The Luckiest Man

How do you experience God's intimate, comforting, tangible presence? In The Luckiest Man, John Paine reveals how he found the answer to this most important of all questions--by facing a terminal diagnosis.

At middle age, John Paine thought he knew what it meant to have a relationship with God. He was a successful businessman, a well-respected Christian leader, a Bible teacher, and--outwardly, at least--the spiritual leader of his family. He was satisfied and thought he understood what it meant to know and experience God. But did he?

John's journey into true, mystical intimacy with God began when a neurologist diagnosed him with ALS, or Lou Gehrig's disease, and said, "Go home and get your affairs in order." Seventeen years later, John tells his story, recounting the ways God intervened in his life, freeing him from all that prevented intimacy with God, even as John slipped into pain, paralysis, and further toward death.

In stunning, insightful prose, The Luckiest Man points to the God who lovingly, though occasionally painfully, drew John into the richness of friendship. In this profoundly moving memoir, John Paine reveals the secret to intimacy with God and provides hope to all who are in the middle of their own trials. They, too, will understand why John considers himself the "luckiest man." (less) [Thomas Nelson]

This was a difficult read for me.  Mr. Paine is fighting ALS.  I'm battling Progressive MS.  He's from northeast Texas.  I'm from southwest Arkansas, towns separated by about 2 hours.  His father was a hard man.  Mine was not as hard as his, but somewhat hard.  I grew up working on the farm where work was always hard.  We both played football.  Mr. Paine is only eleven years my senior.  Our diseases are different, but the symptoms at onset and speed of regression seem very similar.

Paine was successful in his career and business dealings.  I was pursuing science while working an engineering job to support my family.  I would say that I was average to mediocre at both.  What is meant is that I found myself jealous of Paine in the beginning because of this.  I thought, at least he got to be successful before he was robbed.  Oh, how much more Paine had to show me.

Reading beside my wife in the evenings, I saw myself more in him.  I saw how much I had to lay down and the truth of where I had placed my value.  How much more I was.  Paine painted for me a clear picture of what he was indeed before ALS and who God was making him into.  Paine's transparency convicted me in my battle with MS.  He had come to the point of intimacy with God.  I was too busy fighting disease to listen to God.  I was busy telling God what I needed rather than looking for God to speak into me what I needed to hear.

There are not words enough to recommend this book.  Mr. Paine's writing is excellent, and his message is important, for everyone, not just those fighting disease.  Read it with an open mind, soul, and a humble spirit.  Allow God to convict you.

Rise of the Servant Kings

The "how-to-get-it-right" book for today's Christian man--in marriage, family, work, friendships, with God in all of life.

Men are hungry for authenticity and for sound and bold biblical teaching on true masculinity. Every day men ask themselves questions about how to be better fathers, husbands, friends, and men, but it's difficult to find satisfying answers. Rise of the Servant Kings explains that true masculinity is found in absolute surrender to God, which always results in humble character and is expressed in courage and generosity. When a man truly understands God's desires, he will naturally express godly masculinity, Ken Harrison weaves together his experiences as a police officer in one of the deadliest areas of the country, with many years as a business executive and ministry leader, to share deep truths for men direct from God's Word.

After I requested this book from NetGalley, I noticed that the author was the chairman of the board of Promise Keepers.  To be honest, I didn't know that PK was still around.  I thought that the organization had ceased to exist around 2000.  A man taking on the duty of leading an organization from obscurity must have something to say.

Mr. Harrison wrote an excellent book of encouragement to men.  In keeping with PK philosophy and theology, the book encourages men to step forward and not be passive.  He tells numerous stories of his time with the LAPD and the truths he learned there.  Bringing these truths forward, he encourages men to live lives on purpose.

Letters to the Church

If God had it His way, what would your church look like?

The New York Times bestselling author of Crazy Love challenges readers to be the Church as God intends.
 

• Do you want more from your church experience?
• Does the pure gospel put you in a place of awe?
• Are you ready to rethink church as you know it? 

Sit with Pastor Francis Chan and be reminded that you are a part of something much bigger than yourself, something sacred.

In his most powerful book yet, Chan digs deep into biblical truth, reflects on his own failures and dreams, and shares stories of ordinary people God is using to change the world.

Chan says, “We’ve strayed so far from what God calls Church. We all know it. We know that what we’re experiencing is radically different from the Church in Scripture. For decades, church leaders like myself have lost sight of the inherent mystery of the Church. We have trained people sitting in the pews to become addicted to lesser things. It’s time for that to change.”

When Jesus returns, will He find us caring for His Bride—even more than for our own lives? Letters to the Church reminds us of how powerful, how glorious the Church once was … and calls us to once again be the Church God intended us to be.

This was a quick read but took a lot of processing.  I grew up in church.  All I have ever known is the way the church is done in the southeastern US.  I would default say that is the proper way to do church.  In college, I did take a course that challenged us to evaluate the modern church in light of what we read in the New Testament.  Chan brought those questions back to mind and then some.

Writing his standard get to the point, challenging the default way, that Chan has done in other books, he lays out a strong thesis for a new paradigm for the church.  Actually, not new but a reformation of returning to the old.  He purposefully does not lay out a plan of change or structure.  He places a challenge to the western evangelical church to look at how we are doing things in light of the Scripture.

Why are we doing what we are doing?

Why are we doing things the way we are doing them?

Are we honoring God or ourselves?

Whose kingdom are we advancing?

I was deeply challenged by this book.  I highly recommend this book to any Christian that holds to sola scriptura.

Christians in the Age of Outrage

Are you tired of reading another news story about Christians supposedly acting at their worst?
Today there are too many examples of those claiming to follow Christ being caustic, divisive, and irrational, contributing to dismissals of the Christian faith as hypocritical, self-interested, and politically co-opted. What has happened in our society? One short outrageous video, whether it is true or not, can trigger an avalanche of comments on social media.

Welcome to the new age of outrage.
In this groundbreaking book featuring new survey research of evangelicals and their relationship to the age of outrage, Ed Stetzer offers a constructive way forward. You won’t want to miss Ed’s insightful analysis of our chaotic age, his commonsensical understanding of the cultural currents, and his compelling challenge to Christians to live in a refreshingly different way.

I believe this book should be required reading before any Christian walks out their front door or turns on their computer/smartphone/tablet/charier pidgeon.  Dr. Stetzer has written an engaging book on the Christians proper action and role in the culture that exists today.

The culture around us in the West has changed dramatically in the last 20 years.  This is now a post-Christian culture.  The sooner that is understood by Christians, the better their engagement with those that are not Christians will become.  Yelling.  Being purposefully offensive.  Taking offense at everything one disagrees with.  These are not actions of Christ.  Dr. Stetzer explains clearly to the reader the how and the way for loving engagement with all people.

There are no words to express how strongly I recommend this book.  Thank you, Dr. Stetzer!  Well done.
Christians in the Age of Outrage: How to Bring Our Best When the World Is at Its Worst by Ed Stetzer
My rating: 5 of 5 stars



View all my reviews

Another Name for Every Thing

Richard Rohr, one of the world's most influential spiritual thinkers, delivers his long-awaited book on Jesus. In this radical message of hope, Rohr shows how "Jesus" + "Christ" reveals the divine wholeness at the heart of things--and what that means for every one of us.
In his decades as a globally recognized teacher, Richard Rohr has helped hundreds of thousands realize what is at stake in matters of faith--and it is not religion as usual. Yet Fr. Rohr has never written on the most perennially talked about topic in Christianity: Jesus Christ. Most know who Jesus was, but who was Christ? Is the word simply Jesus's last name? Too often, declares Rohr, our understandings have been held captive by culture, nationalism, and Christianity itself.
Drawing on history, theology, and psychology, Rohr articulates an exhilarating and ultimately more sensible view of Jesus Christ as a portrait, so to speak, of how God works. "The whole of creation is the beloved community--the child of God--not just Jesus," he writes. In a world where religion too often divides, Rohr's understanding of the Incarnation changes not just the significance of Christmas, but how we read history, relate to nature and each other, and find our highest purpose each day.
Fans of Rohr's earlier works will find here a synthesis that reveals the broadest, most hopeful vision for humanity imaginable. Newcomers will be drawn to a science-friendly spirituality that feels both modern and timeless. All will value Rohr's practical insights on mindfulness, prayer, and enlightened social action.

I started this book with high hopes.  The title was very engaging.  The introduction was wonderful.  The first chapter concerned me.  The second chapter was heretical in my opinion.  Fr. Rohr has excellent theological training.  I was shocked.  Christ is the tile of Jesus as the promised Messiah not a loosely understood concept.

No one but the only son of the Father is the incarnation of God.  Seeing the mark of the Creator in all people and creation is beautiful.  Saying all people are an incarnation of God is completely contradictory to Scripture.

I cannot recommend this book at all.

Learning to Speak God from Scratch

As America rapidly becomes a pluralistic, postmodern society, many of us struggle to talk about faith. We can no longer assume our friends understand words such as grace or gospel. Others, like lost and sin, have become so negative they are nearly conversation-enders.

Jonathan Merritt knows this frustration well. After Jonathan moved from the Bible Belt to New York City, he discovered that whenever conversations turned to spirituality, the words he'd used for decades didn't connect with listeners anymore. In a search for answers and understanding, Jonathan uncovered a spiritual crisis affecting tens of millions.

In this groundbreaking book, one of America's premier religion writers revives ancient expressions through cultural commentary, vulnerable personal narratives, and surprising biblical insights. Both provocative and liberating, Learning to Speak God from Scratch will breathe new life into your spiritual conversations and lure you into the embrace of the God who inhabits them.

I encountered this book in an odd location for me to find reading material.  Listening to the Bad Christian podcast, they had Jonathan Merritt on discussing this book.  I was very intrigued by the discussion and the topic of the book.  Planning on launching a church focused on outreach to people who are not familiar with church, this book seemed a must read.

Merritt does a fantastic job writing an engaging book about a topic that one would assume is a snooze fest.  In one chapter I actually found myself weeping.  Those who are familiar with church lingo are lost in speaking to those who are not.  Isn't it the job of the church to reach out to those who are not in the church?  To share the good news?  This book explains quite clearly to those in the church that the words that we are used to using are no longer useful.  We must learn to speak God anew.

Miracles: What They Are, Why They Happen, and How They Can Change Your Life

The #1 bestselling author of Bonhoeffer and Martin Luther explores miracles in an inspiring response to the “New Atheists” 

Not since C. S. Lewis in 1947 has an author of Eric Metaxas’s stature undertaken a major exploration of the phenomenon of miracles. In this groundbreaking work, Metaxas examines the compatibility between faith and science and provides well-documented anecdotal evidence of actual miracles. With compelling—sometimes electrifying—evidence that there is something real to be reckoned with, Metaxas offers a timely, civil, and thoughtful answer to recent books by Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens, and Sam Harris. Already a New York Times bestseller, Miracles will be welcomed by both believers and skeptics—who will find their minds opening to the possibilities.

I do not generally read "Christian" books.  I find that they tend to be poorly written, especially the attempts at fiction, and trite.  This book was recommended, on Facebook by my pastor from college.  A man that I have a lot of respect for.  After investigating Metaxas some, my interest was peaked.  An author who has come to be known for his biographies of great people wrote a book on the subject of miracles?  He must have an exciting view.  I was not disappointed.

Metaxas covers the philosophy, theology, and metaphysics of miracles while also writing accounts from people who experienced miracles.  In writing about miracles, Metaxas provides his own reasonable definition.  This provides a good foundation for the rest of the subject.  Metaxas delivers an excellent metaphysical reason for why some may experience a miracle, and another does not.

I cannot recommend the book enough.  If you have any curiosity concerning miracles or what some may have claimed as miracles, this is a must-read.  If you believe that all who think miracles have occurred are kooks, this is the book for you.

The Long Ascent

The first eleven chapters of Genesis (Adam, Eve, Noah) are to the twenty-first century what the Virgin Birth was to the nineteenth century: an impossibility. A technical scientific exegesis of Gen 1-11, however, reveals not only the lost rivers of Eden and its location, but the date of the Flood, the length of the Genesis days, and the importance of comets in the creation of the world. These were hidden in the Hebrew text, now illuminated by modern cosmology, archaeology, and biology. The internet-friendly linguistic tools described in this book make it possible to resolve the mysterious "firmament," to decipher the "bird of the air," and to find the dragonflies of chapter 1. Ancient Egyptian, Greek, Norse, Sumerian, and Sanskrit mythology are all found to support this new interpretation of Genesis. Combining science, myth, and the Genesis accounts together paints a vivid picture of the genetic causes and consequences of the greatest Flood of the human race. It also draws attention to the acute peril our present civilization faces as it follows the same path as its long-forgotten, antediluvian ancestors. Discover why Genesis has never been so possible, so relevant as it is today.

Personally knowing the author, my review is likely skewed.

I had the opportunity to read this book in a much older version than the one published before reading this one.  The text blends fiction, geology, archeology, and biblical exegesis into an intriguing investigation of the first eleven chapters of Genesis in a unique way that I have never read anyone else ever attempt.  Dr. Sheldon puts forward a unique interpretation of the first eleven chapters.  The defense of his theories is sound but will likely upset many because they are not traditional.  I found them intriguing.  I'm not sure that I agree with everything, but I also do not disagree with everything.  I am upset by so few things concerning biblical interpretation though.  I am not a good measure.  I do encourage the book to be read.  Dr. Sheldon will likely make you think.

The Tao of Physics

The mystics explore it through meditation.  The nuclear physicists explore it through experimentation and hypothesis.  It's the universe as we understand it today, a "cosmic dance" of paradoxical yet unified relationships -- an organic vision brilliantly evoked by a gifted and thoughtful physicist.

"Mystics understand the roots of the Tao but not its branches; scientists understand its branches but not its roots.  Science does not need mysticism and mysticism does not need science; but man needs both." -- Fritjof Capra in The Tao of Physics

This is the first edition of this book from 1975, during the rush to New Age philosophy.  Capra spends the first portion of the book explaining to the layman quantum physics and relativity of modern physics without mathematics.  He then provides an overview of eastern religion/philosophy.  Given these two introductions, Capra moves forward on seek to correlate the two; very poorly I believe.

I was very disappointed in this book.  I should have gotten a philosophy text of eastern philosophy and made the connections myself being a physicist.  Leaving mathematics out of physics is like telling a story without words.  Though one might be able to correlate eastern mystical philosophy to some aspects of modern physics, it does not help the understanding of either nor reveal any new truth.

I felt like I had wasted my time reading this text.  I am very glad that this was given to me by someone who also spent nothing for the book.  If you want to know about modern physics, read any book by Hawking.  If you want to know about eastern philosophy, get an eastern philosophy book.

The Lamb's Supper

Of all things Catholic, there is nothing that is so familiar as the Mass. With its unchanging prayers, the Mass fits Catholics like their favorite clothes. Yet most Catholics sitting in the pews on Sundays fail to see the powerful supernatural drama that enfolds them. Pope John Paul II described the Mass as "Heaven on Earth," explaining that what "we celebrate on Earth is a mysterious participation in the heavenly liturgy."

The Lamb’s Supper reveals a long-lost secret of the Church: The early Christians' key to understanding the mysteries of the Mass was the New Testament Book of Revelation. With its bizarre imagery, its mystic visions of heaven, and its end-of-time prophecies, Revelation mirrors the sacrifice and celebration of the Eucharist.

Beautifully written, in clear direct language, bestselling Catholic author Scott Hahn's new book will help readers see the Mass with new eyes, pray the liturgy with a renewed heart, and enter into the Mass more fully, enthusiastically, intelligently, and powerfully than ever before.

This book was loaned to me by a western rights friend.  (I refuse to use the term "Catholic" with an adjective given the word's meaning.)  Not being of the western rights liturgy, I was not of the intended audience of the book.  I was not familiar with the Mass liturgy, so there is likely great information that I did not gather any knowledge from.  I do think Dr. Hahn wrote an excellent text concerning and supporting his understanding of the Mass.  He did help me as a Protestant understand my differences with my western rights and Orthodox brothers and sisters.  I do not have strong theological arguments with them.  My differences are strictly philosophical.

My western and eastern rights brothers and sisters focus heavily on the importance of the history of church liturgy.  The Mass and its connection with the Revelation is a chicken and egg argument, i.e., did the early Church fathers pattern their new method of worship after the Revelation or does the Revelation reveal the meaning of the Mass?  Dr. Hahn does not discuss this conundrum.  He assumes the second by axiom.

Since this is my blog, you get my thoughts on this subject.  I believe that this new method of worship that the Lord said nothing about was patterned after what the early church fathers knew: Judisim.  As the Church has grown and taken on other cultural histories, worship today looks different across the earth.  Is that wrong?  I believe not.  If the pattern of worship was important to the Lord, I believe He would have spoken on it.  Dr. Hahn quotes extensively from the Revelation because that is the focus of his text.  I am certain of his knowledge of the Scripture, but there are two I will quote that I believe ends the argument.

For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift — not from works, so that no one can boast. 

Ephesians 2:8-9

For freedom, Christ set us free. Stand firm then and don’t submit again to a yoke of slavery. 

Galatians 5:1

The Pope Who Would Be King

Description
The Pulitzer Prize–winning author of The Pope and Mussolini takes on a pivotal, untold story: the bloody revolution that stripped the pope of political power and signaled the birth of modern Europe.

Days after his prime minister was assassinated in the middle of Rome in November 1848, Pope Pius IX found himself a virtual prisoner in his own palace. The wave of revolution that had swept through Europe now seemed poised to put an end to the popes’ thousand-year reign over the Papal States, if not to the papacy itself. Disguising himself as a simple parish priest, Pius escaped through a back door. Climbing inside the Bavarian ambassador’s carriage, he embarked on a journey into a fateful exile.

Only two years earlier Pius’s election had triggered a wave of optimism across Italy. After the repressive reign of the dour Pope Gregory XVI, Italians saw the youthful, benevolent new pope as the man who would at last bring the Papal States into modern times and help create a new, unified Italian nation. But Pius found himself caught between a desire to please his subjects and a fear—stoked by the conservative cardinals—that heeding the people’s pleas would destroy the church. The resulting drama—with a colorful cast of characters, from Louis Napoleon and his rabble-rousing cousin Charles Bonaparte to Garibaldi, Tocqueville, and Metternich—was rife with treachery, tragedy, and international power politics.

David Kertzer is one of the world’s foremost experts on the history of Italy and the Vatican and has a rare ability to bring history vividly to life. With a combination of gripping, cinematic storytelling and keen historical analysis, rooted in an unprecedented richness of archival sources, The Pope Who Would Be King sheds fascinating new light on the end of rule by divine right in the west and the emergence of modern Europe.

This is likely one of the best history texts that I have ever read.  The author paints such a clear picture of the events and people involved that it read like a novel.  Though I knew the outcome of the events I still had hope and anticipation for the conclusion.  Very well done.  I highly recommend

Demanding Liberty

Religious liberty is one of the most contentious political issues of our time. How should people of faith engage with the public square in a pluralist era? Some citizens hope to reclaim a more Christian vision of national identity, while others resist any religious presence at all. This dispute is not new, and it goes back to the founding era of American history. As the country was being formed, some envisioned a Christian nation where laws would require worship attendance and Sabbath observance. Others advocated for a thoroughly secular society where faith would have no place in public life. But neither extreme won the day, thanks to the unsung efforts of a Connecticut pastor who forged a middle way. Historian Brandon O'Brien unveils an untold story of how religious liberty came to be. Between the Scylla and Charybdis of theocracy and secularism, Baptist pastor Isaac Backus contended for a third way. He worked to secure religious liberty and freedom of conscience for all Americans, not just for one particular denomination or religious tradition. Backus's theological ideas had social consequences, giving us insights into how people of faith navigate political debates and work for the common good. Backus lived in an age of both religious revival and growing secularism, competing forces much like those at work today. Then and now, people fiercely argue about the role of government and the limits of liberty. The past speaks into the present as we continue to demand liberty and justice for all.

Mr. Brandon J. O'Brien investigates the spiritual life of Isaac Backus in an engaging and capturing manner.  The influence of the first Great Awakening in Mr. Backus's life and his drawn out separation from the Congregationalist church of his youth was shown to have a large influence in Mr. Backus's drive for religious freedom in the newly formed country.  Backus's study, letters, speeches, and passion for the freedom of religion is laid out clearly.  Mr. O'Brien has written a book about a man that I believe should be a vital portion of every Americans education.  I highly recommend this book to every American.  Isaac Backus was a central figure in the freedom's that Americans currently enjoy.

Our Country

Description

On March 4, 1865, the day Abraham Lincoln delivered his second inaugural address, Reverend Doctor George Peck put the finishing touches on a collection of his sermons that he intended to send to the president. Although the politically moderate Peck had long opposed slavery, he, along with many other northern evangelicals, was not an abolitionist. During the Civil War he had come to support emancipation, but, like Lincoln, the conflict remained first and foremost about preserving the Union. Believing their devotion to the Union was an act of faithfulness to God first and the Founding Fathers second, Our Country explores how many northern white evangelical Protestants sacrificed racial justice on behalf of four million African-American slaves (and then ex-slaves) for the Union’s persistence and continued flourishing as a Christian nation.

By examining Civil War-era Protestantism in terms of the Union, author Grant Brodrecht adds to the understanding of northern motivation and the eventual "failure" of Reconstruction to provide a secure basis for African American's equal place in society. Complementing recent scholarship that gives primacy to the Union, Our Country contends that non-radical Protestants consistently subordinated concern for racial justice for what they perceived to be the greater good. Mainstream evangelicals did not enter Reconstruction with the primary aim of achieving racial justice. Rather they expected to see the emergence of a speedily restored, prosperous, and culturally homogenous Union, a Union strengthened by God through the defeat of secession and the removal of slavery as secession’s cause.

Brodrecht eloquently addresses this so-called “proprietary” regard for Christian America, considered within the context of crises surrounding the Union’s existence and its nature from the Civil War to the 1880s. Including sources from major Protestant denominations, the book rests on a selection of sermons, denominational newspapers and journals, autobiographies, archival personal papers of several individuals, and the published and unpublished papers of Abraham Lincoln, Andrew Johnson, and Ulysses S. Grant. The author examines these sources as they address the period’s evangelical sense of responsibility for America, while keyed to issues of national and presidential politics.

Northern evangelicals’ love of the Union arguably contributed to its preservation and the slaves’ emancipation, but in subsuming the ex-slaves to their vision for Christian America, northern evangelicals contributed to a Reconstruction that failed to ensure the ex-slaves’ full freedom and equality as Americans.

I really enjoyed this book.  As a student of southern history, I was troubled that I had never been given an opportunity to study this aspect of the Civil War.  The protestants played such an important part of the Union's war effort and populations encouragement.  The war was lasting far longer than anyone thought and was costing so much in terms of lives and money that many were losing their will to fight.  The protestant's understanding and support for the fighting of the war played such a vital role.  This book does a wonderful job of revealing the actions taken by several pastors in letters and sermons.

The Gospel for Muslims

If you wanted to share the gospel with Muslims, could you?

There are over three million Muslims living in the United States today. Soon, if not already, you will have Muslim neighbors and co-workers. Does the thought of reaching out to them with the gospel make you nervous? How can you effectively communicate the good news with such large theological differences? The Gospel for Muslims can help make sharing your faith easier than you think.

Thabiti Anyabwile, himself a convert from Islam to Christianity, instructs you in ways to discuss the good news of Christ with your neighbors and friends. The Gospel for Muslims allows you to focus on the people rather than the religious system. Meant for the average Christian, it is not an exhaustive apologetic or detailed comparative study of Christianity and Islam. Rather, it compellingly stirs confidence in the gospel, equipping the reader with the basics necessary to communicate clearly, boldly, and winsomely.

Thabiti Anyabwile writes a very engaging text that is personal in origins and encouraging in its results.  Anyabwile keeps the reader focus on the fact that the Gospel is the Gospel no matter the person.  He did inform me of some facts about Islam that I was not aware of that I believe makes sharing the Gospel with Muslim friends and neighbors straightforward.  I never knew the Koran states the Torah, the Psalms of David, and the Gospels are divine texts.  Anyabwile cites the Sera for every statement he makes concerning Islam.  Due to this book, I want to renew relationships I have had with Islamic neighbors that have moved.  Great book.

Spiritual Audacity

Description
You were born to be a humble and joyful child of God.

2,600 years ago, an explosion of philosophers in different parts of the world began spiritual disciplines that would reverberate through history and time. Through study and spiritual curiosity, mystic and theologian Rev. Dr. Jim Sherblom unearthed these disciplines in his journey from wealth and power to wisdom and purpose. With humor and grace, Sherblom elucidates the six principles: Resilience, Surrender, Gratitude, Generosity, Mystery, and Awakening.

Part memoir, part philosophical history, and part manual for living, Spiritual Audacity will guide you from black and white to color, from formless to form, from dark to light, and from curious to enlightened.

I believe this book should have been titled "The Baby-Boomer Guide to Spirituality".  Dr. Sherbom is an excellent writer, and his autobiographical portions of the text are very engaging.  His religious portions of the text almost made me chuckle.  Though he ran from his father's teachings (as many baby-boomers do) really just came full circle.  He found the same truths of his father's pulpit but had to travel thousands of miles and read numerous other religious texts.

Dr. Sherbom seems to be more happy with these truths because he found them somewhere other than his father's pulpit.  I do find it a little insulting that Dr. Sherbom appears to belittle rural upbringing as something substandard.  He also appears to claim some level of expertise of Christian theology.  His credentials for orthodox Christian theology are quite lacking.  I will give him that he has trained well in other religions and mysticism, but he has little education noted for orthodox Christianity.  From the autobiographical portion of the text, I believe this is due to his negative view of his father and thus what his father held to.  If Dr. Sherbom had taken time for a study of orthodox Christianity I could respect his thoughts more.

But, again I think this book is more of a Baby-Boomer guide.  Dr. Sherbom appears to be a character from the 1980's TV show "Thirty Something' in this book.  I believe there is a good book in this text if it was edited down to the amazing career that Dr. Sherbom has had in business.

Where I End

In May 2009 Katherine Clark was in a tragic playground accident and was paralyzed from the neck down. Though the doctors said she would never walk again, God chose to work a profound miracle. In Where I End Kate tells this compelling story and shares the deep theological truths that sustained her on this difficult road. Written in a reflective yet literary style, Where I End orients seasons of pain and suffering within the context of God’s tender, loving care.

This likely is the best first person story of pain, suffering, and overcoming that I have read.  Ms. Clark shares her story with exceptional eloquence.  She invited me into her life so fully that I could see my pain through her eyes.  Ms. Clark changes the discussion of Christian suffering.  She has helped me remove the question of "Why do I have MS?"  She has helped me see that the true question I should be looking for the answer to through my disability is "To what end?"  Anyone who is suffering with loss, open-ended grief, or physical struggles will be breathtakingly encouraged by this book.