A new book is available to passionate followers of Christ. A book that will challenge you and shake you – but leave you on firmer ground than you may have been on before.
Former PEFM Christian Radio presenter, Graham Ries, spent years consumed by a burning passion to pen a compilation of personal history; a true story of his walk from a place of absolute rejection and poverty to a place of healing from where he is now reaching out to others in order to help them heal from their own pain and agony.
The book project stalled at every turn until the Lord told Graham he needed to divide what was growing to encyclopaedia status into a set of twelve shorter books, each approaching the subject of our salvation from a different perspective. The starting point is identifying Who we are in Christ… asking ourselves, “Have we truly died to ourselves?”
This is a unique book given today’s climate in the churches. It is honest, often brutally so and brings many a challenge to the reader. It is not a quick read and to attempt this will do the book a great disservice.
People who have read it so far have found themselves wonderfully encouraged, agreeing wholeheartedly and then suddenly feeling quite angry with what is said. Some readers struggle with the theology and then realise that the theology is not the point.
This book, I believe, has been written to help us come to know our Lord in a deep and real way through the experience of a man who has journeyed through the valleys and the dales of life with a living personal God. He is encouraging us to open our hearts to God and allow Him to do a deep work in us. To remove all the fig leaves and allow God to change us, warts and all, into true disciples of Jesus Christ.
Throughout the book Graham emphasises the absolutely vital necessity for a real, intimate relationship with a real, living Christ. The living Christ is the same Christ Who is found in the scriptures. He is the same God of the Old Testament, found in the New.
To write a book like this takes great courage but I have always believed that a true friend is one who wants you to know the real truth, even if it causes you offence. Any offense you take, if you take any at all, will pass as you allow the Holy Spirit to minister to you and convict you but the truth ignited in your spirit will last through into your eternity.
I would encourage you to read this book. Read it with an open heart and be encouraged by this man’s testimony. After all it is written “They overcame him by the Blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony.” And be a friend and encourage others to read it too. We all need this challenge; it will wake you up and keep you alert.
This link will take you to a video on YouTube where Graham tells you about the book himself –
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RPH5WEkwZ88&feature=youtu.be
Contact Graham Ries on graham@thepaulproject.org.za for ordering information, or call him on 071 809 2887.
The book is available at an introductory price of R200 for the printed copy (Gateway News will receive R20 for every copy sold), and also as a full colour e-Book for the same price (Gateway News will receive R50 for each copy sold).
For a free downloadable sample of the book – www.thepaulproject.org.za/whoamiinchrist.html