Red Like Blood [Paperback]

Joe Coffey (Author), Bob Bevington (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 8, 2011

At its heart, Red Like Blood is the over-arching story of the Bible, the story of salvation: the amazing grace of God in Jesus Christ impacting our brokenness, drenching us in forgiveness and mercy. It is told through the lives of two men a prodigal and a pastor s kid whose broken lives are forever stained the color of grace as they are confronted by the One who meets them in their hopelessness and despair, bringing redemption and healing. Red Like Blood chronicles the power of the gospel in all of its life-changing fullness. It is a story that should challenge, encourage and empower us all.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Warning: this book is not for everyone.

The Apostle Paul defined the gospel mission very plainly, 'Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the worst.' You cannot sugarcoat sin or filter depravity, no matter what level of greatness you achieve. Joe Coffey and Bob Bevington tell their personal stories of sin and grace from the front stage of life. They pull no punches and make no excuses. Their writing is open, honest, transparent and raw.

But it is not raw for the sake of shock. It is raw for the sake of hope a saving hope that the worst of sinners might not only find grace in the shadow of the cross, but that the darkest of lives can become examples of grace that point the worst of sinners to the gospel.

'...But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the worst of sinners, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life. '

There is only one color that can repaint the darkness of our sinful past - it is the color red...Red Like Blood. --Greg Lucas, author of Wrestling With an Angel: A Story of Love, Disability and the Lessons of Grace

What a wonderful book! I'm a cynical old preacher and sometimes have to see the 'real deal' to keep on doing what I do. This book is enough 'real deal' to last a very long time. Authenticity incredible honesty leaps off every page, and truth life changing Biblical truth stands up and salutes. These guys 'smell like Jesus.' Read this book and you will 'rise up and call me blessed' for having told you about it. --Steve Brown, Reformed Theological Seminary/Orlando, author and teacher on radio program Key Life.

'Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me.' These memorable words from the pen of ex-slave trader, John Newton, could well be the sub-title of Red Like Blood. This book is the story of two men; one a preacher and the other an obvious sinner, who both learned to drink deeply from the gospel and to experience the amazing grace of God. Red Like Blood is captivating, challenging, and encouraging. Both believers and non-believers will enjoy and profit from this book. --Jerry Bridges, author of The Pursuit of Holiness and Trusting God

About the Author

Joe Coffey is senior pastor of Hudson Community Chapel in Hudson, Ohio.

Bob Bevington is an author, entrepreneur, and optometrist who has co-authored two books with Jerry Bridges.

Product Details

• Paperback: 221 pages
• Publisher: Shepherd Press (April 8, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0983099073
• ISBN-13: 978-0983099079
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #279,463 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Confrontingly Hopeful April 21, 2011

By DLee

Format:Paperback

This book brings so much hope to us with jagged, sinful lives. I found myself crying, repenting, and searching my heart to see if I am really trusting in the Grace of God for my standing before Him and my ongoing relationship with Him. I am looking forward to sharing this book with friends who are religious and are trusting in their good works to get to heaven and also sharing this book with those who don't know Christ and think they are too horrible a sinner to be accepted by a Holy God...
The real life stories in this book will grab you, confront you and cause you to be amazed at God's grace, and give you hope for that same grace in your own life. If you feel like your sins are too horrible, if you feel like your sins are unforgivable...read this book, and you see that His Blood, will cover, and cleanse you from all your sins, and make you sing with John Newton..."Amazing Grace how sweet the sound that saved a WRETCH like me.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Blue Like Jazz meets TULIP meets a recovery meeting December 7, 2011

By Jared Totten

Format:Paperback

The best way I can describe this book is as follows: imagine if you ran into Donald Miller (of Blue Like Jazz fame) at a recovery meeting of some sort and his life had just been blown up by the doctrines of grace. His testimony might just read like this. It is at times both humorously and painfully autobiographical. It is brutally honest. And yet it is eminently hopeful as the gospel stays in full view throughout. Yes there is pain here, but it is pain with a purpose.

Joe was a pastor's kid turned pastor and spent most of his life in the church. Bob spent most of his life avoiding it. Yet grace has a way of both bringing the younger brother home and beckoning the elder brother in to the feast. As the book progresses, we see that these two stories are not all that dissimilar from each other . . . or from our own. There is a pride that says to God, "I don't need you, I can figure this out on my own" and there is a pride that says "I don't need you, but I'll stick around to get your stuff".

"Grace is kryptonite to pride". This book begins with a lot of brokenness. But as the stories progress, the brokenness gives way to grace. Or rather, the brokenness is the way of grace: "grace needs one thing, it needs cracks. The bigger the crack, the deeper the grace will penetrate". The most dangerous form of pride that we all harbor is the pride that says, "I have no cracks". I loved this book. It will break you open, and it will pave the way for grace if you will kill your damned pride.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Great, Honest Read April 9, 2011

By Brent

Format:Paperback

The authors do an excellent job at not only sharing their lives and how grace and the story of Jesus has effected them, but they also present the message of Jesus in a fresh, easy-to-understand way.

As a youth pastor I would recommend it to any of my fellow pastors, leaders, sr. high students, etc.

Great read for 18-35 yr. olds

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Not so cool. May 1, 2013

By Debbi

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

This book was good. However, I don't think that using vulgarity to make a book seem more real, or to shock, or to be just so cool is necessary or desirable. To me it was distracting and when I read an inspirational book, I would like to respect the author. Saying "my dad got laid" or about "worshipping dicks" just doesn't seem to me like something the Lord would say. I found that offensive and juvenile.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars I did not find it God glorify at all. January 31, 2013

By D. Troy Hassell

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

The structure was weak, the content was weak and the language was not Christ honouring. I think you can say what needs to be said without speech that is unsalted. It should be titled testimonies of confrontations with Grace and even then I don't agree with the theme. Finally, this book glorifies the individual but does little to glorify Christ. Paul was on his way to murder Christians when he was Arrested by Grace. The story of Paul's life is not the story of Paul but of Christ - glorify Him.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Red is also the color of Passion May 9, 2011

By FishingForTruth

Format:Paperback

I highly recommond this book for two reasons. I'm a slow reader just like Bob mentions is this book. So when I read a book that I enjoy or find particlary insightful I dog ear the pages, highlight the sentences that are impactful and reread chapters over again at times. By the time I was done with RLB it was a bit mangled from all the folding and bending and note writing that I did. Red Like Blood is an encounter with the truth. Not just radical honesty from the authors but the truth that from regular people like you and me that acts as a direct hit to the soul. Thats the first reason I recommend it. My BS detector is pretty good and this book took me in the directon that only the truth can do. My defenses and barriers came down enough to be open to how Grace is actualized in the lives of others. I also became aware of how Grace has flowed into my life in the past and how I passed it off as luck and did not regard Gods handywork in my life. The second reason I think you should spend the $11 and buy this book is the format is new and refreshing. Joe and Bob write with an easy flow - kinda like you sitting around having lunch and they were talking about thier day. They have passion for gift of grace and it shows. There are great little pearls of wisdom that will stick with you and give you hope. Thats what it did for me.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Real Grace is Messy April 29, 2012

By John Gardner

Format:Paperback

If you were asked to describe God's grace, how would you do it? Would it be a sentimental story of unconditional love and acceptance? Would you use big words like "efficacious", or maybe a helpful acronym? Perhaps you'd tell a parable, like Christ himself.

But to truly understand grace, one must experience it. Even then, the depth of God's grace remains an unfathomable mystery. One thing is for certain, though: Grace is never pretty. Real grace -- what Dietrich Bonhoeffer called "costly grace" -- is confrontational. It's messy. It intersects with human lives at the point of total brokenness.

Joe Coffey and Bob Bevington know this, so when they decided to write a book about God's grace, they knew that it too would have to be messy. In Red Like Blood, these two men share the story of how they have experienced the life-changing grace of God, in all its gritty detail. They recount their struggles with everything from marital infidelity to doubting God's goodness to workaholism to pornography and masturbation, and how grace has healed them and continues to sustain them as they attempt to follow Christ in a broken world.

This type of realism and brutal honesty is typically lacking in the stories we tell of God's grace, but it is exactly what is needed in our efforts to fulfill the Great Commission. An inaccurate, incomplete, or sugar-coated depiction of grace does no one any good. People need to know that God is good, that He is able to do what He wills, and that He is there with us in the trenches. His power is made perfect in our weaknesses. His grace is sufficient to overcome our brokenness.

Almost ten years ago, another book took the Christian publishing world by storm.... Donald Miller's Blue Like Jazz: Nonreligious Thoughts on Christian Spirituality spoke about the intersection of faith and life in a way that resonated with millions of readers because it was real. It was messy. It was totally honest, and Miller made no effort to hide his own failures from the world.

Like me, Coffey and Bevington enjoyed reading this book in large part because of Miller's fresh and engaging writing style, but they also shared my concerns. The gospel was missing. So while Blue Like Jazz was very "real", it lacked the ability to truly transform readers. It could help us think differently (and in my case, better) about our faith, but it could not introduce us to the God of all Grace.

Red Like Blood is an attempt to reach readers in the same way, while directing them to the cross of Christ. I think Coffey and Bevington have succeeded. This is a wonderful book!

In Blue Like Jazz, Donald Miller wrote that he "used to not like God because God didn't resolve." To him, God is "blue like jazz" in that people have to be shown how to love him in all his unresolved glory.

The authors of Red Like Blood contend that God's plan of redemption does resolve. It resolves at the cross, and that is where we encounter the glory and grace of God. We cannot shy away from dealing with sin. We cannot separate God's love from His justice and wrath. While some aspects of God's love are certainly reflected in the tension of jazz music, his grace is not blue. It is red. Like blood.

Miller was right, though, that people need to be shown how to live and love as Christ did. This book does just that, and does it well. I hope you will check out the Red Like Blood website, where the authors continue the conversation. Read more ›