‘Detox…for the Overly Religious’ by David Putman – Book Review

How many times have people become Christians, then find themselves following rules and regulations more than Jesus Himself?  It happens over and over again; we as humans have that tendency to want to rely on rules rather than to develop a relationship with Jesus.

David Putman, who is the pastor at Mountain Lake Church in Atlanta, GA, found that he was falling into that trap.  His heart cry is to rediscover the simplicity of Jesus, and he wrote ‘Detox…for the Overly Religious’ to help his readers do that.

This book is broken down into three sections:

Book One: Living Like Jesus Lives

Book Two: Loving What Jesus Loves

Book Three: Leaving What Jesus Leaves Behind

I found this book to be very rich and loaded with valuable information.  I have a habit of sticking post-it notes slices on the pages I want to refer back to; this book is loaded with them!  Here’s a paragraph from one of those pages:

The kingdom Jesus spoke about is not complex or mysterious, even though it contains mystery.  It is simply my life lived God’s way in full surrender to him in the context of his people and his mission….When our mission is to discover Jesus in every interaction throughout the day, we live in his kingdom.  When we realize that Jesus lived his life so we might see how to live our lives, we approach his kingdom.  When we live like Jesus, love like Jesus, and leave what Jesus left behind, we are furthering his kingdom. (p. 41)

In Chapter 18, ‘Disciples…You’ve Got to Be One to Make One,’ Pastor Putman makes this observation:

As I traveled across the country, in many ways it felt as if I was preaching the gospel to the church and people were hearing it for the very first time.  The truth is that many of us are hearing it for the first time in a long time.  Followers of Jesus all over the country are ready to rediscover Jesus.  They are embracing the message and are moving toward missional lives with excitement and new energy.  People everywhere want to know how to leave their religion behind and start living missionally.  The church as we know it is prime for this kind of conversion. (p. 175)

The Lord has been showing me again and again in many different forms – books, friends, church messages, etc… - that He wants me – and all of us - to be free.  It is the spirit-filled and joyful way to live!

‘Detox….for the Overly Religious’ includes discussion/study questions at the end of each chapter, as well as a page for ‘Thoughts, Prayers, and Doodles on the Jesus Way.’  I think this book would be wonderful for both new believers and people who have been Christians for a long time that need to get religion out of their system.  The study can be done individually or in a group setting.  I have been so touched by this book, and plan to refer back to it again and again – until it is completely in my system!

I am so grateful for Pastor Putman bringing us back to the essence of Christianity – following Jesus – and providing us with examples from his life and a real-life blueprint for how to do that.  I think the Lord wants us to come back to Himself, and I appreciate Pastor Putman showing us that we need to “lose our religion and rediscover Jesus – simple and yet profound, and all we need to be free” (from back cover).

You can order a copy of this book here.

This book was provided to me by B&H Publishing Group for review purposes.