The God of Second Chances: Stories of Lives Transformed By Faith [Paperback]

Marcia Z. Nelson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1, 2001

Marcia Nelson reveals the U-turns and turning points on the path toward peace, freedom, and happiness. She helps us recognize GodOs saving grace by offering intimate glimpses into the lives of people whose faith has transformed their outlook and circumstances. Having traveled around the country to gather these stories, Nelson introduces us to women and men who have fought drug and alcohol addiction, traded crime for caring, converted loss and illness into compassion, and turned despair into joy. In meeting these people, and in sharing in NelsonOs own journey of faith, we encounter what is best about us and also most human: the ability to make mistakes, make amends, and make good. Along the way, we encounter the God who never gives up on us.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Marcia Z. Nelson writes regularly about religion books for Publishers Weekly. Her writing has been repeatedly recognized for excellence by the Religion News writers Association and other journalism organizations. She has graduate degrees in English and Journalism from the University of Chicago and Northwestern University respectively.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

"Marcia Nelson is a student of hope.... She reveals herself also as a tough, well-traveled, sophisticated believer in a God whose mercy is the source and substance of hope. In good, twenty-first-century investigative fashion, Nelson leaves the theoretical preserve of her family, her office, and her work as a professional journalist to explore the question of hope by exploring the actuality of human redemption and change and-yes-of blessing.... We follow Nelson as she elicits and records in their own words stories of human beings who, in desperation, have accepted hope at its face value and then used it as a passage through hell and into love...or as St. Paul, that other oft-quoted authority on the subject, would have it, into charity.... And the fact that we come to know and like her as a human being while we profit from her as a journalist is no small part of the adventure as we go with her on this journey in search of The God of Second Chances."-from the Foreword by PHYLLIS TICKLE

Product Details

• Paperback: 185 pages
• Publisher: Sheed & Ward; First edition (August 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1580511058
• ISBN-13: 978-1580511056
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 5.5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,328,176 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Connie Neal, November 14, 2005

By 

Connie Neal (Northern California, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The God of Second Chances: Stories of Lives Transformed By Faith (Paperback)

This is a lovely bedside book. Each story is a tale of grace -- and some of grit -- in the lives of real people. Often spiritual tales are too sugar-coated to be of much encouragement to those who struggle honestly with real life. This book beautifully integrates honesty with hope, no matter what your path has been, it's encouraging to know that God is a God of second chances. Marcia Nelson's writing style and personal postcards from her journey add to the beauty of this book.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Book About Everyday People Who Say "Yes" At the Right Time, November 17, 2001

By 

Patricia Henderson (Mesa, AZ USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The God of Second Chances: Stories of Lives Transformed By Faith (Paperback)

The stories are not written in a dramatic style; they are about real people living their lives; stumbling along while allowing Spirit to have a small influence with magnificent results.

Expecting more intense miracles, I was at first underwhelmed by the book. However, noticing that the stories lingered with me for the next week, I realized Marcia Z.Nelson is a master at reporting the facts, just the facts, leaving the rest to the reader. It works.

I use this book as a mediation book in the morning. It helps me get outside of "self" and perhaps even allows me to become a little more willing to have God in my daily decisions. A good read, this one.