This is probably the third time I've read this---maybe fourth. Every other time I imagined some ministry person/pastor that I knew in the role of the main character. This time around, that main character was me. Some of the scenes, actually, were emotionally painful. The church has caused a lot of hurt with their pharisaical ways and there are lots of us who love Jesus but despise the modern church model.

Since coming to Torah I've realized that there is only one authority---Christ. I love the quote on pg. 475 that says, "it's only when you're willing to know him on his terms, for who he is, that you really start to know him at all." God wants us to know Him in His way. That is through His entire Word but especially through Torah where He reveals His covenants and our instructions. If we wonder why the church is falling away---it's because they have abandoned the very foundation for everything---God's Torah. ( )

really liked it and was a quick read ( )

I hadn't read any of Frank Peretti's books since "This Present Darkness" and "Piercing the Darkness" when they first came out. I really enjoyed this one and although it was a big book, I didn't want it to end, although I wondered how it would end. It was interesting that it had third person narration for scenes without Travis, but was in first person with him. I liked the parts where he went back in the past, especially his wooing of Marian. ( )

A young man arrives in a small American town and starts doing miracles... the churches are divided in how they view him. Cleverly written with several subplots unrolling, mild humour in places, and a somewhat ironical look at some of the extreme types of church.

However, although I rated this five stars after the first time I read it in 2001, I find myself recoiling somewhat after re-reading 16 years later. The writing is good (although the viewpoint switches and the sheer number of characters left me a little confused at times) but the final revelations and some of the climactic events towards the end were sordid and did not make pleasant reading at all.

I had completely forgotten the storyline and the outcome, and the mild suspense in the earlier part of the book works well, but I didn't enjoy the last few chapters at all. ( )

Interesting and unusual Christian fiction exploring the rise and fall of a cult.

Bookcrossing: http://www.bookcrossing.com/journal/8350208/ ( )