Review: I Am Second

I Am Second: Real Stories. Changing Lives by Doug Bender and  Dave Sterrett

Thomas Nelson  – January 3, 2012

http://davesterrett.com/

http://www.iamsecond.com/

Facebook:  Yes, Doug Bender, and I am Second

Twitter: @Iamsecond, @DougBender, @davesterrett

 

Rating: The stories are powerful and full of hope, I really enjoyed this read.

Source: Thomas Nelson, for review

Click here to read what this story is about

           

            I had never heard of the I Am Second Movement. Yes, I mean movement. This is so much more than just a book, but I didn’t know that until after I read it and browsed the webpage. But in a way, I am glad that it’s a movement. Sometimes you read an intensely good read about life and you wonder who’s really living like this? But I Am Second is the stories of people who have chosen to live a life where they are not in control.  They have chosen to give up what wasn’t working in their lives, the secrets and addictions that they hid behind in exchange for extreme faith.  I say extreme faith, because there are complacent Christians and there are Christians who do “just enough”. Those who follow in the path of being second are not complacent and they are not doing “just enough”.

            The collection of stories was powerful and filled with people who I knew or heard of and people that I had no clue about.  On the website, when watching the videos, I found that there were even more people who had chosen the path of the second.  They didn’t gloss over their “before” lives so it made a huge impact when they talked about their lives “after”.  At the end of reading this book, a Bible verse came to mind, “His master replied, “Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!” ( Matthew 25:21). I think these are the words that those who choose to be second will hear.

Recommendation:  If you are interested in learning about how the Christian faith can change your life, regardless of where you are, you will definitely enjoy this book. If you are interested in going deeper in your own Christian walk, you will definitely enjoy this book.

A copy of this book was given to me, free, in exchange for my honest opinion.

Always Shine,

Starr K

Related Links:

Max on Life By Max Lucado

Everyone has questions about life that they struggle with. It may have to deal with what to do when things don’t seem to work out the way that we think that they should, or how to deal with a pain or hurt that we never thought possible to survive. The questions could range anywhere between how to deal with people of the opposite sex to whether or not war is something God agrees with. These questions have all been asked by people who have had the opportunity to speak with Max Lucado, or questions that he has tried to answer in his sermons. He now presents them all together in one place, replying in a traditional Lucado fashion; honestly, compassionately and graciously.

The format of the books is simple; it presents the question and then the answer. While this makes it a little difficult to read straight through, it is easy to pick up and do daily readings with. Not everything is comforting, but really that’s just like life. God is our comforter but not everything that God does or allows is comfortable. I can’t say that every answer is the right answer, or that I agree with them all. But it is obvious that Lucado answered each with wisdom and scripture. Some of the answers gave me the impression that Lucado didn’t really know the correct answer, but he didn’t make anything up, he replaced his “I don’t know” with scripture.

Some of the questions and answers seemed to be asking the same thing; in these cases it would have been better to combine them instead of repeating the same thing. I think people when they were asking the questions, they weren’t really looking for advice but maybe some validation or clarity. Max on Life brings all these questions together showing that no one is really alone with their fears, doubts and confusion. Though I think the format was relatively simple and direct, it didn’t really hold my attention. There were moments when completing the book seemed difficult.

I received a complimentary copy of this book through the Booksneeze book bloggers program.  I am under no obligation to write a positive review.