Messy Truth
How to Foster Community Without Sacrificing Conviction
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Narrated by:
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Caleb Kaltenbach
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By:
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Caleb Kaltenbach
About this listen
From the author of Messy Grace, a former pastor raised by gay parents, comes a compassionate playbook to help Christians, church staff, and ministry leaders create a culture of belonging without sacrificing theological convictions.
What should we do? This is a question many Christians are asking as they face shifting societal norms, conflicting opinions, and often inaccurate scriptural interpretations regarding those who identify as LGBTQ+.
Caleb Kaltenbach believes there’s a more helpful question: What am I willing to do to keep and build influence with ______________?
Caleb knows our love for others is best measured by the lengths we’ll go to help them. He also recognizes that people find and follow Jesus better in community than in isolation. As a child raised by three activist gay parents, Caleb experienced firsthand the outrage of some Christians. That’s why he is committed to creating a sense of belonging for all people.
True community can happen only when Christians are intentional in infusing their attitudes, systems, and values with grace and truth. This hopeful, practical book offers tools for encouraging church involvement, strengthening personal relationships, increasing empathy, and engaging in pivotal conversations about grace and truth with our whole community.
Fostering a culture of belonging is a messy process, but it holds a massive possibility for everyone involved: a growing relationship with Jesus.
©2021 Caleb Kaltenbach (P)2021 Random House AudioListeners also enjoyed...
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Critic reviews
“The church desperately needs wise and winsome guides that can equip us to lavishly love LGBTQ people in the context of very real, very messy churches and ministries. Caleb Kaltenbach is one of those guides!” (Michelle Sanchez, executive minister of Make and Deepen Disciples at Evangelical Covenant Church)
“In Messy Truth, you will grow in your compassion for and conversation with those in the LGBTQ community. Caleb Kaltenbach is a leader and pastor who fosters relationships without sacrificing conviction, and he will teach you to do the same.” (Kyle Idleman, senior pastor of Southeast Christian Church)
“Once again, Caleb Kaltenbach tackles this difficult subject with superbly well-balanced grace and truth. His sensitivity and empathy regarding the LGBTQ community is one to be modeled. A must-read for all Christians.” (Becket Cook, author of A Change of Affection)
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Overall
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Pastors’ kids are often burdened by others’ expectations, but there is a wonderful solution, both at home and in the church: grace. In this revised, refreshed version of Barnabas Piper’s best-known book, the author candidly shares his own experiences as son of pastor and best-selling author John Piper, offering a challenge to our churches and to the families at their very heart: how to care for pastors’ kids and allow them to find their own faith and identity.
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Preachers’ Kid
- By laura robbins on 03-07-23
By: Barnabas Piper, and others
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Chasing Love
- Sex, Love, and Relationships in a Confused Culture
- By: Sean McDowell
- Narrated by: Chris Abell
- Length: 3 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
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The love that the world tells us to pursue is all about self, about following your heart’s desires. But what is the Christian worldview on love? When we follow Jesus, we realize that he invites us to reorient the focus of our lives, so instead of chasing love primarily for our own happiness, we are first and foremost to give love - to God and to others.
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good stuff
- By chad johnson on 10-02-23
By: Sean McDowell
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Christians in the Age of Outrage
- How to Bring Our Best When the World Is at Its Worst
- By: Ed Stetzer
- Narrated by: Wayne Shepherd
- Length: 9 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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Today there are too many examples of those claiming to follow Christ being caustic, divisive, and irrational, contributing to dismissals of the Christian faith as hypocritical, self-interested, and politically co-opted. What has happened in our society? One short outrageous video, whether it is true or not, can trigger an avalanche of comments on social media. Welcome to the new age of outrage. In this groundbreaking book featuring new survey research of evangelicals and their relationship to the age of outrage, Ed Stetzer offers a constructive way forward.
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A Balanced Look at an Unbalanced World
- By Tony E. on 11-01-18
By: Ed Stetzer
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Stop Calling Me Beautiful
- Finding Soul-Deep Strength in a Skin-Deep World
- By: Phylicia Masonheimer
- Narrated by: Carla Mercer-Meyer
- Length: 5 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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If you're tired of hearing the watered-down Christian teaching and hungry for a deeper spiritual life - one that gives real answers to your hardest questions - Stop Calling Me Beautiful teaches you how. Jesus doesn't offer a powerless salvation. He makes your brokenness part of his whole redemption story - if you allow him to. Don't settle for a feel-good faith. If you want victory over insecurity, fear, shame, and the circumstances you are facing, it's time to embrace Jesus. All of him.
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not what I expected, in a good way!!
- By Kristin on 09-03-20
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Stay Salt
- The World Has Changed: Our Message Must Not
- By: Rebecca Manley Pippert
- Narrated by: Sarah Zimmerman
- Length: 6 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
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The world has changed in so many ways, and many of us no longer feel confident when it comes to evangelism, especially with the rise of hostility toward Christian points of view. Keeping quiet is becoming our default position. Yet the world has not changed in one way: It still needs Jesus. Renowned evangelist Becky Pippert draws on decades of conversations about Christianity around the world to call and equip ordinary Christians to share Jesus through their ordinary day-to-day conversations.
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Best book on relational evangelism I’ve read
- By Mike on 07-08-20
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Born Again This Way
- Coming Out, Coming to Faith, and What Comes Next
- By: Rachel Gilson
- Narrated by: Rachel Gilson
- Length: 3 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
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In this powerful and personal book, author Rachel Gilson describes her own unexpected journey of coming out and coming to faith... and what came next. As she does so, she addresses many of the questions that Christians living with same-sex attraction are wrestling with: Am I consigned to a life of loneliness? How do I navigate my friendships? Will my desires ever change? Is there some greater purpose to all this?
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BEST of the MANY I’ve read about SSA
- By Anonymous User on 02-12-21
By: Rachel Gilson
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Befriend
- Create Belonging in an Age of Judgment, Isolation, and Fear
- By: Scott Sauls
- Narrated by: Dean Gallagher
- Length: 6 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
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Is real friendship too risky? We live in a world where real friendship is hard to find. Suspicious of others and insecure about ourselves, we retreat into the safety of our small, self-made digital worlds. Tragically, even the church can become a place that reinforces this isolation. Jesus models a much richer vision of friendship. Scott Sauls, pastor and teacher, invites you to see the breadth of Christ's love in this audiobook, Befriend.
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Great post election therapy.
- By Manoli on 12-20-16
By: Scott Sauls
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Emotionally Healthy Spirituality
- It's Impossible to Be Spiritually Mature, While Remaining Emotionally Immature
- By: Peter Scazzero
- Narrated by: Peter Scazzero
- Length: 6 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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In this revised best-selling book, Peter Scazzero outlines a road map for discipleship with Jesus that is powerfully transformative. He unveils what's wrong with our current definition of "spiritual growth" and offers not only a model of spirituality that actually works, but seven steps to change that will help you experience authentic faith and hunger for God.
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Very thoughtful book
- By Anonymous User on 01-28-22
By: Peter Scazzero
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Still Time to Care
- What We Can Learn from the Church’s Failed Attempt to Cure Homosexuality
- By: Greg Johnson
- Narrated by: Tom Parks
- Length: 12 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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At the start of the gay rights movement in 1969, evangelicalism's leading voices cast a vision for gay people who turn to Jesus. It was C.S. Lewis, Billy Graham, Francis Schaeffer, and John Stott who were among the most respected leaders within theologically orthodox Protestantism. We see with them a positive pastoral approach toward gay people, an approach that viewed homosexuality as a fallen condition experienced by some Christians who needed care more than cure.
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Massively helpful book
- By rebecca on 04-11-22
By: Greg Johnson
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The Emotionally Destructive Relationship
- Seeing It, Stopping It, Surviving It
- By: Leslie Vernick
- Narrated by: Leslie Vernick
- Length: 7 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
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Leslie Vernick, counselor and social worker, has witnessed the devastating effects of emotional abuse. Many, including many in the church, have not addressed this form of destruction in families and relationships because it is difficult to talk about. With godly guidance and practical experience, Vernick offers an empathetic approach to recognizing an emotionally destructive relationship and addresses the symptoms and the damage with biblical tools.
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Thank you
- By Anonymous User on 08-27-24
By: Leslie Vernick
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Loving Him Well
- Practical Advice on Influencing Your Husband
- By: Gary Thomas, Lisa Thomas - foreword
- Narrated by: Gary Thomas
- Length: 8 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
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Women: you're not alone in your marriage. You never have been, and you never will be. While it may not always feel like it, God desires for you to have a relationally healthy, emotionally engaged, and spiritually mature husband with whom you can share your days. In Loving Him Well, Gary Thomas builds on concepts from his best-selling book Sacred Marriage to reveal the inner workings of a man's heart and mind. He delves into Scriptures that help women gain biblical insight to influence their husbands.
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A must read for any wife!
- By James on 04-03-18
By: Gary Thomas, and others
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The Pastor's Family
- Shepherding Your Family Through the Challenges of Pastoral Ministry
- By: Brian Croft, Cara Croft
- Narrated by: Holly Watson, Mark Smeby
- Length: 4 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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Featuring insights from the perspective of both a pastor and his wife—The Pastor's Family identifies the complicated burdens and expectations ministry brings to the life of a family. Brian and Cara Croft identify the unique challenges that pastors face as husbands and fathers. They also discuss the difficulties and joys of being a pastor's wife and offer practical advice on raising children in a ministry family.
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A must-read for every pastor and his wife
- By Amazon Customer on 01-28-21
By: Brian Croft, and others
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Does Jesus Really Love Me?
- A Gay Christian's Pilgrimage in Search of God in America
- By: Jeff Chu
- Narrated by: Jeff Chu
- Length: 13 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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Does Jesus Really Love Me?: A Gay Christian's Pilgrimage in Search of God in America is part memoir and part investigative analysis that explores the explosive and confusing intersection of faith, politics, and sexuality in Christian America. The quest to find an answer is at the heart of Does Jesus Really Love Me? - a personal journey of belief, an investigation, and a portrait of a faith and a nation at odds by award-winning reporter Jeff Chu.
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This Is Where I Found Hope in '20/'21
- By Josh on 01-24-21
By: Jeff Chu
What listeners say about Messy Truth
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Anonymous User
- 07-23-24
the truth
nothing it is great and very very truthful and has very very very good
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- Deborah O.
- 11-08-24
Gatekeeper or Guide
As I try to navigate through a struggle that overwhelms my heart, this book gave me hope. It also taught me that I have much to learn about advocating for the LGBTQ community, WHILE walking closely with Jesus
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- RECB
- 12-23-21
Great perspective and big heart!
I heard about Kaleb’s book, Messy Grace, from a friend and read and really enjoyed it, and thought this book was also really good. It’s more about what loving everyone might look like practically and in a church setting. Very helpful! Thank you, Kaleb, for sharing your life and experience!
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- Beth B.
- 12-12-21
Messy but indeed Truth with Grace
The author is correct when he delves into the struggle of truth and grace… really only Jesus reconciled these two concepts together. However, that means we have a wonderful example of how to do this. Caleb does a wonderful job not taking sides but rather expressing how important it is that those who love God express love towards one another in a tactful and prudent manner without the sacrificing their conviction of belief. This a great guide on how to love those you may disagree with on tense topics. Thanks Caleb for attempting to teach us to love well.
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- Seth Kurtz
- 08-13-21
One of the most helpful books I’ve read
Caleb brings so much clarity to aspects of church leadership, and frankly, to simply being good Christians and people. I particularly loved chapter 5 and the issue of when exactly someone is allowed to “belong”. I highly recommend this book. Even if you are not actively engaged with anyone in the LGBTQ culture, the principles will help in a multitude of areas in your life.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Suzanne M. McCord
- 08-21-22
can't get enough of Caleb Kaltenbach.
his writing is easy, straight forward and profound. I'm so thankful for his encouragement.
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