Book Review: Told You Twice

Told You Twice by Kristen Heitzmann
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Told You Twice more than matches the wit and charm of book one in the stellar series that tackles real-world issues while demonstrating the enormity of God's grace and love. If you loved the first book, prepare to fall deeper in love with familiar characters, and expand your arms to embrace another romantic duo equally as enthralling. Heitzmann's novel showcases God's redeeming power for every kind of lost soul. She deftly handles the realism of secular motivations and balances it with subtle but powerful truths of Christian hope and freedom.

As with all her works, Heitzmann creates characters we fall in love with, despite their flaws, weaving each perspective through unexpected twists in her captivating narrative. From character and plot development to dialogue and description, I can't offer enough praise. Heitzmann excels in all four areas when so many contemporary novels sacrifice something for the another. She is truly a master of the writing craft, and this second book in the series is another of her must-reads.

*I was given a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. The opinions expressed here are my own.

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I feel so honored to be entrusted with the task of reviewing this book. If you know me, you know I've been an avid Heitzmann fan for almost 20 years. I've read all of her books as soon as they are released, and then I twiddle my thumbs and check her website incessantly until the next release date.

I've already posted my review (above) on Goodreads and Amazon, but I want to add a few more comments here. 

When I say that Heitzmann is a master of the writing craft, I'm not exaggerating. I'm enthralled by her word play--sometimes fun, sometimes profound. Here are a few of my favorites:

________

"... There's hardly a ripple of uncertainty in anything he does, while I get tangled in all the possibilities." 

"I thought you were matched up on every point."

Exi swiveled the cafe stool. "We're not the same, but complementary. He fills my gaps." 

________

"As the world knows, we started our family prematurely." 

"But look how happy you are. You said in that interview, God makes our mistakes shine."

"I don't recommend making them purpose." 

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Bo was not the devil Devin thought him, but he could raise hell and make it look like heaven. 

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Eileen snickered. "All right. Make your play. You already ruffled feathers."

"Some feathers need ruffling. Even favored sons."

"Green isn't your color. And I'm not limited to one pet." 

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"... We've lost the sense of sex as sacred."

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His heart flared, but he pressed thoughts of her down where he kept things that hurt. Separation kept her safe. Her safety kept him sane. 

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If you haven't read Told You So, I recommend reading it first. Then grab your copy of Told You Twice. 

Both books tackle real-world struggles and the beauty of God's grace. 

Happy reading, and stay tuned for Part Two: An Interview with Heitzmann!

Redeem: Part 1

The word God gave me for 2016 is REDEEM. A dear friend of mine (yep—the same friend) gave me a necklace with this word on it, so I can wear it every day as a reminder.

As I’ve mediated on this word, I feel like the Lord continues to show me a new facet of meaning.

Redeem is literally an exchange—and usually money is involved.

We redeem something in exchange for something else. If I have a coupon for 30% off at Bed, Bath, and Beyond, I will redeem my coupon for the discount on my total purchase.

I receive the purchase. I’ve redeemed the coupon.

As believers, we are redeemed. We know that He is our Redeemer.

I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately. My church did a sermon series a while ago called The Exchange—and it’s the exchanges that took place at the cross.

This morning, as I was reading through Romans 5, what we received in that exchange really stood out:

Because of the cross, we have

• Peace with God
• Grace
• Hope of the glory of God
• God’s love in our heart
• The Holy Spirit

We are now

• Saved from God’s wrath
• Reconciled
• Saved (Greek word: sozo – literally, to save, to heal, to deliver) 
• Righteous

Through Jesus, we receive grace and righteousness. Receive. It’s a gift.

Our only job to receive this gift is to believe—believe in Jesus, in the finished work of the cross.

So often, we present the gospel like this: You’re a terrible sinner, you’re worthless, you’re nothing without Jesus—you need to confess your sins, right now! (Or go to Hell.)

I’m not denying the truth of those statements. We are sinners. We do fall short of God’s glory apart from Jesus, etc.

But Scripture says to confess that Jesus is Lord.

What we confess is our belief in Jesus—in what He accomplished for us on the cross. What we repent from is the law of sin and death, from works righteousness.

We don’t focus enough on the exchange, on what was redeemed—that our new nature is righteous, literally, made right. It is as it should be between God and me.

Never again will I be separated. By faith, I believe this.

If we make salvation only about confessing sin and needing a savior, we miss the power of the cross. Because the next day, we are still powerless to sin.

When we make salvation an exchange—an unmerited exchange, a free gift received by faith alone—now it’s more than forgiven sins. It’s a new nature. I am a new person: righteous and full of grace.

Salvation is easy. Getting saved is actually easy. Our part is very light: Believe. That’s all His word says—confess and believe that Jesus is Lord, and you will be saved.

What is hard about following Jesus? Well...

• Walking through life. (“In this world, you will face troubles…”)
• Believing all that He says He is and all that He says you are in Him. (Sometimes that's hard.)
• Submitting my will to His. (Yeah, that’s also hard.)

Being a disciple—a follower of Jesus—is the challenging part. Receiving His promise is not.

When we present the gospel, we should be clear on these two points:

• We don’t work to be saved.
• We don’t work after salvation.

But we do choose to believe. We do choose to submit. We choose to be a follower.

Next week, I want to look more closely at this word, REDEEM, for our everyday life: it’s in His nature to redeem; what can He redeem for us in this season?

But this week, let’s be grateful as we remember the greatest redemption story—how he redeemed us from our sin and in exchange made us righteous and free. (Click to Tweet.)

Lent: Not Giving Up but Giving More

Lent is about giving up, about sacrifice—and as one who tends to love duty, as one who craves to do lists and tasks to obey, I secretly love self-discipline and the rewarded feeling at the end of 40 days when I've accomplished my "task," whatever it is I've chosen to give up: “Yep, I still got it.”

This year, as many of my friends begin thinking of what to fast, what to give up, I feel God gently whispering: don’t give up, give more—more of your time, more of your energy, more of yourself to me and to others.

Don’t give up TV or soft drinks, give up your life for me.

If Lent is about preparing our hearts for Easter, about reflecting on the great exchange: my guilt, my sins, my shame—my ashes for His beauty, then may the next 40 days, for me, be about reflecting on Him: on who He is and what He did and who I get to be when I’m hidden in Christ, when I’m made righteous, when the work of the cross is finished—really finished—and I get to be made whole, complete, perfect, lacking nothing.

Not because I’m those things, but because He loves me so; He loves me so much; He loves me so much that He gave.

And if I’m to give anything these 40 days, let me give of myself fully.

I’ve read some blogs today promoting Margret Feinberg’s 40 day reading challenge, and although (if I’m honest), I get excited when I see little check boxes (That feels like a “to do” list for me to accomplish! Yes!), I have decided to focus these 40 days on the New Testament, as Feinberg encourages—not as something to do, but something to reflect: the story of the cross, of redemption, of the great exchange.

If you’re interested in joining me, you can read more here or print the reading plan here.

May the challenge for me—and perhaps for you, too—not be about legalism or about what I can accomplish with the right motivation and all the wrong motives; may these 40 days be about pouring out all of me and pouring in more of Him.