Ted Elrick’s Bamboozled By Jesus is a book that comes with an organization and outline that makes it easy to follow your journey through the seven central points.
I’m not even sure where to start with this review. I’ve read a handful of books in recent years that have left me feeling empty and cold — just a husk of my former self — but none have left me feeling like someone had reached inside my chest, gripped my beating heart, and squeezed until the life had been wrung out of it quite like this did. I think it may have something to do with the fact that it’s called bamboozled by jesus pdf because nothing else seems to make sense!
Bamboozled By Jesus Pdf Free Download
Bamboozled by Jesus is a book about the Bible. It’s about how it came to be written and why people believe what they do about it.
Written by an atheist, it’s designed to show people that the Bible is not as infallible as they might think—and that there are many different ways of looking at it.
- That he died for our sins
- That he was resurrected from the dead
- That he was a prophet sent by God
- That he performed miracles
- That he was a great moral teacher
The author, Michael D. Yates, makes a strong case for why we should abandon the Christian faith and embrace a new way of living that values people and the planet.
The author makes an argument that Jesus was not a capitalist and therefore Christianity cannot be used as justification for supporting capitalism. He also argues that Jesus actually taught against materialism and greed, which are traits associated with capitalism.
The book is broken up into three parts: Part One: Christianity in Crisis; Part Two: The Christian Response to Crisis; and Part Three: A New Way Forward?
It was written in a way that is easy for anyone to understand, with little or no knowledge of history or theology.
Bamboozled By Jesus Read Online
Thriving stand-up comic and actress Yvonne Orji—best known as Issa Rae’s BFF on the HBO series, Insecure—shares the secrets to living the life of your dreams.
Yvonne Orji has never shied away from being unapologetically herself, and that includes being outspoken about her faith. Known for interpreting Biblical stories and metaphors to fit current times, her humorous and accessible approach to faith leaves even non-believers inspired and wanting more.
The way Yvonne sees it, God is a Sovereign Prankster, punking folks long before Ashton Kutcher made it cool. When she meditates on her own life—complete with unforeseen blessings and unanticipated roadblocks—she realizes it’s one big testimony to how God tricked her into living out her wildest dreams. And she wants us to join in on getting bamboozled. This is not a Self-Help book—it’s a Get Yours book!
In Bamboozled by Jesus, a frank and fresh advice book, Orji takes readers on a journey through twenty-five life lessons, gleaned from her own experiences and her favorite source of inspiration: the Bible. But this ain’t your mama’s Bible study. Yvonne infuses wit and heart in sharing pointers like why the way up is sometimes down, and how fear is synonymous to food poisoning. Her joyful, confident approach to God will inspire everyone to catapult themselves out of the mundane and into the magnificent.
With bold authenticity and practical relatability, Orji is exactly the kind of cultural leader we need in these chaotic times. And her journey through being Bamboozled by Jesus paints a powerful picture of what it means to say “yes” to a life you never could’ve imagined—if it wasn’t your own.
Bamboozled By Jesus Ebook
Bamboozled By Jesus Summary
Yvonne Orji never lets you forget that she’s Nigerian-born, that she’s a comedian, or that she’s a Bible-believing Christian. In Bamboozled by Jesus, she manages to weave the exciting story-telling features of these identities into an inspiring tale of determination, struggle, faith, perseverance and success.
After convincing her readers that personal fulfillment is possible, she motivates them to advance from the stage where they may be settled and unsatisfied to the stage where they are divinely destined to be.
The “Bamboozled” Story
Going to medical school is a typical expectation for children in Nigerian families, like Yvonne’s family in Washington, DC. When she decided to become a stand-up comedian, her parents were embarrassed. Her story details her struggle to appease them while obeying God who was guiding her along the entertainment route to her destiny. She chronicles her move to New York and later to LA, the rise and fall of expectations in the industry, her financial lack and miraculous provisions which helped her survive, the evidences that God arranged distractions and disappointments to help her character development in preparation for her rise to stardom.
Yvonne shares her steps up the ladder from volunteering at an open mic in New York, to selling out performances at Caroline’s on Broadway, to opening for Chris Rock, to her own one-hour comedy special on HBO, to her breakout TV role as Molly on HBO’s Insecure. She charts her financial progress from her sixty-two cents bank account to home ownership. Throughout the story, she weaves episodes of her Nigerian life, demonstrating the sterling quality home training she received. She extracts inspiration from Bible stories including David and Goliath, Joseph and His Brothers, The Three Hebrew Boys and others who arrived at their destination, despite their setbacks.
One of the many episodes which demonstrates the concept of bamboozlement involves her friend, Grace. Grace lived in New York, received a writing assignment in LA and needed a place to stay from February to May. Because Yvonne’s rent check had just bounced, she saw the benefit of giving up her bedroom to Grace, and sleeping on the couch. While the arrangement provided financial help to Yvonne, it answered a prayer for Grace who did not want to stay with strangers. Grace later became a Season 4 writer on Yvonne’s show, Insecure, for which Yvonne earned her Emmy nomination. (You will read how God humbled Yvonne so that she needed monetary help, which caused her to take in Grace, who contributed to her Emmy nomination.)
Many providential arrangements like this, and involving many other friends and colleagues make the reader agree with Yvonne, that Jesus orchestrated (bamboozled) her entire life events to push her into the life of her dreams.
Details of the Book
The main text of Bamboozled by Jesus is divided into five parts, beginning with a funny incident at Yvonne’s birth which was the first bamboozlement. It ends with an invitation to the reader: “I don’t know your struggles,” she writes, “but I do know that you are necessary and your supply is abundant, and personally, I can’t wait to be a benefactor of your bamboozlement.” The chapters in all five parts total 24.
The parts are subtitled: The Burden, The Building, The Breakthrough, The Booked, Blessed, and Busy, and The Bonus.
Readers will easily glide through the book, because Yvonne’s style is uniquely interesting. She creates words which the reader will laugh at, and catchy phrases will they will want to adopt. She includes Nigerian slang and explains it. There is humor everywhere, even when she cites Bible references. She makes the application of the Bible principles fit so perfectly into your own life, you will be surprised at her gift of contemporary translation.
