This book talks about how the world looks at sin today. Pippert uses scripture and her own experiences to give readers reasons to hope in an all powerful, loving God.

This is a fresh and helpful book that explores the basic contours of the Christian faith. Rebecca Pippert explores the human condition by showing that the problem in the world lies in our own hearts (chapter 1). We're not okay (chapter 2), neither are we in charge (chapter 3). The problem is that we worship the wrong things (chapter 4). Only God can satisfy our deepest longings - the brokenness of our lives results from seeking that satisfaction in other things - relationships, wealth, sex, pleasure, status, etc. This idolatrous worship is sin (chapter 5) The answer to our woes is found in the gospel: the story of Jesus crucified and risen (chapters 6-7). When we respond to the gospel in honest confession and a life of genuine repentance, we are changed (chapter 8). The Christian life is an appropriation of the gospel, as live the cross in humble denial of self (chapter 9) and live the resurrection in joyful hope (chapter 10).

This is really an amazing book because it speaks with such poignancy to the human heart. Mrs. Pippert did not become a Christian until she was a young adult, and only after much struggle and wrestling with difficult philosophical questions. She addresses these questions carefully in this book, illustrating them with numerous conversations, anecdotes, and striking quotations from literature, philosophy, and psychology. Though I've been a Christian for many years, I found this book very moving and helpful.

I would especially recommend this as a book to give to your non-Christian friends. It is not a coercive book, but a thoughtful engagement with issues that most human beings face - loneliness, emptiness, suffering, despair - from a distinctly Christian perspective. This is a book that could be life-changing for you or someone you love. ( )