I read Remarkable Faith years ago and still remember it! I think about Shauna's description of what life may have been like for some of the seemingly unremarkable people in the bible. She brought them to life for me and really helped me see that Jesus cared about everyone, even those society neglected. Shauna is an excellent writer and has a depth to her words that cause introspection but not judgement. I recommend this book to anyone wanting more insight into small characters of the bible.

Sometimes my faith needs a little jolt, a reminder that God is good and powerful. Sometimes the words of Scripture become too familiar and I need to hear them in a new and fresh way. If you are like me, this book is for you. But this book would be especially be excellent for a new Christian— someone who may be teeming with desire to know Scripture, but has rarely cracked open the Bible on his/her own. No matter who you are, Remarkable Faith cracks open the desire in us all to draw closer to Jesus, to fall in love with Him and the stories of faith that are recorded for us.

The chapters follow the same format: First, the story in its original format from the Bible. Then several pages of Shauna re-telling in her own words, making the characters come alive even more. This was my favorite part, giving me a new perspective and bringing to light things I had never thought about before. Following that, she writes a few pages of devotional thoughts, reflecting on how the story can change us.

There are eight stories of faith in the book: Weak Faith, Helpless Faith, Unworthy Faith, Suffering Faith, Distant Faith, Panicked Faith, Defiant Faith, and Flagrant Faith. If you were to ask my my favorite chapter, I wouldn’t be able to choose.

Perhaps what I loved most about this book is the care Shauna used to weave a story. While the Bible stories themselves are amazing, she weaved the words together to bring so much life to them. However, she was careful to record Scripture first, without any embellishments. She acknowledged the creative license she was taking as she expanded the story. She did an excellent job and I would highly recommend this book.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and Bible study that looked at eight "regular" people who encountered Jesus. Shauna goes beyond the words of scripture to imagine the lives, thoughts and actions of each of these people prior to their contact with Jesus and just after. Reading this book caused me to realize you don't have to do extraordinary things to be a person with extraordinary faith.

I was intrigued by this book when I saw it on NetGalley because I have tried to do my own retellings of Bible stories. After reading this, I see that I still have a long way to go.

Remarkable Faith contains eight retellings of various people who encountered Christ in the New Testament. The eight are:

- the father of the demon possessed boy (Mark 9:17-27)

- the paralysed man who was let down through the roof (Mark 2: 1-12)

- the Roman centurion (Luke 7:1-10)

- the hemorrhaging woman (Mark 5:21-34)

- the Samaritan Leper (Luke 17:11-19)

- the mother of the demon possessed girl (Matthew 15:21-28)

- blind Bartinaeus (Luke 18:35-42)

- the woman who washed Jesus' feet with her tears and anointed them with perfume (Luke 7:36-50)

Each retelling starts with the Biblical account, then the author's take, followed by a short reflection and a prayer. I found that these work very well as devotions and I read one or two of them a day. This is definitely a book you want to savour in small chunks rather than read in one go.

Remarkable Faith offers a fresh way of looking at these familiar stories that we may take for granted. The emphasis is on the grace of God, and it was something that I needed to hear right now.

Disclaimer: I got a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for a free and honest review.

A really interesting book. There are many encounters with people who had remarkable faith in the bible. They are short and without backstory.
This book helps you imagine that backstory and see how those people might have came to have their faith.

I really enjoyed reading through it.

Letellier has used her imagination in a godly way to draw readers into the stories of those who encountered Jesus. We get such a small glimpse of the people in the biblical story it is easy to pass them by. Here, Letellier has imagined their feelings and their desperation for a healing touch from Jesus. I like that she quotes the actual Bible passage before her imagined retelling of it. She adds an encouraging devotion on each story as well as a closing prayer.

I really like the insights Letellier has gleaned from these stories. For example, from the story of the woman with the issue of blood, we learn that she did not wait until she was well to go to Jesus. She went to Him broken, in need, and suffering. The devotional Letellier adds is a good encouragement for people who feel there is something keeping them from approaching Jesus or other Christians.

Letellier has done lots of research to create a realistic background for her stories. For example, in the story about the woman from Tyre, we learn about the murex sea snail and the purple die it emits. We also learn much about the worship of Melqart, the god of Tyre.

These are insightful stories of people desperate for a touch from Jesus. They showed remarkable faith and are good examples for us. We too can throw off our inhibitions and come with unabashed faith to Jesus.

I recommend this book to those who desire greater insight into the stories of Jesus and those He encountered. You'll get a good taste of bringing biblical stories to life through imagination.

I received a complimentary egalley of this book from the publisher. My comments are an independent and honest review.

Remarkable Faith

When Jesus Marveled at the Faith of Unremarkable People



by Shauna Letellier

FaithWords / Center Street

You Are Auto-Approved

FaithWords



Christian

Pub Date 11 Jul 2017

I am reviewing a copy of Remarkable Faith through FaithWords/Center Street and Netgalley:

This book reminds us of eight examples of faith, not by their names but their afflictions.

The Father of the demon possessed boy had enough faith to turn to Jesus to rebuke the demons.

The author points out that no one wants weak faith.

The Paralyzed Man had enough faith to turn to Jesus and believe he would heal him.

This book goes on to talk about Unworthy Faith.

We learn of Suffering Faith, and the Hemmoraging Woman, who had suffered with severe bleeding for twelve years.

We learn of the Samaritan Leper, who seeks out healing and the Mother of the Demon Possesed Girl who seeks healing for her daughter.

We learn of Blind Bartimaeus.

I give Remarkable Faith, five out of five stars.

Happy Reading!

The description of this book was the main reason I picked it up, however something was just missing from me to give it my full attention. I loved having the scripture and I really enjoyed the retelling of the story with more details. I could picture it happening and it just gave me a wonderful image of each Bible story. It was the application section that just fell flat for me. I didn't relate the story to the application. At times, it just seemed to not fit together. I actually felt that those sections were not needed because the stories had enough impact on their own. So that would be my only criticism. I would have liked those sections to tie together better or just not have them at all.

* I received this book from the author/publisher in exchange for an honest review *

A positive read...lifechanging. Have shared this book w/ all of my reading friends.