Truth on Fire

Sam Allberry

We should never have to choose between theological care and spiritual reality, but in so many churches those seem to be the only two alternatives. Adam Ramsey shows us how false that choice is, inviting us instead into a theologically robust, spiritually life-giving, and above all exciting vision of the Christian life. We badly need this, so I’m deeply thankful for this book and hope it will galvanise countless churches and Christians into whole-hearted and whole-headed life with God.

Jen Wilkin

Adam Ramsey believes that how we think about God should shape how we experience him. I couldn’t agree more. This exquisite book is devotional writing in its purest sense, an invitation not just to know the God of the universe more deeply, but to be overcome in the knowing. Truth on Fire compels us to bow our hearts, to experience and exhibit the reverence that beholding God yields. Read it to think, and read it to feel. Herein is a feast for head and heart.

“Delighting in God in our hearts, not just our heads”

The Westminster Shorter Catechism states "Man's chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy Him forever". Adam Ramsey's book seems to be wonderfully encouraging us in the above pursuit.

Does our biblical knowledge lead us to praise God? Are we happy as God Himself is happy?

The author explores different aspects of God's character, e.g.: "God is Sovereign", in an engaging manner. Adam Ramsey's emphasis here is greater than merely grasping biblical truth intellectually. We are instead challenged to EXPERIENCE the joy of knowing our Heavenly Father, based on the foundation of this truth.

I have just finished this brilliant book and will most definitely be re-reading it!

“A fresh look at God’s attributes!”

The opening sentence of this book (‘I want the truth that I believe to be in fire in my life’) resonated with me in a powerful way!
If at times you feel God is distant despite knowing and believing his attributes then this book is a poignant reminder of how personal God is.
With a fresh approach, Ramsey successfully transfers our head knowledge of Gods attributes to the heart of our emotions but firmly rooted in biblical truth.
I recommend this book to anyone who feels in a spiritual rut and needs to experience afresh the power and love of our great God.

“I keep giving the book away.”

My first copy of Truth on Fire was the free e-book offered by The Good Book Company. Several years ago I was very briefly introduced to Adam in a church foyer, so was interested in what he might have written. Since reading the e-book, you can check my purchase record and you will see that I have purchased eight books. I keep giving this book away. I tell everyone it is one of my top three favorite Christian books of all time. What do I like about it? First, it is written in such a comfortable conversational style. It feel like I'm in a small group and Adam is speaking directly to us. Second, it is funny at points and I laugh out loud. But I mostly love this book because it has married my heart and head and I love Jesus even deeper still. Thank you, Adam, for writing it and thank you, Jesus, for loving me.

“Reforming and reviving”

After a couple of really hard years, Truth on Fire seemed to come out at just the right time. It took too long for me to finally read it but I’m glad I did.

Adam Ramsey sets out explaining how we are either “thinkers” (high value on biblical truth but avoiding over-emotional responses to it) or “feelers” (vibrant spiritual life, knowing the love of God, but with little biblical reference for those experiences) and that both types of people need a reformation and revival.

So true, and having finished the book I do indeed feel reformed in knowing more of the truth of God, and revived in loving to experience what effect those truths have on my daily life.

Adam gives biblical and experiential insight into the thinking and feeling we all need to do to live a flourishing life with the Spirit.

Be reformed and be revived!

“Had to buy it for the whole family”

My favourite this year. Its title resonates true, namely gazing at God until one heart sings, so much so that I had to buy it for friends and family.

“Connects the attributes of God with human experiences”

I really liked this book. It reminded me of Jen Wilkin’s pair of books “None Like You” and “In His Image”, but Adam Ramsey puts a particular spin on it by tying each attribute to a human experience. I’ve never read a book quite like this. I love the focus on God’s attributes and how we as broken people can experience Him on a deep and personal level.

Each chapter highlights a different attribute/experience duo. For example: God is Sovereign - The Experience of Assurance. God is Unrivalled - The Experience of Embracing Weakness. God is Good - The Experience of Trusting through Suffering.

On page 73, Ramsey writes “It goes without saying then, that if God knows every part of existence, then he knows every part of us. There is not one molecule of our lives — in thought, motive, word, or action — that he is not intimately familiar with.” While the reverse is not true because God is infinite and we most assuredly are not, books like this equip and enable Christians to know God a little more intimately than they did prior to reading it. The notion of experiences reflecting and reminding one of God’s attributes will stay with stay with the reader long after finishing the book.

Something I did not like about the book was chapter 10 (God is Just - The Experience of Prophetic Advocacy) that contained too much Social Justice/CRT discussion for me. While the pages contained some really good points, the underlying CRT rhetoric, which I consider unbiblical, was a major disappointment.

There is wisdom, insight, and encouragement to be found throughout this book and I really appreciate the reflection questions at the end of each chapter. This book would be an excellent choice to discuss with a small group or book study.

“My favorite book this year!”

I resonated so much with Adam's story in the Introduction, of being tired of the divide between deep thoughts about God and deep experiences with him.

What I wasn't expecting though, was just how much each chapter led me to worship. Rare is the book that paints a picture of God with language that is not only true, but beautiful.

I was especially moved by the chapters on "gentleness" (God is Merciful) and "prophetic advocacy" (God is Just), which exposed some of the blindspots and tribalism in my own thinking.

All in all, each chapter left me with something that our world is in desperate need of: HOPE. So if you're looking for a book that will teach you, refresh you, and give you confidence to face anything...all because you've gained a clearer view of God...this is that book.

“Stresses how good theology should lead to good living”

Truth on Fire by Australian pastor, Adam Ramsey, was released this month by The Good Book Co. Ramsey’s goal, based on his own personal spiritual journey, is to help Christians combine right thinking and right feeling: “God intends for us to pursue a Christianity that is radically committed to theological clarity in a way that does not diminish the life of the heart but actually intensifies it.” His method, then, is to explore attributes of God and consider how those attributes are experienced within the human existence in practical, everyday ways. Overall, this was a helpful book providing insights into how good theology should lead to good living. There was only one chapter that I had disagreements with regarding, for instance, the use of a criminal as the epitome of biblical injustice in the world today as well as the suggestion that the term “immigrant” denies the imago Dei. On the flip side, Ramsey references The Princess Bride. •••

He writes, “My hope in these pages is to paint a biblical portrait of what God is actually like, so that we can gaze upon him together until our hearts can’t help but sing. To behold him in such a way that our daily experience is transformed with a deepened awareness of who it is we pray to, who it is that is with us, and who it is that we are loved by. To think about our God more deeply, in order to enjoy him more intensely. To let God’s truth set our hearts on fire.”

“Heart-Changing”

As someone who has always strived to be on fire for the Lord, I immediately knew this would be a great book for me to read. This book was nothing short of what I thought it was going to be. It was full of theology and doctrine but is easily understood. It is very direct, but nothing short of greatness.

Ramsey's voice in this book is very clear and immediately pulls you into his book. From the moment I picked up and started reading this book, I knew that it was going to be a hard book to put down. This is mainly because he used his own testimony and The Sliver Chair to help introduce his book and start the first chapter. Now if you know anything about me, you know this, C. S. Lewis is by far. Now just because C. S. was mentioned in this book, I am not biased. Instead, I loved how Ramsey used this example and many others to clearly orchestrate his point.

Ramsey's point was simply this; "to think about our God more deeply, in order to enjoy him more intensely. To let God’s truth set our hearts on fire.” Ramsey through the course shows how to re-posture our hearts and ultimately our thoughts on the Lord.

After the year we have had, this is an amazing book to re-posture your heart on the things that truly matter. I ultimately think that this was Ramsey's point along.

I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. My thoughts are not paid for.