Look and Live by Matt Papa

This is a book about worship. We all worship something or someone. Papa wants to help us understand what we are to do with our soul's quest for worship and to know where we are to aim it. He awakens our hunger, then give us a vision of God – to see His glory.

He shares his own story. “I got a glimpse of Glory, and I was changed.”

I am impressed with this book. His discussion on idols is very enlightening and convicting. His teaching on sin clarifies that we don't “try harder” or “do better.” We change by seeing God's Glory. Papa shows how Glory is revealed in the Cross. I was surprised by his teaching on our having to adjust to the brightness of Glory, coming from the dimness of our own life and this culture. We have ADD of the soul, he says.

He has a good section on how we behold God's Glory. We must train our self to hunger after God. It takes time and it requires effort. It is using the spiritual disciplines and the means of grace. He also has an excellent section on what it means to “do all to the glory of God.” (1 Cor. 10:31) That section alone makes the book worth reading. His section on suffering makes so much sense I wonder why I've not seen it explained that way before. He covers other topics too, like missions, what happens when we read the Bible and our motivation for doing it, prayer, and meditation.

The title of the book comes from the OT story of the serpent lifted up. (Numb. 21) Using that example, we now look upon the lifted up Savior and live.

This is a good book for worship leaders and pastors understand more why we worship. The book helps all believers rediscover the call to fervent worship.

“Make your life one unflinching gaze at the glory of God,” Papa writes. “This is why you exist.” This book will get you on that lifetime path.

Food for thought: “An idol...is...anything that has replaced God as essential to your happiness.”

“If the gospel has not broken you, you have never really heard it.”

You can listen to Matt Papa's recording of the song “Look and Live” here.

Matt Papa is a minister and recording artist based our of Raleigh, North Carolina, where he lives with his wife and their three daughters. He serves as an artist-in-residence and worship leader at The Summit Church in Durham and is currently finishing a master's degree at Southeastern Seminary. Find out more at http://www.mattpapa.com/.

Bethany Fellowship, 256 pages.

I received a complimentary egalley of this book from the publisher for the purpose of an independent and honest review.