Can I Say That?

How Unsafe Questions Lead Us to the Real God

By: Brenna Blain, Preston Sprinkle

Narrated by: Brenna Blain, Tristan Wright

Length: 7 hrs and 7 mins

Publisher's summary

Read by the author.

Can God handle our hardest questions, biggest struggles, and secret doubts?

We instinctively assume he cannot. We figure giving voice to those things will bring shame, rejection, and distance from him. But what if our hard questions don't need to function as an off-ramp from Christianity but can lead us closer to his heart? What if he is not afraid of our doubts but instead reveals himself in them?

In Can I Say That?, Brenna Blain brings her fresh voice to those who feel unsafe or unwelcome in the church, acknowledging the incongruity between the church's actions and believers' lived experiences. As a Bible teacher and an advocate for those who have experienced abuse, molestation, and mental health crises, she creates space for readers to be radically honest and ask tough questions—Am I safe here? Why does your presence feel so lonely, God?—while pointing them to biblical, foundational truth.

Leading the way with her own raw vulnerability and authenticity, Brenna shares her journey of wrestling with God and building intimacy with him as a result. Bravely exploring these deep places with Brenna will help you:

• Know in your guts that God accepts you as you are—even as you question, struggle, doubt, and hurt
• Be reassured that he is bigger than anything you face and can handle anything you bring to him
• Experience his love in the most tender and needy parts of your heart
• Engage complex questions about the institution of the church, wrestle with its abuses, and advocate for the Body of Christ to more closely reflect his heart

God sees you and knows you—better than you know yourself. He doesn't need you to change in order for him to love you. He doesn't require you to be free of struggles in order for him to be close to you. He wants you to be your true self with him and be willing to engage with him deeply, so he can wow you with the beauty of his heart and character.

©2024 Brenna Blain (P)2024 Thomas Nelson

Honesty

Brenna combines brutal honesty with deep spiritual insight. She addresses the issues of suffering, mental illness, abuse, and struggles with sexuality with both a balance of compassion and Biblical truth.

Raw. Honestly. Beautiful

No sugarcoating. I loved every word. I love that it was read by the author. These words are healing.

Honest and true

Beautiful and engaging in the raw and vulnerable expressions of honesty, hope, and truth—thank you for sharing your life with us.

Raw and authentic

What a great depiction of the struggle of being human and God’s wonderful grace and mercy. A must listen.

For everyone in every stage

This book was so intricately woven with grace and abounding in deep scriptural truths. With each 5-10 minutes of listening, I mentally highlighted paragraphs thinking “Wait. I said/thought/felt that too. Those exact things are hidden away, written in my own journals.” The Holy Spirit was evident throughout, and Jesus has and will continue to lead all who need this book to find it and know that Jesus’ words are true and that He truly does hear our hardest thoughts, emotions and soul rattling questions. I have not been so impacted by a book so quickly since reading Walking with God thru Pain & Suffering in college. So grateful that Jesus captured Brenna with His steadfast love and that she has listened to His voice to share her story to help others fall in love with Jesus too, even with all of our bricks

Finally someone who gets it

As I’ve navigated a path of religious trauma, mental health struggles, and deconstructing a hurtful religion, leading to doubt in God, this book came in and really rocked me. I’m not suddenly full of faith again or suddenly done doubting/questioning, but I felt seen heard and seen and known by Brenna’s story and willingness to say what so many of us have thought. Her vulnerability is what we need more in the Christian world. It made me change my perspective on how I approach where I currently am. I no longer feel villainized for doubting or being angry at the pain I have felt. I laughed, I cried, i became more inquisitive, and I felt peace about things that I haven’t felt in a long time. It’s not a pretty story wrapped up in bows and lace, and I love that. It’s real, it’s raw, it’s honest, and I would recommend reading it! If your like me and on the edge of walking away from faith for good, even after years spent going all in and then being treated horrible for your questions and pain, give this a listen. If nothing else maybe, like me, you will feel like someone out there finally sees you and feels what you do. I don’t know where I’ll land in my journey, but I’m grateful for the perspective shift this book gave me.

This was very encouraging and comforting

It is good to be able to be taken alongside someone's story as they struggle and preserve.
The narrative is somewhat non linear, which I don't mind and even enjoy. But for those who prefer to know that beforehand, you have been prepared!

Absolutely honest, I feel less crazy

I LOVE the way the massive amounts of tensions involved in the Christian life are addressed in Brenna’s book. So encouraging to hear someone that LOVES God so much asks such “triggering” questions to God. He isn’t triggered. He loves us and loves our desire and trust in Him. Beautiful book!

Incredible testimony of God with us

Brenna’s story is so raw, you can’t help but feel compelled by her narrative. She doesn’t just tell the story of her personal hardships, rather she weaves in the truths she’s learned through her hard fought battles. I thought parts of the book felt a little disjointed but all of the content was top notch. I would strongly recommend this book for those who say they do wrestle with hard, big questions of faith, the church, and Jesus.

Poignant, Profound and a necessary read for all Christians.

Finally someone brave enough to tackle tough subjects that the church wants to ignore. The western church wants to paint the Christian lifestyle as unicorns and rainbows, everything gets tied up with a bow and everyone lives happily ever after, like a 60 minute TV show. Brenna brings truth to a world that is battling so much. God is not afraid of our circumstances or our questions and when we realize that we can live in the freedom that He meant us to live in.