Week 5: Embracing God's Amazing Grace

Many Thanks

Notes

About the Author

Back Ad

Back Cover

Despite God's call on our lives, most of us spend a fair amount of time running in the other direction, chasing after our own plans and desires. Like Jonah, however, we eventually discover we've made a mess of things; we're rowing against the storms God is using to pull us back on course.  
  
InGlorious Mess, Mike Howerton shows how God's relentless grace extends into all the messes we make in our lives, that God clearly reveals his love for imperfect people no matter how far we've strayed. He shows readers how to hear God's voice, how to embrace God's calling on their lives, how to get out of their messes, and how to see God working. The result is not just forgiveness and direction for life, but also encouragement and inspiration to be our best selves before God and others.  
  
Includes discussion questions for group or personal use.

Despite God's call on our lives, most of us spend a fair amount of time running in the other direction, chasing after our own plans and desires. Like Jonah, however, we eventually discover we've made a mess of things; we're rowing against the storms God is using to pull us back on course. In Glorious Mess, Mike Howerton shows how God's relentless grace extends into all the messes we make in our lives, that God clearly reveals his love for imperfect people no matter how far we've strayed. He shows readers how to hear God's voice, how to embrace God's calling on their lives, how to get out of their messes, and how to see God working. The result is not just forgiveness and direction for life, but also encouragement and inspiration to be our best selves before God and others. Includes discussion questions for group or personal use.

Mike Howerton is lead pastor of Overlake Christian Church in Redmond, Washington, and served for six years as the college pastor at Saddleback Church. He is a graduate of Pepperdine University and received his master's degree from Fuller Theological Seminary. Mike lives in Washington with his wife, Jodie, and their two children.

The Good Book Stall

I have a real fondness for the Jonah story, and a real bug bear in that so few seem to get the Jonah story and seem to think it ends with the conversion of the Ninevites – it doesn’t. This book knows that and uses the Jonah story in the way it’s meant to be, it uses it to highlight God’s radical and relentless grace and our utter inability to actually grasp that and shows our attempts to run away and avoid that fact and all the problems that causes us as an imperfect people.  
Glorious Mess is wonderful, it’s warm, witty – in fact not only witty it’s really funny at times – and above all it’s caring and understanding and filled with grace, humility and firm teaching on endless love, the kind God has for all of us regardless of who we are, where we are and what we’ve done or are doing. Indeed as the author puts it on page 179 ‘Because of Jonah we see the unconditional, unending, unyielding, unfailing love of God for imperfect people. That is why Jesus says in Matthew 12, ‘You want a sign? I’ll give you a sign, Jonah.’   
This is not a biblical study book, it’s a personal study guide. At the end of each section there’s a ‘Mining the Mess: Making it Personal’ piece that has questions and suggestions for you to think on about yourself and your actions. These would also make great group study questions so I was really amazed to find at the back of the book a strong five week Group Study Guide actually provided as well. This is a fantastic book to read as an individual, but the insight and value of using it in a group setting really would be great because it highlights so well some issues we might have problems with and need help to make changes in our personal and corporate thinking.

Glorious Mess

Glorious Mess [eBook]

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