Restoring Broken Things: What Happens When We Catch a Vision for the New World Jesus Is Creating

Singer-songwriter Chapman teams up with Smith, a well-known evangelical pastor, to explore the biblical promise that even in a broken, despairing world Jesus is actively working to make all things new. Both authors expound upon this promise as they share numerous heart-wrenching, soul-searing stories of those who behold Christ amid suffering and recognize that brokenness is the journey to newness. Chapman and Smith tell profound personal tales of discovery. Especially poignant is Smith's admission of failure in his marriage and his realization that he had stayed "hidden" from his wife by resorting to busyness and self-contempt. Smith understands brokenness and candidly admits that although he is a seasoned believer, he sometimes embraces faulty theology or does not believe the gospel's powerful truth. Together and sometimes singly (which causes some confusion as to which author is speaking), the writers discuss what restoration looks like in creation, worship, culture and in a flawed church. Readers will likely pause for much-needed reflection in this occasionally uneven, yet always hopeful, book that tugs at the heartstrings. (Sept.)