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(Un)Qualified by Steven Furtick
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(Un)Qualified

Best Seller
(Un)Qualified by Steven Furtick
Paperback $17.00
Jul 10, 2018 | ISBN 9781601424600

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    Jul 10, 2018 | ISBN 9781601424600

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    Mar 01, 2016 | ISBN 9781601424594

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  • Mar 01, 2016 | ISBN 9780451484307

    362 Minutes

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Praise

ECPA bestseller
Publisher Weekly bestseller
USA Today bestseller
Wall Street Journal
bestseller
Washington Post bestseller


(Un)Qualified will take you from self-doubt and insecurity to a renewed trust in the God who called and equipped you for his will and purpose.”
Joyce Meyer, Bible teacher and New York Times best-selling author

“God doesn’t call the qualified. He qualifies the called. This book will challenge you and encourage you into a life characterized by prayerful dependence and decisiveness—your life will never be the same.”
Mark Batterson, lead pastor of National Community Church, Washington, DC, and New York Times best-selling author of The Circle Maker

“Not only does Pastor Steven give voice to the hurt we so often stuff down deep when someone makes us feel as if we’re not good enough, but he also points us back to the only One who can truly measure our potential. (Un)Qualified will strategically and biblically show you that even when we’re overlooked by people, we are handpicked by God to play a part in his magnificent plan. This is such a needed message for today!”
Lysa TerKeurst, president of Proverbs 31 Ministries and New York Times best-selling author

“Too often we embrace the fallacy that our successes hang solely on our qualifications. That we—and we alone—are the architects of our accomplishments and the framers of our future. I’ve been in ministry long enough to realize that God delights in using the most unlikely candidates to accomplish his purposes and that our abilities are always secondary to his calling. In (Un)Qualified Pastor Steven Furtick shows how we can partner and participate with God’s calling for our lives, no matter who we are, where we are, or what we think we are lacking.”
Bishop T. D. Jakes, founder and senior pastor of The Potter’s House, Dallas, and New York Times best-selling author

“Almost everyone I know battles feelings of insecurity, unworthiness, and self-doubt. I know I do. That’s why Pastor Steven Furtick’s life-changing book (Un)Qualified is a must-read. This power-packed book will build your faith, stir your dreams, and help you see yourself as God sees you. If you have ever battled with feeling unqualified, unprepared, or unsure of yourself, pick up this transformative book and be inspired, because our God uses broken people to do big things.”
Craig Groeschel, senior pastor of Life.Church and author of #Struggles: Following Jesus in a Selfie-Centered World

“My friend Steven Furtick is one of the most authentic, passionate people I have ever met. His love for God and for people is nothing short of inspiring. Pastor Steven’s book (Un)Qualified is a must-read for every Jesus follower. In it he reveals how our tendency to fixate on our failures and major in our mistakes ultimately short-circuits our calling. But even more than that, he points us to a personal relationship with Jesus, the One who calls us, equips us, and carries us into our destiny.”
Judah Smith, lead pastor of The City Church, Seattle, and New York Times best-selling author of Jesus Is _____

“All humans strive to be stronger than we really are, better than we really are, and more than we really are. That’s not bad…it just won’t work. And as Steven shows, it leads us even farther away from who we truly are and who we want to become. This book will help you get more comfortable in your own skin, stop the striving, and see the truth of how God’s power flows when we can be real.”
Dr. Henry Cloud, clinical psychologist, acclaimed leadership expert, and best-selling author

“In a world distracted and enamored by external qualifications, Pastor Steven’s book is a refreshing reminder that God looks at the heart. When we respond to him in humility and faith, his power turns even our weaknesses into strengths. I am so excited about what God will do in your life as you read and experience the principles in this book! It will change the way you see yourself, talk about yourself, and even pray about yourself.”
Christine Caine, evangelist, author, and founder of The A21 Campaign

“In (Un)Qualified my friend Steven Furtick reminds us that God’s qualification system is very different than ours. If you’re anything like me, that’s a welcome reminder and a big relief! In these inspiring pages Steven speaks bold, helpful truth in a humble and honest way. He encourages us to lose the labels we’ve placed on ourselves and live instead in the revelation of a God who can even turn our weaknesses into strengths. This brilliant book really resonated with me, and I know it will with you too.”
Matt Redman, worship leader and Grammy-winning songwriter

“To watch the ministry of Pastor Steven Furtick is to watch someone living in his grace zone. He is a remarkable communicator, a passionate church builder, and a lover of truth. I have no doubts that his latest offering, (Un)Qualified, will resonate with each and every person who has ever felt the pull of calling and the inadequacy of their own humanity. This book will encourage and strengthen you as you walk the journey.”
Brian Houston, founder and global senior pastor of Hillsong Church and author of the international best-selling Live, Love, Lead

“In a culture obsessed with perception and perfection, (Un)Qualified is a refreshing reminder that God uses even our weaknesses to our advantage. Steven Furtick’s latest book is honest, practical, and thoroughly encouraging, and I highly recommend it. It will help you see yourself with more faith and courage than ever before.”
Andy Stanley, senior pastor, North Point Ministries, Atlanta

Author Q&A

Q&A with Steven Furtick
author of
(UN)QUALIFIED

On sale date: 3/1/2016
Hardcover ISBN: 9781601424594
eBook ISBN: 9781601424617
Multnomah, an imprint of Penguin Random House

Q1)     You lead one of the country’s fastest growing churches with more than 20,000 attendees and you’ve now written your fourth book. Why are you addressing the topic of feeling unqualified now?
 
I’m writing on this now because it doesn’t matter if you’re preaching to a group of 10 sweaty middle schoolers at a youth group lock-in or if you’re preaching to an arena of people at a church leadership conference – the feeling of being unqualified and inadequate is something you can’t ever really outrun. At one point or another, we all feel ridiculously unqualified for what God has called us to do. That‘s okay. Actually, to be used by God, it’s essential. God loves to work with unqualified people.
 
Q2)     Why is it that we often misunderstand what it means to be qualified?
I think it goes back to our earliest form of qualification – grade school. Pass, fail. A-plus, C-minus, F. These letters mean something to us. They were our first measurement of success, and this whole business of judging and assessing and qualifying is deeply ingrained in our culture and psyche. We constantly analyze and summarize each other. We develop our own secret, subjective ways of determining whether people measure up, and we do the same to ourselves. The problem is we will never be perfect enough or fail proof enough to be at peace with ourselves on this basis of qualification alone. 
 
Q3)     You preach every week in front of large crowds, how is it possible that you question your ability to fulfill your calling?
 
I question it because I know me. I think we all secretly fight feelings of inadequacy, insufficiency, and incompetence. We fear we are not enough – whatever that means in our particular situations. I heard once that most people, particularly men, go through life wondering how long it will be before everyone realizes they’re a fraud. Not in the sense that they’re insincere, but just that they have no idea what they’re doing. I relate to that more than I can explain.
 
Q4)     You make the statement,  “God can’t bless who you pretend to be.” What do you mean by that?
 
It was a thought that hit me while I was preparing a series of sermons on Jacob. I mean, Jacob was a con, a liar and a manipulator – you know, the model citizen for Sunday school stories – and yet God chose him to be one of the pillars of our faith and one of the fathers of the nation of Israel. He was simultaneously one of the most important figures in scripture and one of the most screwed up.
I was reading the scene in the Bible where Jacob dressed up like his brother Esau to get blessed by his father Isaac. And it worked. Kind of. He spent the next twenty-one years on the run – from his family, his homeland, and ultimately, himself.
It wasn’t until Jacob admitted his true identity while wrestling at the Jabbok that God was able to bless Jacob the way he wanted to. And that’s when God changed his name, on the basis of his true identity, not his persona or construct.
 
And as I’m sitting there studying this, I realized that we’re all like Jacob. We find ourselves pretending to be someone we’re not. We’re thinking if we manipulate our image just right, it will bring the accomplishments or acceptance we’re so desperate to receive. We think our weaknesses are the problem and faking it till we make it is the answer. But God sees it so differently. He longs to bless us. The real us, with all our ups and downs. The version of us that limps and loses, but refuses to lie about it. Once we come to him in that way, His truth begins to set us free to become who we really are.
 
Q5)    You ask readers to fill in the blank to the statement “I am ­____. What word or phrase do you use to fill in that blank and why?
 
Oh man. It depends on the day or even the minute, honestly. I know the answer I’m supposed to say is “I am chosen” or “I am loved” or something super pastoral, but the reality is I’m schizophrenic when it comes to the word I fill in the blank with. The words I find myself saying cover the whole spectrum too: I am unqualified. I am stupid. I am strong. I am driven. Screwed up. Loyal. Stuck. Hurting. Overwhelmed. Blessed. Capable. Disappointed. Hopeful. Jaded. Content. So many of my words circle around my weaknesses, but at the same time, I know God has equipped me, and remembering that helps shift my thinking. Making that choice, moment to moment, is what the book is all about!
 
Q6)     What is your recommendation for someone who is struggling to come to terms with his or her weaknesses and ability to change?
 
The more I study the Bible the more convinced I am that we need a fuller understanding – not just of God – but of ourselves. And we need to give less weight to our opinion of our weaknesses and problems. Don’t give up. Keep showing up. I truly believe the key to change isn’t always doing something new, but often in doing the right things over and over again. Change isn’t something that happens overnight. There are the exceptions, sure. But for the rest of us, change is a long, messy process. But if we don’t show up every day, and decide that today is going to build on the success we had yesterday, and so on, then our change will never last. And at the same time, when it comes to maturing us, God has His own timetable, and the Christian walk isn’t really about a finish line. Faith can’t be reduced to a goal or an achievement. It‘s an ongoing relationship with Jesus. It‘s a progression of growing and changing, of embracing and replacing, of listening to God‘s voice and living out who he says we are. It‘s a process, and it will last the rest of our lives. 
 
Q7)     What patterns do you see in the Bible of God using those who don’t outwardly appear to be qualified for what he has asked them to do?
 
Well, just think about how many of our Bible heroes were tortured souls with marked pasts that would label them unqualified by our standards. You’ve probably heard a version of this before: Noah was a drunk. Moses was a coward and a murderer. David was an adulterer. Paul was chief proponent in the killing of many Christians. Yet, these are some of the men God used. Don’t even get me started on Rahab!
 
Look, God has a habit of picking people who have been passed over. It’s just proof that God’s qualification system is totally different than ours. The very people we’re so quick to discount and disqualify are often the earthen vessels in whom God pours the greatest measure of His glory.

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