Belcher, Jim. In Search of Deep Faith: A Pilgrimage into the Beauty, Goodness and Heart of Christianity. Downers Grove, IL: IVP Books, 2013.
Not yet available on wtsbooks.com, I read the kindle version on my laptop computer.
Steven Garber’s description of the book as, “A Pilgrim’s Progress for the twenty-first century,” is apt. Myself being a student of history and having been moved and even shaped by the stories told in books like Philip Hallie’s Lest Innocent Blood Be Shed: The Story of the Village of Le Chambon and How Goodness Happened There, Eric Metaxas’ Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy, Diarmaid MacCulloch’s Thomas Cranmer: A Life, and Os Guiness’ The Call, not to mention J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings, I can say that Dr. Belcher’s book also must necessarily move and shape the lives of any who read it. The book is the testimony of a husband and father who led his family on a pilgrimage first to Oxford and from there to continental Europe to rediscover their roots, rediscover the metaphor of life as a journey that needs a map, and see their final destination. Reading it left me with a yearning to travel to see some of the same places where they went as well as to explore others with my own family, but not as a tourist — rather to travel to these places with the same hope of shaping my own kids’ imaginations. Not only should you read this book and join Belcher in the journey, but you should share it with an unbeliever.
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