I have poured through my fair share of books and the majority, I really enjoy because I usually read a review of the book beforehand. The other day I was offered a free book for a review from Moody Publishing.  All In: Finding True Life on the Path to Total Surrender, by Mike Guzzardo. I had never heard of the book, nor the author, which is not good since I am a youth pastor and he is a big name youth speaker (Oops!) But I figured that it would be worth reading.

I was looking forward to reading the book, mainly because I thought that it may be a quick encouraging read about how I can continue to strength my walk with Jesus. Now I don’t know Mike and I am guessing by the book and his personal testimony, which he shares in the book, and that he speaks about Jesus to teens all around the world, that He is a great guy. The book is well written and engaging yet it falls short in my mind.  What I had hoped for was absent within the pages of All In.

It seems that throughout the book Mike builds an excitement for being a Christian, following Jesus and even giving up for the cause of Christ, but the problem is that he does not take the reader into the gospel at all. He simply leaves you with a try harder view of the Christian life. A view that seemed to have filled all the books I read throughout my teenage life. A view that in the end leaves you frustrated and hopeless. Now, I am not going to totally trash the book because there are some good points but I am going to say that we need to go deeper and close the loop as youth workers. Don’t encourage students to strap up their boots and work hard to have the perfect Christian life. Encourage them to trust deeply and have that trust lead their heart to delight in Jesus so much so that there is no other option than to follow him.

Mike, if you ever read this (but I doubt you will) I am thankful that you are telling students about Jesus. I am thankful Jesus saved you and has delighted your heart with himself. Just go deeper man! Students can handle it and they need to, or they will leave Jesus. It is not about an emotion, or a moment, but about a Jesus. If you are ever in Maine I would love to have coffee, my treat!