Renewed

  • Author: Leigh Powers
  • Publisher: FaithWords
  • Print Length: 193 pages
  • Release Date: November 28, 2017
  • I Rate it:    
  • GenreChristian
  • Purchase on Amazon

Book Summary

RENEWED is a devotional providing healing for those in ministry who have been hurt in the church.

Ministry is a privilege, but it can also be a painful experience. Unrealistic expectations, church conflict, forced resignations, and our own struggles with burnout, loneliness, and insecurity can make church feel more like a place of wounding than a place of healing. How can wounded leaders find the courage to reject bitterness and keep loving the church?
RENEWED is a forty-day devotional for women in ministry, ministry wives, and lay leaders who have been wounded by their congregations. You are not alone. God sees your pain. He knows your hurts. And he is waiting to bind up your broken heart. This forty-day journey into the healing love of Jesus will help you find the courage to stop hiding and start loving the church again.
Write Now Literary Book Tours - Taffy Book Blast Tour

Guest Post from Leigh Powers

I love ministry life. Several years ago, a young woman from Southeast Asia came to my English as a Second Language class for a year. Her English wasn’t very good, and I had to tug to get a word out of her. She came every week, but I wondered how much she was getting from the Bible stories we did during each class. At the end of the semester, I asked our class to share what they wanted to tell their friends and family when they went home. She looked up at me with big brown eyes. “I want to tell people about Jesus.”

Those are the ministry moments that thrill us. It is a privilege to help people find freedom in Christ, teach God’s word, worship with the congregation, and walk alongside people in their moments of joy or sorrow. On those days I can’t imagine choosing another life. Then there are days that make me want to hang it all up and go work at Wal-Mart. Days when anonymous letters get slipped under the office door. Days when you’re the brunt of gossip, when loneliness is like an ache in your bones, or when you start sending out resumes for new positions because you aren’t sure how much longer you’ll have the one you’ve got.

Ministry can be tough. Over the years I’ve met many women who have experienced the painful side of ministry. Church conflicts, forced resignations, depression, loneliness, feelings of inadequacy, and our own struggles with faith can take a toll. That painful side of ministry can make us start looking for an escape hatch.

I wrote Renewed in the middle of a difficult ministry season. It was a hard season, but it was also a season where Jesus showed up for me in an almost tangible way. At the same time, I was also hearing stories from other ministry wives and women in ministry that sounded all too familiar. I started putting words on the page, hoping that somehow God would use them to bring healing to other women in the same way he had brought healing to me. That outpouring of hurt, healing, and hope eventually became Renewed.

Some of you reading this are nodding along right now because you’ve been there too. You love the church, but you’ve seen how ugly it can be when we get it wrong. You’ve got wounds of your own, and sometimes you wonder if you can ever risk your heart again. If that’s you, I want you to know that there is hope. God has not abandoned you. God sees your hurt, he knows your pain, and he is waiting to bind up your broken spirit. He’s waiting. Turn to him, and may you find your spirit renewed.

<h2><span class="wrap"><span class="inner">About The Author</span></span></h2>

Leigh Powers is passionate about helping women find hope and healing in God’s Word. A pastor’s wife and mother of three with fifteen years of full-time ministry experience, she is a freelance writer, Bible study and devotional author, and a graduate of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. You can usually find her with either a book or knitting needles in her hand—and sometimes both.

You can find Leigh on:

Leigh Powers

Book Review by Bree Herron

I really enjoyed this devotional, even though my life is not that of a wife in ministry. I was able to apply this devotional however, to how it is to be a member of a church with a congregation that isn’t what it seems. It was easy to follow the chapters and devotions, creating moments of thinking for me and seeking deeper into the God’s word.

I think that even as I am not any leader in church as a member and one that continues to seek guidance this book was healing in many ways. I truly think it should be gifted to leaders and wives of the leaders to help ease some of the conflicting feelings they may have at times with their church.

I Rate it

**DISCLAIMER: I was provided an opportunity to read this book as an Advanced Reader Copy in return for a fair and honest review.

Blog Stops

<h2><span class="inner">Giveaway</span></h2>

To celebrate her tour, Leigh is giving away a grand prize of a $50 Amazon gift card!!

Be sure to comment on the blog stops for nine extra entries into the giveaway!

Find out all the details and enter to WIN at Renewed Celebration Tour Giveaway.

Professional Reader Affiliates

NetGalley Professional Reader Frequently Auto-Approved 200 Book Reviews 2016 NetGalley Challenge Reviews Published Great Escape Tour Host BethanyHouse Blogger Reviewer

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6 Comments

  1. Emma

    This sounds like a useful book!

    Reply
  2. James Robert

    I am enjoying these tours and finding all the terrific books my family is enjoying reading. Thanks for bringing them to us and keep up the good work.

    Reply
  3. Terri Shaw

    Renewed sounds like a great book.

    Reply
  4. Kara Vaughan Marks

    This sounds really good–I’ll enjoy following the tour.

    Reply
  5. Noelle

    Sounds good

    Reply
  6. Faith Creech

    Thanks for writing this book. It is very much needed today.

    Reply

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