BOOKS
more than you can handle
Transformation awaits us in the dark night of the soul. In More Than You Can Handle, Nate asks with you: “God, where are you in this pain? Why don’t you step in and act?” Because when we courageously bring all of who we are to all of who God is–and stop pretending we can “handle” life–we encounter the God of Redemption. The good news isn’t that we can handle everything, but rather that God promises to be with us at the very moments we can’t handle anything.
Praise for “More Than You Can Handle”
“Nate Pyle is more than a guide; he’s a pastor, a shepherd, for our souls when we are suffering and overwhelmed. This book may not take away your pain, but it will pastor you on the journey through and into the possibilities of hope.
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“The book of Proverbs sets forth an ordered world where fearing God and doing what is right are rewarded with blessing. And it surely does help us order our lives according to wisdom. But it’s not the whole story. We also have the book of Job in our Bibles. Job acknowledges a painful world of deep disorder that we cannot control and cannot handle. The well-worn aphorism “God won’t give you more than you can handle” is proverbial, but it’s not the whole story. Nate Pyle adopts the unflinching honesty of Job to lead us past empty clichés and into the unfathomable mystery of grace. More Than You Can Handle is an honest and beautiful book for those overwhelmed by pain who need more than a quaint platitude.”
“There is no shortage of shelves lined with well-intentioned books about how to handle our pain. How in the face of utter devastation to maintain some sort of strong Christian posture. How to preserve one’s biblical integrity in the face of searing loss. Those books are the worst. Thank God for Nate Pyle and More Than You Can Handle. In this book, Nate generously holds endless space for the moments of agony that leave us breathless, wordless, crushed, and trembling. He holds that space well, because he has sat in it. He draws deeply from his own story, along with the broken pieces of the stories of other people he has lovingly shepherded over time. And somehow, without attempting to answer the answerless, he gently points to the story God has been telling in the lives of his children from the Genesis garden to the present day. It seems nearly impossible these days to be a trusted leader who still manages to hold hands with those who follow along. I felt carefully led, and my hand felt safely held.
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man enough
Man Enough challenges the idea that there is one way to be a man. The masculinity that pervades our church and culture often demands that men conform to a macho ideal, leaving many men feeling ashamed that they’re not living up to God’s plan for them. Nate uses his own story of not feeling “man enough”, as well as sociological and historical reflections, to help men see that manhood isn’t about what you do, but who you are. It’s not about the size of your paycheck, your athletic ability, or your competitive spirit. You don’t have to fit any masculine stereotype to be a real man.
“Man Enough is a fearless and faithful clarion call for the children of God to conform to the image of Jesus Christ, not to cultural or religious stereotypes around masculinity. With his trademark wisdom and humility, Nate Pyle assesses harmful misconceptions about what it means to be a man, shares his own story and the stories of others who don’t necessarily fit the mold, and returns to Scripture to forge a better way forward - a way of freedom, truth, and grace. This book is a must-read, one I’ll be recommending to friends and readers for years to come. Every page is an invitation to liberation.”
““Blessed are the tough, muscled and masculine.’ Jesus never said anything remotely like this but some modern believers act as if he did. Some Christians have transformed Jesus into John Wayne to promote culturally-driven ideas about what it means to be a man. Thankfully, Nate Pyle dismantles false notions of manhood and replaces them with a more Biblical concept of being human. If you read only one book on biblical manhood, it should be this one!”
“Nate’s book is a timely contribution to a sadly one-sided conversation on masculinity. Through an engagement with scripture, sociology, and honest self disclosure, Nate invites us not to conform to some contemporary ‘muscular’ version of masculinity, but to the vulnerable Lamb, in whom we need not strive, perform, or prove ourselves. His chapter on Jesus is worth the price of the book alone. I pray that it is used as a pathway to freedom and vulnerability for men.”