In the book, Kim helps you understand why it's hard to hear from God and gives helpful tips to deal with it. If you feel overwhelmed by social media or can't hear God in all the chaos, "Listen, Listen, Speak" gives good advice. Overall, if you want to grow spiritually in today's digital world, you should read this book. Kim shares her own experiences and gives smart advice, making it really useful for finding God's voice in a noisy world.

I was unable to finish this book before it was archived but what I did read was very thought provoking. A much needed book for our current culture. Well written and very encouraging to me. I will definitely be putting this on my list of to buy books.

Thanks to NetGalley and FaithWords For the ARC!

I really liked this book!

I’ve seen a few complaints about Jay Y. Kim’s "Listen, Listen, Speak" being “anti social media,” but I think that’s a reductionist—and frankly, ridiculous—take. In fact, he opens the book by recognizing that criticizing social media is “old hat.” Instead, I would say it’s more accurately about finding our bearing when we are so collectively unmoored.

Some books are great for building a reading list, and I feel that way about this one. Kim is very thoughtful and wide-ranging with his use of quotes and sources, and he mentions several books that I now want to read. Additionally, the prose is both approachable and engaging, and it’s peppered with immediately memorable and resonant lines. For example:

“While we dream of milk and honey in the Promised Land, God offers us daily bread.”

Great stuff.

Like many Christian books, this is discursively structured similarly to a sermon, where cultural examples and topics serve as object lessons to open discussion of scripture. With that in mind, I have slightly mixed feelings about the book’s organizing premise of the “noise” of modern culture—I’m not quite sure the impulse to be always-online is as simple as Kim suggests, but perhaps that’s beyond the scope of "Listen, Listen, Speak." I feel it works to open the conversation he maintains throughout the book, but it isn’t exactly a part of it. Depending on readers’ expectations, this could be a point of frustration.

Even so, there’s a lot to love here if you approach this book as a series of essays rather than chapters developing a shared theme. I also think Kim’s light touch with buzzwords like “outrage culture” may help people who would otherwise be disinclined to read something they deem political. Similarly, I can imagine the discussion on tribalism being received well by those who would normally resist it because Kim writes so graciously.

Why does it seem so hard to hear from God in a post-pandemic, post-truth world? How do we prepare our hearts and minds to hear from him, and how do we respond? Pastor Jay Kim lays out a simple framework for how Christians should respond to these questions: listen, listen, and speak. What makes this book especially poignant is the willingness of Kim to tie in the struggles and conflicts of his past and present in dealing with these topics. There is a loving sense of urgency to get Christians to wake up, seek God, and speak to the transformative power of God.

In the first part of the book, Kim describes how expressive individualism has become the defining characteristic of our society. Rather than finding unity in common causes or institutions, we instead place our hope in curating our personalities. As I and many other Christians would know, this empty and anxiety-inducing practice attempts to place control in our own hands. In this flawed world of our own creation, we become trapped and blind to the light of God waiting to illuminate our hearts.

How we approach the future is based on our surrender, and we can slow down our internal clock by praying to our timeless, eternal God. In responding to our need to be seen, Kim reminds us that God is close to us, and he sees us. Through him we can have a true sense of belonging.

In the second half of the book, Kim focuses on how, why, and where we can speak the truth of the gospel. There is so much practical wisdom in the section. Christians have an opportunity to bring the gospel to others, and how we interact with others is so important. Kim brings forth the idea that sharing how we came to believe in God will help non-Christians truly see both the vulnerability and victory we gained in Christ and better understand the path to Christ that can be theirs as well.

How do we speak biblically? Kim explains that we use the Word of God to show others that they are loved, that they have purpose, and that they have a better path forward. Our relationship with God informs how we listen and speak to others. When we do find God's voice, we will realize that he has been with us all along, guiding us and going before us. In Christ, we will have the confidence to speak the truth in a world that needs it.

Look, I wanted to like this one. I knew going into it there would be references to social media and trying to shut out the noise of our current culture so as to draw closer to God. However, what I didn't expect was the blatant bashing of social media. We live in a culture that isn't perfect, but we still have to live within it. I wanted to DNF this but pushed through and honestly felt more annoyed while reading 90% of the time than educated and inspired. A no for me unfortunately.

Solid content, but familiar for anyone who has any exposure to other books on Christian spirituality (slow down, step out of the noise to hear the still small voice, etc.)