Catherine McNiel - Fearing Bravely: Risking Love for Our Neighbors, Strangers, and Enemies

Can Christians be genuine peacemakers in our fragmented, polarized world? I hope so, and when I read books like Catherine McNiels Fearing Bravely, I am encouraged. McNiel is a wonderful storyteller, and her wisdom, honesty, and commitment to Jesus and Scripture shepherd us toward becoming better human beings. This practical and engaging book draws us to love God and love our neighbors more deeply, despite the forces that drive wedges between us. I encourage you to read this book with others so you can discern together how you might take risks to love more authentically.

REV. DR. DENNIS R. EDWARDS, associate professor of New Testament, North Park Theological Seminary; author of Might from the Margins

At a time when many Christians feel threatened and afraid, Catherine McNiel calls us to courage, inviting us to love our neighbors, strangers, and even enemies in countercultural ways rooted in the example of Jesus. I hope Christians everywhere will readand heedthis wise, insightful, and challenging book, for the sake of vulnerable neighbors and, even more urgently, to reclaim the public witness of the church.

MATTHEW SOERENS, US director of church mobilization and advocacy, World Relief; coauthor of Welcoming the Stranger: Justice, Compassion and Truth in the Immigration Debate

Fear, or fear of God? Whom or what do we fear, and what does that imply for our lives in a world that is not safe? How does our fear of God or fear of someone or something else influence our love for neighbors? This book is powerful, calling us to live the life Jesus intended for us, not a bland and ineffective faith or a vicious nationalistic faith mistaken for Christianity. In reading Fearing Bravely, I could not help but exclaim, Amen! because it is so spot-on. And I could not help but reel with conviction because of the weighty truth contained within these pages. We Americans need this book. Catherines thought and writing are profound and eminently applicable to our current situation. It is worthy of attentive reading and contemplation, which should naturally lead to prayerful action.

MARLENA GRAVES, author of The Way Up Is Down and Forty Days on Being a Nine: Enneagram Daily Reflections

The repeated biblical admonition Fear not! strikes many of us as naive and unrealistic. With the many threats we face today, how can God possibly exhort us not to be afraid? The Christian virtues of faith, hope, and love are for long-dead saints living in easier, simpler times in ages past, right? Not so, says Catherine McNiel. In Fearing Bravely, she capably demonstrates why we can, in fact, let go of fear and choose instead the risky, cruciform way of love. She does so with the winsomeness of a storyteller, the gentleness of a pastor, and the chutzpah of a prophet. In Fearing Bravely, McNiel has given us an invaluable gift: The opportunity to confront and repent of our fear-full malformation as Christians so that we can pursue Jesus better way of neighbor-, stranger-, and enemy-love. I pray many will take, read, and heed the powerful message of this timely book.

REV. DR. EMILY HUNTER M C GOWIN, assistant professor of theology, Wheaton College

Powerful. Convicting. Encouraging. In our broken world today, Catherine McNiels call to live a life of active love that resists fear rings true and bold. Fearing Bravely guides us to confront the things we hate and our greatest fears, from neighbors and strangers to political realities, with the love of Jesus.

MICHELLE AMI REYES, vice president, Asian American Christian Collaborative; author of Becoming All Things: How Small Changes Lead to Lasting Connections Across Cultures

This is the book author Catherine McNiel was born to write. Her words are compassionate, prophetic, and for such a time as this. For anyone who wants to love as Jesus loved, especially in the midst of our increasingly divided world, this book is a gentle guide and a tough coach all at once. With theological acumen and a sharp wit, McNiel reminds the church who we are meant to bea people who love Jesus through the act of loving our neighbors, strangers, and enemies.

AUBREY SAMPSON, church planter and pastor at Renewal Church; speaker; author of Known, The Louder Song, and Overcomer

McNiel has written a biblically sharp and practically wise book that points the way forward for how disciples of Jesus can overcome their fears in order to live lives of hospitality, friendship, and love for neighbors, friends, and family. This book is a perfect text for individuals and church groups hoping to embody the teachings and life of Jesus.

JOSHUA W. JIPP, associate professor of New Testament, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School; author of Saved by FaithandHospitality

Catherine gently shepherds us out of the tunnels of fear and into the meadows of love. Her words are elegant and incisive, butmore importantlythey are generous and kind. I long to offer this book to family and community members who have for too long been guided by suspicion of the Other. It is an invitation to emerge from the trenches and break bread at Gods table together.

LIUAN HUSKA, author of Hurting Yet Whole: Reconciling Body and Spirit in Chronic Pain and Illness

Catherine has lifted the rug off the elephant in the room of cultural engagement and our changing world. People are afraidperiod. They try to dress it up with political, theological, or sociological arguments, but in the end, the core issue is that people are afraid of change and are struggling to hold on to the past. The solution that Catherine offers is not for us to deny the fear but to trust that God is at work, stay on mission, and then let love and justice roll. Be the change!

DR. ALEJANDRO MANDES, executive director of EFCAs All People Initiative; author of Embracing the New Samaria

If theres one thing we know our world needs, it is a fresh call for Christians to actively show and share what Jesus is like by the way we love one another and the way we love our neighbors. But as Catherine McNeil shows us in Fearing Bravely, we cannot step into neighbor love and great works of justice if we do not address our deep-seated fears. With the gentle voice of a pastor and profoundly insightful engagement with Scripture, McNeil shines lights on how our culture has taught us to be overly fearful of things and people, ignorant about what it is were truly afraid of, and not nearly fearful (in the sense of reverence) enough. Chapter by chapter, Scripture by Scripture, and story by story, Fearing Bravely invites us to look at God, the world, and ourselves with fresh eyes, so we may both be healed by and become ambassadors of Gods perfect love, which casts out fear.

BRONWYN LEA, author of Beyond Awkward Side Hugs

Catherine is a devoted follower of Jesus who seeks to see heaven on earth. Her commitment to the mission of God is not just theoryit is her lifestyle. Fearing Bravely: Risking Love for Our Neighbors, Strangers, and Enemies will encourage you to think and invite you to respond. You will be challenged. You will be inspired. You will be confronted. And it will be worth it. If you want to contribute to what God is already doing in this creation, I recommend you read this book.

HANIBAL RODRIGUEZ, senior pastor of Wheaton Bible Church