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Christian book tip – Dying to Live by Clive Calver

One of the challenges of being a Christian in today’s society where there is such an emphasis on ambition, performance and consumerism is that the message of Jesus Christ gets watered down, if not lost altogether.

 

Dr. Clive Claver has written a book that calls us back to the focal point of following Jesus. Dying to Live: The Paradox of the Crucified Life (Authentic Publishing) addresses the hunger that many Christians feel. This hunger is for the real substance of Christ. Many new believers are joyful and excited for a time, but it wears off because they are not taught, or somehow miss, the message that following Christ means dying to self and taking up your own cross (see Matthew 16:24).

 

From my own walk with Jesus I recognize the challenges of this. Calver correctly identifies the obstacles we face. We shy away from making the sacrifice of giving up what we want. Many of us suffer from a sense of entitlement. However, it all really begins for us when we start to view life from the cross. Then we must die to our self-centered way of living, sacrifice our selfish ego desires and become willing to let Jesus live in and through us. That is true discipleship.

 

One of the criticisms I’ve heard to choosing this way of life is that people fear they will lose their sense of identity. They worry they will become a “nothing” or a zombie, and that they will no longer act responsibly or with any self discipline. However, that is a failed understanding of the crucified life. What can really happen is that Christ will live and act through you! On our own power we cannot live with complete love and forgiveness for all. We simply lack the power. But God will come and inhabit our very being and transform us. A life filled with the Holy Spirit has unlimited possibilities, for everything is possible with God. This life is not lived without our participation; but we must let go of being the sole director. It is a serious choice and the result will be an exciting roller-coaster ride when we make that choice to let go and let God.

 

Calver goes into depth in each chapter to better explain how to embrace the cross and go beyond it to live a resurrected life with Christ. In the first chapter he explains how he will take you deeper. You will read about the need for true surrender, what discipleship entails, the importance of making a sacrifice of your life, giving to others in service, the fruit of a transformed life and how living this way is the destiny, the purpose, God has for you. This is a bold and refreshing reminder, particularly when so many books on Christian living shy away from the tough truth and paradoxical call of “surrender to win”.

 

All of this may sound exciting, but don’t take it lightly. In order to “die to live” you have to be broken. That’s painful. We prefer not to accept the necessity of brokenness because that goes to the heart of our preference to live our own lives. As long as we hold on to that preference we will not completely give ourselves to God and we remain trapped in the sin of self. God lovingly breaks us when we surrender and then molds us into something new and better.

 

The tone of this book is not heavy-handed preaching. On the contrary, the author shares his own journey with insight and compassion. He also uses examples of other everyday people he knows who’ve chosen to lovingly live the crucified life. The book has given me renewed insight into my need to let go of my personal agenda and recognize the daily choice I have to take up my own cross and follow Jesus.

 

More info:
You can purchase Dying to Live: The Paradox of the Crucified Life at Amazon.com

 

Dr. Clive Calver has authored twenty books and has been published in many national and local print media. He is currently the senior pastor of Walnut Hill Community Church in Bethel, Connecticut. Before that he spent seven years as president of World Relief, traveling extensively and ministering to the poor, and working with churches. He also was a major spokesperson for the Evangelical Alliance of the United Kingdom and commented on current issues on major media outlets such as ABC’s Nightline, CNN and National Public Radio.