The Gift of Thorns

Jesus, the Flesh, and the War for Our Wants

De: A. J. Swoboda

Narrado por: Tom Parks

Today's follower of Jesus exists at a moment in history when our desires, longings, and wants are being weaponized against us by cultural, spiritual, and relational forces. "Follow your heart" and "You do you" has become our moment's mantras. The result, for too many, is feeling torn asunder by the raging desires within. What do we do with our desire? What about our unwanted desires? And how do we cultivate desires which bring life and freedom and lead to Christ? The Gift of Thorns, by A. J. Swoboda, addresses these questions and more.

The path forward is anything but easy. It is assumed by too many in the Christian community that desire is in and of itself bad or dangerous and must be crucified for simply existing. Desire is demonic for some. But, for many others—particularly in the secular West—desire must be followed through and through. This side deifies desire. But these two options sidestep the joy in the great challenge of finding God in our desire. There exists an ancient and sacred way that is forged around the life, wisdom, and power of Jesus and his Spirit. In short, what makes a follower of Christ is not whether or not we have desires. Rather, it is what we do with the desires we have.

Near the end of the story of humanity's rebellion, the theme of "thorns" is introduced. As listeners will discover, the thematic repetition of "thorns" pops up over and over throughout the Bible. What are the thorns for? They will be, in the words of God, "for you" (Gen. 3:18). The premise of this book is that a world where we do not get all that we want is, well, the greatest gift ever.

©2024 A. J. Swoboda (P)2024 Zondervan

Desire ≠ Evil

AJ is such a talented writer and thinker. His writing comes across so vulnerable and experienced in each topic.

Excellent for a wide range of Audience

Swoboda reads as one who straddles the two worlds of pastor and academic. One part of him reads like a theologian with all of the appropriate sources as one who has been rolling in seminary circles a little too long :) . The other part of him reads like a pastor, full of one-liners, good illustrations, and well-crafted sticky sentences that stand out in the text. LOTS of chances to highlight and go back to chew on a concept. If you usually listen to these books on faster speeds, I would recommend slowing down a bit to metabolize the material... because it is really well written... packed tight without a lot of fluff. I admit I was hesitant going in, thinking this could be another contemporary neo-reformed iteration of total depravity... saying (in a nice way) that all of our desires are "good" but essentially detestable lol. I am SO GLAD to say that is not this book! He handles his topic VERY well and voices some much needed critique to the current understandings of the Christian's complicated relationship with desire. Well done.

Moving, brilliant, and most importantly, helpful!

Refreshing read, but not in a high energy, try to make you feel good in the moment way. Deeply helpful for me while in a challenging time.