Book #25 - Going All the Way by Craig Groeschel

In the Fall, Pastor Craig Groeschel offered a free copy of his book to anyone who would blog about it. I was fortunate enough to be one of the ones to receive a a copy. This is both my official post (albeit delayed) about the book and my personal blog on it.

This book proved to me again that it is best to not make prejudgment about a text before reading it. I began with several assumptions about what the focuses of the book would be, only to find that there is much more to it. One specific example is that I began with an assumption that the book would be for singles and maybe those recently engaged. What I found were a wealth of topics dealing with sex and relationships that are universal. Anyone from early/ pre-teen to those who have been married for years can draw from these bits of wisdom.

In the past few weeks since I have read this book I have recommended it to people as well as made use/ reference to the material within. This to me is the sign of a good book. It has helped me personally be able to put a framework around some of things that I have believed about relationships and dating, especially as I begin to walk my children through their teen years.

I can clearly see this book being used as a teaching tool for individual/ couples study as well as small groups of teens, premarital counseling or married couples. Someone with maturity and experience in the area of relationship would need to lead due to the inevitable scabs that can/ would be picked at. This is not a bad thing. One of the things that the church is often afraid of is dealing with hard things. However, I think that God is honored when we are willing to address that tough things in our lives and work through the Holy Spirit for change. This book leads the reader to these gates. It is our responsibility to respond to what God is calling us to do.

I am a strong believer that if more couple is the church would build their relationships based on having already finding "the one", Jesus, and then seeking out a mate of His choosing divorce would become largely a non-factor. I am glad that Pastor Craig has made this resource available, and think that many will relate to his personal accounts. I hope that it is used a a resource to build health relationships for years to come.