Firsthand: Ditching Secondhand Religion for a Faith of Your Own

I got to meet these guys and hear them speak this past weekend.

I got to meet these guys and hear them speak this past weekend. They are the real deal and the their book is a call to any young Christian who hasn't made their faith their own. Great book!

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

It's exciting to see something that steps out of religiosity and

It's exciting to see something that steps out of religiosity and gets real. People cannot live on their parent's faith, they must develop their own. Great book - wonderful truth.

1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

I was so excited for this book to finally be released. I lived i

I was so excited for this book to finally be released. I lived in my parents faith for years, but my father always told my sisters and I that we had to have our own personal relationship with Jesus Christ, because his relationship would not get us into heaven. I only knew what that meant on the surface until my Dad died. Until then I lived with a fear that my parents would die and I would be lost. This, from the book really sums up how I felt for years: On the riverbank behind us, we could see the Christian- ity that worked when we were younger. Ahead of us, on the opposite bank, we could see, well, not much really. - Ryan and Josh Shook (Firsthand)
Yet, this scripture is where I am now:
I admit I once lived by rumors of you; now I have it all firsthand.
—Job 42:5 (msg)
As the children of a pastor, grandchildren of a catholic grandmum determined that we get a proper catholic education we encountered much of what the Shook brothers detail in the foreward and introduction to Firsthand. This book is an awesome, awesome tool for a generation searching for a way home, but no way to get there. This is the tool I know I've been looking for and trying to create myself, but this wheel is already crafted. I will be using it with my young adults as an advisor, to open up the pathway to finding their own faith journey. The Shook brothers have constructed a missing link that churches, pastors, youth workers, anybody looking to do kingdom work has been searching for in detailing why this generation cannot embrace the church. It's not their church. Every person has to find a faith of their own.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Brothers Ryan and Josh Shook grew up in church. In fact their pa

Brothers Ryan and Josh Shook grew up in church. In fact their parents planted a vibrant, exciting church in Houston. Now they are actively seeking careers far away from Houston. Ryan is a filmmaker living on the west coast, while Josh is a musician living in Nashville. And though they seem to be far removed from their roots in Texas, they write a book about how their faith roots are stronger than ever.

In a day when more and more people in the younger generation are growing disillusioned with the faith of their parents, the Shook brothers have found the secret to faith that is lasting and real: stop playing at religion that is at best a hand-me-down from your parents and replace it with a firsthand, no-holds-barred relationship with Jesus Christ.

This book is less of a “how-to” book and more of a “what could happen” vision. Starting with their own wandering away from their parents’ faith and building on that with interviews and candid remarks from a number of people who had discovered the difference between plastic religion and real relationship, the authors weave a story that is at both challenging and a bit unnerving. There is no sugar coating here, just real admission of attempts and failures followed by struggle and success. Bottom-line advice from these two young men who have “been there” is to stop trying to be a Christian, and just build a relationship with Jesus.

This short 8-chapter book deals with all the things that church-goers try to do to get in good with God, and gives testimony and example of how one might stop going through motions and let their relationship grow. Their term, as the title suggests, for this authentic experience is “firsthand faith.”

This book is a good starting point when someone has grown disappointed in the church experience of their roots. While believers are encouraged to do the things that our church society has done as a sign of their relationship with Christ, the motivation is moved from marking your checklist of being a good Christian, to letting the actions flow from who you are.

Even so, because the book is focused on the generation of younger adults, those who are approaching or have even passed middle age who are dealing with the same questions about faith are neglected. This is not necessarily a fault of the authors or the publisher but a drawback built into focusing on a particular audience, limiting further an already limited audience. That said the book has value when someone is struggling with whether what they’ve always believed is really real—especially when it is believed because that’s what they (or their family) has always believed.

Each chapter includes a sampling of quotes from a handful of the people interviewed in the researching of the book, some questions for deeper thought, and some practical application suggestions to put what the preceding chapter has discussed into action.

I would suggest that pastors and youth pastors, as well as collegiate ministry workers, would want to have a copy or two of this book handy to help young people who are dealing with questions of faith. The struggle of authentic faith is one that has been around for ages and will continue to haunt the church. In Firsthand the church has a resource to address this struggle head-on. I give the book 4 out of 5 reading glasses.

—Benjamin Potter April 19, 2013

[Disclaimer: I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review.]

I'm having a very difficult time knowing just what to say about

I'm having a very difficult time knowing just what to say about this book. There are points I agree with.
I realize many, within a church, are disillusioned with their church. In the words of the authors, they are living a second-hand faith. Also, not every Christian is living a dynamic, radically driven, purpose-filled life, thus further disillusionment. True, there are many who read their Bibles and seem to get very little out of it.
I appreciate the brothers Shook in their efforts to stress the relational side of God. Christianity is not a philosophy. It is not a mere mental exercise, otherwise it would be just like Buddhism. There is a real God and He longs for us to know Him. Chapter Five focused upon this a great deal. It requires 'trashing the checklist' of our faith in order to zero in upon the relationship of our faith.
And yet there's just something about this book that troubles me. I can't quite lay a finger upon it, however. In the above mentioned chapter, these two brothers encourage those stuck in a 'second-hand faith' existence to throw out their checklists. The 'checklists' are those things which drive us, demand complete loyalty and obedience from us and yet do not feed the relationship. One example, Ryan speaks of going to a Bible camp and returning home all fired up by his experience there. He promised to read his Bible, pray and witness more. Before he said another word, I knew where this was going to end up: the experience waned, his commitments flagged and before long, he wasn't doing any of it. Here's what he says, 
'After camp my intentions were good. What I didn't have was a solid relationship that could serve as a foundation for my spiritual discipline. The checklist on its own made things worse, not better. What a mess!'
Ryan goes on to counsel those who make such checklists the driving energy of their faith to toss them out. Stop reading your Bible slavishly. And yet, because of this statement, it seems like they stumble over their advice just a few pages further on in telling you the one way to know God, to enhance your 'firsthand' faith experience is to…read your Bible. Absolutely. It is the only way you get to know anything at all about God. We don't know God through dreams. We don't learn of God through creation alone (despite the way in which the authors stress the worship they have when out in creation; wonderful, but unless you have the Word and the Gospel, you'll still come up short of God's ultimate glory; just read Romans 1).
Jesus said, in John 8.31–32: “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” Where must we go if we want to abide in Jesus? To the truth. Where will we find the truth? In His Word. Granted, the Jews who hated Jesus had the Word, but they stopped believing it.
And I wonder if this isn't where the problem begins. Both Shook brothers seem reticent to ever say that these who are stuck in a 'second-hand' faith simply are not truly believers. Their faith is not really second-hand; it's non-existent. What they have is not faith in God or Christ or the Word. It is in themselves and some experience they've been told to have or maintain. Yes, they need a 'firsthand' faith. One that trusts Christ alone by grace alone through faith alone. They need to be saved. From there, they need to be taught what it means to 'abide in Christ.' Jesus Himself says, 'Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.' That's first-hand faith.
I want to like this book. I want to understand it better. However, I think, in the effort to be encouraging to those of the 'second-hand faith' category, the brothers Shook come off just a bit too accommodating for me. I, along with them, long to see those living a 'second-hand faith' come to a true saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. When I was thirteen years old, I was made greatly aware of my attempts to live off my parents faith, the faith of my church and Sunday School teachers, the merits of my Bible memorization awards and perfect Sunday School attendance for twelve years. What made be aware of the need of firsthand faith was not an encouragement to ditch all that, but a call to come to saving faith in Christ; to look to the cross alone and not myself or my experience. So, I had to confess my sin, repent of my sins and trust Christ for everything. That's what firsthand faith is all about.

This book is a must read for anyone who grew up in a Christian h

This book is a must read for anyone who grew up in a Christian home and never truly felt that it was a faith that belonged to them. Religion needs to be sought and explored. It can be frustrating if one only believes what one has been told. Ryan and Josh Shook made the choice to start over and really search for a faith that was theirs, and not second-hand. Great advice. Great read.

A faith- challenging book sure to cause the reader to take a dee

A faith- challenging book sure to cause the reader to take a deeper look at their Christian faith, or lack thereof.  Written in a very non - confrontational way, filled with real life examples and thoughts, not only from the authors, but from a wealth of others, there are a variety of ideas and faith levels represented. Readers will find not only conversation about having one's own faith firsthand as opposed to believing through parents or other adults, but also ways to dig deeper, search more completely and grow stronger through reading and actions.  A great book for all levels of faith, each reader is sure to find encouragement and challenge to know Christ firsthand.  Well worth the read and  a fantastic book to pass along!
I was provided a free copy of this book for review by WaterBrook Multnomah's Blogging For Books program.  I was in no way compensated for this review nor required to write a positive review, all thoughts are my own.

No text was provided for this review.

No text was provided for this review.