book response: CMYK by Justin McRoberts

The other morning, I did something rather unusual. I stayed in bed and read. Justin McRobert's book, CMYK, kept me in bed. I didn't want to miss out on the conversations Justin was sharing with me. This book is a series of letters written in response to the vagaries of life. McRobert's writes as a pastor, husband, son, father, friend, musician, and disciple of Jesus Christ. His words do not come from a mountaintop, but from alongside, which is very encouraging. Although these letters are not written to me, all of them speak to something in my life. I received this encouragement for someone else.

"Your story is not a story of failure; it is a story of boundless mercy. It is a story about getting second chances seven times, and then seventy times that. While some would suggest your life’s process was marked by failure, I believe that it is characterized by grace."

The perspective of grace changes everything. McRoberts is not only graceful, but humorously self-deprecating. These lines had me laughing out loud.

"At that point in my life, listening to a homosexual claim to believe in Jesus was like seeing a unicorn. Only this unicorn was gay and claiming to be a Christian. I didn’t have a box in which to put the unicorn."

He befriends this "unicorn" and learns that God's primary perception of us is "Beloved." No other adjective matters until this noun is primary.

His music EPs that go along with the project are worth a listen as well. The letters correspond to certain songs, and he includes the lyrics with the letters.

I highly recommend this short book.