To Be Perfect Honest - Book Review

To be perfectly honest myself, I had never heard of Phil Callaway before receiving this book.  Apparently he is a rather well-known (as in award-winning) and prolific (as in more than 20 books) author and prominent speaker.  The description of the book intrigued me, I won't lie . . . "One Man's Year of ALMOST Living Truthfully."  Hard to resist, right?  Phil accepted his editor's challenge to see if he could tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth for an entire year, and write a book about it.  His editor said, "It will make for a great book."  His editor was so right.

Spoiler:  The book is written in a diary-like format, and begins on Day 1.  Phil makes it all the way to Day 2 before catching himself in a lie.  Wonder if I would make it even that far.

Much has been said about the book's humor, and Phil's comedic style in general.  And the book IS funny.  My husband actually banned me from reading it late at night, due to my sudden - and apparently loud - bursts of laughter while he was trying to sleep.  The book is also incredibly convicting, thanks in large measure to Phil's authenticity and transparency.  He doesn't hide the "ugly" human nature stuff, although sometimes his descriptions of the ugly stuff can be excruciatingly funny.  He deals with hot-button issues such as lying to your spouse, struggling with lust/temptation, addiction issues (he happens to be addicted to Pac-Man, while trying to get his son's friend to end his smoking addiction), prayer, anger/revenge, and, err . . . how to deal (or how not to deal) with Mormons.

Day 82 was a fascinating example of trying to surprise someone (his wife) and resorting to lying "in a purposeful sort of way."  In a slightly pathetic attempt to protect the surprise from his wife until the appointed time, he winds up telling multiple lies in rapid-fire succession and then wonders "Why did I need to tell five lies when I could have stopped at one?  It's like I'd gone without chocolate for a year and was eating it by the fistful."  Day 83 was more of an epiphany day for him.  Phil writes:  "I'm learning that you should never tell a lie to your spouse, but you shouldn't always tell the truth either.  As my dad used to say, 'A closed mouth gathers no foot.'"  That's just awesome.  He also offers an acrostic that he finds helpful in this regard - THINK:

T--Is what I'm about to tell her True?
H--Is it Helpful?
I--Will it Inspire her?
N--Is it Necessary?
K--Am I Kind about it?

Good advice for all.  The book is divided by chapters, and not every day is included (not sure why that is and found myself wondering if Phil simply slept through an entire day or two), but the format and chapter division work quite well.  One of the most enjoyable/meaningful/convicting/encouraging parts for me was the inclusion of what the author calls "Honest Confessions" at the end of each chapter.  An excerpt from Honest Confession #3 (at the end of Chapter 3: How to Tell the Truth and Still Have a Place to Sleep) reads as follows:

"I didn't want to write about lust.  It's easier to appear to have it all together and leave readers with lofty thoughts of me.  But this is a book on honesty.  When I was a teenager, I thought, If I live to be forty, then this lust thing will vanish and I can live in complete victory like the forty-year-olds around here who look like they have one foot in the grave and the other on a skateboard.  Unfortunately, after more than four decades as a believer, I find there are time when I still fail in this area."  Phil goes on to say that "few topics bring out the modern-day Pharisees in greater force than the sins of others," and that when he sins, he "confess[es] immediately and gives thanks that the One who called the Pharisees' bluff is on my side."  There is more to that confession, but only for the sake of my sleeping husband did I stifle an obnoxiously emphatic cheer upon reading the above portion. 

Day 226 was another favorite.  Phil received a four-page letter in response to one of his previous books,  Laughing Matters.  The author of the letter writes, in part, "Where do you read about the apostles trying to make jokes in order to reach people?  Do you think they were hated by the world because they MADE PEOPLE LAUGH?  The Bible contains no humor, why should you use it?" [Note:  I actually choked a bit upon reading that last sentence.]  Two days later, Phil found himself still troubled about whether the letter-writer was correct about God's lack of humor, and emailed a doctoral candidate friend about it.  Phil's friend provided a lengthy response, and I particularly like his last few lines:  "You don't get invited to as many parties as [Jesus] did by sucking on prunes all day.  And he hung out with twelve guys.  Do you really think they didn't laugh?"  Yes, we can debate the theological accuracy of this . . . OR, we can revel in the fact that God has an INCREDIBLE sense of humor.  I choose the latter.  But then again, I like to laugh.   

Certainly, I've read books that were convicting and had humor in them.  But never anything like this. The fusion of sheer honesty (including the honesty about slipping up and lying), levity, wittiness and Biblical truth creates a book that is wonderfully readable and more than worth your time.  No lie.

At the very least, consider the question - honestly, of course - of how long you could go telling the truth and nothing but the truth?  I did, and the answer was definitely not pretty.  Either way, if you want some good laughs or laughs plus something more, I highly recommend this book.  


Disclosure:  I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review.  The opinions expressed are my own, and I was not required to write a positive review in exchange for this book.

LEAD. SERVE. LOVE. - Book Review

LEAD. SERVE. LOVE. by Gregory E. Lang is described on the front cover as "100 Three-Word Ways to Be Like Jesus."  If it sounds cheesy, let me assure you that it's not.  Unless you are woefully hardhearted, in which case you should buy this book immediately and turn without delay to #45, Soften your heart.  And also Romans 2:5.  While its cute packaging and small size make for a great gift book, LEAD. SERVE. LOVE is also a good book to keep around and read each day . . . if you want to be more like Christ.

The author's acknowledgements at the end are moving in and of themselves -- and to one friend he specifically gives thanks for sharing "the wisdom and simplicity of a 'three-ology theology.'"  I'm just going to go ahead and add my thanks to that person as well, and to the author.  With absolutely no idea what to expect when I began reading this book out loud to my parents and my husband while traveling to church, I couldn't help but, well, grin as I read the very first three-word way to be like Jesus:  Smile at everyone. 

Each three-word phrase is followed by a more in-depth illustration of how, for instance, smiling at everyone shows Christ in us.  The opposite page lists several Bible verses that demonstrate the source from which the author draws his inspiration.  Of course, some of these phrases could be taken out of context, standing alone . . . not that anything is EVER taken out of context.  Which is why I particularly like the format of this book -- if one reads the phrases with the more detailed explanation, along with the Scripture verses provided, the reader is given necessary clarification and Biblical perspective.  Translation: if you take these phrases to use for your own glory, rather than for God's, you have done some awfully creative wrangling and probably missed the point of the book. 

For example, "Encourage Your Friends" could be adopted by many people as simply a good way (and one of many acceptable ways) to live.  But by going further up and in, one reads that "No friend is more welcomed than the one who encourages you.  Make yourself welcomed.  Encourage your friends, and stir them to do good deeds so that the cause of Christ may be made stronger in number.  Turn them away from false hope and worldly promises, and you too will be encouraged when together you reach for Jesus.  Encourage your friends."  This is followed by the verses on the opposite page -- Romans 12:8, I Thessalonians 5:11, Hebrews 3:13 and Hebrews 10:24.  Even if you don't care for the author's "three-ology theology," you can always argue with God's Word.  That always goes well.  

Some of my favorites are:

Be not indifferent.
Listen with understanding.
Strive for justice.
Swallow your pride.
Live as servants.
Overcome your worry.
Forget the past.
Love without hesitation.
Hold yourself accountable.
Yield to wisdom.

Those are ten of 100 (12, if you include "Smile at everyone" and "Soften your heart"), and one can only imagine how different our families, our communities, our country and this world would be if people practiced even a handful of these.  And by people, I mean me.  And you.  It's easy to nod and agree, and yet quickly proceed listening to our friend or spouse with impatience or distracted attention, rather than listening with understanding.  Which is why today and every day, I will cling to the truth in #85: Believe in miracles.

All that to say, my own three-word-ism, while not exactly theological, is simple and wise: get this book!

DISCLOSURE: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson as part of the BookSneeze program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

THE FINAL SUMMIT - book review

From the back cover:  "David Ponder is back --- and this time, the fate of mankind may be in his hands."

The Final Summit was my first introduction to both author Andy Andrews, and his "everyman" protagonist, David Ponder.  Readers of Mr. Andrews' book The Traveler's Gift (2002) will be familiar with David Ponder and his time traveling adventures; however, the easy prose and background information makes it more than possible to read The Final Summit as a standalone.  I read this book with no expectations, other than the categorization from Thomas Nelson Publishers that this book fell under "Spiritual Growth and Christian Thought."   By the end of the book, I was certainly thinking, but it was certainly not along the lines of spiritual growth.  

More or less, the book starts out with David Ponder contemplating his life after the recent loss of his wife, along with the possibility of ending it all.  Characters are briefly introduced in the prologue, presumably to help demonstrate the exemplary man David Ponder is, and then are gone as quickly as they came.  David is alone in his sky-rise company/home, "pondering" how to go on living without the love of his life, and nostalgically rehashing his previous time-traveling journeys, the persons he met on those journeys and the Seven Decisions or principles they helped David acquire.

The archangel Gabriel appears to David in what can only be described as a rather underwhelming encounter, and explains that David is needed to lead a summit of fellow travelers in order to save humanity from disaster - i.e., Gabriel hints that God is losing patience, and might once again "wipe the slate clean" and start over, as He did with the Flood. There is only one solution, according to Gabriel, that can save the human race before time runs out and David, along with selected advisers, are permitted only five attempts to come up with the two-word answer. The question: "What does humanity need to do, individually and collectively, to restore itself to the pathway toward successful civilization?" Predictably, David and cohorts Winston Churchill, Joan of Arc, Abraham Lincoln, Eric "Red" Erickson, King David and George Washington Carver offer five answers to the question, all of which are wrong. At literally the end of the sands of time, and having failed in their five attempts to answer THE Question, a Civil War hero shouts, "Do something!" Lo and behold, the answer is found, humanity is "saved" because Gabriel allows David & Co. to argue the merits of "doing something" (versus not doing anything). The archangel allows them to put their answer to humanity's successful pathway into "A Personal Declaration," which sounds like something one would hear at a personal motivation seminar.

It was interesting and entertaining to read some of the historical background pertaining to various characters, such as Eric Erickson. On the other hand, the account of King David was mildly disturbing at best. A man who relied on the God of Israel for his strength and salvation since he was a shepherd boy and was called "a man after God's own heart," offers up self-discipline and "control over oneself" as the answer to the proposed question, as well as the explanation for how he was able to kill the lion, the bear and the giant Goliath. Seriously?? King David's character even states that when he disciplined himself as a shepherd, then as a warrior and a young ruler, and even as a father, his "life's results were predictable. I killed a giant. I led armies. ... I was a good father when I disciplined myself." This King David bears little to no resemblance to the David of the Bible, who attributed his strength, power and successes to God alone. And when did God EVER promise us predictability?

There were several times in the book where the weaving in of political ideology became as distracting as a gnat you keep swatting at but can't quite manage to hit. The author tends to oversimplify the entire World and compartmentalize it to the United States, and thus his statements about Adolf Hitler's rise to power seem a bit odd and out of place with the self-help cadence of the book - almost as though one had accidentally switched radio stations and ended up on talk radio. "During a time of economic uncertainty in a nation of people desperate for identity and longing for better times" ... "[t]his man of the common people--as Hitler called himself--stood up, looked them in the eye, and lied. He promised more and better and new and different. He vowed rapid change and swift action." James Michener does a far better job revealing the layers of identity crisis, mythology and power vacuum that led Germany and others to embrace the ideals of Aryanism and succumb to Naziism and a despot/mass murderer.

More frustrating than the lack of cohesiveness - is it historical/political/spiritual/self-help/comedy/fiction - is the fact that The Final Summit is described as "Spiritual Growth and Christian Thought." Had I read this book without that categorization, it would have been far more palatable. As it was, however, I kept turning pages waiting to see the Source of Truth acknowledged, the realization that "doing something" is meaningless without the redeeming work of Jesus Christ (the entire time I was reading, in the back of my head was Jesus' answer to the religious establishment in response to their question of what was the greatest commandment: Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and all your mind, and all your soul; and the second is like it - to love your neighbor as yourself). Love was mentioned by one of the Travelers, as were charity and a few other, errr, Biblical mandates, but they were quickly passed over.

There's so much to be said for proper packaging - and this book fails in a large sense because of how it is marketed. While I cannot speak for Andy Andrews' other books, comparing him to C.S. Lewis and Alfred Hitchcock is absurd at best. Read it as a self-help novel, and it will be fine.


DISCLOSURE: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson as part of the BookSneeze program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.