Chillin' With Your Daddy God

A relaxed, affirming daily devotional for today’s Christian readers.

Grote, a youth pastor and men’s ministry leader, started writing down his thoughts on various Bible verses to share with his family members, and he’s now assembled that collection here as a yearlong devotional for a wider audience. Each week, he introduces a short verse from the Bible, and then, for each day of that week, he expands on his interpretation and its applications to modern-day life. Grote’s main objective in each day is to stress an image of a personable, caring God. “Your Daddy God loves you and wants you to enjoy the here and now,” he writes, often mixing in slang and unusual spellings to assert his vision of a less formal relationship with God. The relaxed style helps distance himself from more traditional or judgmental religious writings. “I have no idea what smoting is,” he says of the punishments from the Old Testament, “but I don’t want any part of it.” Grote uses each verse to compel readers to put their faith in God to solve any problems they may face. He uses examples from his own life, ranging from real estate to serious family problems, always emphasizing that “Super-crazy, extreme abundance in every area of your life—that is what your Daddy God wants for you.” There are some brief historical contexts for the verses, paying particular attention to different translations of the Bible, i.e., “I shall not want” versus “I lack nothing” and “I have all that I need.” But these insights are mostly stray observations that Grote loosely links together. The days lack a specific topic or theme, and the use of only one verse for every week leads to repetition and a limited amount of Scripture. In his introduction, Grote encourages the reader “not to disregard something because it goes against what you have been taught or due to my very grammatically incorrect writing style,” yet readers looking for a focused, in-depth study of the Bible may still want to look elsewhere.

A casual, humorous boost for day-to-day spirituality.