This post about The Story of With by Allen Arnold is much more than a book review. It is about a whole new way of looking at life by truly living your life Together with Christ! As the subtitle says ” A Better Way to Live, Love and Create.”
This book is one I read last fall after taking Allen Arnold’s class at the ACFW conference in August, and I am almost through reading it for the second time this year. The premise sounds simple–learn to live your life with freedom in Christ every step of the way. But, there are so many levels and layers to the story that I find myself called to re-read parts of it to understand it better as God teaches me more about this life-journey with Him.
Be sure to start by reading Part One where Allen explains how this book came about. But, my favorite section is Part Two where each chapter begins by telling an allegory of a scene from a character/pilgrim’s life, followed by the short “the shift to with” part that gives the reader more insight into what is happening to the character. This book reminds me of a modern-day Pilgrim’s Progress where we follow Christian on his journey and learn how to do the Christian life by following him as he journeys to the City.
Part Three is called “end of the beginning” when we each begin our own journey of walking in freedom in Christ. You will learn about kintsugi, and many other neat things along the way. All you need is a copy of the book, and a notebook to write your insights as you read and experience your own journey. To make your own experience even better, try to find a group of Fellow Bohemians so you can share your journey with each other. And please feel free to share comments to help others along their way!
The Story of With will help you to recognize that we are, indeed, co-laborers with Christ as Holy Scripture tells us in 1 Corinthians 3: 9. Each of us has an important role to play in God’s great plan. We are characters in HIS story, not our own. We are taught our role by obeying His Word and by following every prompting of the Holy Spirit as we walk moment-by-moment with Him. This book reminded me of Henry Blackaby’s classic, Experiencing God: Knowing and Doing the Will of God.