Bitten by a Camel

Leaving Church, Finding God

By: Kent Dobson

Narrated by: Kent Dobson

Length: 5 hrs and 7 mins

Publisher's summary

Kent Dobson climbed Mount Sinai in search of the God who had eluded him. Instead he got bitten by a camel. Dobson was climbing the ladder of Christianity, too: a worship leader, teacher, and ultimately senior pastor of one of the largest and most prominent churches in America. But he was growing disillusioned with the faith, at least inside the shell of organized religion.

©2017 Fortress Press (P)2017 Fortress Press

One of the best books on the current spiritual situation we find ourselves in.

As someone who grew up in the mainstream Christian Church in United States this book was very refreshing. Like many people, That have grown up in church, I have also been disillusioned the institution self and their certainty. Kent has a very down to earth and approachable way of writing. He is humble and honest and authentic. He is an inspiration. This book will inspire you. This book embraces both The experience of being in a religion and the experience of being disillusioned with a religion. It also does not take sides. The book is very balanced and will let you draw your own conclusions.

Honest and Excellent!!!

I was so sad when Kent Dobson resigned from Mars Hill in Michigan, but watching him grow throughout his time teaching there made his choice to move forward, understandable. I am grateful for all that I learned through him, and really pleased with his work in this book. He is right on target. :-)

This is my story as well!

Kent's story is my story; so I'm grateful for his courageous honesty to write such a memoir. I was raised an agnostic with no church upbringing. Then I became a follow of God at age of seventeen. My faith was pure, my doubts were pure, and I loved the tension of exploring such a God of mystery. But that all changed when I left home to study for the ministry and began my indoctrination into "church world" or evangelical fundamentalism. After 25 years of pastoring and having my questions suppressed, seeing behavior justified and blessed in the name of God, and having elder boards crucify me because I didn't always toe the party line, I said like an investor on the show "Shark Tank"...I'M OUT.!" I too have left "church world inc." and have found the purity of God again. How refreshing it has been to really know God again without the tenacles of the church choking off my thirst to know our great God. Thank you Kent for being a voice in the wilderness!!!

Love this book!

I love this book. It reflects so much of my own religious deconstruction. I would recommend this to anyone sincerely struggling with questions about God.

Amazing. A must read for anyone who calls themselves a Christian Believer

Kent's ability to crack open and work thru our very deep spiritual issues in a common and real way makes this such a gift. These are some of the heaviest and most contentious issues and questions that every serious believer has asked themselves... even if they can't ask them publicly. This may be the most important book written for Christians in the last 10 years. Why so important?... we claim we want a real and authentic "faith"... but the only way our "faith" can be authentic is if we take the journey of honest reflection and dive into the real questions in our hearts! Kents story gives each of us a map for our own journey into our own unknowns.

Thank you Kent for your humility. Thank you for the grace in which you dealt with the hard questions and hard issues. Thank you for the invitation to live an ordinary life and find and honest spirituality. Thank you that you never saw a need to throw rocks or disparage others. Thank you for sharing your story... it will change the world... it has already begun!

Amazing

Thank you so much for sharing its nice to hear I am not alone in my thinking

Once again thank you

Thank God

Kent Dobson’s willingness to speak his own uncensored truth brought me to tears. So impactful. Thank you Kent.

Boy, I can surely relate to this!

This is my story too. Only I was bitten in a Bethel Bible class where we were encouraged to question and wonder. It snowballed from there for me.

I’m on a similar journey

I can’t recommend this book enough, especially for anyone who grew up in a form of evangelical Christianity and have encountered questions that weren’t allowed in your church.

I love God, believe in Jesus and enjoy reading the scriptures. I rarely sit through a church service that leaves me with more answers than questions. I feel God’s presence more distinctly outside in nature than inside a building. I’m less sure today about religious doctrine and more fully alive than ever before in my 62 years on earth.

Kent’s book clearly articulates much of what I feel in my bones. I enjoyed listening to him read it to me on Audible and hope you do too!

A Relief to Know We're Not Alone in Our Thinking

Told with humility and an understanding that he nor anyone will have all the answers, Kent's story is relatable. Kent reminds us that exploring curiosity sparks within us that sometimes we must unlearn, unload, and even get bitten by the camel so that we may take another step into trying put into words and comprehend the nature of the divine. Directed more toward those who have felt pushed away by Western Evangelicalism, this story speaks volumes into the doubter, the skeptic, and the unbeliever. Not to dismiss everything about the seemingly staunch and suffocating doctrine of his Evangelical upbringing, Kent more so explores how his church intended good for him but kept him bound from seeking what he would come to later recognize as faith, abounding love, and divine grace. When he realized that the religious institution didn't work for him anymore, he had to ask different questions, no matter how uncertain it left him or who rejected him. I loved this book. Completely relatable, and is a must read.