More Lost than Found: Finding a way back to Faith by Jared Herd

If you are fortunate to find this, you have gained a book that is both good for those who have walked away from their faith, as well as for those who are still solidly walking in faith.

The author covers a wide and diverse array of topics in a way that communicates he understands, he is not judgmental, nor preachy, yet offers some good food for thought.

He explores the discussion on secular versus sacred lines, imagination, illusion and reality, purpose of pain, myth and truth, and a lot more. Each chapter, almost, can be read as an entity unto itself without apparent connection to the next. However each one builds on the other in subtle ways to conclude in a very strong way with a clear call that it is all about Jesus and your relationship with Him. He then adds at the end a wonderful chapter on renovating not demolishing in regards to the church. These closing chapters really puts a mind at ease that this is NOT someone who is some hard edged emergent church person or church hater.

That said, this book is thin on its use of the Bible. Stories are a strong point, but can be subjective, so more use of scripture would make this much more solid.

The author paints a realistic picture of the church and the people in it(and uses a very cool illustration about sketch art versus drip art...VERY nice, won’t spoil it in the review...).

For someone who is disillusioned with “the church” there is some good food for thought. For those still firmly walking in faith, this book provides good challenges for us as well and gives a good insight into some of the issues a LOT of folks are working through so we can seek to be a part of the solution not further exasperate the situation.

3 out of 5. The lack of scripture is "excusable" to a degree considering the authors main target audience,BUT discerning readers need to stay alert to not let good stories lead to points that might not be scriptural.The fact he quotes Rob Bell at points leads me to mention that. (I didn't find anything "off" in those quotes, but Rob is not the greatest source material, and will just leave it at that.)

This book was provided as a complimentary copy by the publisher Thomas Nelson in exchange for an honest review.