Kill the Noise: Finding Meaning Above the Madness

Ries, host of the Ryan Ries Show podcast, debuts with a frank and passionate chronicle of his rocky road to embracing his faith. As a teenager, Ries became passionate about producing concerts and live events, and despite his early success in marketing, he struggled with addictions to drugs, alcohol, and pornography. While Ries’s parents unsuccessfully tried to find him help, he describes losing his sense of purpose after his wife had an abortion and the two separated, his desperate attempts to treat his sorrows with drugs and pornography, and his anger at God for his poor choices. After nearly dying of a cocaine overdose, Ries was convinced his parents’ prayers saved his life, and the next morning he devoted himself to Christ. Throughout, Ries draws from scripture, explaining God’s power: “I confessed, He forgave instantly—that’s how God works. When He makes a promise, He keeps it every single time.” In the end, Ries gives his father “huge props” for addressing his son’s mistakes with “love instead of criticism” and teaching biblical lessons of forgiveness, peace, and purpose through action. This uplifting message of redemption will resonate particularly with millennial Christians. [em](May) [/em]