Eyes Wide Open: Enjoying God in Everything

What Pastor DeWitt writes on beauty is in itself a reflection of God's heart on beauty. Artfully describing how all of beauty is a reflection of God's attributes and reign over all things, Dewitt provides the reader both a theological framework and tangible illustrations to see this for themselves. Like a worship leader with words, Dewitt takes the reader closer and closer to see God's beauty from creation through the fall to redemption. From this point he shows that mans relationship with beauty is an act of worship as it reflects the Creator of all beauty.The book engages the reader in three part flow from "seeing God's Beauty" to (part 2)"the story of Beauty: In creation, Sin and Christ" to (part 3) "enjoying God in Everything". The flow of the book is so engaging that one wants to begin again to "see Gods beauty" by reading it all over. The greatest effect of the book is its impact on worship. It creates in the soul a longing to worship God in all things and in all things reflect His beauty . And it reminds the soul that the greatest display of beauty is in Jesus Christ. To read this book was to read a classic.

DeWitt helps us to appreciate the world God made and the God who made the world. Many authors have written about beauty, especially in the past (i.e. Lewis, Chesterton) - but this book will be readable for most who might be intimidated by the classics.If I can incorporate this perspective in my thinking, it will be well worth the read.

As an 83 year old who is nearing the shores of glory this was a most enjoyable book. The author's talent, or gift, for description with difficult concepts made the book a joy to read. The last chapter of the book is a real treasure, but read the rest. It's worth it!

This was an incredible book - I think he effectively shows readers, by example, how Christians ought to see the world; sadly, we seem to get bogged down in the day-to-day events of our God-given lives to appreciate the glory of God that's right in front of us. But Steve sees it and he's written it down for us. My copy of this book is now long gone - loaned out to someone who asked to loan it out to their friends or family etc., etc. I think I'll buy a few more copies.

This is an excellent book that has helped me to see how God displays His beauty through his creation and his people as His image bearers. It takes us away from the idea that God is "in" everything, so that we move away from worshiping the image bearer and instead inspires awe, wonder and worship of the Creator of all people and things -- which in turn enables you to find joy in, and gratitude for, the gifts He gives in people, things, nature, art, etc.

Biblical. Well written. Very helpful. All describe this great book by Pastor Steve Dewitt. If you want to open your eyes and see the world around you anew, read this book.

Fabulous book,revealing God's love and indescribable attributes through nature - His creation - rather than from a theological point of view. SO refreshing. For anyone who sees Him speaking to us through our five senses, this is the book for you!

You may have noticed that over the past few weeks I have been reviewing books that come from a little bit off the beaten path, so to speak. I have been reading, enjoying and reviewing books that have come our way from lesser-known Christian publishers. It turns out there are some fresh, excellent titles coming from some of these smaller publishers.From Credo House Publishers and author Steve DeWitt comes Eyes Wide Open, a book about learning to enjoy God in everything. Let me say it from the outset: this is a really good book. I enjoyed it thoroughly and benefited in very specific ways from the time I spent reading it. Let me tell you about just one of the most important things I learned.The place to begin when considering the topic is with a question like this one: Why do I enjoy _________ so much? You can fill in that blank with a kind of food or a form of art or even with a beautiful landscape. Why do you enjoy that thing so much? What draws you to it? What does it do in you and for you?DeWitt wants to help you appreciate those things even more than you do now, and in order to do that, you need to understand beauty and joy and wonder from a biblical perspective. You need to know why God made this world as wondrously beautiful as he did. The author's reflections on this topic, more than anything else in the book, have resounded in my mind and heart.Beauty was created by God for a purpose: to give us the experience of wonder. And wonder, in turn, is intended to lead us to the ultimate human expression and privilege: worship. Beauty is both a gift and a map. It is a gift to be enjoyed and a map to be followed back to the source of the beauty with praise and thanksgiving.This was tremendously helpful to me, this idea that beauty is meant to evoke wonder. Wonder, in turn, is meant to lead us to worship. The analogy of the map is helpful--beauty is meant to point us to the source of all beauty. It's a simple progression: Beauty to wonder to worship.Of course we live in a sinful world and have sin-stained hearts. Too often we allow beauty to lead us to wonder and we then get fixated on the wonder or the beauty without ever getting to the worship. Why do we worship so little even when we wonder so much? Reflecting on this DeWitt writes,We are confused about where to place the glory. Beauty still creates wonder, and wonder still searches for someone to give glory for the beauty. Without God, however, we are left to worship the artist or simply the beauty for its own sake. We worship created things rather than the Creator (Romans 1:25). Our wonder turns onto itself. We worship things, stuff, and matter.I see this most clearly in music. Excellent musicians evoke wonder in their listeners; their listeners express this wonder in worship of the musician. What we ought to do, of course, is allow the beauty of the music to move us to worship God. The same is true of a great meal or a great painting; even while we affirm the skill of the chef or artist, our worship should be directed at God alone. That is just one reflection, one application, from this excellent new title.Eyes Wide Open is a very enjoyable, very quotable book, and one that made an immediate impact on my life. It was a book that showed up unannounced and a book that was just exactly what I needed to read at this time. I am glad to commend it to you.

As someone fascinated by the concept of beauty and wonder, and someone that adores traveling and exploring...I've often wondered how this is supposed to fit in with my faith. This book explain the theology of beauty wonderfully, and with some really helpful reflects and practical applications. I shall take pleasure in beauty now all the more as I look at it through the lens of the Big Story and give God the glory. Thank you for helping enrich my daily experience of Jesus!

Excellent and uplifting book. It is a beautiful reminder for us to notice of the beauty of God’s creation. We are in awe of the master creator, our Heavenly Father.