Pressure Points by Shelby Abbott

The Synopsis:

This humorous, poignant, and conversational guide invites young men and women to practically apply gospel solutions to all of life’s pressures, big or small. From navigating failure, roadblocks, and spiritual warfare to tackling relevant, hard-hitting topics such as drinking, sex, dating, pornography, and the fear of missing out, Pressure Points by Shelby Abbott encourages college students to consider Jesus in the midst of everyday struggles.
With twenty years of experience in college ministry, Shelby Abbott is keenly aware of the pressures young men and women face. Used for biblical reflection, group discussion, devotional reading, or large group Bible study discussion, Pressure Points is full of rich gospel hope for all readers. This flexible resource points to Scripture and Abbott’s funny, easily digestible reflections to help modern-day college students maneuver their early years toward the gospel, challenging young adults to see their struggles through a biblical lens.
By addressing relevant challenges and practical hardships with gospel advice, Pressure Points guides readers to see and lean on the person of Jesus, reflecting on important issues in light of the gospel. From waiting on the Lord with patience, learning to fellowship with him in his sufferings, to wrestling with purpose, relationships, and the growing challenges of today’s culture, Pressure Points is a timely and refreshing voice for young people pointing to a bottomless pit of grace.

I received this book from the author/publisher via I Read With Audra for the purpose of this review. All comments and opinions are entirely my own.

Review:

In a world where saying “I’m stressed out” is automatic and almost normal, Pressure Points is a book that guides students to break out of that cycle and overcome the pressure points in their lives.

Being a stressed-out college student myself, I am, without a doubt, the target audience for this book. I’ve encountered many of the issues that the author uses as examples and his advice for putting Jesus in the middle of those situations is something I’ve always tried to do. But more than just saying what we should do, Abbott goes a step further and tells you how to walk a Christian life in the midst of the chaos of college.

Pressure Points is extremely conversational, not preachy. Abbott is honest about his own college life experiences, his struggles and triumphs, so it doesn’t feel like he considers himself “holier than thou”. It’s just an honest, down to earth book that shows his passion for college students finding their calling as Christians and overcoming the college temptations.

A couple chapters that I really liked, were the chapters on respecting parents as an adult college student, and the relationship/friendships advice. Don’t get me wrong, the entire book is great, but these chapters really stood out as exceptional to me. The one on respecting parents as a college student is something that just really needed to be said. Abbott discusses the tension between wanting to be entirely on your own, as a young adult, but also still depending on your parents for college tuition and other monetary support. He details the need for your respect, as a college student, to your parents in this stage of life to keep those parent/kid fights from ripping the family apart. That chapter was just really well done and I truly wish I had been able to read it while I still lived at home. The friendships and relationships chapters were equally as well done and I recommend the book for those chapters alone!

Overall, I was really pleased upon finishing Pressure Points and I really recommend reading it as a college student, or even a high school student considering going to college. It’s a great book of preparation. I give it 5 out of 5 stars.