Next weekend, Group Leaders will gather together to discuss spiritual warfare. More about that in a minute, but first I want to tell you about a book I was invited to read before it was published called Even In Our Darkness, written by former pastor and theologian Dr. Jack Deere.

I had never heard of the author before, but the description of the book pulled me in: “A powerful memoir of finding beauty and friendship through the pain of loss, tragedy, and brokenness, Even In Our Darkness explores what it means to know God and be known by him.”

Before I began reading the book, I had was convinced that I would be reading about someone who had what I like to call “pastor problems,” not someone who had experienced real pain, loss, tragedy and brokenness, because pastors are favored by God to shepherd those of us with the real problems. Am I right? No. In fact, I couldn’t be more wrong.

This book left me speechless. At first, reading through his teen years, I thought, well that’s the difference of growing up in the south. But as I continued reading, my heart broke for Dr. Jack Deere. These are not “pastor problems.” This is real, hard, ugly, life. But through it all, Jesus was by his side, and Deere clung to that.

I hope that you join us next weekend for Pastor Ryan’s gathering. Click here to link to the post with more information about that.

For more information about Even In Our Darkness, visit the website www.eveninourdarkness.com.

Book Review by Sarah Biggerstaff