BREATHEcast caught up with popular Christian artist Ginny Owens to discuss her new book 'Transcending Mysteries' in which the singer partnered with author/songwriter Andrew Greer to take readers on the journey of discovering how the God of the Old and New Testament is the same.

'Transcending Mysteries' will take readers on a journey to answer the question: "is the God of the Old Testament the same God we relate to and worship today?" The two authors use Old Testament stories to help Christians reconcile a New Testament Redeemer with an Old Testament God and understand what God really wants from His people.

When asked how this book came about, Owens said both she and Greer were approached by Thomas Nelson with the idea and because they often collaborate. She explained that they sat down and brainstormed through ideas of things that they might want to write about it and found that they both had a fascination with the Old Testament, because of their own curiosity.

"We've had so many discussions with people who had grown up in religious homes where they were 'beat over the head' with the laws of the Old Testament and with who that God was and that they shouldn't have questions about him. The heaviness of that really affected them and made it hard for them to be believe once they were out from under their parent's supervision," she explained. "Also we really found ourselves considering the fact that even in our current day and time it's so much easier for us to embrace Jesus, to talk about Jesus, than it is to study and discover the God of the Old Testament."

Owens admitted that for both of them, day to day writing involved song writing so unpacking the Old Testament was far more challenging then writing a 3-minute song. "That was quite a process we really had to work creativity through that," she said, "One of the ways that we decided to do that was to have one of our original songs included in each chapter.

In this day and age many younger Christians have embraced the message of the love of Jesus but have a hard time embracing God as the judge of the Old Testament. A study, conducted by Barna Group, found most millennials (ages 18-30) still maintain a high view of scripture but Owens said she and Greer wanted to provide a journey in reconciling a disjointed look at scripture.

"At a quick glance, the God of the Old Testament seems like He might not quite be related to Jesus, He seems like the smiter of people and this harsh God and I think we found a very different story as we dove into scripture," she maintained, "It's pretty easy to brokenness the four gospels in the New Testament and to read Paul's letter and it makes a bit more sense to us. Jesus is obviously fighting for love and he obviously pays the ultimate sacrifice by giving his life and he loves justice and we're told in the Old Testament that God loves justice and that he sacrifices too, but you have to go find it. It's not so obvious."

"I think that we discovered how Jesus and the God of the Old Testament had so many similarities," Owens declared.

Owens an accomplished singer/songwriter confessed that she herself might not have read the entire Old Testament if they had not thought to write about this topic. "I had never read the Old Testament cover to cover until this book," she revealed.

"One of the things that's really challenging about modern [day] Christianity is that we focus on grace but we don't necessarily focus on the cost that Christ paid for that grace and we think love means just being nice and tolerant and it doesn't," she continued, "Jesus was every bit as clear about the law being important as God was in the Old Testament. The most important of the laws are 'love the lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind and love your neighbor as yourself."

She reiterated that if those two laws are the most important laws then it means following and honoring God with everything.

The "If You Want Me To" singer encouraged that there is so much in the Old Testament that reflects the love that Jesus showed and preached. "I think the stories of the Old Testament are amazing, there's so much narrative. I think the stories offer us small glimpses into this mysterious God who has been since the beginning of time," she stated, "I think it's incredibly important to discover those stories, to know who God is and how he interacted with his people before he sent Christ to Earth. The other thing is we learn a lot about what it is we have been rescued from and so we realize how much Jesus really did deliver us from."

"I think the more that we understand the Old Testament I think we catch a greater glimpse of God and I think the more we understand the beauty of who Jesus is," she continued.

She said when unpacking the Old Testament it was really important for them to find the treads that parallel the biblical accounts with their own personal stories. They both created a dialog back and forth as they share their own stories of struggle and surrender.

"I am not generally that transparent in conversation, I like to have it together but I learn over and over that from the brokenness in our stories that fruit can emerge," she acknowledged, "I know that other people don't relate to me being perfectly put together they relate to the things that are broken in my life. I went into this saying I don't quite know how to do this but I know that I have to be honest and I have to be vulnerable and that is from the place in which I wrote."

Along with promoting 'Transcending Mysteries' Owens is on the road promoting her new album I Know A Secret and is gearing up to announce a Fall tour. To get a copy of the book and stay up to date on Owens visit Ginny Owen's website.