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Maybe you're struggling with an eating disorder and feeling alone. Maybe you're supporting someone who's struggling and feeling confused. Either way, A New Name by Emma Scrivener is a must-have for your bookshelf this year.
Engagingly written, the pages of this book leave the reader in no doubt about the complexities that lie behind eating disorders, the huge battle that people with anorexia face but, most importantly, the real hope that lies in Jesus. By telling her story, Emma gives us all a glimpse into what it can feel like to be overwhelmed with the desire to control life by controlling food and the wonder of being able to break free.
Underlying the book there is an unshakable confidence that God is the ultimate life-changer who brings healing to his children. But there is no air of triumphalism or any hint that one simply needs to turn to Jesus and everything in life will be perfect. Her honesty about her ongoing struggles with the legacy of anorexia is a helpful reminder that all of us have challenges in this life that wont be solved this side of eternal bliss.
This book doesn't claim to be an "everything you need to know" text on eating disorders. Nor is designed to be a biblical treatise on pastoral care. It is, however, a powerful testimony to God's work in one person's life which will without doubt inspire and encourage those who struggle and those who support.
Why not buy a copy for yourself or as a gift for a friend.
It's already 20% off but for the next week you can get another 10% off. Just use the code newname at checkout.
Offer expires 21/09/12.
It’s often said that eating disorders are not so much a problem – but a solution. They are faulty ways of handling life with its stresses and disappointments. Instead of just kicking a habit, recovery means learning how to live - how to of relate to others, to God and to ourselves. This takes time and the support of a loving community – we can’t do it alone, and nor are we meant to.
Recovery is also about getting in touch with who you are or who we are called to be. For many of us, that's the problem! We have no idea. But with encouragement from Christ and His people , we can move forward. Not towards who we think we should be, or who others say we are. But to who He has created us to be.... continue reading
It can seem daunting to support someone with an eating disorder but there are plenty of things that people like you and I can do:
Supporting sufferers/families:
Don’t
If you’d met me seven years ago, you’d have seen someone who appeared to have it all together. A ‘successful’ Christian, newly married to a vicar in training. Leader of a thriving children’s ministry. A talented student with a bright future. Underneath however, the reality was very different: I was consumed by an eating disorder that would nearly kill me. So how did I get there – and what has helped to bring me out?
It started when I was thirteen. Up until then I’d had an idyllic childhood: I knew who I was and I knew where I belonged. But almost overnight, that started to change. My grandfather died. I moved schools. My body felt out of control: like a tanker, spilling flesh and hormones. In search of answers, I even started going to church.... continue reading
Around 1.6 million people in Britain are affected by eating disorders. 14-25 year-old girls are most at risk, but they also affect men and may develop during childhood or later in life.
Sufferers often have a distorted view of their shape and may try to manage their weight by over-exercising, making themselves sick, fasting for long periods or abusing laxatives. However, eating disorders are about more much than weight. They are ways of trying to manage deeper emotional and even spiritual issues.
What I mean by that is this: Eating disorders start and end with our hearts. Sure, we can throw in factors like celebrity role-models and media coverage. But they raise much bigger questions than whether or not our clothes fit. They’re about what it means to be human. What gives us identity and worth. Life and death and everything in-between. What we worship. Proverbs 14:12 says that ‘There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.’ Eating disorders do exactly this. They promise life – but take it from you instead.... continue reading
You know the feeling. You’re staring at a blank computer screen. The cursor flashes, begging for content... and Sunday is coming. For whatever reason it falls to you as the pastor / music director / song leader / cleaner / only one who has remembered.... to chose what to sing when the church gathers on Sunday. Your task feels harder than ever. You have access to more songs, in more songbooks, on more CDs and online than ever before. You’re aware of pressures from all sides to sing more or less of certain songs or styles. How do you cut through the noise and work out what to sing on Sunday? How will you structure your service and your singing to help your church family leave knowing and loving Jesus more?... continue reading
We're very excited! We're launching a new book on 22nd September... The Hard Corps written by Dai Hankey.
The Hard Corps takes a look at King David's Mighty Men, his elite soldiers. And encourages Christian men to think about what it's like to be a man of God now.
The picture below is a still from the trailer we're making with 2V Design. The full trailer will be out soon so do look out for it!
In the meantime you can pre-order copies in the UK and the USA.
But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions — it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith —and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
Ephesians 2 v 4-10
