Deeper is a refreshing and empowering reminder that growth in Christlikeness is not about our own striving, but about resting in the finished work of Christ. I highly recommend this book to anyone looking to deepen their understanding of the gospel and grow in their walk with Christ.

Dane Ortlund does it again! I so appreciate his voice and how he shares about Jesus and Scripture!

Favorite book of 2021 was “Gentle and Lowly” but I would recommend this one right after! So much wisdom in this for those of us wanting to grow as believers!!

Dane Ortlund is a gifted writer. He takes the complex topic of sanctification and writes about it beautifully. I highly recommend this book. It’s refreshing, convicting, and reminds us to look to Christ more often than ourselves. Christ is our sanctification, by no works of our own.

Dane Ortlund is the author of one of my favorite devotional books, "Gentle and Lowly." While that book was more for the every-man, "Deeper: Real Change for Real Sinners" feels like it's more for the theologian or seminarian. According to Ortlund, "the basic point of this book is that change is a matter of going deeper" (p. 5). In this book, he definitely gives you a deeper understanding of who Jesus is: unsearchable, ruling, saving, befriending, persevering, interceding, returning, and tender. This is an excellent book for anyone who wants to know Jesus in a more personal way.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

For us to have any chance of seeing God, we must starve our sinful nature.

Oh to see God and behold His glory. There are no words that can describe God's glory but we feel it. We feel that there is more. It has been said and I believe it, that we were created for more. The more is God himself. But we get lost in our own sinful desires, lusts, fears, insecurities, etc. The list goes on. This text is gold. Ortund's teaching recognizes who we are before a Holy God and reminds us that it is not a fast walk to arrive. It is a lifestyle, decisions that are made every day, the mundane to the biggest days of our lives.

What I got most from this text is not the focus on me but on Christ. Ortlund says, do not take up your time so much with studying your own heart as with studying Christ's heart. For one look at yourself, take 10 looks at Christ. Looking at Christ helps you see.

1) His righteousness, not your rebellion.
2) His faithfulness, not your failure
3)His beauty, not your burden.
There are 7 more but I am not going to give it away. The book is worth your reflection on a great and good God.

A special thank you to Crossway Books and Netgalley for the ARC and the opportunity to post an honest review.

"Do you want to grow in Christ? Never graduate beyond the gospel. Move ever deeper into the gospel."

"What is the Bible? It is your greatest earthly treasure. You will stand in strength, and grow in Christ, and walk in joy, and bless the world no further than you know this book."

This wasn't a huge theological treatise, it was a hard-hitting, easy to read but wonderfully deep nine chapters on growing deeper into Jesus. It was good for people like me, who have been following Jesus for many years, and I imagine it will be good for those just starting out. I imagine I will be referring back to this book for a refresh button from time to time. I saved a bunch of nuggets in my highlights, but instead of sharing them all, I'll just encourage you to grab this book.

I received an ecopy of Deeper from Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review, but all opinions are my own.

A good follow up to his book, Gentle and Lowly, focusing more on our response to the idea that God loves us.

I took my time through this book, savoring the knowledge that Dane brought forth. He makes excellent points to grow deeper in your relationship with God. It was nice to read this balanced prespective and not some “new age-y” kind of thing. The key is scripture and getting into His Word, as Dane states in this quote: “So as you seek to grow in Christ by becoming a deeper human, accept and embrace the truth that you will go deeper with Christ no further then you go into Scripture.” And: “To read Scripture is to read of Christ. To read it is to hear his voice.”

I highlighted a lot more, but just know there is a lot of good stuff in here and if you want to grow deeper this is a launching point, not a landing. The Word of God is our landing.


A copy of this book was given to me through Netgalley. All opinions are my own.

Often, a book doesn't truly match its description. That isn't the case here.

Deeper really does seek to make the case "that a believer's sanctification does not happen by doing more or becoming better, but by going deeper into the wondrous gospel truths that washed over them when they were first united to Christ."

If I had not first read Gentle and Lowly by the same author, I think I would have struggled through Deeper, perhaps setting it down a few chapters in and returning months later. It's dryer and, unlike Gentle and Lowly, I did not find myself underlining/highlighting anything. That said, it is a decent follow-up for those who enjoyed Gentle and Lowly and want to read more from Dane Ortlund.

This book is a book you have to read 3-5 times. Everything is laid out so beautiful and makes you think about every sentence that is written. Scripture fills this book and the humble words bring this book to life on who Jesus really is. I recommend this to anyone in the Christian faith.

When I read a book I’m going to review, I usually read it pretty fast. However, this is a book to be savored. It is rich and deep and thought provoking. It is gentle and convicting. It puts words to things I know to be true but hadn’t thought of. It is very helpful and encouraging.

Ortlund writes, “We walk along, building a sense of self through all the feedback pinging back at us. We don’t even realize we’re doing it” (location 964). How true! He goes on to say that “one vital aspect of growing in Christ is coming back time and again to the doctrine of justification to do chemotherapy on the remaining malignancies of our craving for human approval” (location 945). When we remember and think on the extreme lengths Jesus went to to save us, it changes us.

There were so many helpful things in this book. I’ll share just one more special quote. “What we must see is not only that Jesus is gentle toward you but that he is positively drawn toward you when you are most sure he doesn’t want to be. It’s not only that he is not repelled by your fallenness–he finds your need and emptiness and sorrow irresistible” (location 237). What a Savior!

Thank you to Crossway for providing me with a free e-copy of this book. I will read it again and again. I’d highly recommmend it. All opinions are my own.

"...the message of this book is that the way we grow is receiving the heartfelt love of Jesus."

How do we grow in our Christian faith? We focus on loving Jesus with our whole heart. Deeper by Dan Ortlund, leads us through getting our hearts prepared to love God more and why that is the first step in Christian growth. This was a more theological based book than I normally read and as such, took me longer to absorb. But it is filled with solid, biblical truths. Take your time, and explore the themes of this book.

Thank you to #netgalley and #Crossway for this free copy of #Deeper in exchange for a honest review.

This book is amazing, one of the most interesting new books I've read. Although the author doesnt address any topic that is new, the way this author explains things is superior to any other resource I'm aware of. This is definitely a must read

Deeper by Dane C. Ortlund is such a wonderful book, just like all others of Ortlund's books. In Deeper, Dane C. Ortlund writes about how a believer can grow deeper in their knowledge and relationship with Christ. This is done beautifully by looking at what Christ has done for us so that we need not do more or become better, like today's world tells us. Instead, we need to look to Christ and just grow deeper in Him. This was a beautiful read that spoke so much to my perfectionist soul. I think this is a good read for every believer.

Deeper
Real Change for Real Sinners
by Dane. C. Ortlund
Pub Date 14 Sep 2021
Crossway
Christian


I am reviewing a copy of Deeper: Real Change for Real Sinners through Crossway and Netgalley:



In Deeper Pastor and best-selling author Dane Ortlund offers words of encouragement to those seeking to grow deeper in their faith. In this book
the author makes the case that sanctification is not accomplished by doing more or becoming better, but by going deeper into Christ himself.





This book reminds us that an idol is not simply what we worship, but what we trust. We are reminded too that committing adultery is breaking the commandments just as committing idolatry is.



Deeper is a beautiful, yet easy to read primer grounded in the glowing center of Christianity our Lord Jesus. It becomes easy to think that as we grow as Christians, we move on to ‘higher things’ (whatever that means!), when in fact we simply need to learn the beauty and depth of Jesus and all that he’s done for us.



I give Deeper five out of five stars!



Happy Reading!

How does change happen in our lives? For Christians, change is a promised part of our life. We are not only saved from sin through Jesus, but we are also being transformed into His likeness. However, the intricacies of that change are hard to understand. I have watched friends struggle with a sinful behavior that they don't understand why they can't stop; I've seen pastors perpetually wondering why they aren't seeing people in their congregation grow and mature in their faith. The prevailing prescriptions for this conundrum have been primarily behavior-based--find a friend to hold you accountable, add more application to sermons so people will be encouraged to make changes in their lives--but in this book, Ortlund argues that effective change comes not as a result of focusing on our behavior, but rather as a result of looking toward Jesus, receiving his love, and remembering the beauty of gospel.

This was a delight to read for me as the idea of sanctification is something is regularly talked about at my local church, and as a perfectionist, I've often struggled with wanting to change and not knowing exactly how it happens. In my experience, it is rare to find a Christian book that addresses change and sanctification without an emphasis on our behavior, and it is encouraging to read because it reminds us that we can't change our own hearts no matter how many tools and resources we might have. I hope it will also be encouraging for pastors who deeply desire to change in their congregations, that they will be reminded that they can be faithful in preaching the gospel and encouraging their congregation to look towards Jesus, and also know that God is working to change hearts and sanctify the lives of the believers in the congregation.

A big thank you to Dane Ortlund, Crossway, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and honestly review this book.

This book is a wonderful resource to every christian. It felt more like a study to me for it is so rich. Many times I’ve found myself reading and needing to pause to meditate. As the title says, the book is a journey to deepen your relationship with Jesus.
Loved it!

I am grateful to net galley.com and Crossway for an advance review copy of this book which has in no way influenced the content of the review.

I was excited to read this book, taking it to be a follow up to "Gentle and Lowly" which was one of the best books I read in the past year. Given the level of excitement I suppose its inevitable that this book in some way fell a little bit short, it didn't grab me as gentle and lowly did, it didn't draw me in the same way the first book had.

In saying that there is much to commend this book to readers, it is full of insightful, biblical advice to enable us to go deeper in our relationship with Jesus reminding us of who he is and the benefits that our faith has. In that sense this book is a helpful counter to much of popular Christian culture today which tells us to try harder, to keep more rules, this book rather than going down that road encourages us to go deeper in our walk with Jesus.

This book is well worth reading and I recommend it warmly to you.

This new book by Dane Ortlund is a worthy follow-up to his award winning Gentle and Lowly. The topics in this book are more expansive -- dealing with the key issues of the Christian life. Each chapter powerfully digs into the struggles we face-- and drives us to how the Lord meets us in the midst of them all. I highly recommend this book -- it is superb,

Dane C. Ortlund books are inspiring and insightful with a healthy biblical foundation and Deeper is not the exception, it's so beautiful . Through the pages of this book Dane C. Ortlund leads you to the answer of How do christians grow?, He won't give you an formula to follow but He will encourage you and lead you to the truth and only source for our spiritual growth. He talks about the process of santificación and how we try to work in our sanctification working harder leaning on our own strength and not in God. Reading this book was so confronting, comforting and encouraging. I highly recommend it.
I received an advance copy of the book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange of my honest review.