The Book of Amazing Stories

 34570032

The Book of Amazing Stories
Robert Petterson
Tyndale

 You may have thought you knew the lives of famous people--such as Martin Luther King Jr., Howard Hughes, Mother Teresa, Muhammad Ali, Ronald Reagan, Susana Wesley, and many more. But, in The Book of Amazing Stories, you'll know so much more about Ronnie's faithful church-going single mom and William's early days as a humble shoemaker's apprentice. You'll marvel at how God used the lives of these ordinary people to change the course of human history.

Life makes the strangest sharp turns and, sometimes, U-turns. Robert Petterson--popular speaker, storyteller, and author--has been a student for his entire life of what God is teaching us through those real-life U-turns. In this book, he compiles 90 amazing stories that teach lessons you won't easily forget.

Each devotional ends with a compelling and hopeful take-away--a thought about what the story reveals about life and God.

Be amazed. Be encouraged. Learn the lessons God is teaching through people's lives.

     I actually wasn't aware that this was a devotional when I got it. In fact, after reading it, I'm still not sure it would qualify: for each day, a story with a moral is told, and there's a Bible verse at the end, but while the stories are edifying, I'm still not sure that I'd classify it as a devotional.

     Not that we can't learn something from these stories: some of them are positive examples, and some are negative, but they all have something to teach us. Most of them follow a simple format: the story begins, centered around an unknown figure and then, wham! we find out that unknown person is actually this famous person, isn't it amazing? Some of them are are very emotionally touching...but I'm also wary about the accuracy of the tales. Because the stories are told trying to make a point, some of them are oversimplified, ignoring the true complexity of history that might not make the historical figure in question as admirable, or the events not as startlingly positive. There is a bibliography in the back, but I know enough about history to know that while some of these stories may not technically contain misinformation, they are far from unbiased. (although, to be fair, is any writing ever unbiased?)

     But the stories are entertaining. I read all 90 chapters in two days (the book is pretty short) and the book certainly kept me reading, even inspiring me to look up a few people who I've neglected to give my attention to. Of course, I certainly wouldn't recommend this book as a history text, but that's by no means what it's pretending to be.

I received this book for free from the publisher in exchange for my honest review.

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