Q&A with Albert Tate, author of Disobedient God
Question 1: This book is a beautiful, challenging look into how we view God and how we respond to His hand in our lives – what was the catalyst that led you to sit down and write this book?
Question 2: You talk about how you were inspired by the faith of your grandfathers, specifically the labor of their faith – can you remember a specific moment when you realized faith in God wasn’t as easy as you once thought?
Question 3: You talk about the “golden calf” being a cheap replacement of the true God, and you bravely speak about your struggle with addiction – what would you tell someone who is currently struggling with their own golden calf, and want to destroy it, but don’t know how?
Question 4: You share a story about your friend’s suicide attempt that was unsuccessful by the grace of God. What would you say to someone who has lost a loved one to suicide, where God didn’t step in and stop it?
In this powerful guidebook, the lead pastor of Fellowship Church demonstrates how the moments that test our faith are the moments God uses to direct our hearts to the one thing we truly desire most: a relationship with Christ.
When the people of Israel, those who had witnessed the most abundant and inexplicable acts of God, grew tired of waiting for Moses to come off the mountain, they made a calf of gold. It was easier for them to make a new god than to continue serving a God that didn’t conform to their schedule and expectations.
Just like the Israelites in the desert, we are all fundamentally longing for God… but who and what are we actually reaching for and serving? Disobedient God addresses the things we do when we feel ignored, inconvenienced and frustrated by God. What things are we reaching for in our life? Are we reaching for porn when we long for intimacy? Reaching for success when we long for security? We would never say that we have replaced God, but our actions tell a different story. Whether we are trying to replace God, trying to run away or trying to perform for Him, we have no mindset to deal with a disobedient God. Disobedient God is a book for people dealing with this disappointment and interested in properly understanding and loving the God they’ve misunderstood.
This is not a step-by-step instruction manual for how to react when things are difficult; rather, it is a way of understanding God that leads people to discover the relationship with God that they were always meant for.