Carl Lentz is not your ordinary preacher. He was a top college basketball player, ostensibly headed for pro ball when he felt called by God to help others through ministry. He is a tattooed 6’-3’’ guy with a mullet-like coif. He dresses in torn blue jeans and a leather jacket. He and his wife lead a large congregation in New York City for Hillsong Ministries. In this book, Lentz lays out his life and spiritual philosophy as well as some of his thoughts on parenting and friendship.

This humble, yet opinionated and quick to correct preacher presents his ideas in easy to digest 3 to 5 page essays on everything from parenting, to the mistakes he has made and how he rectified them and altered his life path, to his views on how to view life happenings and the people we encounter with and eye toward the blessings. I especially liked the essay about seeing the gold in every person we meet and it inspired me to write my own blog entry about seeing the blessings in life and our fellow humans. Each chapter has a short supplemental summary of about 150 words at the end to help distill the chapter and provide action items for readers to implement the chapter ideas into their daily lives. 

This is a down to earth book by a man who has nothing to hide. He is unabashedly open about his flaws and shortcomings. His no nonsense, honest approach to life filters into his preaching and his management of his church services. I like how he talks about having no patience for rules like “no hats” in church. I love it. I always wondered about some of the “rules” that supposedly were critical to the facilitation of a good connection to the divine. Lentz drops all this falderal and lets people be themselves before him, their fellow parishioners, and God.

The author brings spirituality, belief, and prayer down to earth in this fun to read volume.