Doug Fields is concerned with those people who feel “stuck” in harmful patterns of sin, pain, anger and other harmful states. Early in the book Fields defines sanctification as “the act or state of being purified and freed from sin” and stresses throughout that the power in this process comes from God while the Christian’s responsibility is cooperation. Fields then applies this concept to a variety of scenarios.
While I thought the subject matter of this book was right on target, I had some problems with the author’s writing style. Fields’ sense of humor doesn’t seem to translate well into writing. Every other sentence seems to contain a forced joke that I caused me to wonder just how serious he was taking the book. This book needed less joking and a more serious tone. I also feel that Fields’ only managed to skim the surface of his subject matter. For instance, in his chapter on forgiveness Fields recommends the reader write down everyone that has hurt him along with what they’ve done and then write down that they are “paid in full.” The author then offers suggestions on how to recognize when they have truly forgiven their offenders. It seemed so lightly approached that I began to wonder if Fields really recognized how hard it was for someone stuck in the grip of resentment and bitterness.
Fresh Start does include a nice small group’s guide and I would recommend it to a small group that wants a primer on sanctification. Despite my criticism of this book I look forward to reading more from Fields in the future.
A complimentary copy of this book was provided to me as part of Thomas Nelson’s BookSneeze Program.
Writer Clark D. Goble started this blog as a means to chronicle his imperfect walk with a Perfect Savior and invites you to join in on the conversation. He also invites you to check out the links to his work. Most often, Clark writes about Jesus and theology. He also enjoys writing fiction in a variety of genres.
Todd French is an information technology professional and a resident of Columbus, Ohio; where he shares a humble abode with his darling wife and beautiful daughters. His interests run the gambit from reading voraciously all forms of fiction to rooting for the Cleveland Browns.