Discovering Your Blind Spots
Honest and life-giving
conversations
about blind spots will lead to transformative
change and
spiritual growth
To the outside world, examining
and exposing your own blind spots can be viewed more as a weakness than a
courageous step toward change in your life and relationships. However, true
transformative change starts when we finally face our weaknesses—and we all
have them. Uncovering our own unseen areas for spiritual growth is impossible
without the help of God and trusted individuals. What does Jesus see that we
tend to miss, and what does he think about the threats that blind spots pose?
With the release of their book, Blind Spots: What You Don’t See
Can Hurt You (New Growth Press/July 29, 2019), authors Tim Riddle and Fil Anderson discuss Jesus’s primary mission to expose the deadly
nature of blind spots, sharing how he alone has the cure. They urge followers
of Christ to engage in honest and life-giving conversations about blind spots: what
they are, why they exist, how to identify and remove them, how to keep them
from returning, and how to point them out in others.
The authors define a blind spot as anything that
stands in the way of being all that God has intended for our lives. In
introducing the book, Riddle and Anderson write, “Yes, many of those blind
spots are sins, but others are rooted in ignorance, immaturity, circumstances,
and sometimes the sins of others against us. Sometimes, they are things we
don’t see because God has not yet revealed them to us. But blind spots of many
kinds may fuel our fears of stepping out in faith to use the talents and gifts
God has given us.”
The inspiration behind Blind Spots came
as the authors were reflecting on the challenge of spiritual growth. As they
looked at their own personal lives, they realized obstacles in their own growth
were usually due to a blind spot. Both consider coming together to write the
book as being one of the most rewarding things they have done. In the process
they have become each other’s blind spot partner and have developed a safe
place to freely talk about potential blind spots they each may have.
Through sharing their own stories to uncover blind
spots, the authors demonstrate how spiritual growth only happens in the context
of seeing and acknowledging our own flaws. While Riddle and Anderson note the
importance of community in dealing with blind spots, they emphasize the
lasting, gospel change of the Spirit. By exploring the different ways we
unknowingly sabotage ourselves and our relationships, Blind Spots guides readers toward depending on the Spirit for help.
“The Holy Spirit is the revealer and healer of our
blind spots,” says Riddle. “In this book, we talk more in detail about the work
of the Spirit and how the Spirit may work through others to help identify our
blind spots.”
“The goal of the spiritual journey is the transformation
of our self,” says Anderson. “This requires knowing both our self and God. Both
are essential if we are to discover our true identity as those who are in
Christ, because the self is where we meet God.”
The authors’ hope in releasing Blind Spots is that readers would see beyond the challenges
preventing them from living fully and freely. Both know this is a journey that
requires a combination of humility, trust, openness to change, and a
willingness to submit to the Holy Spirit.

Previously, Riddle was the
Executive Pastor of St. Mark’s Church in Burlington, NC, for thirteen years. He used his leadership and strategic gifts to
lead the staff and ministry of SMC. He also enjoys preaching/teaching and
continues to speak at SMC. Prior to SMC, Riddle was the founder and CEO of
Riddle & Company, a specialty textile company in Burlington, NC.
Riddle is a graduate of
Presbyterian College in Clinton, SC, and Fuller Theological Seminary. He and his wife, Stacy, live in Burlington,
NC, and have four children.
Learn more at www.discoverblindspots.com, on Facebook (Discover Blind Spots), Twitter
(@TimRiddle_dbs), and Instagram (@timriddle_discoverblindspots).

In addition to Blind Spots, Anderson is the author of Running
on Empty and Breaking the Rules. He also contributed to Transformation
of a Man’s Heart and is a regular writer for InTouch Magazine and
various other publications. A graduate of the University of North Carolina at
Wilmington and Fuller Theological Seminary, Anderson also completed the
Graduate Program in Christian Spiritual Guidance at the Shalem Institute for
Spiritual Formation. He worked with Young Life for twenty-five years, serving
as Area Director and Regional Director before becoming National Director of
Training.
Anderson and his wife, Lucie, live in Greensboro and are the parents of
three adult children. Avid beach lovers, they frequent Wrightsville Beach, NC,
as often as possible.
Learn more at www.filanderson.com.
New Growth Press publishes gospel-centered Christian books, small
group, and children’s Bible resources for discipleship,
biblical counseling, and missional ministry. For more
information about Blind Spots: What You
Don’t See Can Hurt You and other releases from New Growth Press, visit www.newgrowthpress.com.
Blind
Spots: What You Don’t See Can Hurt You
By Tim Riddle and Fil Anderson
July 29, 2019 / Retail Price: $15.99
Print ISBN: 978-1-948130-59-2 / E-book ISBN: 978-1-948130-60-8
RELIGION/Christian Life/Spiritual Growth
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