Book Review of Book: Surrender All: Your Answer To Living With Peace, Power, And Purpose by Joni Lamb
Review of Book: Surrender All: Your Answer to Living With Peace, Power and Purpose by Joni Lamb
Non-Fiction: Autobiography, Christian Living, Inspirational
This book is written by Joni Lamb, wife of Marcus Lamb. She and her husband co-founded the Daystar Television Network, and are co-hosts of the show Celebration, which is Daystar's flagship show. Joni also hosts her own talk show, called Joni. Therefore I was familiar with Joni Lamb long before I got this book. Her persona is sweet, gentle, caring, and loving. She totally won me over long before she wrote anything.This book is a delight to anyone who is a Joni fan. She talks about her life and the lives of those around her. The story starts with a little six year old girl who loses her temper and pushes her friend off a swing. When that girl runs into the house crying to her mother, the mother comes out and talks to young Joni. At first Joni was tight lipped about it. But when the other child's mom gently points out that Jesus sees everything she does and knows what happened there in the yard, Joni realizes that she is accountable to God for her actions. Joni confesses, and the other child's mother, in a continuing show of wisdom and grace leads Joni in a prayer, asking Christ to forgive her. This is a major turning point in Joni's life, setting her on a lifelong path of surrendering to God. Coming from a heathen home, I probably wouldn't have responded the same way at age six if someone had pointed out that Jesus sees everything I do. It certainly helped that Joni's parents were Christians, giving her a foundation that could help her understand that concept. But her friend's mother really started the commitment ball rolling.
Skip ahead about fourteen years. The little six year old girl is a twenty year old now. She's just broken up with her boyfriend, because he's not as interested in serving God as she is. She wanted to take her boyfriend to see an evangelist, because she thinks the evangelist will straighten him out. But her boyfriend refused to go see the evangelist. Joni and her boyfriend argue over it, and they break up. As he walks away from her for the last time, her now ex-boyfriend tells Joni that she can take her God and shove Him. That tells Joni all she needs to know about this guy. She gives it over in surrender to God after much prayer, crying, and misery over the break up. Turns out the evangelist that her boyfriend refused to see is single. Within a week, she was dating this evangelist. Long story short, he becomes her husband. He's just perfect for her. They have three children, and they've served the Lord together ever since they got married.
The autobiographical parts of this book are charming. We rejoice with Joni as she and her husband travel to the Holy Land, have their first baby, start their first TV station, and overcome challenges and setbacks along the way. We grieve with her when she gets betrayed by a friend, or when someone dies. She also writes about the people around her and we learn, lessons from their stories too.
But the main message of the book is that surrendering your life to God will bring blessings to you. She gives anecdotal stories of people who surrendered all to God and how it panned out for them. Surrendering all to God is not always easy, especially if your background makes trusting difficult. But this book helps you to see why and how it's a good idea, as well as giving suggestions on how to do it. I can't claim that I've actually done it yet, but I'm working on it.
Overall, it's a charming book with an important message. Definitely recommended reading.
Posted by Ceecee at 8/27/2010 1:57 AM 
Categories: Christian Living, Daystar TV, Christian TV
Tags: Surrendering to God. Christian Living Joni Lamb Daystar television Christian television
Categories: Christian Living, Daystar TV, Christian TV
Tags: Surrendering to God. Christian Living Joni Lamb Daystar television Christian television
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