19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Stories and the Strength, March 31, 2006
This review is from: Second Guessing God: Hanging on When You Can't See His Plan (Paperback)
LeRoy Lawson told a Writer's Clinic audience more than 25 years ago, "Dynamic writing follows dynamic living." Brian Jones was just a boy then, but without hearing Lawson's advice, he has followed it. His new book is the testimony of someone who has embraced life with all the energy a young man can muster. Second Guessing God reveals some of what Jones's life has taught him. He tells us story after story about oddballs and everyday people who have given him hope, shed light on his own personal pain or doubt, or forced him to reconsider what he believes about God. I found myself chuckling out loud at some of these stories and then, within pages, hiding tears. I predict every reader will laugh and cry as they identify with the unvarnished truth Brian exposes. Every reader will relate to the questions and the quandaries Brian admits he has faced. He offers hope as he unflinchingly admits his own weaknesses and then takes us to God's word for help. This is no pop-culture, pat-answer panacea for every ill. Brian looks to a wide range of literature and Christian classics for illustrations and insights. He readily admits his only response to some questions is "I don't know." He confesses his struggles and encourages his readers with theirs. As I read, I made a mental list of friends who will be helped by Second Guessing God. All of these could find courage to carry on from this highly readable book. But I know one person it has already helped. I will be stronger because I've read this book. I believe that will be true for everyone who reads it. Mark A. Taylor Copyright 2006 Christian Standard.
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13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Majors on how God is intimately involved, May 7, 2006
This review is from: Second Guessing God: Hanging on When You Can't See His Plan (Paperback)
Life gets hard, harder, impossible, and we silently (or maybe not so silently) scream, what are you doing God? In Second Guessing God, Brian Jones comes up with some outstanding answers.
Just as Joshua directed the priests to put their feet into the flooding Jordan upstream from the people in order to stop the waters so they could cross into the Promised Land, so does God work beyond our sight and understanding-upstream--in our lives. Here's another of Jones' similes. Want God to work in your life? Think of Jesus like a taxicab driver. You get in the passenger's seat and let Him take over.
Pastor, leader of a support group for the sexually abused, fellow traveler in this world of trouble, Brian Jones draws examples from coping with his own problems as well as a large background of listening to others' problems. He shares a wide scope of problems with the reader from the simple (if there are any such) to the horrific. And through it all he continually shows how God actually is working. Most of us do not receive instantaneous miracles, rather, God gives us perseverance for the long haul.
Second Guessing God majors on how God is intimately involved in all facets of our life, working through others, through circumstances, through our own acceptance of living this flawed life. Jones gives us a strengthening list of what God is actually doing, illustrating each item with Scripture, experiences, and a wide variety of quotes from C. S. Lewis to F. Scott Fitzgerald to Bart Simpson. What is God doing? Working in power and compassion; understanding doubt is real and providing help; imparting insight and help through the very trials we don't want; giving help through others' witness; and, breaking what seems a brass-bound silence with His Word, the Bible. The closing section of this book turns us back to those institutions that help, urging the broken to avail themselves of that help and the rest of us to be really get in there and help. Jones looks at the church, the ministry, and that wonderful promise to all of God's own ones, Heaven.
Second Guessing God arrived for me to review right after a major problem caused me to spiral despairingly downwards. I can vouch for it. This book truly helps. - Donna Eggett, Christian Book Previews.com
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Reality check, June 2, 2006
This review is from: Second Guessing God: Hanging on When You Can't See His Plan (Paperback)
Brian's transparent descriptions of his own spiritual journey assist the reader with realistic expectations of a life led for the cause of Christ. This book is a must read for anyone searching for meaning in his life.
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