Finding Yourself in the New Testament

by Al Carraway

“I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more
abundantly.”

—John 10:10

Award-winning speaker and best-selling author Al Carraway presents an in-depth study of the
life of Jesus Christ and how it relates to our own in an intimate and personal way. Written by
someone who truly knows God, Finding Yourself in the New Testament skillfully and sincerely
introduces its readers to the Savior and shows them who and what He really is. Not only does it
illustrate how deeply involved God is in the lives of His children, but it also provides an
excellent guide to the history, culture, and context of ancient Israel and the Jewish religion.

Drawing directly from the four Gospels of the New Testament, this book will lead you to the
Being who can give you the power to change; the God “who goes to the hated, the forgotten, the
different, the outcast, the sinner, and the excommunicated and befriends them; the God who calls
them to great things and blesses and loves them; the God who forgives in the act, reaches for
those sinking, and stops for those buried in the crowd or alone in the heat of the day.”
See yourself in every aspect of the Savior’s ministry and in the lives of the people He blessed.
Understand that Jesus Christ truly did come that we might have life—and all else—more
abundantly.

Genres: Religion, Nonfiction

272 pages, Paperback

Published October 17, 2022

Reviews

[Sydnee Muhlestein · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve replaced scripture study temporarily with this book and I loved it so much. I love the perspective Al Carraway gives in all the stories from the New Testament. My heart is full 💕

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

I rounded up on this one from a 3 to a 4 because some of the things that bothered me were a little out of her control. A better publisher/editor would have done wonders for this book. A lot of mistakes. She also lost all of her work the week this book was due. I think her original work would have been so much better. You could tell some chapters were more flushed out and researched while others felt kind of thrown away, rushed. I think a big part of that was having to rewrite an entire book in a rush. If you follow her on social media, a lot of this book will be a repeat as she shares the same stories/many of her insights. So, in that way, it felt a little repetitive and tedious because I knew many of the stories. She focused a lot on her own personal stories, which is fine, but with the title, I think I would have loved a little more vagueness in the application of her thoughts.

As for the good things, she really does have some beautiful and powerful insights. I appreciate the different way she views things and her ability to articulate them.

[Lynette P · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book! Some sections were okay, others were phenomenal! I think it was the sections that I really related to that struck a chord with me. I have followed Al for a long time so none of the stories she related to herself were really new but I still loved the correlation to the scriptures anyways. She is so good at telling stories and applying the scriptures to our lives. My favorite chapters were the ten lepers and ten virgins, calming the storm, and the ending.

[Dawn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I know this book is not for everyone but I really love the simplicity of Al's writing and she puts things into words much better than i can. If you want the New Testament explaining simply then this is it.

[Morgan Mitton · Rating 2 out of 5]

Great idea/concept, but felt redundant and more focused on her own musings and life experiences than on helping you find yourself in the New Testament. Lots of errors and run on or fragmented sentences that made it difficult to read too.

[Lochsley · Rating 3 out of 5]

At the end of the book she mentions she lost all her work the week the book was due, which may account for the errors. I honestly think most of my problems with the book lie at the feet of the publisher. This book reads like a first draft. There are many, many, many grammatical errors. I have nothing against the author. No one would expect you to create a perfect manuscript the first time you type it, but someone should have read this before going to print and made these easy to fix corrections. It is audacious of the publisher to charge $20 for a book that was obviously not reviewed by an editor.

Content wise, she made many heartfelt and compelling connections with the life of Christ and those who surround him. I might have titled the book Finding Myself in the Life of Christ since the connections tended to be personal to the author's life and it ends with the resurrection.

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's so hard to know how to rate this book. It started out great, slogged in the middle, and then ended pretty well. I think a big problem was that I had just read her book, Wildly Optimistic. Huge portions of the middle of the book were word for word from that book. She mentions at the end that she was almost done and lost all her work, so that probably has something to do with it. But reading them back to back made it so hard to want to keep reading. The best parts were when she added historical context, which I found myself wishing there was more of.

If I hadn't read her other book, I'd definitely have enjoyed this one more. I liked how it was organized, and the thought behind it was good. I did enjoy Wildly Optimistic as well. I definitely recommend reading one of the two- just not both.

[Kay Noble · Rating 5 out of 5]

I felt this is a wonderful book!! Al is a great writer, and was able to write the even though all of her original material was lost. I really enjoyed this part that stood out to me because it is so common in everyday life. It talks about how resentment can take over our lives. By Neil F. Marriott said, “Your resentment diminishes your progress and damages your ability to have healthy relationships. You can let it go”. Al says”Forgiveness isn’t always for others,it for us. To free us, to lift our weight. That pain and hurt and responsibility to take care of the actions of others, we can let that go. That is meant for us to carry. That’s God’s territory”.

[Arianne Askham · Rating 2 out of 5]

Bless this mess. I love Al. I follow her on Instagram. I love listening to her spiritual messages. I have read and enjoyed many of her books. This is an unfortunate, chaotic mess. I had purchased with the idea of it being sort of commentary and deep dive to read along with my New Testament study. But UGH it’s a slog. Each chapter is more like a standalone devotional, they don’t go together. It honestly feels like it was written in great haste and seemed to poorly describe sort of weird tidbits without piecing it together into a holistic story. After suffering through it for a couple weeks hoping I might see it come together, I decided it was best to part ways. A big DNF for me.

[Elizabeth Wood · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m so conflicted on this book. The content was wonderful. There are a lot of one-liners that I want to go back and highlight, read again, and ponder. Things I’ve never thought of before.

BUT (and I don’t mean to be the grammar police), this book seemed like nobody even bothered to edit it. So many mistakes, misspelled words, missing words, incomplete sentences, run on sentences, and grammatical errors that drove me CRAZY.

It is also written like Al is talking to you as a motivational speaker … which is not my favorite for this kind of book.

Anywho, finally finished this book after 1.5 years of reading it on/off.

[Amber Corkin · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really wanted to love this book because scriptures are awesome and applying the scriptures is even more awesome. Alas, the sentence structure was hard to follow and the typos littering the pages were too much for me to keep reading past the first fifteen pages or so. (Also, I'm not an editor and it's just my luck that there's probably a typo or two in this review.)

[Tiffany · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed reading this with my study of the New Testament so far this year! It provided a lot of really great additional insight and helped to make things more personal to me.

I would definitely recommend it!

[Katie · Rating 5 out of 5]

An insightful guide through the life and mission of the Savior, Al’s book provides helpful context to the Gospels and causes much reflection on how it all applies to one’s life. I will be happy to reflect on some the things I’ve learned for quite some time.

[Joy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Worth every second

[Anna Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Anyone who wants to know Jesus better, or know the New Testament better, or to know themselves better, should read this book. Beautiful! A staple alongside my scripture study

[Lori · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book helped me apply the New Testament to my own life. I loved it. I would give it 5 stars but there were too many grammar issues.

[Nicole Stanton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Uplifting! Al has a gift.

[Jaycee Funk · Rating 5 out of 5]

This has been a great addition to my study of the New Testament this year!

[Sarah Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was such a good aide to my study of the New Testament this year! I loved it!

[Megan Larson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Valuable insights. Will keep for future reference and perspective. 👍🏻 However, overall writing/editing needs improvement. 👎🏻

[Sharlee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Everyone needs to study with this! I love the aha moments I have had. I love nerding out about something I've never thought about before! And especially on the history and culture context!!! It adds another rich layer when studying about Christ. Just to know what it was like to live back then! Al has so many good insights and she just made it come more alive for me! I feel closer to Jesus 🥰 and isn't that the point.

[Dayna Baker · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think Al Carraway did a great job collecting sources and information for this book! I feel like each section flowed well into the next. The New Testament is such a powerful book, so finding small connections to us in modern times was a great way to put yourself into the Bible