Endorsements
Jesus commands us to love God with all our heart. And thats what Christine helps us to do in this penetrating and vulnerable book. Im sure I wont be the only reader who relates to Christines halting efforts to live joyfully for King Jesus. And Im sure I wont be the only one encouraged by her testimony to Gods faithfulness as he keeps his promises to never leave nor forsake us.
Collin Hansen , editorial director for The Gospel Coalition and author of Blind Spots: Becoming a Courageous, Compassionate, and Commissioned Church
Through vulnerable stories and candid confessions, Christines words had us nodding along. But she also gently beckoned us to evaluate our affections, giving Christ our full allegiancethe only One who can truly satisfy. These pages are truth-filled and encouraging! Were grateful for this book.
Emily Jensen and Laura Wilfer , cofounders of the Risen Motherhood ministry and coauthors of Risen Motherhood: Gospel Hope for Everyday Moments
Once again, Christine has pulled up a seat, opened her heart, and welcomed us into the very front row of her tensions. In a self-sufficient, driven culture we would much rather disengage, preserve our energy, and focus more on ourselves than lean into the tensions of growing pains. She challenges us to not only recalibrate our hearts with the kingdom of God but first start by openly confessing our desires to please ourselves more than pleasing the very God who saved our wretched souls. As a pastors wife, church planter, and a woman familiar with the exact struggles Christine has openly shared with us, I am deeply convicted and challenged to rethink and reassess my desires and priorities. This book will encourage, admonish, and lovingly remind us to realign our allegiance to King Jesus.
Elicia Horton , coauthor of Enter the Ring: Fighting Together for a Gospel- Saturated Marriage
The Lord knew I needed this book. My heart is constantly at war within itself: allegiance to the world or allegiance to King Jesus? He knew I would need a timely, fresh reminder that living submitted to his loving rule is best, bringing freedom and peace to my soul. Christine is a friend, a gifted writer, and a compelling and faithful Bible teacher. And God, through Christine, has given us a gift in With All Your Heart.
Kristen Wetherell , author of Fight Your Fears: Trusting God s Character and Promises When You Are Afraid and coauthor of Hope When It Hurts
With All Your Heart is a beautifully written call to action for the heart and mind of the believer. With her piercing transparency, sobering conviction, and hope-filled insights, Christine has provided a depth of theological richness, crafted in language we can all connect with.
Missie Branch , asst. dean of students to women, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary
The greatest paradox in Christianity is that the cross of Christ is also the throne of Christ. King Jesus reigns over sin and death from this place of pain and shame. The cross and the kingdom come hand in hand. In her new book, With All Your Heart: Living Joyfully through Allegiance to King Jesus , Christine Hoover lays bare the human heart and the various allegiances we must surrender in order to follow King Jesus. She does this by laying down and laying bare her own heart and soul, for the sake of her King and her neighbors. From the first page to the last, with words pregnant with affection and truth, she cries out in her wilderness: Prepare the way for the Lord!
Irene Sun , author of God Counts: Numbers in His Word and His World
Half Title Page
Previous Books by Author
From Good to Grace
Messy Beautiful Friendship
Searching for Spring
Title Page
Copyright Page
2020 by Christine Hoover
Published by Baker Books
a division of Baker Publishing Group
PO Box 6287, Grand Rapids, MI 49516-6287
www.bakerbooks.com
Ebook edition created 2020
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meansfor example, electronic, photocopy, recordingwithout the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file at the Library of Congress, Washington, DC.
ISBN 978-1-4934-2146-6
Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version (ESV), copyright 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. ESV Text Edition: 2016
Scripture quotations labeled NIV are from the Holy Bible, New International Version. NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com. The NIV and New International Version are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.
The author is represented by the literary agency of Wolgemuth & Associates, Inc.
Dedication
To my brothers and sisters of Charlottesville Community Church
Contents
Cover
Endorsements
Half Title Page
Previous Books by Author
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
Part One: A King and a Kingdom
1. Broken Hearts
2. Behold Your King!
3. Receiving the Kingdom of God
4. Resisting the Kingdom of Self
Part Two: False Kings
5. Anxiety
6. Image
7. Control
8. Escape
9. Isolation
10. Approval
11. Comfort
12. To Kingdom Come
13. On Earth As It Is in Heaven
Acknowledgments
Notes
About the Author
Back Ads
Back Cover
Part One: A King and a Kingdom
ONE
Broken Hearts
Grieved and starved.
Thats how my husband, Kyle, described our current state.
Wed been tracing the back roads on a scenic loop we take when we need to be together for a few moments without the kids. Rain splashed gray against the cars windshield, mirroring the dejection wed been laboring to diagnose in ourselves.
His words found their landing, and I knew them as true so deep inside that I instinctively doubled over into a wailing sob. My hands flew to my face, seeking to muffle the sound, as if by doing so I might stuff the emotions back inside or somehow hide they were there at all.
Grieved and starved .
Grieved, because after ten years of church planting, shepherding, cultivating deep relationships, and creating spaces for others to develop community among themselves, many of our closest friends had moved away, and we felt alone.
Starved, because we didnt merely feel alone; we also felt needy. We hungered and thirsted for even a crumb of encouragement or a caring gesture, or perhaps a break from the needs of others in order to experience renewal ourselves.
Id felt the clouds hanging over me for weeks, as had my husband, and for both of us to be discouraged at the same time was unusual. The depth to which Id felt it was also unusual, and Id waited and prayed for the clouds to passbut, as was made apparent by my uncontainable emotional outburst, I still hadnt been able to fully admit the extent of my pain or how scared I felt, knowing my typically stalwart husband was hurting as well.
I didnt want to admit the extent of my pain, because like most people I want to avoid sadness at all costs. But there was something elsesomething sinisterlaced in the sadness, and Id known its presence all along.