Rating 3.5 Stars

You are now together with Christ...yet apart. There are those who seem to project that they are completely satisfied in their relationships with God. They seem to ecstatically enjoy God's presence in full and give you the impression this is what a relationship with God should and must look like. And then there are those of us who very much feel apart. We drink from the cup. We believe He is real; we believe He is coming for us... but sometimes we doubt. Sometimes we don't feel anything toward Him. Does He really love us? Given how unfaithful we can be in the waiting, we wonder if it's even possible. This "apartness" is what, as spiritual misfits, I believe you and I can sense. When we feel something is missing, we're right. When we yearn for more and feel frustrated, we are justified. When we see others seemingly satisfied with the fullness of their relationship with God, telling us we should feel the same, we may rightly feel; guarded.

If you do not know who Brant Hansen is, he is one of the DJ's of K-love radio. A national syndicated Christian radio station. They are supported by their listeners with a encouraging word and music. Something I did not know is that Hansen is a introvert with Asperger's syndrome. Another words, he struggles his emotions. He does not have them. I found him very black and white and extremely funny. And I appreciate his struggle.

This is not a theological text but more of his personal experience and how his faithfulness in a God that loves with compassion, with faithfulness, mercy, and justice. It is not a love based on emotion but how well we love others and how well we love others, we love Him.

I empathize with his struggle so I have a strong appreciation for our feelings vs. our faithfulness. They are two separate things. We may not feel like being obedient but in obedience to who God is our faithfulness is what he desires. It is by faithfulness that we are pleasing to him. It is by faithfulness we love others well. Our faithfulness starts by knowing him well in his word and thru community of other believers. Hansen shares all this in his text and reminds us of what really matters. And along the way, he shares a part of his life with humor and maybe we are all not that different.

A Special Thank You to Thomas Nelson Publishing and Netgalley for the ARC and the opportunity to post an honest review.

I enjoy listening to Brant Hansen on the radio. In our area he's a D.J. on Star 93.3 in the morning, with his partner Sherri. He's funny and insightful, with a unique perspective. All of those traits come through in his writing. Blessed are the Misfits is a quick and enjoyable read, with a good dose of observation and wisdom. As an introvert, I appreciate Hansen's revelations on how difficult it is for introverts to be part of the modern church. But I especially value the chapter called "Blessed are the Perpetual Strugglers." He says, "The struggle means God is still working in you." I love this because I like knowing that God is working 'in' me not on me. I'm not his project, I'm his child who he loves. Brant tackles some tough topics like depression, the inability to pray, skepticism, and loneliness. I recommend this book for anyone who wants a better understanding of people and those who assume all people are okay in an extrovert world. If you're a misfit, read this book. If you're not, read it anyway and understand those of us who are. 5 stars. I received this book for free.

Blessed are the Misfits by Brant Hansen is the author's latest book. I've listened to the author's radio shows for years and have always been struck by his ability to simultaneously make me laugh and touch my heart. Here, in Blessed are the Misfits, Brant shows how Christ came and recruited not the religious perfect people but those no one wanted. He came for the misfits, those who don't fit it. Brant shows the wonderful simplicity of the Gospel message and of what Christ wants from us. What I love most about this book is that the simplicity of the Gospel message is what gives it such power in our lives. But I think my favorite message that Brant brought out was this-- Christians should be the most full of joy and the most able to laugh in this life, because we "know how this ends." If you are looking for a book to better understand Jesus and what he means to your life, pick up this book. It is great for anyone to pick up and enjoy-- both longtime followers of Jesus and those who don't know Him at all. And that is what I love most about it-- it is perfect for anyone and is life-changing in its message. I highly recommend it! I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for my honest review.

This book is amazing. It’s well-written, immensely helpful, and relevant to me. I am a misfit because, like Brant Hansen, I am an introvert and I prefer logic over emotion. This puts me at odds with popular Christianity.

But Hansen shows how throughout the Bible, God never chooses the most qualified, strongest, most charismatic people, but instead, the misfits, the weak, the unqualified. This is good news because as Hansen says, sometimes misfits can start to wonder if God really loves them. For instance, some Christians talk about “hearing God,” but that only makes others wonder, “If I don’t hear or feel God, am I missing something?”

If you’ve ever heard Hansen on his radio show on WayFM, then you’ll recognize his voice in this book. He has a great sense of humor, but still isn’t afraid to delve into difficult subjects. He’s very personal in this book and tells stories of terrible experiences in his past, and he talks about his struggles with Asperger Syndrome.

I can relate to his stories about introversion. At one point, he talks about deciding to skip a self-defense class. He says, “Apparently I want to escape from people so badly that I escaped from the class that teaches people how to escape from people.”

I learned a lot from this book, and I couldn’t stop reading it. I learned about theology, the Bible, psychology, and the culture of ancient Israel. Hansen weaves all this in to his main points.

Here are a few of the subjects discussed in the book. Repentance is not an emotion, it’s a choice. Blessed are the people who can’t pray big fancy prayers out loud. Dissatisfaction can actually be a good thing. It’s possible to be joyful even if struggling with depression and feelings of failure. Blessed are the skeptical Christians. The wounds of our past can turn to blessings. Blessed are the misfits, and it turns out, we’re all misfits.

Brant is a quirky, honest, and at his core - the pinnacle of every typical Christian who feels like they're missing the story that everyone else sees. How is it that so many other people feel God, make believing seem like breathing, and yet I can't get it together?

He really stepped up his writing game from "Unoffendable" with this book. With that storytelling narrative we've come to love, he also found a way to wrap it all together to speak about some of the most difficult topics nobody likes to discuss. Prayer, honesty, telling the whole story - these are topics I've definitely thought about but never seen discussed and Brant did it seamlessly.

Overall, it's an amazing book if you've ever felt on the outside looking in. As someone with Asperger's, it also gave me a window to his struggle with the condition beyond what he talks about on the radio. An authentic, true conversation about real faith.

I think my favorite thing about Brant, is he isn't a pastor who can speak whatever he wants too and has no concern about it impacting his church family. I love people like this because they are the type of people who can meet you for a soda, speak profound truth, help you walk through it, and then moves on to help someone else. And if you need him, he will come back for another soda and conversation. That is how I felt about this book. We are misfits and the sooner we realize this, the quicker we can get to understand the blessings that the Lord gives us and why He gives them to us...to be a blessing misfit to another misfit. Thank you Brant for diving into this chaos and bringing beauty out of it.

I have never enjoyed a ‘religious’ book as much as I have this one. Brant’s brand of humor is just off enough to make sense and encourage anyone. Rethinking our traditions and motivations is always healthy and Brant does it inoffensively.

I enjoyed this book so much that I started listening to Brant's podcast, bought his other book Unoffendable, and began following on Twitter as soon as I finished reading. I went from having never heard of him to being a huge fan. Plus, he liked one of my retweets, so I'm pretty sure we're best friends now. I think that's how it works.

Growing up in an evangelical church, I always felt a bit out of step, but I worked so hard to have that feeling that seemed to make everyone else so sure and so happy and so ready to walk up to total strangers and lead them down the Roman Road. I asked again and again why certain talents and gifts were valued over other quieter, solitary ones, and I never got an answer that felt right. Being told that I needed to pray harder or live more righteously just left me defeated because I felt like I was already working so hard at everything. I loved God, and I believed in Him, but I wasn't sure the church had a place for me.

Years later, as a married woman, I found that my husband was also striving for this feeling that rarely, if ever, happened, and we shared that with each other and kept quiet with anyone else. That isolation, much more than the lack of "feeling", has made church life hard for us. We're definitely misfits, and Brant speaks to that so well. I felt understood and seen in a way I've wanted to feel in church for so long. It's made me think a little differently about how I can participate in church, and it's given me hope.

We all like to think of ourselves as unique individuals. In wanting to be accepted, we often reveal only those part of us that appear to align with general opinion. In truth, many of us struggle with projecting our true selves only when we feel safe. At other times, we hide. We keep our innermost thoughts and feelings to ourselves. Lest someone finds out and we risk becoming a misfit, a pariah, a marginalized member of any community. Many years ago, I came across a book by John Powell entitled, "Why am I Afraid to Tell You Who I Am?" His basic argument is that people are afraid to reveal their true selves because they fear rejection if they do so. People may not like their honesty and they fear being put aside if their feelings or thoughts do not match the majority view. The truth is, many of us if we truly reveal ourselves, we might even be classified a "misfit." This is not something to be ashamed about. In fact, author Brant Hansen writes to such people that they are blessed. In doing so, Hansen is telling us that it is ok to be ourselves, even though the world around us seemed unable to fit us into its mold. The fear of being left out is more common than we may think. Fears that include:

Not having figured out what we want in life;
Unsure about our faith in God or whether God still loves us;
Uncertainty whether people will accept us for who we are;
Being sidelined when our views are in the minority;
Holding unpopular opinions;
Having doubts but afraid to share them aloud;
Inability to deal with awkwardness when there are opportunities to share the gospel;
Feelings of being a spiritual failure;
...



Some of the chapter titles can be very provocative. For instance, the "Blessed are the Imposters" may seem downright weird or even wrong to begin with. Actually, it is about the thoughts of perfectness we often superimpose on other people, making them too perfect. We think they know what they are doing. We imagine they had it all going and planned out. We presumed they had everything neatly thought out and fitted together. Truth is, we are all works in progress. We don't have everything under control. More often than not, we are not in control at all. It is what Hansen calls "imposter syndrome" where people are not as intelligent or as perfect as we paint them out to be. This is a book for the rest of us who live seemingly ordinary and mundane lives. We are not alone in our daily struggles. We don't have to be in control of everything in order to live meaningfully. We are very much broken people living in a broken world. If that is the case, why impose unhelpful expectations on people? Why stress ourselves and worry about whether we will make it perfect or not? Why don't we learn to accept ourselves as Jesus has accepted us? After all, Jesus didn't wait for us to be perfect or holy before coming to earth. When we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. God knows that on our own we will never succeed. He came that we may have life through Him and to live life abundantly. Whether we are broken, imperfect, inadequate, weak, marginalized, out of favour with certain groups, whatever misfit situation we might be in, Hansen has this encouragement for us: "You are blessed."

Sometimes, we beat ourselves blue when trying to achieve something good. We get red-faced when things do not go our way. We may even feel inadequate like green-horns especially when we stand beside successful people or high achievers. Until we realize that they too are very ordinary people like you and me. Like photoshop and computing touchup that makes someone too good to be true, we often superimpose our expectations of perfection on others. In doing so, we make someone out to be what they are not. Worse, when they fail to meet our expectations, we become disappointed. We get depressed thinking that if such 'perfect' people are unable to meet the mark, what about us? Hansen gives us a lot of down to earth food for thought, that it is ok to be ordinary. It is ok to be less than what we hope to be. It is ok to be a misfit in society. For all we know, we are all misfits waiting to be accepted. If Jesus had accepted us for who we are, who are we to reject ourselves?

Brant Hansen is an American radio personality who is passionate about healing ministries for children. As an advocate for CURE, he has been an outspoken voice for the ordinary guy out there. If you think you are down and out, discarded and marginalized, Hansen will be that friend for you.

Rating: 4 stars of 5.

conrade
This book has been provided courtesy of Thomas-Nelson and NetGalley without requiring a positive review. All opinions offered above are mine unless otherwise stated or implied.

We’ve never met, but Brant Hansen and I are great friends. We’ve never hung out, never spoken with one another, and don’t really have a clue who the other is, but we’re super tight. Okay, we exchanged a couple tweets back when I reviewed Unoffendable, copies of which I subsequently purchased for others and continue to promote every time someone looks at my library, takes one of my courses, or mentions US politics (so, like, every day). (Yes, I just unashamedly dropped a serious book plug in a review for another book. It happens.) But really, we’re brothers, and really get one another. Of course, since we’ve never had a real conversation you may be skeptical of my claims. I understand. But I just read Blessed Are the Misfits: Great News for Believers who are Introverts, Spiritual Strugglers, or Just Feel Like They’re Missing Something, and I’m pretty sure he’s been spying on me for a few decades and has used some sort of alien technology to tap into my brain and emotions (or lack thereof). Whatever the means, he knows me, and I know him.

If you want to know us—if you want to get us—read this book. If you want to relate, commiserate, and/or illuminate, read this book. If you’re not sure, read this book. Basically, read this book.

Introverts, logicians, autistics, head-cases, odd-balls, the lonely, normal people who know everyone else is weird: This book is for us. God loves us. Prepare to get got, and maybe even learn something about yourself along the way.

Extroverts, emotional nutcases, emoji lovers, the always smiling, hands-in-the-air-jumping-up-and-down-mega-church-praise-teams, people who know why “the CW” still produces shows and why people watch them: This book is for you. God loves you, and he wants you to know he loves us, too. Prepare to get us (or not…that’s cool, too), and love your fellow brother/sister with deeper understanding (or just love us…that’s cool, too).

That’s all you need to know. The rest is in the book. So…I guess wait until it’s published on November 28, 2017 (sorry, duplicating mine would get me into some serious trouble), or preorder it to make those numbers spike on release day (that’s a good thing for authors and publishers), or just go buy it now (if you’re reading this after 11/28/17, obviously).

Thanks again, Brant, for another gift from your God-given gift. I’m glad you listened to your friends and endured the self-effacing writing process to bless us with one more.

God bless all us misfits who only fit because Jesus perfectly shapes us. (Newsflash: We’re all misfits.)

*I received a temporary, unpublished digital copy for review from W Publishing Group via NetGalley.

This book is great for anyone who feels they are too little or too much for modern church culture. It covers everything from faith in depression to just being an introvert in general. I loved the author's transparency. This is one that will stick.

My name is Caitlin and I'm a misfit.

That's how I feel after reading this book. This book is for those of us that feel like we don't quite fit in or add up to what Christians are 'supposed to be'. We're the ones that struggle to pray beautiful prayers, to go out and evangelize, or at times to even believe in God. As I was reading this book, I felt like I was reading a letter from a close friend. I love Brant's writing style. It was so easy to read. He's very direct and explains everything simply. There were parts that made me cry because I finally realized I wasn't the only one feeling the way I was feeling. His book reminds us that God chooses the weak, the underdogs, the left-out, and the misfits to do amazing things for God's Kingdom. Flaws and all. If you've ever felt like that, then read this book for a dose of hope.

Like an honest conversation with an old friend, long into the night. Grab some toast and brew another pot of coffee, you need to hear this...

The writing is easily readable. It was a pleasant surprise to realize i knew who the author was from his radio work.

I was having a low point when I decided to click “Read Now” on this book on NetGalley, and I’m glad I did. You know those books that make you feel like someone has reached deep into that lonely, aching place of your heart and given it that extra special squeeze it so desperately needed, well, this is one of those books.

I didn’t know anything about the author, Brant Hansen, before choosing this book to read. I found out through reading it that the author is speaking from many of the perspective’s he’s writing to, he’s a misfit just like us. Dealing with Asperger’s syndrome, nystagmus and being an introvert, he’s able to come alongside the misfit believers and talk to us in a way others cannot. It was clear from the title that the misfits were meant to represent those who struggled to feel that they were connecting with God spiritually. They didn’t understand emotional worship, they thought they were missing something when they saw other believers who seemed to “have it” and they didn’t get why they were so introverted in their faith when others weren’t. This was the beauty of the “misfit” Hansen was appealing to. I’ve never read a book that honestly sought after these people, my people, me. And so that’s why I gave the book five stars is because the author really manages to get after and talk to these people in the kingdom of God. He laughs with us and teaches us at the same time.

Alive with laughter, practical biblical knowledge and warm friendship from someone who understands the struggle, Hanson is able to capture the unique beauty and grace of being a misfit. He illustrates God’s love for the marginalized through Jesus, the radical and uncommon nature of Christ’s choosing the unknown and unlikely people and how in most cases God did not look for the people everyone expected, but chose the people no one wanted. His stories are immensely relatable, things those of us on the outside, the questioners and seekers have all wondered if others felt but never dared to reveal ourselves. His assurances that emotions are not the end all is a refresher to the push of culture today and he breathes new life into the idea that being awkward, introverted and a struggler are not the worst things in the world to be. Sometimes these things are what draw you closer to the arms of the Father. One of the many quotes I highlighted in this book was the one below and I love it because it reminds me of a truth I’ve known but never been able to express. The truth that there is more and sometimes, when you’re a misfit, you know it and you seek it from God all the time and when others don’t it makes you feel like you’re wrong, but Hansen is here to tell us that maybe that’s just not the case

“Lovers yearn, but religious people don’t. Religious people have their rules, and they have them in full. There’s nothing to yearn for. But God calls us to relationship, and that means yearning.”

The writing style of this book is unique. Honestly the best way I can describe it is like sitting down to have a conversation with a friend and just letting the conversation go where it goes because sometimes that’s just how it feels, like talking to a friend. Hansen can be a little jumpy in his writing and some of his stories seemed out of place for the narrative, but these are nitpicks to the overall wonderful message he was able to get across with this book. While I can disagree with him that God has favorites and I agree that God is a healer but sometimes, because of the fallen nature of man, not everyone will be healed, I can’t explain enough how wonderful it is to read a book that really resonates with me. Right now, so many Christian books are about watered down gospel and watered down struggle. But this author is willing to tackle the real struggles while still staying true to the God of Scripture. A humble thank you to him for this book, for his honesty in writing it, and his wisdom in sharing it. I’ll leave this review with one last quote, and it’s another really good one. Being a misfit means you’re often left out and kept out, but so was Jesus and you know what, that didn’t stop Him from loving the world anyway. Hansen writes in his book about this great love for the marginalized and how we as misfits need to remember that Christ was a great misfit too. He died for everyone, the misfits and the non-misfits, so that they may know eternal life,

“So, in sum:

Humans make no sense. 2. Love them anyway.”

To say that this was simply a “good read,” would be an understatement. IMO, this book was a refreshing breath of air, given by an author who is unpretentious in his musings and more than relatable to his audience of misfits, square pegs, ragamuffins, and other weird folk, who don’t fit in with popular church culture. As a self-proclaimed “ragamuffin” chica, I loved reading this book, so much so that I went ahead and purchased his previous book, “unoffendable.”

Giving this one: 5 brilliant stars….

I really enjoyed reading this book, and I appreciate the caveat about not reading it if you are satisfied with the American church culture.
Brant describes his own life journey as a pastors son whose family endured abuse and divorce.
Brant has Aspergers, which is a condition in which a person is an introvert, they do not usually engage in or understand a lot of social clues such as eye contact or prolonged conversations or public speaking, and they find it hard to meet new people.
He describes how uncomfortable it is to be an introvert in a church that expects people to be constantly engaged in witnessing and engaging others in public ministry when you have a hard time even engaging your family and friends in a conversation! He also explains how it feels to not "feel" things spiritually, such as Gods' presence or even experiencing closeness to God in prayer, but still knowing you are a believer by trusting what Gods Word says about your relationship to Jesus and knowing that God hears and accepts you even without feelings!
Everyone who either has Aspergers or knows someone with it should read this book!

The author shares honestly his struggles with depression, Asperger's, and introversion. He has solid understanding of grace and mercy and honestly shares the struggles with this that so many of us face in the Church. His theology is sound and his love for God and people, even being an introvert, is beautiful. He reminds us that it isn't feelings or emotions but the faithfulness and commitment that is important.

If I could give this book ten stars, I would. It really reaches out in a way that I've not seen any other Christian book do...to those who don't fit into the mold. It is real and honest, the author struggles with many issues that his audience does (making him more believable), and it's understanding and forgiving. There were points when I laughed aloud, completely relating to the shared stories, and points where I felt his depths of despair. But through it all, the message remained clear....just because you're not like everyone else, doesn't mean you should give up on this faith.