HE'S BEEN FAITHFUL: Trusting God to Do What Only He Can Do

In her debut book, Cymbala tells the awe-inspiring story of her transformation from a shy, Midwestern girl who couldn't read music to the director of the award-winning Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir. Despite the power of this story, her main purpose is not to tell it, or any of the stories of her choir members that appear throughout the book, but instead to support her titular message of God's faithfulness. As such, the book does not present a linear narrative of Cymbala's life, the Brooklyn Tabernacle or the 275-member choir, but instead reveals pieces here and there, just at the point when those pieces best illustrate her various points about God and Christian life. This approach creates a good deal of interest and suspense; choir member Josh Carroll's story, for example, leaves readers curious about its loose ends and then picks up again a few chapters later in the form of his girlfriend's narrative. Unlike many writers eager to display God's power in the most dramatic light possible, Cymbala combines tragic life stories with others that are much more conventional, effectively demonstrating that God can transform every kind of life, not just those that have hit rock bottom. And she refrains from over-sensationalizing even the most bizarre stories, such as one about a demonically possessed couple who attempted to take over the church many years ago. The integrity of her narrative and the way she presents it put Cymbala in a class with Christian writers who straightforwardly tell stories and leave the fireworks to God. (Sept.)