Trade Reviews:
Jackson doesn’t pull punches when she talks about fear, brokenness, and confession. “When you confess something that’s shattered in your life,… you’re acknowledging that you need the Cross” is the typical forthright statement you’ll find here. Included are pages of full-color, confessional artwork submitted to her by mail or blog, as well as her heartfelt encouragement to “step up and confess—not only the bad, but confess the good and noble as well.” This is a pointed, much needed glimpse at the toughness of life and at the grace and goodness that can come when one person speaks freely. – Publishers Weekly
Arranged in the format of essays, poetry, and artistic rendering of “confessions,” this short but compelling book is written within the context of Jackson’s Christian faith. She states up front that this is not a self-help book. Still, anyone who struggles with isolating secrets may find hope and consolation in her story of redemption and freedom. Her message, “You are not alone,” is powerful. – Sacramento Book Review
If you or someone you know has been hurt by the church and has questioned God, this could be the book that will begin a road to recovery. Permission to Speak Freely is also an excellent resource for those in the church who haven’t been through the things Anne and many others have to help them to become aware of the dangers of living a life of condemnation toward others. The stories in Permission to Speak Freely can serve as a wake-up call to the church. Jackson’s book and ministry will help many in the church who have been wounded and left to pick up the pieces. – CBA Retailers & Resources Magazine
Anne’s book is a gift to anyone who reads it. She opens the door to freedom and restoration by engaging readers in story, ‘user-generated’ art, and biblical truth. We’re reminded that confession is the key—while making it clear: the church simply must be a safe place for this to happen. – Nick Purdy, Paste Magazine
Endorsements:
“This book is messy, like life. Anne has the insight, the guts, and the love to show us what has been in front of us all along, and to talk about the things we’re afraid to talk about. It’s a rare gift, one that she’s willing to share.”
Seth Godin
Author, Linchpin and Tribes
“Anne Jackson tells the truth in such a way you can hear it. She is an objective journalist, and as such an endangered species. She’s living proof that the truth, if stated clearly and objectively, can be fascinating.”
Donald Miller
Author, Blue Like Jazz and A Million Miles in a Thousand Years
“If you have ever struggled deeply in life and faith, and longed for someone who would understand, you must read this book. Anne’s gripping narrative is authentic, real, and also provides a substantive hope in God and his healing process.”
Dr. John Townsend
Author of Boundaries
Psychologist, Speaker, Leadership Consultant
“In a day where so many of us are quick with our answers, Anne is saying that the questions matter, and that perhaps we’re loved by a God who can handle our questions, can handle our messes. And perhaps we’re called to meet each other in these broken places. This book is an invitation to honesty and freedom, and to the possibility that we’ve been created to be truly loved and truly known.”
Jamie Tworkowski
Founder, To Write Love on Her Arms
“Anne Jackson offers us a candid telling of her story—intimate and often painful, revelatory and saturated with humanity. Her encounters beckon us to embrace our brokenness, leading with confession and weakness, and in turn finding healing through those who have shared similar secrets and pain. She pushes against the undercurrent of the church culture that not-so-subtly implies that we must have it all together, bringing only our best before God and one another. Surely God desires for His children to receive grace and restoration through one another’s stories, ultimately finding the things we need from Jesus in each other.”
Charlie Lowell
Jars of Clay
“There is a duality to the heart that is difficult to talk about. Anne Jackson sets us squarely in view of the best and worst of who we are. And in these pages she invites us to see that the gospel can handle the full weight of humanity in all its glorious conditions. There is freedom in these words.”
Dan Haseltine
Jars of Clay
“Anne Jackson is the real deal. And Anne is giving us all hope. Hope to be real, be authentic, and be the church. Hope to find healing. Hope that confession is cleansing. And ultimately hope in the promise that we are all being rescued. This book is a wake-up call for us all to quit trying to hide what’s really going on, and instead find true community and live out the privilege we have to ‘carry each other.’ Read this book!”
Brad Lomenick
Director, Catalyst Conferences
“Anne is disarmingly honest. She speaks the truth and allows us space to respond. She shines a light into the dark corners of our churches and our hearts and lets us know that it is safe to come out now into the freedom of God’s grace. The writing of some books comes easily. I don’t imagine for a moment that this one did, but the beauty contained within these pages will touch you deeply. I am grateful for the gift.”
Sheila Walsh
Author, Beautiful Things Happen When A Woman Trusts God
“Startling. Stunning. Fresh. Important. Relevant. Honest.”
Patsy Clairmont
Author, Kaleidoscope: Seeing God’s Wit and Wisdom in a Whole New Light
“Folks don’t expect Christians to be perfect. But they do expect us to be honest. Here is a fresh dream for a church where people can say ‘I’m sorry’ . . . and hear ‘you are forgiven and loved.’ It is a dream for a church where we can admit we are broken and be reminded that we are beloved. In these pages the Good News sounds good again, and you sense that Jesus really was sent not to condemn the world but to save it. Jackson doesn’t excuse the hypocrisy of Christians, but she invites us to confront our hypocrisy and to make room for another hypocrite to be caught by grace.”
Shane Claiborne
Author, Activist, and Recovering Sinner
“This is a huge risk of a book. But Anne Jackson has ventured on the tightrope and turned teetering into a tango. Jackson’s is a fresh new voice, one already stylish, assured, distinctive, true.”
Leonard Sweet
Drew Theological School, George Fox University
“The Bible says we’re to confess our sins one to another and also tells us to carry each other when we’re weak. Anne’s latest book, Permission To Speak Freely, is a great read that clearly communicates these biblical principles in a captivating story. Permission to Speak Freely shows us that what’s beautiful is oftentimes made up of very broken pieces.”
Craig Gross
Pastor, XXXchurch.com
Author, Jesus Loves You This I Know and The Gutter
“For years, Anne Jackson gave readers and writers permission to speak honestly on blogs. From topics no one talked about to confessions everyone pretended they didn’t need to make, there was no subject Anne shied away from. Now, with this book, she’s taking her raw, beautiful approach to honesty out of the blogs and into the place we need it most—the church. This is a mustard-seed book. Small, powerful, and bound to spread in ways I can’t begin to understand.”
Jonathan Acuff
Author, Stuff Christians Like
“Breaking down the walls surrounding faith, Anne weaves a current-day tapestry reminiscent of classics like Pilgrim’s Progress or Hinds Feet in High Places that peek inside the broken human spirit while testifying to the beauty of second chances. She begs the reader to analyze their honest struggle between faith, fear, morality, and sacrifice. This book brings to light so many of the heartbreakingly raw confessions I’ve heard behind closed doors and is a great reminder that often the most ashamed become the most adept at embracing those who are running home from their failure.”
Tony Wood
Teaching Pastor, Crossroads Church, Corona, CA
“We have a sin problem in religious circles these days. The problem isn’t that we sin (everyone has that problem) but that we can’t talk about it. Anne’s latest book gives people the permission to be real and honest about the struggles they have in life. In typical Anne Jackson fashion, she gives people the courage to drag their stuff from the darkness to the light. This is an important book for anyone who desperately needs freedom.”
Pete Wilson
Author, Plan B
“If the honesty, rawness, healthy questioning, and uncomfortable truthfulness that Anne writes about in this book would become normative, imagine what wonderful churches we would have and how Christianity would be rebirthed into something so biblically beautiful.”
Dan Kimball
Author, They Like Jesus But Not The Church
“Brutally honest, beautifully written, and creatively imagined, Permission to Speak Freely is like ointment to a wound. Anne not only reminds us how painful the wound is, but she points to the healing we can experience in knowing we are not alone. Her authentic writing and unique perspective comes out powerfully on every page. This is a book I’ll share with friends who need hope and encouragement.”
Jud Wilhite
Author, Eyes Wide Open
Sr. Pastor, Central Christian Church, Las Vegas
“Anne Jackson’s Permission to Speak Freely is a refreshingly transparent invitation to explore our own human frailty and the paradoxical beauty of God’s grace in the midst of our pain. Anne masterfully articulates her own journey and models the kind of honesty and generosity that will stir a renewal of hope in a new generation of wounded healers, about a God who really is present.”
Charles Lee
CEO, Ideation Consultancy Inc.
“I’m going to be brutally honest. I don’t like this book—not because it’s not a worthwhile read but because it challenges me, makes me feel uncomfortable, and forces me to examine my inclination toward silence and projection. In short, it confronts many of the so-called elephants in the room—in our lives, faith, and our churches. Thankfully, there’s good news, and this book reminds and invites us to a Grace that is so much greater than elephants.”
Eugene Cho
Pastor and Humanitarian
“The transparent and authentic life has just been reinvented. It will be absolutely impossible to be the same person when you are done with Anne’s book. Permission to Speak Freely is devastatingly powerful and transforming. WOW!”
Mike Foster
PlainJoe Studios and People of the Second Chance
“Through crowdsourcing and personal stories, Anne Jackson has crafted a masterpiece with honest conversation starters that every community must address.“
Jeff Shinabarger
Founder, Plywood People and GiftCardGiver.com