Endorsement for Paul Gasque’s book, Daybreak: Awakened to the Light of Christ
Paul Gasque’s Daybreak—Awakened to the Light of Christ is an extraordinary take on how our hearts slowly respond to the whispers of the Lord speaking over us and into our lives. In this book, Paul reflects on his own ocean-side spiritual awakening, when through an encounter with Jesus, his eyes were suddenly opened to the importance of not only loving others but allowing their agape love to change our own hearts and lives, as well. Paul is a remarkable writer and Christian leader whose work breathes love, guidance, insight and crucial Spirit wisdom, even for the most faithful among us. It’s a must-read for anyone taking a next step with Jesus.
– Jessica Brodie (JessicaBrodie.com) is a Christian journalist, author, editor, blogger, and writing coach who runs the South Carolina United Methodist Advocate, the oldest newspaper in Methodism. Her novel, The Memory Garden, won the American Christian Fiction Writers’ 2018 Genesis Contest. She has won hundreds of writing awards, and the newspaper she edits has won 113 awards under her leadership.
Like so many people today, our lives are inundated with family, community, and work-related activities that seem to deprive us of our time with God in his Word. To awaken each morning to a precious few minutes of silence, devotional reading, and prayer may be the only spiritual food some get to sustain them through their busy day. But what if you could take the devotional thought with you as a part of your day throughout the week? What would it mean to have a conversation with someone who may well be an unconscious instrument used by God to unveil some truth from your weekly reading, as a reality and faith lesson in your life?
In Lifting the Veil, you will:
Reflect on Scripture and a devotional thought that leads to a question for self-examination in your faith journey.
Recognize how God is placing people in your path each week to enhance your understanding of the weekly reading and how it is shaping you spiritually.
Seek God in prayer, asking that your life be transformed, your mind renewed, and your walk with Christ more intimate.
In Daybreak the author displays a talent for storytelling, with a welcoming tone, uplifting energy. Especially good are the sensory details that bring the narrative to life.…Excellent choices of scripture throughout; author has done well to go beyond the expected, somewhat cliché scriptures you can find in many other books. “Do you love me” in chapter 3 hits a deep emotional place, as the reader ponders how he or she loves, with which conditions, and how can love be better expressed, absorbed and shared? Very thought-provoking. Excellent impact with the question of how to minister in such a “greedy, self-centered world.” Reader may think often about how many professionals (medical, legal, education, etc.) keep their souls about them in this challenging world right now. And here we have the author’s take on how challenging it is for pastoral ministers to function well, keep their hearts open, and not lose their faith in people. We are present for the author’s experience, and thus the reader’s experience is enhanced.
– Judge, 28th Annual Writer’s Digest Self-Published Book Awards
In this memoir, a man reflects on the watershed moments in his life that transformed him spiritually.
In 1991, Gasque decided to read the Bible in its entirety for the first time, a momentous move to deepen not only his religious knowledge, but also his faith. Shortly after he finished, while at a family Christmas dinner, he was about to enjoy an alcoholic drink but was chastened by an inner voice to forgo it. He interpreted this moment as a kind of sign, an opportunity to extend his faith and clarify his purpose in life. The author’s brief recollection—it is under 100 pages—is thematically devoted to the explication of these “glorious reminders of God’s divine presence,” experiences he likens to a “daybreak.” With impressive sensitivity, Gasque shares a number of these experiences—“strategic times” that seem providentially presented to him. More than a memoir, his reminiscence is a call to vigilantly look for meaning amid the clamor and chaos of everyday life and cultivate a receptivity to communications, however symbolic, from God: “God’s voice is often a mere whisper in the cacophony of a restless and busy culture. But the voice of God is witnessed in ways beyond words. Nature itself is a beautiful example of how the changing of the seasons parallel the seasons of our own lives. Yet we so often pass through them, oblivious to how our Creator is speaking to us.” The author writes lucidly and meditatively, candidly mining his own experiences to illustrate his message. This is a profoundly relatable remembrance—Gasque eventually became a pastor but first suffered the wages of his own “double life”—“torn between earthly pleasures and secular pursuits.” Of course, his account will not appeal to those indifferent to the allure of the spiritual life. But to those open to it and, even better, those actively courting it, this book delivers a striking reflection on the ways an individual’s earthly existence can be interpreted as furnishing a means for transcendence.
A thoughtful rumination on how spiritual signposts can appear in temporal affairs.
Daybreak
Endorsement for Paul Gasque’s book, Daybreak: Awakened to the Light of Christ
Paul Gasque’s Daybreak—Awakened to the Light of Christ is an extraordinary take on how our hearts slowly respond to the whispers of the Lord speaking over us and into our lives. In this book, Paul reflects on his own ocean-side spiritual awakening, when through an encounter with Jesus, his eyes were suddenly opened to the importance of not only loving others but allowing their agape love to change our own hearts and lives, as well. Paul is a remarkable writer and Christian leader whose work breathes love, guidance, insight and crucial Spirit wisdom, even for the most faithful among us. It’s a must-read for anyone taking a next step with Jesus.
– Jessica Brodie (JessicaBrodie.com) is a Christian journalist, author, editor, blogger, and writing coach who runs the South Carolina United Methodist Advocate, the oldest newspaper in Methodism. Her novel, The Memory Garden, won the American Christian Fiction Writers’ 2018 Genesis Contest. She has won hundreds of writing awards, and the newspaper she edits has won 113 awards under her leadership.
Read more ORDER A COPY NOW!
Lifting the Veil
Like so many people today, our lives are inundated with family, community, and work-related activities that seem to deprive us of our time with God in his Word. To awaken each morning to a precious few minutes of silence, devotional reading, and prayer may be the only spiritual food some get to sustain them through their busy day. But what if you could take the devotional thought with you as a part of your day throughout the week? What would it mean to have a conversation with someone who may well be an unconscious instrument used by God to unveil some truth from your weekly reading, as a reality and faith lesson in your life?
In Lifting the Veil, you will:
Read more ORDER A COPY NOW!
Book Review
In Daybreak the author displays a talent for storytelling, with a welcoming tone, uplifting energy. Especially good are the sensory details that bring the narrative to life.…Excellent choices of scripture throughout; author has done well to go beyond the expected, somewhat cliché scriptures you can find in many other books. “Do you love me” in chapter 3 hits a deep emotional place, as the reader ponders how he or she loves, with which conditions, and how can love be better expressed, absorbed and shared? Very thought-provoking. Excellent impact with the question of how to minister in such a “greedy, self-centered world.” Reader may think often about how many professionals (medical, legal, education, etc.) keep their souls about them in this challenging world right now. And here we have the author’s take on how challenging it is for pastoral ministers to function well, keep their hearts open, and not lose their faith in people. We are present for the author’s experience, and thus the reader’s experience is enhanced.
– Judge, 28th Annual Writer’s Digest Self-Published Book Awards
Kirkus Review
DAYBREAK
AWAKENED TO THE LIGHT OF CHRIST
by Paul Gasque ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 30, 2019
In this memoir, a man reflects on the watershed moments in his life that transformed him spiritually.
In 1991, Gasque decided to read the Bible in its entirety for the first time, a momentous move to deepen not only his religious knowledge, but also his faith. Shortly after he finished, while at a family Christmas dinner, he was about to enjoy an alcoholic drink but was chastened by an inner voice to forgo it. He interpreted this moment as a kind of sign, an opportunity to extend his faith and clarify his purpose in life. The author’s brief recollection—it is under 100 pages—is thematically devoted to the explication of these “glorious reminders of God’s divine presence,” experiences he likens to a “daybreak.” With impressive sensitivity, Gasque shares a number of these experiences—“strategic times” that seem providentially presented to him. More than a memoir, his reminiscence is a call to vigilantly look for meaning amid the clamor and chaos of everyday life and cultivate a receptivity to communications, however symbolic, from God: “God’s voice is often a mere whisper in the cacophony of a restless and busy culture. But the voice of God is witnessed in ways beyond words. Nature itself is a beautiful example of how the changing of the seasons parallel the seasons of our own lives. Yet we so often pass through them, oblivious to how our Creator is speaking to us.” The author writes lucidly and meditatively, candidly mining his own experiences to illustrate his message. This is a profoundly relatable remembrance—Gasque eventually became a pastor but first suffered the wages of his own “double life”—“torn between earthly pleasures and secular pursuits.” Of course, his account will not appeal to those indifferent to the allure of the spiritual life. But to those open to it and, even better, those actively courting it, this book delivers a striking reflection on the ways an individual’s earthly existence can be interpreted as furnishing a means for transcendence.
A thoughtful rumination on how spiritual signposts can appear in temporal affairs.
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