Saturday, April 6, 2013

Firsthand by Ryan and Josh Shook

Firsthand by Ryan and Josh Shook is a book which is advertised as a “journey to find a faith of your own.  A faith that isn’t your parents’ or you’re your pastor’s or your church’s.  Start from scratch, question everything, and get hold of a faith that’s real.”  A faith they call firsthand faith.  This is a good book about finding your own way into what your faith really means and making your faith statement your own.   This is not one of those new age books about I’m ok and God is whatever you want Him to be.  This is a book about the discovery of a personal God who loves your where you are but expects that you will live a life striving for perfection.  This is not an attainable goal with Jesus’ sacrifice but the importance is that you never give up striving for perfection. 
I liked this book even though I am probably not in the target readership.  I thought that this is an especially good book for parents (especially moms) raising boys and boys who are questioning the faith of their parents and finding that they are pretending to be so called good Christians but they are having guilt because they know what they are thinking about in their heads and know it is not what Jesus would do or think.  This book discusses porn and though it does not say that it is sin free or desirable attribute it is common especially among boys and men and how to deal with the thoughts and desires that happen to them and what to do about it.  Christian literature can be preachy especially when written by pastors and this one is written by pastor’s children but with the possible exception of the last chapter this one is not preachy and it is easily read with the plan to improve your life.
This book was provided by Waterbrook Press for this review.

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