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God Is (Not) In Control: The Whole Story Is Better Than You Think
"In God Is (Not) In Control, Jason gives us the liberty to color outside the lines of our many unperceived biases about God. He courageously addresses the “logic of love,” which always leads us on a journey from knowing, to not knowing, to a new knowing...
...This book is an invitation to those who realize that if we are afraid of the answers, we will never ask the hard questions. I applaud Jason for the courage he’s demonstrated to reintroduce us to a God who is immeasurably good and relentlessly loves us regardless of where we are on our journey."
—Dr. Randall Worley
Author of Brush Strokes of Grace, Wandering and Wondering, & A Manifesto for Spiritual Searchers
“God is not in control, but He is in charge.” Bill Johnson
As we awaken to the love of Jesus, we are invited to transition from one narrative to another—from sinner to saint, orphan to son or daughter, lost to found, law to grace, slave to free, from a theology of control to a theology of love.
“The opposite of love is not fear; it’s control.” Donald Miller
With grace, humor, and wisdom, Jason writes about two narratives on the planet, two ways by which to know Control or Love.
“God is sovereign, and God is in control are two different thoughts; they are two totally different things.” Todd White
Jason highlights how a theology of sovereign control compromises God’s goodness and positions humanity in the most desperate of insecurities.
“The belief that God controls everything that happens to us is one of the devil’s biggest inroads into our lives.” Andrew Wommack
This book is an invitation to grow sure in God’s sovereign love and transition from fear, insecurity, and striving into trust, intimacy, and freedom.
“If God was in control, you wouldn't have any freedom; you'd be controlled.” Graham Cooke
God Is (Not) In Control shines with the goodness of God. This books message will encourage
who have wrestled with the question, “If God is good, why do bad things happen? Why is there suffering? Why is there evil?”who have questions about hell, punishment, and an angry Old Testament God in light of Jesus’ reconciling lovewho have experienced the paralysis of “try harder” Christianity under the rule of a bipolar Godwho desire to experience God’s presence, closeness, love, and affection."It is not often my heart jumps when I read a book, but it did in reading, God Is (Not) In Control. This is a very needed book, with very needed truths for the church today." — Richard Oliver, Overseer of The River Fellowship
"The difficult part of learning is the unlearning, and as a growing number of us have discovered, what needs to be unlearned is the idea that there is an outside space and time deity (masculine, of course) who makes interventionist moves from time to time, in order to control.
As Jason rightly points out, a controlling God is not only unloving, and uninspiring, it’s also unbiblical. I hope lots of people read this book and learn new and interesting ideas about love, which might help us unlearn old and tired ideas around control.
...This book is an invitation to those who realize that if we are afraid of the answers, we will never ask the hard questions. I applaud Jason for the courage he’s demonstrated to reintroduce us to a God who is immeasurably good and relentlessly loves us regardless of where we are on our journey."
—Dr. Randall Worley
Author of Brush Strokes of Grace, Wandering and Wondering, & A Manifesto for Spiritual Searchers
“God is not in control, but He is in charge.” Bill Johnson
As we awaken to the love of Jesus, we are invited to transition from one narrative to another—from sinner to saint, orphan to son or daughter, lost to found, law to grace, slave to free, from a theology of control to a theology of love.
“The opposite of love is not fear; it’s control.” Donald Miller
With grace, humor, and wisdom, Jason writes about two narratives on the planet, two ways by which to know Control or Love.
“God is sovereign, and God is in control are two different thoughts; they are two totally different things.” Todd White
Jason highlights how a theology of sovereign control compromises God’s goodness and positions humanity in the most desperate of insecurities.
“The belief that God controls everything that happens to us is one of the devil’s biggest inroads into our lives.” Andrew Wommack
This book is an invitation to grow sure in God’s sovereign love and transition from fear, insecurity, and striving into trust, intimacy, and freedom.
“If God was in control, you wouldn't have any freedom; you'd be controlled.” Graham Cooke
God Is (Not) In Control shines with the goodness of God. This books message will encourage
who have wrestled with the question, “If God is good, why do bad things happen? Why is there suffering? Why is there evil?”who have questions about hell, punishment, and an angry Old Testament God in light of Jesus’ reconciling lovewho have experienced the paralysis of “try harder” Christianity under the rule of a bipolar Godwho desire to experience God’s presence, closeness, love, and affection."It is not often my heart jumps when I read a book, but it did in reading, God Is (Not) In Control. This is a very needed book, with very needed truths for the church today." — Richard Oliver, Overseer of The River Fellowship
"The difficult part of learning is the unlearning, and as a growing number of us have discovered, what needs to be unlearned is the idea that there is an outside space and time deity (masculine, of course) who makes interventionist moves from time to time, in order to control.
As Jason rightly points out, a controlling God is not only unloving, and uninspiring, it’s also unbiblical. I hope lots of people read this book and learn new and interesting ideas about love, which might help us unlearn old and tired ideas around control.
222 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 20, 2023
15 people are currently reading
5 people want to read
About the author
Jason Clark
161 books6 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
June 4, 2024
I would not be surprised if down the road a few years I look back at this book as being one of the most influential that I’ve read. This subject is something I’ve struggled with for years, and I’ve had lots of thoughts on my own. And this book put all of it into coherent thought that makes total sense. A story of freedom and love and miraculous relationship. Control is not love.
To really put a synopsis on this book honestly would do it a disservice. It’s a controversial topic in our current western church, and I’d butcher a summary. But it’s well worth reading, pondering, and finding freedom.
5 stars, and I’d give it more if I could. And I’ll definitely be recommending this book in the years to come.
Jesus, in the mystery of the incarnation, fully man and fully God, deity in human form and sovereignty perfectly revealed, lived on earth for thirty-three years and never once forced His will upon another. Love personified never stepped outside consent. While He invited whole surrender, He never demanded, manipulated, or coerced it. […] Jesus never once compromised free will. (P. 10)
I believe God is sovereign. But God is sovereign, and God is in control are two different thoughts. (P. 11)
If God is in absolute control, He is also complicit in the horror of our broken experiences. (P. 17)
“He works all things for good” loses much of its wonder and power when He is the one believed to have caused all the pain in the first place. (P. 18)
Sovereign love destroyed every control. […] Sovereign Love decimated the destruction of a theology of control by setting captives free. He transformed sinners into saints and slaves into sons and daughters. He restored and redeemed the worst of life’s tragedies and healed the most broken of life’s sorrows. Then sovereign Love experienced the ultimate control, death. And He revealed sovereign love was more powerful than death by rising from the grave. (P. 32)
Intimacy can’t be experienced in a relationship where one person controls the other. Intimacy is only experience where there is trust. […] You can’t have intimacy with someone you can’t trust. And control undermines trust. It is the antithesis of intimacy. […] A theology of sovereign control erodes our ability to trust, making intimacy with God something we are promised but never actually experience. (P. 42)
If we insist on viewing God as a controlling master, we will either find ourselves like the prodigal, enslaved to secular self-righteous thought outside the house, or we will find ourselves like the older brother, enslaved to religious self-righteous thought inside the house. Either way, we become bound to thinking and acting like a slave. (P. 56)
Much of the church still interprets God and man through the lens of sovereign Control. Therefore, when it gets darker in the world, Christians don’t get brighter; no, they build a sub-culture, an ark; they become survivors, looking for a way to navigate the coming flood. (P. 71)
Sovereign control is the narrowest lens through which to know God. It’s salvation through works, a never-ending what am I still lacking journey. It takes the least amount of faith and doesn’t consider God’s eternal sovereign Love. (P. 72)
In Noah’s narrative, a handful of people survived. In Jesus’ narrative, all humanity is awakening to salvation. Survival is what we get with a theology of control; resurrection life is what we get with a theology of love. (P. 73)
A church that believes God wants control is a church that needs to be controlled. A church that believes God is controlling is a church full of people who believe they are prone to wander. And it gets worse! A church that believes they are prone to wander is a church whose gospel message is built around behavior modification. And a church focused on behavior eventually becomes a powerless, sin-counting punishment-focused church, a people better known for what they are against than who they are for. (P. 78)
If we believe a lie about God’s goodness, we will eventually participate in and experience a hell that seems to prove the lie true. (P. 97)
When we play in the world of good and evil, we are forced to participate in the dualistic hierarchy of us or them. […] The theology of sovereign control either leads to an impotent church known for what and who it’s against, or an impotent church watering down truth until it has no power to set free. […] A theology of sovereign control leads us to bondage on way or another. We become slaves, either to self-righteous religious activity or to a self-righteous celebration of a proclivity to wander. (P. 112)
Jesus never released mercy without following up with grace. Empowerment and transformation always follow forgiveness. Sovereign Love forgave and then gave her access to her true identity. She didn’t have to live lost in sin. She could live found in Christ. (P. 114)
God doesn’t desire not need to be defended, but He loves to be revealed. (P. 121)
Christians often feel a cultural expectation to provide the answers — all of them, even when we don’t know them yet. We live in the age of certainty. When we perceive God through the lens of sovereign control, we feel a religious obligation to present our faith in the context of certainty. And that when we often start making “stuff” up. (P. 122)
“We don’t know” made room for Jesus to speak to our faith, to highlight the mystery and revelation. […] We must be willing to live in the faith of not knowing and the invitation to know. (Pp. 125-126)
The theology of sovereign control provides a sense of security found in religious certainty, in knowing. But this certainty is fragile; it’s a faith daily undermined by the sorrows of this world. But in a theology of sovereign love, not knowing is an opportunity for greater revelation. Not knowing is the authentic invitation to discover how our Father thinks and see. (P. 130)
God never partners with Satan to grow our faith. That thought comes directly from the pit of hell. It’s the fruit of the control narrative, and it is past time we stopped believing it! (P. 140)
Loving God does not set us free; it’s not what transforms us. Loving God isn’t even what saves us. Loving God is a response — and to love God in spirit and in truth is only possible to the extent we know His sovereign love for us. (P. 142)
Our faith can never be in our love of God. […] Our faith can never be in our theological certainty. […] Our faith can never be in sovereign control. Our faith must be in the sovereignty of His love for us. (P. 143)
God didn’t give Abraham a test so Abraham could prove his love. God gave Abraham a test to reveal the goodness of sovereign love in an area where Abraham was devastatingly deceived and living in the desperate bondage of his deception. God gave Abraham a test so Abraham could perceive the truth and be set free. (P. 153)
Why would God give us the unwilling Holy Spirit and, through Holy Spirit, empower self-control if God was in control? The very idea that God is in control separates us from the fruit of our union, the freedom of self-control. And self-control was His gift to us, a revelation of union, an invitation to awaken to the incarnation, to live powerfully free in a mutual, self-giving, other-centered love. […] Self-control is the evidence we are free, free to fully receive love, and fully love. (P. 170)
When we live from the narrative of sovereign love, we are the freest people in the room, the freest people on the planet, empowered to love in the same transformative way Jesus loved. It’s past time we stopped living like God was in control and started living like He has empowered us in love to control ourselves. God is not in control; we are. The Holy Spirit empowers us to live sure in love as expressions of His Kingdom come. We are free to choose — control or love. (Pp. 171-172)
To really put a synopsis on this book honestly would do it a disservice. It’s a controversial topic in our current western church, and I’d butcher a summary. But it’s well worth reading, pondering, and finding freedom.
5 stars, and I’d give it more if I could. And I’ll definitely be recommending this book in the years to come.
Jesus, in the mystery of the incarnation, fully man and fully God, deity in human form and sovereignty perfectly revealed, lived on earth for thirty-three years and never once forced His will upon another. Love personified never stepped outside consent. While He invited whole surrender, He never demanded, manipulated, or coerced it. […] Jesus never once compromised free will. (P. 10)
I believe God is sovereign. But God is sovereign, and God is in control are two different thoughts. (P. 11)
If God is in absolute control, He is also complicit in the horror of our broken experiences. (P. 17)
“He works all things for good” loses much of its wonder and power when He is the one believed to have caused all the pain in the first place. (P. 18)
Sovereign love destroyed every control. […] Sovereign Love decimated the destruction of a theology of control by setting captives free. He transformed sinners into saints and slaves into sons and daughters. He restored and redeemed the worst of life’s tragedies and healed the most broken of life’s sorrows. Then sovereign Love experienced the ultimate control, death. And He revealed sovereign love was more powerful than death by rising from the grave. (P. 32)
Intimacy can’t be experienced in a relationship where one person controls the other. Intimacy is only experience where there is trust. […] You can’t have intimacy with someone you can’t trust. And control undermines trust. It is the antithesis of intimacy. […] A theology of sovereign control erodes our ability to trust, making intimacy with God something we are promised but never actually experience. (P. 42)
If we insist on viewing God as a controlling master, we will either find ourselves like the prodigal, enslaved to secular self-righteous thought outside the house, or we will find ourselves like the older brother, enslaved to religious self-righteous thought inside the house. Either way, we become bound to thinking and acting like a slave. (P. 56)
Much of the church still interprets God and man through the lens of sovereign Control. Therefore, when it gets darker in the world, Christians don’t get brighter; no, they build a sub-culture, an ark; they become survivors, looking for a way to navigate the coming flood. (P. 71)
Sovereign control is the narrowest lens through which to know God. It’s salvation through works, a never-ending what am I still lacking journey. It takes the least amount of faith and doesn’t consider God’s eternal sovereign Love. (P. 72)
In Noah’s narrative, a handful of people survived. In Jesus’ narrative, all humanity is awakening to salvation. Survival is what we get with a theology of control; resurrection life is what we get with a theology of love. (P. 73)
A church that believes God wants control is a church that needs to be controlled. A church that believes God is controlling is a church full of people who believe they are prone to wander. And it gets worse! A church that believes they are prone to wander is a church whose gospel message is built around behavior modification. And a church focused on behavior eventually becomes a powerless, sin-counting punishment-focused church, a people better known for what they are against than who they are for. (P. 78)
If we believe a lie about God’s goodness, we will eventually participate in and experience a hell that seems to prove the lie true. (P. 97)
When we play in the world of good and evil, we are forced to participate in the dualistic hierarchy of us or them. […] The theology of sovereign control either leads to an impotent church known for what and who it’s against, or an impotent church watering down truth until it has no power to set free. […] A theology of sovereign control leads us to bondage on way or another. We become slaves, either to self-righteous religious activity or to a self-righteous celebration of a proclivity to wander. (P. 112)
Jesus never released mercy without following up with grace. Empowerment and transformation always follow forgiveness. Sovereign Love forgave and then gave her access to her true identity. She didn’t have to live lost in sin. She could live found in Christ. (P. 114)
God doesn’t desire not need to be defended, but He loves to be revealed. (P. 121)
Christians often feel a cultural expectation to provide the answers — all of them, even when we don’t know them yet. We live in the age of certainty. When we perceive God through the lens of sovereign control, we feel a religious obligation to present our faith in the context of certainty. And that when we often start making “stuff” up. (P. 122)
“We don’t know” made room for Jesus to speak to our faith, to highlight the mystery and revelation. […] We must be willing to live in the faith of not knowing and the invitation to know. (Pp. 125-126)
The theology of sovereign control provides a sense of security found in religious certainty, in knowing. But this certainty is fragile; it’s a faith daily undermined by the sorrows of this world. But in a theology of sovereign love, not knowing is an opportunity for greater revelation. Not knowing is the authentic invitation to discover how our Father thinks and see. (P. 130)
God never partners with Satan to grow our faith. That thought comes directly from the pit of hell. It’s the fruit of the control narrative, and it is past time we stopped believing it! (P. 140)
Loving God does not set us free; it’s not what transforms us. Loving God isn’t even what saves us. Loving God is a response — and to love God in spirit and in truth is only possible to the extent we know His sovereign love for us. (P. 142)
Our faith can never be in our love of God. […] Our faith can never be in our theological certainty. […] Our faith can never be in sovereign control. Our faith must be in the sovereignty of His love for us. (P. 143)
God didn’t give Abraham a test so Abraham could prove his love. God gave Abraham a test to reveal the goodness of sovereign love in an area where Abraham was devastatingly deceived and living in the desperate bondage of his deception. God gave Abraham a test so Abraham could perceive the truth and be set free. (P. 153)
Why would God give us the unwilling Holy Spirit and, through Holy Spirit, empower self-control if God was in control? The very idea that God is in control separates us from the fruit of our union, the freedom of self-control. And self-control was His gift to us, a revelation of union, an invitation to awaken to the incarnation, to live powerfully free in a mutual, self-giving, other-centered love. […] Self-control is the evidence we are free, free to fully receive love, and fully love. (P. 170)
When we live from the narrative of sovereign love, we are the freest people in the room, the freest people on the planet, empowered to love in the same transformative way Jesus loved. It’s past time we stopped living like God was in control and started living like He has empowered us in love to control ourselves. God is not in control; we are. The Holy Spirit empowers us to live sure in love as expressions of His Kingdom come. We are free to choose — control or love. (Pp. 171-172)
May 17, 2024
it disrupted my presumptions!
The mere thought that God is not in control was disturbing! But the title peeked my interest. This book was required reading as part of the Bible school I’ve been enrolled in, so I had to read it. But it was well worth it! Jason Clark takes you on a journey of challenging the belief and examines the flaws of the belief system that God is in control. He exposes those flaws so well but doesn’t leave you there, he takes you beyond those beliefs into something greater.
The mere thought that God is not in control was disturbing! But the title peeked my interest. This book was required reading as part of the Bible school I’ve been enrolled in, so I had to read it. But it was well worth it! Jason Clark takes you on a journey of challenging the belief and examines the flaws of the belief system that God is in control. He exposes those flaws so well but doesn’t leave you there, he takes you beyond those beliefs into something greater.
July 26, 2024
The True Life In Jesus
This writer has given the true meaning of life in Jesus Christ by living in his sovereign love not sovereign control. An excellent book to see who Jesus and his kingdom truly is. Anyone who reads this book will know the truth of the freedom and liberty in Christ.
This writer has given the true meaning of life in Jesus Christ by living in his sovereign love not sovereign control. An excellent book to see who Jesus and his kingdom truly is. Anyone who reads this book will know the truth of the freedom and liberty in Christ.
May 1, 2024
a brilliant book
One of the best books I’ve read in a long time! So much meat, I wrestled with this subject for a long time and Jason unpacks this brilliantly. It’s been very freeing for me thank you Jason.
One of the best books I’ve read in a long time! So much meat, I wrestled with this subject for a long time and Jason unpacks this brilliantly. It’s been very freeing for me thank you Jason.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews