What happens to your heart when you encounter human need so intense your soul can no longer ignore it? When you find yourself absolutely compelled to respond to the second Great Commandment: “Love your neighbor as yourself?” The answer is your life becomes wrecked, but in a way that is both pleasing to God, profoundly blesses others, and gives your own life newfound meaning.
Wrecked is author Jeff Goins’ (he helpfully assists us in the pronunciation of his unusual surname – ‘Goins rhymes with coins’, he says) personal account of a wrecked life. First he lives it, then he writes about it. The result is a story which will encourage and challenge the reader. I can hardly imagine a person who completes this book without resolving to live and act in a more compassionate way.
Goins is an uncommonly wise young man, and a very fine writer. His account lags a bit when he reaches the point in his story when he is also called to be a husband and father, and those demands impinge on his inclination to live Mark 16:17 (preach the Word, make disciples, drive out demons, heal the sick.) Yet one gets the sense that the reason is the story of his wrecked life is not fully told – that he has a stirring sequel on its way. By the way, for middle-aged men and women of my generation, I recommend Halftime: Changing Your Game Plan from Success to Significance, a wonderful book by Bob P. Buford, but I digress.
I give Wrecked five stars out of five. Goins deserves to be discovered by many and read widely.
As a side note, this book has encouraged me to undertake my own non-fiction project, my first. I am writing a book about Jesus entitled: The Superman Syndrome – the Blessings We Miss from Our Misunderstanding of the Humanity of Jesus, due out in the first half of 2013.
Thanks for reading and reviewing, Robert!
Your upcoming book sounds VERY interesting. Can’t wait to hear more.
Thank you for the honest review. Sounds like Wrecked needs to be added to the list.