Christine Dillon returns with the fourth book in her great series of Australian Christian fiction. I have not come across another author who so clearly explains the gospel, has strong Christian characters with real struggles and challenges, and has such relatable storylines.
In this volume the focus of the story returns to Rachel, and how she is managing with the changes life has presented to her in recent years. She is growing in her faith, but struggling with what forgiveness really means.
Pete also enters this story in more depth, who has suffered his own personal tragedy and is still coming to terms with loss. It is pleasing to see more strong Christian men in the later volumes.
Familiar characters from previous books are also still present: grandmother Noami, Blanche and William, the young man Josh with Down Syndrome who works at the nursery with Rachel and Pete, and Pete’s parents who were key in Rachel’s conversion.
Dillon writes very encouraging characters, who grow in sanctification, who are changed by God’s word, and who pour out their hearts to God in trusting prayer even in the midst of very challenging circumstances. She doesn’t shy away from the realities of life, the effects of sin, and the sadness that many live with. I found myself caught up in the characters’ lives and was moved to tears at numerous points.
My only concern is that for some it will feel like a high bar for comparison. There is almost no backsliding, no significant falling back into sin. While this is obviously the goal for us all as we continue to live faithfully in Christ - to be on an onward path of growth, I wonder if it may be disheartening for some who struggle to make such progress in their own lives. The challenges that beset many are not obviously present: be they laziness, struggles at church, finding it hard to love others, battles with addictions, or just persistent resistance to change. It’s also surprising that almost all of the characters are Christian, so there are much fewer evangelistic conversations than in previous books.
I suspect Dillon has chosen to have the focus more about what it means to continue to live in Christ, and that will be a help and encouragement to Christian readers. This book give us something to hope for and characters that we could model ourselves on. There is more practical theology and guidance for godly living here that in many non-Christian ‘how to’ books.
Again, my children (aged 17, 15 and 13) really appreciated it. Our Miss 13 has recently read all four for the first time and loved them. Compared to the light fluffy other ‘Christian’ fiction our children read, these are a wonderful way to explain the gospel again, to have characters that are real Christians living faithfully, and a way for them to consider their own growth in Christ. And they have been the same for me.
In this volume the focus of the story returns to Rachel, and how she is managing with the changes life has presented to her in recent years. She is growing in her faith, but struggling with what forgiveness really means.
Pete also enters this story in more depth, who has suffered his own personal tragedy and is still coming to terms with loss. It is pleasing to see more strong Christian men in the later volumes.
Familiar characters from previous books are also still present: grandmother Noami, Blanche and William, the young man Josh with Down Syndrome who works at the nursery with Rachel and Pete, and Pete’s parents who were key in Rachel’s conversion.
Dillon writes very encouraging characters, who grow in sanctification, who are changed by God’s word, and who pour out their hearts to God in trusting prayer even in the midst of very challenging circumstances. She doesn’t shy away from the realities of life, the effects of sin, and the sadness that many live with. I found myself caught up in the characters’ lives and was moved to tears at numerous points.
My only concern is that for some it will feel like a high bar for comparison. There is almost no backsliding, no significant falling back into sin. While this is obviously the goal for us all as we continue to live faithfully in Christ - to be on an onward path of growth, I wonder if it may be disheartening for some who struggle to make such progress in their own lives. The challenges that beset many are not obviously present: be they laziness, struggles at church, finding it hard to love others, battles with addictions, or just persistent resistance to change. It’s also surprising that almost all of the characters are Christian, so there are much fewer evangelistic conversations than in previous books.
I suspect Dillon has chosen to have the focus more about what it means to continue to live in Christ, and that will be a help and encouragement to Christian readers. This book give us something to hope for and characters that we could model ourselves on. There is more practical theology and guidance for godly living here that in many non-Christian ‘how to’ books.
Again, my children (aged 17, 15 and 13) really appreciated it. Our Miss 13 has recently read all four for the first time and loved them. Compared to the light fluffy other ‘Christian’ fiction our children read, these are a wonderful way to explain the gospel again, to have characters that are real Christians living faithfully, and a way for them to consider their own growth in Christ. And they have been the same for me.
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