Tempted, Tested, True

Tempted, Tested, True by Arnie Cole and Michael Ross

Publisher: Bethany House  (Baker Publishing Group -photo credit)

Publication date: April 2013

Category: Christian, Nonfiction (Adult)

Source: I received this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

Temptation. A word people know, use, and consider on many different levels. Yet, no matter how temptation is considered, it stands in history as the downfall of mankind and has haunted us ever since. 

In Tempted, Tested, True, authors Arnie Cole and Michael Ross take readers through what they label as Nudges, where the authors point readers in the direction for which they should aim. Each nudge is introduced with life stories/testimonies from people and then discussed in a workbook type fashion, asking the reader to understand the material personally. While the intro story may not be your direct experience, the root Temptation behind the story could. The reader is then moved to Tested, where the authors discuss a path to help change your course or help with the topic being discussed. This includes survey information they've gathered from Christians. True is the last category given and it charts a path toward change.

There are 10 Nudges discussed: 

Learn to be God-centered

Pinpoint Your Weakness

Reconsider Holiness

Change Your Brain

Interrupt Your Heart

Detach Attachments

Surrender Control

Shake the Shame

Fall in Love Again

Rethink Church

There are also two sections that discuss the points in which men and women are most tempted. Each section discusses five "hot button" points. One chapter in particular (Interrupt Your Heart) provides a website with free services to carry out their suggestions. The chapter is about interrupting your day with thoughts on God and scripture to keep you on track. They offer automated texts, emails, and even phone calls, in which you'll receive a scripture or thought based on the topics in the book to keep your mind focused on the change you seek - the lessening of successful temptations. I tested it and sure enough, at the times I preset, I received emails and texts with various scriptures or Bible devotional content.

Having read many books in this particular genre of Christian reading, I found Tempted, Tested, True on par with the rest. The free online service through their website was an extra that people taking this topic seriously would benefit from. The authors also have another book, mentioned in this one, that I will be reading. It is called Unstuck and it deals with learning to engage with the Bible instead of reading it "just because" or in a cognitive manner.