Customer Reviews

My Life on the Rock : A Rebel Returns to His Faith

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Jeff's story is a case in point of why some serious Christians leave the Catholic Church, but also a case in point of why a lot of thinking ones later return. Jeff tells the story of his life in a very winsome fashion. He tells about the factors that led to him becoming an evangelical and then the frustrations (as well as the joys) that he found in the Protestant world. Scripture study and seeing the overall scope of scripture as well as reading Church history finally helped him turn his eyes homeward again (albeit reluctantly). The confirmation of this decision in an airport was very dramatic.

This is a great book for evangelicals who are wondering why someone they care about has suddenly become Catholic, it's an even better book for friends who have left the Church for Protestantism, if they left because of involvement with the charismatic movement. It's not so good a book for those who left the Catholic Church because they didn't like it's moral teachings (but then I'm not sure what book to recommend to them). This is also a great book for those Protestants who have been reading the books of Robert Webber. Jeff read those too, as did I before I gave any thought to becoming Catholic. Webber is one step in the journey, Jeff points out what the next step is. Anyway, buy it, read it, give it to your friends.

The word "revert" has become a common name used by Catholics who return to their Catholic roots after having left them years before. Jeff Cavins is no different. He often uses this term to describe himself on his show LIFE ON THE ROCK. In his most recent enterpise, he tells the story of his return to the Catholic faith in book form in a very open and frank way. He takes his readers on a journey of discovery which begins with sincere questions about his faith. From there we join him as he becomes a Protestant pastor with several churches within several years. Along each step of the way, he begins to rediscover his childhood faith. As times goes by, Jeff disovers how the pieces of the puzzle of his life fit into his journey. He also discovers along the way that he is not alone in his journey.

I have to say that MY LIFE ON THE ROCK is a book well worth reading by everyone. Catholics will appreciate it as a vehicle toward rediscovering the beauty of their faith. Protestants will appreciate it as a way to better understand their Catholic brothers and sisters. However, I feel that people who will best benefit from reading this book are those who are on a similar to Jeff's. These potential Catholic "reverts" will enjoy this particular book for it's dynamic way of letting them know that they are not alone. After all, we are all seeking the way to best live our own LIFE ON THE ROCK, no matter what our life happens to be. We all need to know we are not alone on our particular journey, no matter where that journey happens to lead us along the way.

I have some very dear friends, both of whom were raised Catholic, whom have fallen away from the faith. They have embraced the kind of Evangelical Protestantism Jeff Cavins describes in this book. Their journey is as much the journey Jeff explains in his compelling story.

Cavins describes his early years of faith, how he fell in love with his wife, a Bible Christian, and his journey from Catholicism to Christian Bible College, to Evangelical preaching at an Open Door type of church, and then back to the Catholic faith.

Along the way, it's a roller coaster ride as we witness Cavins' own struggles with his faith, and then an eventual realization of Christ's truth.

I found his descriptions of always seeking to create a novel, livelier, music-filled Evangelical worship service lest he lose parishioners to another church as particularly interesting. Cavins' story is moving, personal, and at times humorous.

I highly recommend this book to anyone that has a family member who has left the Catholic Church to embrace the rock-and-roll service held in a high school gymnasium.

I couldn't put this book down once I started reading it. All those who have left or are thinking about leaving the Church should read this book. I was touched by Jeff's detailed story and by Jeff's desire to learn more about the Christian faith which eventually lead to his return to the Catholic "universal" Church.

This is such a blessed book. I so thoroughly enjoyed Jeff's story as I can presently relate to much of what he went through. I was in the middle of his book when I thought, I really want to review his book on Amazon but I just can't seem to find the word I'm looking for to describe it. (my brain was on vacation that day;) "I prayed, Lord help me find the word". Lo and behold the very next sentence I read in Jeff's book the word jumped out at me..."GENUINE"! This book is so real and refreshing, And Jeff seems so approachable. I can't wait for the sequel! : )

In the movie GOING MY WAY, "Patsy," who is having personal difficulties, tells a nun that she (Patsy) also wants to become a nun. Says the sister: "Patsy, you don't become a nun because you've lost something, but because you've found something!" Jeff Cavins is another in a long line of recent converts to the Catholic Church. Like David Currie, Kristine Franklin, Marcus Grodi, Scott Hahn, Thomas Howard, Stephen Ray, and many others, Mr. Cavins has found, not some THING, but some ONE. Leaving the Church as a young man, Mr. Cavins became an independent Protestant pastor, falling in love with Sacred Scripture. Along the way, however, he found that he was inventing a church (82), feeding a "popularity machine" (86), inadequately liturgical (93, 99), ignorant of Christian roots (116), and struggling to deal with the powerful (91, 118). In the most cogent part of this sometimes moving memoir, Mr. Cavins explains how he discovered four corners of the theological puzzle: Scripture, Tradition, Sacramentality, and Authority (135-136). He simply had to return to the Catholic faith, for he had found there the full expression of some ONE, Christ the King. His accounts of the Church as a sacrament (109), the Real Presence in the Eucharist (122), the priesthood (125, 167), the "brothers" of the Lord (139), the papacy (144-145), and of Sacred Tradition (126-127) are concise and crisply reasoned. In fact, this book could be used in RCIA classes for converts--and should be. Mr. Cavins's accounts of his reconcilation with his father and his conversion process with his wife Emily are genuinely touching. In reading this memoir, one comes to respect Mr. Cavins's search for truth; but readers may also find here a moral certainty which, unless guarded against, may well spill over even into arrogance. The exuberance of converts is wonderful, but it must not be allowed to grow into spiritual conceit. Still, the book needed a closer editing: Mr. Cavins has trouble with HOWEVER (13, 107), splits infinitives (14, 103), misuses "you and me" (105), misplaces a modifier (115), confuses "impractical" with "impracticable" (158), and fails to understand that "someone" takes "he" or "she," not "they" (212). These are quibbles at best, though, for the book is thoughtful, earnest, and impassioned. Mr. Cavins writes that, as he was about to enter the Church, he met one priest who denies the post-1958 Papacy and another who is intent upon the inclusive language of a Father-Mother God. The first priest is a sedevacantist, and the second is, well, silly. John Paul II is a true hero of the faith; referring to God as "Father," or using "His" when we speak, say, of God's (His) mercy is hardly "sexist." (See, e.g., Mt 24:36, Mk 14:36, Lk 24:49, Jn 14:6.) It is sad that fringe Catholics (193), and ignorant and apathetic Catholics (cf. Rev 3:16), or failed Catholics discourage converts. But the Catholic Church is, thanks be to God, a hospital for sinners and not a hotel for the saved.

Jeff's story is a concrete example for those people who , though they are not sure of what the future will be, yet always trusts the Lord and seek his ways. At the end, just like what Jeff did, its constancy and perseverance in prayer and faithfulnerss - the Lord always provides and answers us in His own time, in His own way. What a powerful testimony!