Wounds Are Where Light Enters

Stories of God’s Intrusive Grace

by Walter Wangerin Jr.

Zondervan Non-Fiction

Zondervan

Christian

Pub Date 21 Nov 2017

I am reviewing a copy of wounds Are Where the Light Enters through Zondervan Non-Fiction :

In this book by well known storyteller Walter Wangerin Junior we are reminded how God’s Love breaks into our heart at the loneliest of moments. We are reminded that God can fill even the most broken hearted with love.

The stories in this collection is warm sometimes funny, heartfelt and sometimes heart rendering, but they are all reminders of God’s grace.

I give five out of five stars

Happy Reading!

Walt Wangerin has established himself as a prolific writer of both fiction and nonfiction. What he treats his readers to in this volume, however, is his very own life.
Don't call this a mere memoir. This book is so much about Wangerin's life, and yet every story is about someone else. People in his family, people he barely knows, people he's known for years. This series of bite-size but highly nourishing vignettes do not waste time trying to portray his life as idyllic; instead, Wangerin allows both joy and folly to map a course that is never preachy but always spiritual.
His honesty draws you in. The color and variety of his real-life characters bring the reader right into the room for both life and death, choosing to draw no conclusions or judgments. 
I imagine this book will hold value for both people of faith and people outside those spheres. For my part, it felt like a human story that I participated in with the author, who by chance happened to be a pastor. And a fellow, flawed human.

All that Wangerin writes is worth the time to read. So much better than most mass market Christian books-wo7ld be a great Christmas present

Book Review: WOUNDS ARE WHERE LIGHTS ENTER:  Stories of God’s Intrusive Grace


Wounds are Where Lights Enter:  Stories of God’s Intrusive Grace by Walter Wangerin, Jr. (Zondervan Publishing; 2017)

Walter Wangerin is a well-known Christian writer who uses his unique for storytelling and the use of dramatic and fictional elements (like his work THE BOOK OF GOD, a retelling of God’s redemption woven throughout the Bible as one story).  This book, however, is more of anthology of short stories — many autobiographical — with the theme of the little (and sometimes big) ways that God can intervene in our daily lives.  Stories such as Wangerin taking his small daughter to the largest cathedral in New York City,and using the appearance of a slovenly homeless man to teach a valuable lesson on how man makes many poor choices, but God is always watching over us and reminding that redemption is always possible.  For readers who enjoy authors such as Max Lucado and his storytelling expertise to teach spiritual lessons, Wounds are Where Lighta Enter is a worthwhile read. 3 stars.

I was able to receive an e-ARC of this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. I hope y'all enjoy this "spoiler free" review. I put the quotes because it's another nonfiction book and I feel like it's hard to spoil those haha. Also, this book comes out November 21st of this year! (My birthday!)

I was very thankful to receive this e-book. If you didn't know I am a christian and I love to learn about the faith! I was a little worried to talk about my religion because some people can be rude about it or take offence to it...Anyway, I'm here to share my views on this religious book about God's grace. :)

I enjoyed some of the stories in this book, but I did feel like some of the stories didn't have a clear message or a clear showing of God's grace in difficult times. Maybe I didn't grasp it while other will be able to, but even when I reflected I still didn't see the message for some stories. However, there were some really good stories in this book.

This book is important because it shows that through hard times God is with you. It lets you know that you're not the only one going through hard times and God isn't punishing you. God will lift you through the struggles you face daily if you just open your eyes and let him into your heart. This is shown very well as we see through this Pastor's own experiences. He loses his temper, he isn't perfect, he doesn't always know what to say, but through it we see him make these mistakes and realize what he's done. He doesn't just ignore it and pretend he's done nothing wrong. He asks for forgiveness and apologizes to those who deserve it. I feel often times we look at our Pastors or Priests and these people who are perfectly blessed and follow all the rules and only good things happen to them. This book helps shine some light on the fact that they aren't perfect and they struggle too. Everyone has to deal with the daily blows life throws at us but this book shows that God is there and he will guide us through and show us the light even when it seems dark.

Something I wasn't too fond of was his writing style. Someone else may love it, but it just wasn't for me. However, the book was still good and so were the stories. I just wasn't too fond of the writing overall because I felt like at times it could get jumbles and stray a little bit, but that could just be me. He has talent for sure but it just was something that bothered me a little bit.

"Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you."
This book has some amazing and uplifting stories in it that definitely reminded me of the amazing things God can do for us. I just think that this book shows the real hardships of life and how even if we struggle to overcome it that God is there to show us mercy and through his grace we can grow stronger from it.

This book was a pretty quick read and I loved that about it. I always love quick reads. This is also a book where you can read a story a night since they aren't super long either. I enjoyed this book but it just didn't stand out as a five-star read to me. However, that doesn't mean it wasn't a good book.

I had a rough week and this book was a good pick-me-up. It just showed that others go through hard time, but God didn't leave them and he won't leave you. This book definitely helped me connect more to God and my faith and that's really important to me.

"If we walk in the ways of the sustaining God and obey his commandments, then we have chosen life, for the Lord is life."
Another thing I noticed in the stories is that Pastor Wangerin wasn't afraid to show his emotions. There were multiple times throughout the book where he talked about crying. Often times guys are told that crying makes them less of a man, but he wasn't afraid to admit that he cried because it's a part of life. Sometimes it's when you're sad, happy, frustrated, etc. It's great that he was able to show that emotions help keep you connected to yourself just don't let them overtake you. Which is something portrayed throughout the novel that when we go through hard times we often lose faith and let our emotions take hold when we should be relying in God and letting him take hold of our lives.

Anyway, that's all I have for y'all today. I recommend this book to everyone who might be interested in learning about Walter Wangerin Jr., anyone that is curious and just want to learn, or to anyone who is a Christian. This book was good and very interesting. It helped me and it might help you too. :) I hope y'all enjoyed this review!

I always enjoy reading books that offer true stories from people who have experienced God’s care and love in their lives. I find them to be  uplifting and in many ways they often help to deepen my own faith.   The  has picked some stories, that might even seem quite ordinary, to show how God works in our everyday lives. There are  instance that are funny and inspirational, and then, on the other hand, there are stories that show how life is often painful.  In many of them, the people involved are doing what they  probably consider to be very small deeds for others, and yet the author shows us how big the impact may actually be. 

One story in particular about a woman who as a young girl of only 12 was raped by her father, continued to be sexually abused by him until she was sixteen,  and then when he stopped her brothers took over, brought tears to my eyes.  Later, she confronted her family: father, brothers and even her mother  about it, left home and never returned. Years later, a pastor took her aside and asked to talk to her about the pain he could see in her face. She agreed to meet in his office because  she could not trust  enough to invite him  to her home. Later, the magic happened: forgiveness and a lightness that had been stolen from her at such a young age.  I can only imagine how much she suffered.  

I think stories such as these are a wonderful testament to the Christian life.