Ché Ahn

I used to be part of a more expressive charismatic church, where Ché Ahn was a respected voice. I remember him preaching at our church one Sunday and enjoyed it. I read God Wants to Bless You! eager to see if I still appreciated Ahn's message. I also am challenged by charismatic friends toward a more experiential and dynamic faith and the hunger for God's blessing. God does want to bless us!

Ahn, who is a graduate from Fuller Theological Seminary, founder of the apostolic network Harvest show more International Ministry (HIM) and the founding pastor of HRock Church in Pasedena wants us to experience all God has for us in Christ. The impetus behind this book was a prophetic word given to him by Bob Hartley in 2013. Hartley told Ahn that he was to speak ten decrees--ten scriptural blessings--over his church (12). Hartley wasn't specific as to what these blessings ought to be, and after prayer Ahn compiled the list he shares here. These were decrees that Ahn declared over his church and had his members decree over their own lives.

God Wants to Bless You is presented in two parts. Part one describes the power (and purpose) of God's blessing in our lives. Part two presents Ahn's ten decrees. Each of the decree chapters begins with a prayerful 'apostolic' decree from Ahn, praying God's blessing on a dimension of our life, then some teaching from Ahn on the topic, and a closing decree for the reader to pray out loud, declaring God's blessing on their lives.

All of these decrees are biblically rooted. Ahn leads us through prayers that we will grow in our knowledge of God's love, grow in grace, be in empowered by the Spirit, know our identity in Christ, grow in Christlike character, see God's Kingdom come, experience God's healing, prosperity and fulfill our personal God-given destiny.

Ahn is a good teacher and I was generally impressed by his use of scripture. I also liked that this book isn't a simple 'name it and claim it' book. When Ahn writes about growing in love, character, grace, etc, he imparts strategies for living in a more Christlike way. This isn't just about speaking God's blessing in our life, Ahn shares vulnerably his sometimes difficult journey as a disciple. There is no dichotomy here between praying for something, and active spiritual discipline.
However I do have qualms with his understanding of Israel and prosperity. Ahn teaches about God's continuing blessing on Israel and the Jewish people based on their covenant with God and his covenant faithfulness to them (41-46). He then teaches that all of the blessings of Israel are our inheritance in Christ because we have been grafted into Abraham's family (46). To me, this smacks of supersessionism and leads to the misreading of the Bible. Secondly, Ahn's teaching of prosperity involves renouncing 'the Spirit of Poverty; on our lives. Ahn shares the story of renouncing the spirit of Poverty and receiving his first five-thousand dollar honorarium (57). I can agree with Ahn that we shouldn't seek poverty for poverty sake, or idealize it. Yet I think what scripture commends is that God's care for us and our needs. It is not a 'pray and grow rich' theology. I am nervous about the way the prosperity gospel penetrates Ahn's description of God's blessing.

But I am also appreciative that the Blessings that Ahn has us declare over our lives are so that we can be a blessing to our neighbors and the nations. The impact of the abundant life is that we share God's love, grace, healing, and prosperity with others. Ahn teaches us that God blesses so that we can be a blessing. I can't agree more. I am awed and inspired by God's goodness to us and the way it is described here.

I give this book three stars and recommend it, albeit with reservations. I want to experience more of God's unconditional goodness. I want that for you to.

Note: I recieved this book from Chosen books in exchange for my honest review. show less

This book is all about why and how to declare spiritual blessings (“decrees”) over yourself and others.

The author starts out by telling us how the book came to be, what a blessing is [“..an ancient blessing was a decree that God’s intentions would come forth in all fullness for the person being blessed.” page 30], and why we need to be blessed.

Then he had a chapter for each of his ten decrees of blessing. I liked each actual blessing, which was condensed into one long sentence show more each. Dr. Ahn attempted in each chapter to explain through stories and illustrations, what each blessing actually was, what it looked like. Some of this content seemed like unnecessary fluff to me but it could be in part that I am pretty familiar with blessings and decrees.

Other parts of these chapters were very edifying and worth the read. Unfortunately you have to read through it all to figure out which is which for you (and that will probably be different for each person anyway and for some people they may not find any of it “fluffy”!)

Notable quotes:

“I decree a blessing over myself that God will give me a Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of God’s love so that I can love and worship God and love others.” page 89 (the 1st decree)

“Some people believe that the highest ideal in the Christian life is principle: to study the Bible and glean from it principles by which to live…but principles are not enough….We were first created to abide in Christ and live in the Spirit’s presence. Principle without presence reduces our faith to religion, while presence elevates it to a divine relationship.” page 175

If you don’t understand what blessings are, or what decrees are, or you want to know what his ten decrees for blessing are, then this book is for you.

To purchase your own copy of this book go here:God Wants to Bless You!: How to Experience the Unconditional Goodness of God

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Chosen Publishers as part of their blogging for books program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commision’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.” show less