Say you love me by Marion Husband

Title of book: Say you love me

Name of author: Marion Husband

Number of pages (paperback): 320 pages

Synopsis:

Ben Walker sets out to trace his father and discover the truth about his
adoption in 1968. But the past holds secrets that his brother Mark is
desperate to keep. Old hatreds between the brothers are rekindled and their adopted father is made to face his own guilt over the events of that spring of 1968.

‘Say you love me’ tells the story of two brothers, Ben and Mark Walker (formerly Carter) who both suffer from the legacy of their real father’s sexual abuse and the ripple effect of abuse within a family.

Marion Husband I found has the amazing gift of writing beautifully whilst writing about horrific, sad, terrifying matters. I had a lump in my throat the whole time reading this book, I could not believe how terrible one person could be and even though I could not believe it, I am realist and I know there are so many bad people out there.

The characters are well written, the emotions raw, which made for really good reading.

I would highly recommend ‘Say you love me’ not just because of the subject of the book but because there is a sense of hope within the book which I found refreshing whilst not sugar-coating the subject of abuse.

A sad and powerful book. I know I will be reading more titles by Marion Husband.

Rating: 10/10

Confessions of a Reformission Rev. by Mark Driscoll

Mark Driscoll is the leader of Mars Hill Church in Seattle, Washington. It is one of the largest churches in the USA and currently has a membership of 8000 people. Confessions of a Reformission Rev. is his account of the growth of this megachurch.

Here is the Amazon synopsis:

This is the story of the birth and growth of Seattle’s innovative Mars Hill Church, one of America’s fastest growing churches located in one of America’s toughest mission fields. It’s also the story of the growth of a pastor, the mistakes he’s made along the way, and God’s grace and work in spite of those mistakes. Mark Driscoll’s emerging, missional church took a rocky road from its start in a hot, upstairs youth room with gold shag carpet to its current weekly attendance of thousands. With engaging humor, humility, and candor, Driscoll shares the failures, frustrations, and just plain messiness of trying to build a church that is faithful to the Gospel of Christ in a highly post-Christian culture. In the telling, he’s not afraid to skewer some sacred cows of traditional, contemporary, and emerging churches. Each chapter discusses not only the hard lessons learned but also the principles and practices that worked and that can inform your church’s ministry, no matter its present size. The book includes discussion questions and appendix resources. “After reading a book like this, you can never go back to being an inwardly focused church without a mission.

Even if you disagree with Mark about some of the things he says, you cannot help but be convicted to the inner core about what it means to have a heart for those who don’t know Jesus.” – Dan Kimball, author, “The Emerging Church”. “…will make you laugh, cry, and get mad…school you, shape you, and mold you into the right kind of priorities to lead the church in today’s messy world.” – Robert Webber, Northern Seminary.

I really enjoyed this book. I came across Mark Driscoll last year and have thoroughly enjoyed listening to his preaches so was looking forward to reading this book. It took me just over a day to complete the book, which is just under 200 pages long. Even my BF, who is a slow reader read this book in a matter of days.

He writes honestly and humorously. There is a lot of theology in the book, as well as practical advice, however, it is written simply and flows smoothly so it is so easy to read.  He covers the complete growth of the church, from the first day to when they hit the 4000 people mark.

This book has opened my eyes to what happens behind the scenes in church leadership, the struggles pastors and elders face and has inspired me to step out and serve more at my local church – which has a membership of just under 1000 people at present.

I really enjoyed this book and would recommend it to everyone, even non-church goers.

9/10 – the theology and practical advice was sometimes a touch heavy-going.