40 Loaves

Title: 40 LOAVES: Breaking Bread with Our Father Each Day
Author: C. D. Baker
Publisher: WaterBrook Press
November 2009
ISBN: 978-0-307-44490-5
Genre: Inspirational/nonfiction

Why don’t I have more faith?
Why am I so bored with Jesus?
Why are Christians so hard for me to like? (from the back cover)

If these are questions that you’ve asked, maybe 40 LOAVES should be a book for you to consider. It seems that there are so many questions that we’re not supposed to ask when playing by the religious rules. Christianity makes people uncomfortable. And asking hard questions about the subject, even more so.

But did you ever notice that Jesus asked questions, even while inviting them? Are you afraid to ask God about what is bothering you?

C. D. Baker maintains that while asking is risky, it is even more risky to continue trying to get by without knowing. So, Mr. Baker began by asking 40 soul-searching questions which ultimately taught him more about God than he ever expected.

I thought that 40 LOAVES would be a devotional type book when I requested it for review, but it is not. This would be the ideal book to give to someone asking hard questions about God or life. Questions like:

Why do I want Jesus in my life?
Why can’t I overcome sin in my life?
Why do I get so angry with God?
Why don’t I have more faith?
Why am I so afraid of death?
Why does God seem so silent in my life?

And many more.

40 LOAVES will surely be a book that is helpful in answering these questions, and making God more clear to you. Little prayers are included in each section, as well as questions for you to ask yourself. $14.99 hardcover. 162 pages.

Summary:

Why don’t I have more faith?

Why am I so bored with Jesus?

Why don’t I feel connected at church?

These are the types of questions the religious establishment often makes it uncomfortable, if not impossible, to ask. And by asking them, C. David Baker, author of 40 Loaves: Breaking Bread with Our Father Each Day hopes to start a conversation in people’s hearts, then with others, and ultimately with God. Many circles of Christianity have led us to believe that certainty and confidence are the proof of true spirituality; questions are discouraged.

But Jesus offered his followers an ongoing conversation—a relationship built around a free, open-ended discussion. Questions were encouraged. They were often impertinent, sometimes alarming, and the religious establishment was distinctly uncomfortable with them … just as it is today.

“40 Loaves is something of a collection of the kinds of questions I felt finally free to ask of myself and of my relationship with Christ,” says Baker. “It’s my belief that these questions are shared by many others who long for the freedom to simply ask them out loud. I hope this book becomes a platform that frees others to search their hearts more deeply and be fed with the Bread of life.”

Each “loaf” here is a big question that stimulates discussion, investigation, and contemplation; it will take hours—or days—to digest. Conversational, inviting, disarming, and real, 40 Loaves nourishes self-examination and offers validation for those who feel discouraged, guilty, or even shamed when the realities of their lives don’t match up with the ideals of the Christian establishment.

Author Bio:

C. David Baker founded an award-winning business before redirecting his career to write full-time from his small farm in Bucks County , Pennsylvania . He is the author of eight books, including six novels, one of which was nominated for a Christy Award. He has contributed articles to the Christian History Institute’s international publication Glimpses, and to Christian Singles magazine. Baker has a Master’s degree in theological studies from the University of St. Andrews in Scotland .