The Art of Rest

This little jewel of a book made my heart sing. Like most of us Adam Mabry has struggled with the modern tyranny of busyness. In this short book – easily readable even by the busiest – he shows the biblical principal of rest to be a gift of grace, a taste of heaven and a counter-cultural statement of trust in our heavenly father. An inspiring and challenging read! | The modern world's frenetic pace and anxious striving too often pervade our Christian lives and church culture. In answer, Mabry's book is full of honest reflections, theological depth and practical insights. Mabry does far more than provide a list of tips and rules; he reorients our desires according to God's word, teaching us why and how to embrace rest from God's perspective and to delight in Him. | Nobody teaches us to rest. Pastor Adam Mabry - like many others - discovered the consequences the hard way. This "starter in the art of rest" explores why we find it hard to stop and makes an urgent plea for us to discover patterns and rhythms of rest before the pace and complexity of life overwhelms us. This is a book I really wish I had read when I was starting in Christian ministry. | A senior doctor once wrote to The Times, “We doctors in the treatment of nervous diseases, are compelled to provide periods of rest. Some of these periods are, I think, only Sundays in arrears.” In this excellent book, Adam Mabry shows us that rest for the Christian is not optional—it's commanded for our good. After a careful handling of a biblical theology of rest, Mabry applies God's good command in a gospel-saturated and realistic way. This book will do you good and enable to rest well in a restless world. | We live in a world that has forgotten how to rest, so put your feet up, relax and let Adam Mabry refresh your memory. This is a book whose time has come. | The Art of Rest isn’t just about rest; it’s about life—what we are here for. Adam Mabry brings together personal experience, biblical conviction, and keen cultural analysis into a brief and enjoyable book that offers a gospel-centered solution to an ever-present problem. I needed this book. I think you probably do, too. | How fascinating to read a book about one of the greatest challenges of our time, written by a man who once failed miserably in the face of that challenge. In these pages, Adam Mabry gives us what we most need—a vision of rest tethered to God, rooted in the practical, and shot through with a humorous understanding of our work-addicted folly. This book is a gift! | I have to admit, it made me laugh when I heard Adam was writing a book on rest. Adam is one of the hardest-working people I know, and he seems to have endless energy—but that might be why he is the perfect person to write on this topic. He is a gifted writer with an important message for everyone—rest is a gift that God wants you to enjoy. I pray that this book inspires you to learn the art of rest. | In this brief book about a big problem, Adam helps us find our way back to rest in God. Highly recommended! | Adam Mabry is a pastor and an evangelist who cares deeply about people. His book beckons us to look to Christ’s promise to exchange the heavy burdens that vex our souls for the peace that passes all understanding. | Painful and freeing. Simultaneously, this book was painfully convicting because of my need for rest, but it was also joyfully freeing to uncover the path to freedom—freedom from the tyranny of the urgent, freedom from the list of to-dos, and freedom from the pressure to see myself as a human doing, instead of a human being. | was itself a welcome rest to this retired theologian living in Florida (the outro in this book will enable you to appreciate the reference). I disagree with Adam somewhat about the Fourth Commandment, but he is wonderfully right about, as he says, 96% of what the Bible says on rest. His writing is rich, clear, conversational, and vivid. It’s as if he, Adam, were right there with you as you read. And Adam calls us to a lifestyle enabled by God’s grace in Jesus, in which we can find rest in work as well as rest away from work. | We in the 24/7 world of the West have forgotten why—and how—to rest. As a result, we’re over-extended and sleep-deprived. Our relationships are strained, our bodies suffer stress-induced disorders, and worst of all, our worship of God is superficial. We need help. And Adam Mabry’s book is a great help. Here we get to the heart of the problem and then find very helpful recommendations for recovering the lost art of rest. | Read this to gain insight into the purpose behind the pillars of sabbath with which God architected man’s soul. If you are allergic to conviction, read this book with your favorite antihistamine close by. | What a refreshing book! With surprising authenticity, delightful humor, and profound biblical insight, Adam Mabry has given Christians a gift… and a gift that will last a lifetime. It’s not a book you just read; it’s a book to which you will refer often and that over a lifetime. I’m an old guy and just wish that I had read this book when I was younger. But still, this book is a life-changer even for an old guy ‘cramming for finals.’ My life is going to be richer and better because of The Art of Rest. Yours will be too. Read it and give it to everyone you know! | I know this message is disruptive because it interrupts the auto-pilot default life-styles that we have taken for granted. I also know the messenger/author and what a difference practicing rest has made to him. His radical change gives me hope that leaders can lead from a place of rest, and the results are so much more sustainable. | I've read a lot of books on rest for busy Christians, but this is one of the best. It's lively, convicting, and relentlessly focused on Jesus. | Mabry’s opening chapter is titled, “I Don’t Do Rest”; he shares that his wife’s reaction to him announcing he was writing a book on rest was to laugh in his face. The problem he highlights is that many of us aren’t so good at doing rest, but we’re pretty hot at doing ‘do’. In fact we’re suckers for do. We see busyness and think it means we’re achieving something, getting somewhere. It makes us feel important. We idolise being productive and being ‘high-capacity leaders’, but we forget that, ultimately, “God has wired us to require rest.” | Adam Mabry is Lead Pastor of Aletheia Church Boston, MA, a rapidly-growing downtown church. He is married to Hope and they have four children. Before planting Aletheia, they had planted two churches in Edinburgh, Scotland. Adam did his theological studies at Reformed Theological Seminary and is studying for a PhD at Aberdeen. Adam is author of Stop Taking Sides and The Art of Rest.