Book Review



This book, Nine Ways God Always Speaks by Mark Herringshaw and Jennifer Schuchmann, is both a sarcastic and thoughtful discussion of a topic that can be very touchy. If you are someone who believes God has spoken to you, you might begin telling someone about it after the disclaimer, "You're going to think I am crazy, but..." At the other end of the conversation would be the person who wonders about their own value in God's eyes because they have never heard from Him. The authors utilize personal stories from many people to demonstrate how others perceive God's voice, thus challenging us to review how God may have been speaking to us but we were not in a state to hear. (The subtitle for the book is, *Offer available only in certain states, which certainly implies that there are conditions where we might be better able to hear God.)

Each chapter is numbered like a radio frequency and discusses a particular way of hearing from God. Dreams, voices, nature, the Bible, and your conscience are a few of the ways the authors address. Altho there are places where the authors give their own opinions and other places where they offer biblical explanations, this is neither a how-to book nor a text book. There is no stuffy, pretentious language that separates "us" from "them." In fact, this book seems to press us each to find how God speaks to us. It is infused with grace, and the modern language and humor used makes it even more lively.

I enjoyed this book for many reasons but probably most because it offers no absolutes. I would put myself in the "You might think I am crazy but..." crowd while I am in no way a lightning rod for God's messages. I have a friend who doesn't believe God speaks to her. Both of us can relax, enjoy the easy read and learn some thing. This is a book of questions rather than answers, of stories shared when the family gathers, of an infectious beckoning to join the adventure to see where God will take us. Or perhaps God is just speaking the same invitation He has been giving for many years, just now in this book. He does speak. Will we listen?

Comments

Jennifer Schuchmann said…
Thanks for the review Jamie! You obviously get it!
August 11, 2009 at 5:18 PM
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