Top reviews from the United States

• 

  jmiss

  5 out of 5 stars

  Not a cross-cultural worker? This book is still for you.

  Reviewed in the United States on October 27, 2022

  Format: Kindle

  Verified Purchase

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  Not a cross-cultural worker? This book is still for you. Filled with cross cultural stories to illustrate points, Becoming More Fruitful is a great read for anyone following Jesus and desiring to grow more in walking in the fruit of the Spirit. This book brings a deeper understanding to what it really looks to walk in the Spirit and with that, freedom! This is a book to read slowly and reflect upon. It would be a great read in community. I know I plan to go back and spend more time reflecting on each chapter and the truths and insights each brings.

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  808Chinagirl

  4 out of 5 stars

  Quality or Quantity

  Reviewed in the United States on August 19, 2022

  Format: Kindle

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  Being on the field for over 20 years, I found mysef questioning my call to ministry everytime we had to give “numbers for spiritual conversations, studies, or decisions.” Was I doing “my job”? Is this really “my call”? Year in and year out, the same questions in different words.

  In Amy’s latest book, she helps the reader to understand that real fruitfulness is in your growing relationaship with God and your intentional participation and obedience to His will. Amy takes us through Galatians 5, the Fruit of the Spirit chapter, and divides it into three sections,,,upward, outward, and inward. As in her other books, she tells of personal experiences to bring her points home. Some stories will make you laugh, some will make you cry; but as you read them, you can relate to them through your own on-the-field trials and tribulations.

  Fruitfulness is not just for the cross-cultural worker. It is something that ALL Christians desire no matter where their “mission field” is. It could be in your workplace, in your neighborhood, or even in your church. We all can benefit from reading and meditating on Amy’s writings!

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• 

  Wendy Lorenz

  5 out of 5 stars

  Such a great book.

  Reviewed in the United States on October 28, 2022

  Format: Kindle

  Verified Purchase

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  I needed this book. It came at the perfect time for me, as I was working through a disagreement with a co-worker. God used it to show me the areas in my own life I needed to work on, the whole take a plank out of your own eye first.

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• 

  Michelle Marie

  5 out of 5 stars

  Pleasantly surprised

  Reviewed in the United States on August 18, 2022

  Format: Kindle

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  In the cross-cultural world that makes up the global church, the word “fruitfulness” is code word for “success by numbers” (of baptisms, churches planted, tasks performed for the gospel, money raised) that is cloaked in a overly spiritualized “faithfulness.” I’ll admit, I groan a little inside when Christian leaders talk about “fruitfulness.” I didn’t groan when I read this book. I was actually pleasantly surprised.

  In this book, Amy first takes us into the Galatian context and the letter that is written to them from which the “fruit” of the Spirit passage comes from. She reminds us that Paul’s letter to the Galatians is one of the first letters he wrote and is a “front row seat to discussions and choices that are familiar to cross-cultural workers the world over.” He could have said a lot of things, but he talks about fruit. Fruitfulness as it was always meant to be.

  What I appreciate about this book is how it speaks to the cross-cultural context, of which Amy comes from not from a theoretical perspective but as a practitioner, boots-on-the-ground, lived-and-learned kind of person. I cried, I laughed out loud (“justice for jello packets”), I empathized, and I felt like I was in the company of someone who “gets it.”

  In the introduction, Amy gives us these words, what I feel is a good summary of the whole book: “You are the field, you are the farmer, and you are the plant. But in the end, I come back to the simple metaphor that Paul used: fruit. As a follower of Jesus and because the Holy Spirit is in you, you can bear much fruit. What if it is possible to be like a bunch of grapes and have love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control at the same time? Paul longed for the Galatians to have the abundant life that Christ gives. He didn’t want them, or you, or me to bear fruit because it is “the right thing to do.” He wants us to bear fruit that is a result of choosing life over death, freedom over slavery, enjoyment over duty.”

  Amen. May it be so.

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• 

  Jessa R

  5 out of 5 stars

  A gentle challenge for all who minister

  Reviewed in the United States on August 22, 2022

  Format: Kindle

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  Becoming More Fruitful is reminiscent of a middle school science teacher calling out, "If you use the balance incorrectly, you won't find the data you're looking for and you may break the scale. Let me show you another way." Amy Young draws on her experience in cross-cultural ministry and a compelling exegetical and grammatical analysis of Galatians 6 to reshape the reader's understanding of the measuring stick Paul provides: the fruit of the Spirit. This is a great gift to all serving in ministry, professionally or voluntarily, cross-culturally or home-based; no matter the role, we can all learn from this fresh take on measuring success.

  This book reads like a series of conversations over coffee with a pastor or mentor, and that lends a sense of accessibility and grace to what could, in other hands, feel more like a scolding than an encouragement. Instead, Young invites the reader to rethink their metrics as they consider, "why this fruit, in this order?" My favorite part of Becoming More Fruitful is the prayer Young builds chapter by chapter. It is simple and practical, and yet it is a prayer I must return to again and again as I wrestle with my own humanity.

  The gentleness of Young's approach sometimes left me feeling a little disoriented within individual chapters. However, as I settled into the rhythms of Becoming More Fruitful, I found that this disorientation was part of what the Lord was doing to transform me through this book. My feelings of confusion had more to do with my own legalistic tendencies and expectations than with the content itself. I found myself wishing for a little more direction via centering questions or action-oriented headings because I wanted to know I was doing it right. But that's the thing--"doing it right" isn't the goal. Keeping in step with the Spirit is.

  Though Young is writing primarily for those in cross-cultural ministry contexts, Becoming More Fruitful has something for everyone serving in ministry. Her fresh take on the fruit of the Spirit will gently challenge--or joyfully confirm--the ways in which ministers of all kinds measure success.

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  Jessa R

  5 out of 5 stars

  A gentle challenge for all who minister

  Reviewed in the United States on August 22, 2022

  Format: Kindle

  Becoming More Fruitful is reminiscent of a middle school science teacher calling out, "If you use the balance incorrectly, you won't find the data you're looking for and you may break the scale. Let me show you another way." Amy Young draws on her experience in cross-cultural ministry and a compelling exegetical and grammatical analysis of Galatians 6 to reshape the reader's understanding of the measuring stick Paul provides: the fruit of the Spirit. This is a great gift to all serving in ministry, professionally or voluntarily, cross-culturally or home-based; no matter the role, we can all learn from this fresh take on measuring success.

  This book reads like a series of conversations over coffee with a pastor or mentor, and that lends a sense of accessibility and grace to what could, in other hands, feel more like a scolding than an encouragement. Instead, Young invites the reader to rethink their metrics as they consider, "why this fruit, in this order?" My favorite part of Becoming More Fruitful is the prayer Young builds chapter by chapter. It is simple and practical, and yet it is a prayer I must return to again and again as I wrestle with my own humanity.

  The gentleness of Young's approach sometimes left me feeling a little disoriented within individual chapters. However, as I settled into the rhythms of Becoming More Fruitful, I found that this disorientation was part of what the Lord was doing to transform me through this book. My feelings of confusion had more to do with my own legalistic tendencies and expectations than with the content itself. I found myself wishing for a little more direction via centering questions or action-oriented headings because I wanted to know I was doing it right. But that's the thing--"doing it right" isn't the goal. Keeping in step with the Spirit is.

  Though Young is writing primarily for those in cross-cultural ministry contexts, Becoming More Fruitful has something for everyone serving in ministry. Her fresh take on the fruit of the Spirit will gently challenge--or joyfully confirm--the ways in which ministers of all kinds measure success.

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• 

  HappyMommy

  4 out of 5 stars

  Making “fruitful”, **possible**

  Reviewed in the United States on August 20, 2022

  Format: Paperback

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  I was privileged to be able to read this book before it came out!

  I’m giving Becoming More Fruitful four stars because in my opinion it isn’t quite as well-written as Amy’s previous books (for example, Getting Started). That said, I loved reading all the anecdotes of life overseas and how the fruit of the Spirit is something we can cultivate through the Spirit whether or not we are in a “fruitful” season otherwise. It meets me where I’m at! I have a new perspective on the “fruit of the spirit” than I had before I read this book, and I’m grateful.

  This is a book I would recommend to people overseas who are overly focused on bearing much fruit outwardly rather than inwardly. Thanks for the beautiful new book, Amy!

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• 

  Faith

  5 out of 5 stars

  A call to intentionally develop fruitfulness

  Reviewed in the United States on August 17, 2022

  Format: Kindle

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  Several years ago, I added a “Fruit of the Spirit” module to my prayer app and prayed that God would develop the “fruit of the day” in me. It has been a refreshing practice. I had the opportunity to read Amy Young’s Becoming More Fruitful before it was released and looked forward to seeing her “take” on each fruit. I was not disappointed. She provides structure to the order in which Paul placed the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians and unwraps various ways each one can be demonstrated in our lives. I would have benefited from a book such as this as a new missionary. As a people care professional, I have seen both the quality and character of those who are intentionally developing these fruit and the fallout of those who have not.

  Amy quotes a biologist.” Making the vines struggle generally results in better quality grapes. … If you take a grapevine and make its physical requirements for water and nutrients easily accessible, then (somewhat counterintuitively) it will give you poor grapes.” Rocky soil forces a vine to grow deep roots and creates a condition that produces fruitfulness. Most of us can attest that our lives can be rocky, and it is in this context that we develop the fruit of the Spirit. In the years that I have been praying through each fruit, it has been during the very difficult seasons that these prayers have proved to be most, well, fruitful.

  Each chapter ends with a segment of prayer, one phrase added at the end of each chapter. This prayer may well be my favorite part of the book! I have added it to my daily prayers.

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• 

  Alicia

  5 out of 5 stars

  a must-read (especially for those in ministry)

  Reviewed in the United States on August 19, 2022

  Format: Kindle

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  As someone who regularly finds myself feeling defeated by "not doing a good enough job," I found this book a refreshing reminder to focus on what matters most. Sometimes we get so focused on measuring our worth based on our circumstances or our ministry numbers or how well our children are doing or how well those we're discipling are doing or... (etc. etc. etc.). And when circumstances and numbers and people fail us, we take it personally and mark it as our own failure.

  I appreciate how Amy walks us through the fruit of the Spirit, dividing them up in sections: upward, outward, and inward. Through personal stories and experiences, Amy reminds us time and time again of this truth: fruitfulness begins inside of us. Also, my mind was blown by what I learned about grapevines and how they bear fruit. It really shifted my perspective on how I view difficult circumstances and trials in my life.

  Suffice it to say, you won't regret having a copy of this book in your personal library. And it would be perfect to read and discuss in a book study if you're on a team!

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