Book Review

I just finished Dr. John Townsend's book Where is God?  I had read his book Boundaries a few years ago, so I thought I had a pretty good idea of what I was getting into.  Boundaries was a great book for me at that particular time in my life.  I learned a lot of lessons from it and was looking forward to the same type of experience with Where is God?

 

I think the reason that I didn't connect with this book is because I am at a different place in my life.  I understand the audience for which the book was intended: those who are facing difficult times in regard to their health or finances, their marriages or their Christian walk.  While my life certainly has it's adversities; I am not experiencing a crisis of faith.  I know that God is with me in my difficult times, because I have gone through enough of them and God has never left me.

That being said, I really appreciated the way that Townsend used stories and anecdotes to illustrate his points.  There are so many people who can't understand having faith in a God that you can't see.  This book talks about God's promises to us and how He will be with us whenever we need Him; especially in the most difficult times.

Townsend talks about the typical types of problems people have: functional, relational, health or catastrophic.  He addresses each of these and then spends the rest of the book on personal growth and having a strong faith in God.

I got through the first half of this book relatively quickly; Townsend is a good storyteller and his conversational style is easy to follow.  But the last half I found myself trudging through because I felt that it was like so many other Christian growth books I have read.

To comply with new regulations introduced by the Federal Trade Commission, I must post that Thomas Nelson has provided me with a complimentary copy of this book to review.  The opinions are mine and mine alone.