52 Reasons I Loved the 52 Series!

I recently finished reading 52 Reasons to Believe and 52 Ways to Grow Your Faith by my friend and co-pastor Gregg Farah. Here are 52 Reasons I Loved the Books:

Short chapters.
Concise thoughts.
Just enough to whet your appetite to dig deeper on your own.
Informative.
Challenging.
Practical ideas.
Real-life examples. I know some of the people who share stories in the book, and they are real. For real!
Personal reflection questions.
Small group discussion questions.
Humor.
Prayers.
One thought for every week of the year.
Key Bible Verses.
Key Quotes.
Random trivia.
Interesting stories.
Who knew there were so many ways to look at things?!
There are so many ideas, you don’t know if he repeated something.
If you read one chapter from a book each day, it will take you 104 days.
That’s 3 1/2 months of intentional investment in your spiritual journey.
If you do just 5 minutes a day, that will be almost 9 hours. How much more is that than you are currently investing?
If you invest 5 minutes a day in your spiritual life, you will probably find yourself thinking about spiritual things more often, and digging more on your own, so it will probably end up a lot more than 9 hours.
Gregg’s picture on the back cover.
Mark Batterson endorsed it. Say what?!
Doug Fields endorsed it! Who’s he? (JK)
The Purpose-Driven Life only has 40 chapters. This has 52. Do the math, people.
Humility. Gregg didn’t want to show off, though, so he kept it less than the Bible’s 66 books.
52 Reasons is a great gift to give a spiritual seeker. One of our friends is a businessman, and he gives a copy to everyone he meets on sales calls.
52 Ways is a great gift to any Christian – whether someone is newly saved, or has been walking with God for many years, the ideas in this book can help them grow spiritually.
Experimental. 52 Ways has lots of ideas. Some might resonate with you, some might not. Experiment.
Creative. Some of the ideas Gregg sets forth are pretty ingenious.
Understandable. These books are understandable and appropriate for anyone from about Jr. High on up. I’ve passed on the books to my middle- and high-school-aged daughters.
Honesty. Gregg shares from his own struggles in life.
Bookmark included. Hey, that could be a Christmas present for someone! Bonus!
Foundational. 52 Reasons gives quick snapshots of foundational tenants of the Christian faith.
Principles. 52 Ways is filled with principles that can work in any context.
Relational. These books are perfect for walking through with a friend or small group, thus creating and deepening relationships.
Encouraging. Every time I read a chapter I felt uplifted.
There are so many ideas, you don’t know if he repeated something.
Now I see everything through the lens of 52.
I’ve decided to start preaching 52-point messages.
52 is Harder than you think. Why did I decide to write 52 things? I realize that my cutoff is about 16. After #16 I had to start thinking harder, and dig deep into my creative recesses in order to reach the Herculean heights so easily achieved by the great Gregg Farah.
We all now know that the P in G.P. Farah stands for Peter. Or so we’ve now been led to believe.
Peter, Paul & Mary? Try Gregg, Peter, and Farah.
Because Gregg will Retweet this review, you will read it. (If he doesn’t, “Hi, Self.”)
Gregg has a great website and blog that fosters ongoing conversation about the books and has lots of fun stuff on it.
There are so many ideas, you don’t know if he repeated something.
I love when my friends live out their passion, and I know creating resources to help people discover God and grow in faith is Gregg’s passion.
Because Gregg is now raking in 52 figures a year in book sales, he can be my Krispy Kreme supplier. I’m an addict. I admit it.
It’s called the 52 Series, so I’m sure more books are sure to follow – 52, to be exact, I hope.
Gregg hears 52 jokes all of the time now, so I’m hopeful that his next 52 Series book will be inspired by the 52 ribbings we’ve given him.
Gregg now has to take Dominic and me for the trifecta (Pepe’s Pizza, a Knicks game, and Krispy Kreme).